Hi everyone! Kylie here with a super quick post to share the new JANUARY DESKTOP and wish you all a very HAPPY and BLESSED NEW YEAR! :o)

CLICK HERE to download the 1024 x 768 versions

CLICK HERE to download the 1280 x 800 versions

If you are interested in our free desktops, but have no idea how to insert your own photos – please visit our TUTORIALS page and refer to the USING THE PIECE-A-CAKE .PNG FILES TO CREATE AN ALBUM titles :o) We offer this tutorial in both screen shot and video format, for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. And, while the tutorial is not specifically for the desktops – the concepts are very much the same…and should help out a lot!

Before I say FAREWELL…if you haven’t heard we are currently on a little BLOG VACATION and will be back on January 9th! (for more details see the below post!) And even though we are on a break we still have a couple of scrapping challenges in progress…Easy-As-Pie TEMPLATE CHALLENGE 19 and the here we go a-caroling RECIPE CHALLENGE…and we hope you join in on all the FUN!!!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today and we will see you again SOON!  Happy Scrapping! :o)

KylieFree Desktops, Uncategorized 13 Comments

Hello!! Welcome to the weekend! :o) Kylie here!  I have lots to share today so lets jump right in!

I love baking cookies anytime of the year but it feels extra special in December…and today I’d love to share two little recipes with you – Sugar Cookie ‘Stars’ and Little Gingerbread Cookies.  Both are must-haves for the holiday season and these are my go-to recipes – super simple with hardly any fuss!

First we have the Sugar Cookies.  Even though these are “sugar” cookies they aren’t super-sweet.  Compared to most cookie recipes this one doesn’t have loads of sugar and is more like a simple shortbread style cookie.  Plus, when you add the layer of icing you’ll get all the sugar you need and then some…so it’s nice to have a bit of balance with the base.

Ingredients

• 250g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• a few drops of vanilla essence/extract or the zest of one lemon (depending on what flavour you prefer)
• rolled fondant, icing, edible glitter, cachous or sprinkles to decorate…whatever you want to use!

Directions

• Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer
• Add egg slowly with vanilla or lemon zest
• Add dry ingredients and combine well to a smooth dough (but try not to overwork the dough)
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Rest in refrigerator for 15 minutes.  When you take it out again, let it sit for a bit at room temperature if it feels too hard to start rolling out.  (It all depends how hot your kitchen is to start with etc)
• Roll out approx 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick and use your cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want.  I’ve used an ornate ‘star’ but use whatever you have on hand - circles, hearts, flowers, Christmas trees, letters etc.
• Place the shapes on a baking sheet.  Rest again for 5 minutes.
• Bake at 160C (325F) for approx 10-12 minutes
• Cool on cooling rack and then decorate as you wish

My cookie cutter is part of this set that I purchased a couple of years ago – I love it!!  I chose the one that most looked like a star from my snowflake collection.  I was afraid that my snowflakes would melt in the summer heat (here in Australia) ;o) …so disguised it as a “star”…shhh, don’t tell anyone!

To decorate: First I needed to knead my fondant to allow for easy rolling.  I then rolled it out nice and thin and layered the texture mat (that came with my cutter set) onto the fondant.  Using the rolling pin I then rolled over the texture mat to create the pretty embossed pattern.  I used the same cookie cutter to carefully cut out the “star” shape.  With a few little dots of icing sugar paste (a few tablespoons of icing/confectioners sugar and a tiny amount of water) used as my “glue”, I gently pressed the fondant star onto the cookie.  You just need to be very careful not to press too hard as you will press away the pattern.  To finish, I added a sprinkle of edible glitter and some silver, blue and pink cachous.  Simple but oh sooo pretty!

This is just one shape and one way to decorate…once you have the base recipe you can do whatever you wish!  So many options!

Now onto the Gingerbread!

