So it’s been a while since we’ve made a post but life has pretty hectic. Now that I am FINALLY getting my life on track I decided to post a blog for the mini cheesecakes I actually make a few weeks ago. 

I made these on Christmas and ate one just about everyday I was home for break so I decided to remake them and record the process for all of you :) I have made many cheesecakes before but I love these because the recipe is so simple and they are so cute in cupcake form! 

Anyways, let’s get to it! So first you are going to start off with your ingredients: cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, butter and graham crackers. Once you’ve gathered all of that set your oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake pan. I did one batch with cupcake liners and one without. I like the way they look without the liners but the graham cracker crust stays together better with the liners there to hold them together, so the choice is up to you! Just make sure you grease the pan first if you are not going to use liners. 

Now you want to mix the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar. Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature, or close to it, or this step could be a lot harder than it needs to be! 

Next up, add in the eggs one at a time and then stir in the vanilla extract and TA-DAH! Your cheesecake mix is complete! 

And on to my favorite part, making the crust. Use one package of graham crackers and a half stick of melted butter. Put the graham crackers in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to roll them out and crumble up. Once they are crumbled like fine sand add your melted butter (warning: you might need to double up on the bag because I came frighteningly close to covering my kitchen floor in cheesecake crust). 

If after adding the butter you find that the crumbs still seem too dry you can add more, you just don’t want a totally mushy solution. 

Now you can begin filling your cups. I used about a tablespoon of graham crackers in each cupcake, just enough to cover the bottom. Then fill the cup about 3/4 full with the cream cheese mixture. Finally you are ready to bake for 30 minutes. You will end up with something looking like this…

Yeah, I know. They aren’t very pretty yet, but this is when you incorporate a topping! I made a simple sour cream topping by mixing sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract and just pouring it over the top of the cheesecake to fill in the cracks and divots. I have seen some people use a fruit preserve or fudge topping so the possibilities are really endless! 

After you pour the topping return the cheesecakes to the oven for another 5-7 minutes to firm and set the topping. And finally you will have your end result! 

I found that they taste best after being refrigerated for a few hours so make sure you leave enough time for that final step. Enjoy! 

Full ingredient list for 18 mini cheesecakes:

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Graham Cracker crust:

1 package graham crackers

1/2 stick butter 

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but unfortunately two good friends of ours were in a car accident on Sunday. They are both currently in critical condition and we are unsure of the extent of the damage but are trying to keep positive thoughts. We want to make sure everything possible is done to help their families make this time a little easier. Below is a link that will connect you to a donation PayPal account for both Regan Moore & Chris Lee. This account is to help both The Lee & Moore family with unforeseen costs, etc. In this situation, no family should ever have to worry about expenses. Any contribution can help tremendously. Please continue to keep both Regan & Chris in your thoughts & prayers. Thank you for the support!

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=Ce4RoStJOzbth1FLJqqmvWFfoSLg4AW6qwqOkay1AGmVWG50hj3It7BNMlu&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8db2b24f7b84f1819343fd6c338b1d9d60

Love,

Kelly and Erin 

Every year during Christmas I try to hand-make as many gifts as I can. I don’t know about you, but to me, handmade gifts are always more special since the person took the time and effort into creating a one of a kind present just for you. Now, I usually crochet scarves as xmas presents, but this year I decided to be a little more adventurous and attempt something that I personally love: Dreamcatchers!

Not only are these dreamcatchers exceptionally easy to make, but they are also quite affordable too! However, most of the materials are not sold separately or are sold in packs of 3 or 6, That being said, this is a perfect craft idea for making gifts for multiple people. I made one for my best friend, my brother’s girlfriend, my cousin and also for a family friend, and they loved them! That being said, let’s get started!

First you’ll want to gather your supplies. You’ll need: some metal rings, beads, a spool of Suede Lace, a spool of artificial sinew (it’s like waxy string but if you can’t find it, regular string will work too), some feathers, superglue, and some binder clips. Most of these items can found in the leather craft section of Michael’s!

Now, take your ring and your suede and begin to wrap it TIGHTLY around the ring. be sure to leave a little tail sticking out so that you can tie a knot when you are done wrapping.

Taking one of your binder clips, clamp down on your starting point, and continue to wrap. This step is optional, but it gives your hands a break from holding onto the top! 

