Cake Pops

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Super cute and super simple. However I'm a perfectionist to some degree, so it was a little time consuming for me. Tomorrow my baby girl turns 11 years old. This will probably be one of the last times that she takes a treat in on her Birthday to share with her class, so I wanted it to be special. Hence the idea to make cake pops was hatched.

What you will need:

1 box cake mix of your choice

1 can of frosting (I like whipped because its not as dense)

Chocolate for melting/decorating

Sprinkles

Wax paper

Block of styrofoam

Possibly vegetable oil (yes I said possibly)

Now...lets get down to it!

Bake the cake according to the box directions.

Let cake cool.

Then crumble into pieces.

You can use a mixer or food processor, whichever you prefer. Just make sure to crumble into small fine pieces.

Next, mix about 3/4 of your frosting into the cake mix.

You should have a nice sticky consistency, if its too dry your cake pop will fall apart.

After you have a good consistency, roll into balls, place on wax paper lined cookie sheet, and refrigerate for one hour.

While the cake balls are chilling, start melting your chocolate. I suggest doing this in 30 second intervals in the microwave and stirring in between. This is where you may possibly need to use some vegetable oil. You want the chocolate nice and thin. Adding the oil in very small amounts to the melted chocolate will thin it out.

After the chocolate is melted and the balls have chilled. You want to insert the popsicle sticks into the balls. This is the way that I like to do it. I think it helps the stick stay in the cake ball better, like a glue, if you will. I dip the stick into the chocolate and the insert it 3/4 of the way through the cake ball. Leaving the cake on the wax paper. Let the balls set about 15 mins until dry. 

Now its time to dip your cake balls into the chocolate! Be careful, dip lightly and  gently shake off excess chocolate. You don't want any runs. This just looks messy...so no runs.

Add sprinkles or come up with your own decorating ideas. Have fun with it. Towards the end I even started to give my cake balls a tye dye look by putting two colors chocolate on my ball and gently twirling the stick, gravity will help the tye dye look form.

After you have dipped and decorated your ball, it now becomes a cake pop. Place your cake pop into the styrofoam block to dry.

Like so.....

After your cake pops have dried, about 45 mins,  you can cover them with plastic bags and tie off with ribbon. Be creative. I put these ones in a basket for my daughter to carry to school easily. I wanted to give the effect of a basket of flowers.

You cant deny that these are simply adorable!!!

Easy Travel Laundry Kits

Ahh! A little fantabulous idea I had tonight while packing for our weekend getaway that I thought I'd share. The cabin we are going to has a washer and dryer. We are trying to pack as light as possible, in an effort to not have 5 suitcases for 4 people, I decided to do a load of laundry at the cabin, the night before coming home. By doing this, we can pack less clothes and wear the same outfit again, and its already clean.

Who wants to drag a bottle of laundry soap on a trip? Not me. So I thought, ok I will just put a little bit of soap into a container. Well, most all containers leak, in the end making more mess for ME to clean up. So that wont do. Ding! Use the baggies that I have already put into recycled circulation (yes I reuse baggies if they are clean) then prefill them with a cap full of laundry soap, bleed air from the bag, seal and put baggie into container. This will definitely reduce the risk of spill and your laundry soap is already premeasured. I also put a few dryer sheets into a baggie and placed on top of soap in container. We have about a six and a half hour drive up through the mountains, so I will update you guys and let you know how it worked out. What really makes this little idea even more terrific for me??? No clean up! Just rise your baggie while you are adding soap to machine...and viola your bag is clean! Let it dry and reuse it again....of course not for any edible items :)

These kind of clever ideas are what I live for! Best of all...it didn't cost a dime.

You could even try premeasuring laundry soap into baggies when you are trying to cut cost or control use at home. My teenager is brutal on laundry soap. Just remember try to use recycled bags whenever possible.

All set and ready to go!