Love, love, love anything with ginger in it!  Plus gingerbread people are always so much fun to make, especially for kids.  I also cut out some stars with a “wide split” up the middle so that they would hang over a mug or glass after they were baked.  I thought I’d give it a try after seeing the cookie cutter version in a store.  But again, same as the sugar cookies above, feel free to choose whatever shapes you want…they all taste the same!

Ingredients

• 125g (4oz) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (dark brown sugar is best)
• 1/2 cup treacle or golden syrup (treacle will give the cookies a richer flavour and darker colour)
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 tbs ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Directions

• Melt butter, syrup or treacle (whichever you have chosen to use) and brown sugar in small saucepan.  Allow to cool slightly.
• Sift flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into large bowl.
• Add the butter/syrup mix to flour, along with the egg yolk.
• Combine together until a smooth dough forms.  Shape into flat ball, cover in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Bring dough to room temperature.  Divide into small batches and roll out to desired thickness.  Cut out shapes.  Space out on lined baking trays.
• Bake each batch at 180C (350F) for 10 minutes or until golden.  If you are using large cookie cutters or have a fairly thick layer of dough then you may need to adjust the cooking time to 12 or 15 minutes…just keep an eye on them to gauge when they are ready. (They will start to colour around the edges)
• Leave plain or decorate with icing/frosting…again, the choice is yours as to what you use to decorate – currents, candy/lollies, chocolate…hmmm, maybe not!  With mine I left them very simple, a tiny bit of lemon flavoured icing and some silver cachous.

And, if you wanted to gift your special cookies, you could put one or multiples in a cellophane or plastic treat bag and use one of the toppers from the JOY confection collection or why not make Jenelle’s gorgeous gift canisters – perfect!  Or check out Lu’s cookie flower bouquet from last year!

Time for some recipe cards!  Just click on the image to download (or click HERE)!

Happy Baking!

Continuing with the festive food fun we have an EXTRA GIFT for you today!  Just our small way of saying THANK YOU and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all our lovely readers…and, something you might like to use as a last-minute gift idea for family and friends! :o)

I have put together three printable Recipe Card Boxes, each with their own co-ordinating recipe card that you can personalise by adding a photo and your own recipe.  Sharing favourite recipes is always FUN, and such a lovely thing to do, and with three very different styles you will have lots of options this season.  We have the very cute and festively sweet sugarplum set – pinks, aqua and little Christmas stockings…awww!  Then we have an elegant winter (but not too wintery) set using the fabulous Brrrr! kit.  And I couldn’t resist creating a Gracie recipe card box set…it’s perfect for a lil’ something homemade with love.  The recipe cards are all 4×6″ at 300dpi (high quality and ready to print).  All you will really need is a printer, paper and adhesive.  You can use your photo-editing software to add your text, photos and any other ‘extras’…or simply print out blank ones and write your recipe and special messages by hand and attach a photo.

You can click the image above to download the printables…OR…simply click HERE!

The download includes:

• sugarplum holiday recipes card box (8.5×11 print page) JPG file (created with items from Sugarplum dreams)
• sugarplum holiday recipes card PNG file (created with items from Sugarplum dreams and Sugarplum Additions
• winter holiday recipes card box (8.5×11 print page) JPG file (created with items from Brrrr! and Goose bumps)
• winter holiday recipes card PNG file (created with items from Brrrr! and HopScotch)
• gracie holiday recipes card box (8.5×11 print page) JPG file (created with items from Gracie)
• gracie holiday recipes card PNG file (created with items from Gracie)

For each holiday recipes card box we have also included an assembly instructions file that you can refer to.  The recipe card boxes are super easy to put together and we’ve tried to make the instruction file as easy to understand as possible.  For even more information, tips and suggestions…from downloading -> printing -> trimming -> assembly -> gifting inspiration, and more…you can find all the information you need by viewing the forever-popular ShabbyPrincess.com Holiday Recipe Collection information page… HERE!  If this is your first attempt at making something like this, I would definitely recommend you read through this information first.  I know it’s lots to read but if you are new to hybrid projects it’s soooo worthwhile!!  SP will readily admit to sharing more info than necessary, but only in an effort to answer any questions you may have…and to make your project a success & bunches of FUN, from start to finish!