Keep TIGHTLY wrapping until you reach where you started. Then take your tails and tie them into a knot. Then take the tails of that knot and tie them into a knot above the first knot you made. This is so that you can easily hang the dreamcatcher! When you are finished wrapping it should look something like this:

Now, take your sinew, or thread, and find where it naturally splits in half (ps, this means you get twice the use out of it!). Split your sinew down the middle so that it is thinner and easier to work with. You’ll want to get a good amount to work with, since its always better to have too much than to run out in the middle of your project!

Take the end of the sinew and tie it in a knot up at the top of the dreamcatcher. Wait until you are done to snip off the end, just in case ;]

Now, take the sinew and bring it around in front ring.

Take the tail end of the sinew and bring it back through the little hole you made. Pull the end through until it creates a little loop around the ring.

Continue to do this around the ring.

Here’s what it should look like when you are done with your first round:

Now, when you’ve reached the end, you are basically going to do the same thing you did all the way around the ring, but instead of establishing the loops around the ring, you are going to thread your sinew through the loops you made the first time around.

This is what it should start to look like:

Hooray, round two complete!

Now, its up to you how many times you want to go around (I usually just keep going until I run out of sinew ;])

BUT WAIT HOLD UP….We need to get a little fancier in here! Time to add some beads to our dreamcatcher! simply thread a bead into your sinew, like so:

and continue your stitching as you normally would. ta-dah!

Now keep going around and around until you feel like you want to stop. When you’ve reached your end point, simply tie a knot and add a drop of super glue on it so that it stays put. Don’t forget to snip the end your sinew when you are done.

To decorate the dreamcatcher, simply slide a feather into the beads in the middle. They stay in on their own, no glue required!

To hang feathers from the bottom, simply take a small piece of sinew and tie a knot around the little stem of the feather. Place a drop of superglue on the knot. Snip the tail of the sinew off the knot.

Then, slip a bead on the feather to help conceal the knot. Tie the feather onto the ring.

And there you have it! You have made your very own dreamcatcher! Hang it up and enjoy your sweet dreams :]

P.S. If you are having any trouble getting the stitching down, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bed4j_1BEww&feature=related. Sometimes its easier to actually see it, instead of just photos ;].

As a college student I’ve lived in a dorm and two different apartments, and all three of them had something in common: Bare white walls. Blegh, just the thought of plain walls gives me the creeps. In every room I’ve lived in, I’ve had some kind of major wall decoration, including collages, posters and pictures. I love hanging up cute little things on the wall and I’ve discovered a cute, fun, and most importantly, CHEAP thing to make to put up on your wall…or you know, give to a friend for Christmas, which ever you prefer :]

First thing you’re gonna need is a plain letter with a wall hook on the back. They sell these at Michael’s for like $3! ….told you it was cheap!

Make sure you cover your work area with some old newspaper or magazine. You don’t want any angry roommates (Kelly) haha!

Next choose the paint color you’d like the letters to be. I mixed these two paints together to get a nice navy blue! I also recommend using a sponge brush since they tend to have a less streaky appearance. 

Next, start painting you letter! Don’t worry too much if the paint comes out too streaky in the end. Since we are covering it with lace, it won’t really show through too much. We just want a nice even coat, don’t fuss over being perfect :]

Then, lay out a small sheet of lace. Make sure to give yourself a little room all the way around the letter, just incase you mess up. In crafting, more is always better than less! Then out your piece of lace, as straight as you can.

Situate your lace and place your letter face down (don’t mind the blue patch I was testing the paint color!). Make sure your hot glue gun is hot and ready and squeeze a line of glue. Quickly pick up the part of the lace you want put down and place it on the glue. Be sure to keep the lace tight and straight as you do this, or else it will come out lumpy! Now every letter shape is different, so I can’t really give you a good description on how to do this, but just stretch the lace and wrap it around the letter and glue to the back :]  

Yay all done! Now you can add fun little designs, stickers, letters, whatever! I’m going to add some flowers and put my name on it! You can get both of these things in the scrapbook aisle of target! each pack only costs $1!

Hooray! Your letter is now complete and you can hang it up on your wall, put it on your shelf, or whatever you want!

Happy crafting!