Need help filling your new recipe card boxes?  Why not pop in some of the Shabby Shoppe Blog free recipe card downloads you’ve collected along the way.  And if you are new to the blog, or just missed a Food Friday post or two…here’s a list of some of the recipes cards you might like to add to your personal collection and/or gift box: Oreo Truffles, Garden Pizza, Watermelon Granita & Espresso Granita, Buttermilk Pie, BBQ Chicken and Roasted Carrots, Passionfruit Cake, Chai Tea, Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Chili, Apple Lattice Slice, Ginger Creams (holiday recipe), Lemony Ginger Sugar Cookies (holiday recipe),  Choc-Cherry Brownies with Spicy Hot Chocolate Drink, Marshmallow Bunnies, Jello Dessert, Smoked Salmon Tarlets, Apple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream, Chicken Corn Soup, Corn Bake, and then we have the three holiday recipes I’ve posted this week – Christmas Pudding Cake Pops and today’s Sugar Cookie Stars and Little Gingerbread Cookies.  And, we’ve had other delicious food posts that didn’t feature a recipe card…if you want to check them out just click on the Food Stuff category on the right-hand side of the blog, and then simply scroll through all the deliciousness!  Enjoy! :o)

Some other gift ideas:

• Pop in a couple of favourite family photos along with the recipe cards.  The box size is perfect for your 6×4 photos and your family and friends will love receiving your latest pics in a fun new way!
• Add a couple of blank cards so that the lucky person receiving the set can add some of their own recipes to the box.
• Add a holiday recipe card set to a gift basket…especially if it’s a baking/cooking themed one!
• If you are giving homemade baked treats as gifts already, why not add the recipe card (with or without the card box) 

Have lots of FUN creating these litte recipe card box sets and if you feel like sharing we’d sooooo LOVE to see your creations in the gallery!

Happy Creating!

Now onto some blog news…

We are all looking forward to taking some time off to spend with family and friends throughout this holiday season…and as a result, we will be taking a brief blog vacation…back on JANUARY 9th!  We’ll be returning with all your favourites, starting with a super-sized LOTW post…so don’t stop uploading your gorgeous layouts to the gallery.  We’ll announce the winners to the here we go a-caroling RECIPE CHALLENGE…and we will be wrapping up our PROJECT SCRAP 2011 - so don’t forget to pick up the December templates we shared on Thursday so that you can scrap through the holidays.

And of course, I’ll be back to fit in the FREE JANUARY DESKTOP somewhere before the end of the month rocks around…maybe on or around the 28th of December :o)  So stop by and pick it up!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS :o)  We all wish you the best and most wonderful ‘end of year’ and joyous & safe start to 2012!  Hugs & Kisses to all!  :o)

KylieFood Stuff, Free (not desktops), Uncategorized 21 Comments

Hi everyone!!  Kylie here with a fabulously festive food friday feature! ;o)  And, after my post is Kim with her FUN scrapbooking “recipe” challenge for you to enter over the holidays…you’ll LOVE IT – plus there are prizes to win too! YAY! (so don’t forget to keep scrolling, we would hate for you to miss out on all the digi-scrapping merriment!)

Today, I’m sharing with you a simple holiday treat that is quite possibly too cute to eat – my Christmas Pudding Cake Pops!  I’ll warn you now, they are super dense and deliciously rich <one is definitely enough for me in one sitting> …even so, they are addictive and will have you wanting more and more!

I’ve never been a big fan of traditional fruit cakes or fruit puddings.  When I went to weddings as a little girl I would always look forward to my little piece of wedding cake…for the thick band of fondant/royal icing, not the actual fruit cake - that got handed over to one of my siblings! ;o)  So this recipe is mainly chocolate cake (my fave!) spiked with a little fruit mince – to give it that festive taste.  Originally I was planning on making these with the lollipop sticks but unfortunately I couldn’t get the sticks in time for the post…there must have been a rush on them and I missed out! :o( So there is no pop in my pops!! LOL!  Not to worry, the lollipop sticks are optional and you can make yours with or without.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of your favourite pre-mix chocolate cake
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar mixture (confectioners sugar)
• 1/2 cup of pre-made fruit mince
• 375g (13 oz) packet of milk chocolate melts, chips or prefered cooking chocolate
• 100g ( 3 1/2 oz) white chocolate melts, chips or prefered cooking chocolate
• silver cachous or other decorations
• lollipop sticks

Directions

• Bake cake as per instructions on pre-mix cake packet
• Allow cake to cool and then break into pieces.  Process cake in a food processor until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Transfer to a large bowl.
• Process the cream cheese and icing/confectioners sugar until smooth.  Add cream cheese mix to the cake crumbs along with the fruit mince.  Stir well until all combined.
• Line tray/s with baking paper and then roll tablespoonfuls of cake mixture into balls and place on tray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4 hours or until firm.
• Melt milk chocolate.
• Dip lollipop stick into chocolate and then insert into cake ball – repeat with all.  Then dip each cake ball into the melted chocolate, turning to coat (start with the first ball again as the stick should be nicely set by then)
• Insert the cake pop into pre-made holder to stand upright. Repeat with remaining balls and chocolate.  Allow to set for 30 minutes.
• Melt white chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.  Spoon a little chocolate onto the top of each cake pop, allowing it to run down the sides slightly.  Quickly sprinkle with silver cachous or sprinkles so that they stick to the white chocolate.  Allow to fully set

More information and tips

• Chocolate Cake ~ make sure you have the other ingredients (egg, milk, oil etc) to complete the pre-mix cake.  If you like, you can make your own chocolate cake from scratch…just make sure it’s not a super-moist recipe otherwise it will not crumb when processed.
• Fruit Mince ~ Jars of traditional fruit mince are readily available in Australia (I bought a 410g jar of Robertsons Fruit Mince – which is imported from the UK anyway).  If you’d like to make your own you’ll find some recipes HERE.  As a quick alternative you can roughly chop up a mix of dried and/or candied fruit ~ raisins, currants, sultanas, glace cherries, candied orange peel, clementines, dates, figs, whatever combination you prefer.  This won’t be the same but you’ll still get that fruity goodness with your chocolate pops!  Oh and don’t be confused with the VERY traditional 16th century English fruit mince or mincemeat…which contains meat with the fruit and spices ;o)
• Chocolate ~ Each type of chocolate will melt differently – so follow the instructions on the packet or use your preferred method, whether that’s the microwave, double boiler, saucepan and heat-proof bowl.  My little tip when melting chocolate is to add water to a saucepan to a level that is well under where the bowl of chocolate will sit securely.  Bring the water to the boil (without the bowl on top) and then turn the heat off.  Sit the bowl of chocolate on the saucepan and just leave to melt while you are busy preparing your other ingredients.  The remaining steam/heat under the bowl is enough to melt the chocolate.
• Lollipop sticks ~ and if you do use the sticks then you’ll need something to hold them.  Either a cardboard box turned upside down with holes in the top, florist foam, a block of polystyrene, or you could look for cake pop stands in specialty cake decorating or kitchenware shops, or do a search online.

Here is a little 4×6 recipe card I created as a FREE download.  I used a Shabby Shoppe Muffin Man recipe card template and a collection of Shabby Princess digital kits (see the TOU in your download for more details).

Just click on the image below to download (or click HERE)!