So the holidays are in full swing! Really though, when did it become mid-December?! I know it is holiday time when Starbucks starts selling their drinks in those pretty red cups. Starbucks my be the single location that can take half of my paycheck each month so yeah, I’m pretty familiar with those little red cups. Anyways moving past the realization of just how often I make a visit to Starbucks, I have also realized that they have some delicious holiday drinks. I am not a huge coffee fan (I know, how do I spend so much money there when I don’t even drink coffee?) but I am a HUGE cupcake fan so I thought, “pumpkin spice latte? No thank you. Pumpkin spice cupcake? YES PLEASE!” 

This past weekend I decided I am no longer dreaming about the pumpkin spice cupcakes, I am making them! So I did, and it was a lot easier than I expected. So here is how I did it! 

First, I gathered my ingredients. Everything is pretty basic and I only had to go buy a couple things before I began. You will need flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, salt, butter, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. (I just had to include my little cupcake cookie jar in the background of the picture. I really have way too much cupcake paraphernalia) 

Next, I combined the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Most recipes suggest mixing flour combination first and then adding that to the butter/sugar/egg mix, but I hate doing dishes and we don’t have a million mixing bowls so I just find it easier to start with the wet mixture and add the dry in later. 

Once I have whisked the above ingredients so they are smooth and evenly combined I added the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk that through until it is well incorporated and then you can add the pumpkin puree. This can change the consistency of the batter a little so make sure it is well mixed. I noticed some parts of my batter were oranger than others so I had to mix it a little more than usual. 

Now once you have everything all mixed together you can start scooping the batter into your lined cupcake pans. Fill them about 3/4 of the way but I wouldn’t suggest putting any less. The batter is a little more dense than others so some of my cupcakes came out a little short. 

Yes, I am aware that my hands somewhat resemble those of a child’s… 

Once you have all of your tins filled (mine made a pretty even 24 cupcakes, with a little left over to sample the batter. Strictly for business purposes, of course) pop them into your preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

While you wait you can do something productive like make frosting!… Or do what I did and walk around the kitchen in boots acting like I’m a tap dancer performing for a crowd of 1: Erin. 

Then TA-DAHHH! Delicious Pumpkin Spice cupcakes!

But since I wasted my time “tap dancing” I still had frosting to make so I will include the recipe below with the full list of ingredients for the cupcakes.  And then FINALLY after cooling and frosting and a little sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice, they look like good enough to eat :) 

After completed with cream cheese frosting I went to town on these babies. Really, I ate three the first day. The best/worst part: they taste even better the next day so I somehow managed to eat even more. Consider it an early christmas gift to myself? Sure, why not! 

I hope you enjoyed our first post, Erin will be posting her fun tutorial within the next couple of days so look out for her! 

Looove,

Kelly 

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Ingredients 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2  tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you don’t have this spice you can add a mixture of cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger and ground nutmeg) 

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (melted) 

4 large eggs

15 oz pumpkin puree (that’s one of the smaller cans or about half of the larger one) 

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

1. Combine 8 oz of softened cream cheese with 2 tsp vanilla extract.

2. Slowly add in 3 cups of powdered sugar until smooth and soft enough to frost cupcakes. 

Hello All! 

As an initial introduction my name is Kelly and my best friend and roommate, Erin, and I have spent so much of our time baking treats and creating crafts to give to friends that we decided we might as well put it online! So first, a little background information about Erin and I.

1. We are both college students. Baking and crafting on a budget IS possible (you should see Erin’s coupon collection…)

2. We are sorority sisters! Which is probably where the majority of our crafts and sweets end up. Fortunately we have over 80 sisters just in our chapter to share with :) 

3. I am a Psychology major and Erin is a screenwriting major (meaning she should really be writing this introduction, not me, but you got stuck with my wonderful words!)

4. We are two of the strangest/silliest/funniest people I know. Of course saying I’m funny could mean that I am the only person who thinks that. At least Erin laughs at my jokes! 

5. We are pretty much inseparable. When you see one of us you are likely to see the other :) Lucky for whoever is around us, we make quite the duo.

We will be posting blogs any chance we get so we hope you enjoy getting to know us, and our baking and crafts of course. And if you ever have a suggestions, feel free to let us know :)

Looove,

Kelly