Hope this yummy recipe adds a little extra sweetness to your holiday celebrations!  Thanks for checking it out! :o)

This is where I’ll leave you today (I will be back tomorrow!)  Scroll down for Kim’s exciting new post…

KylieFood Stuff, Free (not desktops), Uncategorized 10 Comments

Hello everyone!  Kim here and I am happy to be “hosting” our next scrapbooking recipe challenge!  As our blog is about to go on a little “holiday vacation” (more on that from Kylie tomorrow), we thought it would be fun to leave you with a challenge to inspire you to scrap while we’re gone.  I hope you will join along with me and the rest of the team!

So what is this challenge all about, you ask?  It is inspired by one of my favorite things… music!  I am a singer and music lover and for me, music is always a part of my holiday celebrations.  So are you ready??  Because here we go a-caroling!!

If you choose to sing along with us, you will have a chance to win one of THREE $10 gift cards to the Shabby Shoppe!  You have three weeks to scrap your layouts.  To be eligible to win, you must post your layout in the Shabby Shoppe Blog Challenge Gallery AND post a comment here on this blog post with a link to your layout.  All entries must be posted by midnight (US Eastern Time) on Sunday, January 8th.  We will announce the winners on January 11th.  Please keep in mind that all layouts must contain at least 75% SP products (purchased or free) and follow the recipe below.  Ready to get started?

(Recipe card made with Made from Scratch recipe card template no.4, Sugarplum Dreams kit and Sugarplum Additions, and glitter scatter from Sandbox Additions. Fonts used are Print Clearly and Amelie.)

~*~ Here is a little more explanation than what’s on the recipe card ~*~

• Use a carol to inspire – This is intentionally open to your interpretation.  I would love to see how a song can inspire YOU in creating a layout!  And if you don’t want to use a holiday carol, it’s OK to pick another kind of song to get the inspiration going. We just want to see you scrap!
• Strike a chord – Use any 3 patterned papers that you think coordinate
• Make sure there’s harmony – Use your favorite fasteners or find those fun fasteners that you may not have used yet – examples: staples, ribbon, bows, buttons, stitching, metal fasteners – but be sure and use 2 different kinds
• Repeat the chorus – Choose any element that you’re using in the layout and use that element several times (or more!)
• Don’t forget the lyrics – Add journaling to tell the story of your layout
• Ad libitum – Finish off the layout with any additional papers and elements you want

And here is what I’ve created with the recipe!

I can think of several ways I could use carol inspiration in a layout, but this is one I like to use often… making a line from a song the title of my layout.  And “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was PERFECT for this layout, as he really was rockin’ around the tree last Christmas!  I used a mix of holiday kits, but I must say that I especially love those ornaments from Twas the Night.  I fell in love with those ornaments three years ago when I bought this kit – my FIRST digital kit ever!  I find new ways to reuse it all the time as it coordaintes well with many SP kits.

Can’t wait to see what you create!  Be sure and stop by the blog tomorrow as Kylie sends us off on vacation with a few special treats.  But from me and the rest of the team, hope you all have a happy holiday and we’ll see you in 2012!

KimInspiration, Other Challenges, Uncategorized 15 Comments

Hello…It’s me again, Casharina, bringing you another fun and hopefully inspiring food creation post, using trendy push pop containers.  Today I’ll be showing you where to purchase these cute little throwbacks, as well as how to make them snazzy and give you a host of ideas on what to place in them to make them a special treat for whatever the occasion. For my portion I will be showing you how I make cupcake push pops.  (And, don’t forget to keep scrolling past my post for the latest on PROJECT SCRAP!)

Before you begin you’ll have to purchase a set of push pop containers.  There are a variety of vendors that sell push pop containers including HERE, where you can purchase them in sets of 12, 24, or 100 counts, with lids.  Although they are a little pricey, if you plan to re-use them, it helps make them a little more reasonable.  I chose to partner up with one of my friends and purchase the 100 pack making them right around .75 cents each including shipping, and I have now taken them to Kaytlynn’s classroom three times and used them at two birthday parties. 

*Although the containers are NOT dishwasher safe, they ARE easy to wash by hand.  I always take a box with me and ask for the guest to place the empty container back into the box, it’s worked so far!

Push Pop Ingredients:

• A cake mix and the ingredients necessary to bake the cake (You may also choose to use a brownie mix!)
• Icing
• Food coloring (optional)
• Sprinkles or other candies (optional – for mine I’m using Christmas colored M&M’s)

For the digital designs:

• Scalloped hole puncher (optional)
• Digital papers (I used the Shabby Shoppe kits Believe and Joyful to create my labels)
• Tape

Let’s get started!

• Mix your cake according to package directions.  Instead of baking cake in a cake pan, pour the batter onto a cookie sheet.
• Test the batter…I know, I know…it has eggs, but I was raised eating, I mean testing the batter, and I have lived to share that tradition with my girls!
• After the cake is cool, use the top of one of the containers to “punch” out as many circles as you can.  This will be the layers in your cupcake pop.
• Prepare your icing by placing it into a pastry bag OR Ziploc bag and snipping a SMALL hole in the corner to help with piping the icing into the containers.

Tip: If you are coloring the icing you should do so before placing it into the bag.  If you are using more than one color, you should separate the icing into equal parts and add the food coloring, I like to use mugs to mix my colors up, they’re small and easy to load in the dishwasher.  Then you just add each color to a piping bag or Ziploc, your choice.  To fill the Ziploc bag, place it into a mug and fold the outer edges around it like you do a trashsack, it makes for a much easier way to fill it! ;)

 Assembly:

You’re now ready to assemble your cupcake push pops. First you will need to assemble your push pop containers.  Then you will begin filling them.

 I like to place one cupcake piece on the bottom of the container, and then alternate with icing, then another cupcake bite, and more icing. You can add sprinkles between each layer if you’d like or you can choose to just alternate between icing each time…after placing 3 cupcake bites into each container, layered with icing you should have it full enough to garnish the top with sprinkles (optional) and then place the lid on tight.  If you choose to bake in a mini muffin tin, then you will probably only need 2 mini cupcakes per container…just fill it ’til it’s nice and full!

 Now, I have read that some people leave the stick off for transporting the containers…I did this…it was a MAJOR failure…although it was much easier to carry the containers, when we tried to add the stick it was just pushing the cupcakes up and out of the containers, so I would NOT recommend waiting until after they are assembled to add the sticks! ;)

 To travel with mine, I have just placed them upright in a box, tight enough that they held each other up…I also placed them in the refrigerator this way. There are a variety of ways you can display Push Pop containers.  For instance, use an old shoe box, pop holes in the top, decorate with wrapping paper and place the pops into the box.  You can also use a block of flower foam by simply sticking in the pops after decorating the outer portion of the foam.

 Now to make them snazzy:

 Of course I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I cannot let something that I’ve created go bare…that is without some kind of personalization on them, showing that they are made for “this” occasion.  Well I’ve done it again.  This time I decided that I would make labels for each child with their picture on it.  I created these labels just like I did my candy bar wrappers from my last hybrid post, only I resized the label to fit my needs.  I have also used a round scalloped punch to simply place a label on the top of the container.

 There are a number of different ways to fill the containers including, making cinnamon roll bites layered with butter cream icing, simply filling them with colorful candies to match a theme, and as I’ve scoured the internet I’ve even seen a few holiday themed designs using donuts to make snowmen and carrot cake and frosting to make carrots for Easter…there are so many possibilities, I can see these being trendy forever! ;)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my post…but that’s not all for today!!  Keep scrolling down…SP is here with her NOVEMBER projectSCRAP check-in and Kylie is sharing the new DECEMBER projectSCRAP templates for you to download!

CasharinaFood Stuff, Uncategorized 4 Comments