Roses Cake pops for Therese - the little flower!

First, please forgive my pictures! They were taken with my phone :-) This was the bouquet I made for a Carmelite benefit dinner. It's made of cake pops! I'm sure you have heard about them; they are so delicious and so fun to make, and always a big hit.

So here is what you will need:

Cake pop recipe (you can find one anywhere - there are some tips though that I will write on the bottom of the post);

Mini-rose silicone mold- (mine is from ebay);

Candy melts;

Paramount crystal (if you use Wilton's candy melts);

Lollipop sticks;

Toothpick.

Make your cake pops according to the recipe you find the best, shape the balls like a tear drop, making sure the cake balls are smaller than the silicone mold otherwise the cake will break when you try to take out the mold. Chill them.

Melt you candy melts (I prefer double-boil but you can use a microwave). Fill the silicone mold up to 2/3 only (actually it may depend on the size of your cake balls). Put the round side of the cake balls inside of the mold making sure there is no candy dripping over the mold, which would make hard to get out. If some candy starts coming out on the sides just gently clean it off using a toothpick - do not press the side of the mold. 

After that, put them in a refrigerator to speed the process of drying. It does not take too long. It should come out really easily from the mold, use a toothpick to pull the mold up, gently, pushing it against the mold, not the cake.

Dip the bottom side of the rose into the melted candy - you may hold with your hands the rose side - stick the lollipop sticks inside of the cake pop, shake the excess of candy and put in the styrofoam to dry.

I made tags with famous quotes of St.Therese and turned into a bouquet using a vase from Ikea.

Here it is! Next time, I will add some edible leaves.

I really like it! And it could be made in red for St. Rita of Cascia or Our Lady!

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Here are some tips to make your cake pop making more fun!

- do not use oil for baking, if the recipe calls for oil replace it with butter (not margarine), the cake will be firmer,  not falling off the sticks when dipping and not having oil coming out trough the cake pops later either;

- make your own frosting! It does not take too long, it tastes better, it will no be too sweet and also will not fall off the sticks when dipping because of the butter;

- do not put too much frosting into the crumbled cake before kneading it thoroughly and molding it into balls - I have found that 3 to 4 tablespoons are more than enough. 

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The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

119. Closely connected with the salvific events of the Epiphany are the mysteries of the Baptism of the Lord and the manifestation of his glory at the marriage feast of Cana.

 

Christmastide (Christmas season) closes with the Baptism of the Lord. Only in recent times has the feast been rehabilitated, and hence has not given rise to any particular displays of popular piety. However, the feast presents an excellent opportunity for the faithful to be reminded of their rebirth as children of God in Baptism.

Source: Directory on Popular Piety

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Why not give something to the godparents on this day? I'm not aware of Godparents' Day but we should have a special recognition of them. In many countries this role is taken very seriously (as it should); godparents are seen as the second parents - in case the parents are not able to take care of the kids, they are the ones taking over.  

Here are some homemade gift ideas:

 

 

 

These are cards with gate on the front. The gate is a symbol of baptism, baptism being as it were the door to Heaven.

 

This a really nice bowl! You may find it on:

Clarey Clay Works

 

A key chain from AHthreads 

 

 

What a beatiful rosary! From My Rosary Garden


Here are some other symbols of baptism: gateway to the life, water, candle (light of the world), seal, ark. Get inspired and teach your kids to love their Godparents!

 

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How to make a mini rosary bag

 

I found this tutorial at craftpassion. It is a zip itself coin purse and it is so easy and pratical that I think would be a perfect mini-bag to our rosaries or even as gift this Christmas.

 

Here is a beautiful Toile fabric with Nativity print that could be a perfect pattern:

 

 

Etsy Shop - Cambridge Road

 

And this one too:

 

 

Etsy Shop Vintage Touch Too

 

If you make it, I would love to see it!

 

 

 

 

 

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Unique baby gifts

Nursery wall picture with handmade crocheted miniature baby clothes {pink}

This is a sample only: I have sold it to somebody else. I will try my best to find the same background but colors my be different from the picture, as well as the cut outs (birds and butterflies) and ribbon, too.

This cute wall picture features a handmade girl's dress, blanket and a shorts  hanging on clothesline with mini clothespin. The background is paper and fabric ribbon and scrapbook embleshiment. The frame size is 11x14. Frame color: white washed.

If you order for a boy, there will be overalls on the clothesline instead of a dress.

If you order neutral color, you will receive a diaper instead of a dress.

Price is $ 30.00 plus shipping

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Wall picture nursery room {yellow, green and brown} (SOLD)

This picture is made with fabric on the background;
+ dollhouse miniature white dresser and yellow handles -the door opens- the drawers do NOT open;
+ high chair with a bear;
+ toy box with 3 removable toys inside. *The toy on top of dresser is NOT removable.
+ An angel {that glows in the dark!} saying "A bundle of joy is sent from heaven".
Frame size: 11x14. Frame color: oak.

Pet and smoke free.

Price is $ 20.00 plus shipping. (if you want to buy a pre-order please contact me before)

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Father's Day gifts ideas

This is so easy and memorable. Get a frame, some paint, and scrapbook paper at your local craft store. Stamp the child's hands on white paper, cut and glue it on scrapbook paper and frame it.

What do you do with the drawings of your kids? How about turning them into a photobook and saving them forever? Scan the artwork and send it to Costco or Snapfish!

Art frame

From Cedar Creek Treasures

A shirt
From Lady in Blue

This a tutorial for Mothers' Day but actually it is so easy that can be great for Father's Day too! Just replace the kitcken towel with hand towels and the kitchen utensils with shaving things. 

From Alyashcreations

I'm trying to made this myself but have no time! These are white title that you can get at Homedepot for $0.20 each! Get some mod podge and holy cards a...viola! You have a nice religious coaster! Get the full tutorial here. 

From Hostess

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Precious Feet soap as party favors

These cute soap are really easy {and fun} to make!

You will need:

Microwave container or double-boiled pan*
Cutting Board;
Fragrance Oil  (I used baby oil);
Soap-Safe Dye (I used green and yellow);
Large Knife;
Alcohol in Spray Bottle;  
Rubber Spatulas;
Cotton balls;
Baby Feet Mold ( I got the mold at Ebay)

* I have found that melting the soap in the microwave wastes too much soap.  If you do not have double-boiled pan you can melt the soap in a small pot within a pan filled with water ike this:

- Using the cotton balls, lightly coat the insides of the molds with baby oil; this will make it easier to remove the finished soaps from the molds.

- Cut the soap base into small chunks and place them into the pot until you've got the amount that your mold will hold.

         [NOTE - If you are making the feet with different colors (one color for the feet and one color for the base), you will first be melting a small amount of one color and filling the parts of the molds consisting of just the little feet. You will then have to wait for the soap within the feet parts of the molds to dry before melting the different-colored soap and adding it to the rest of each mold, thus forming the base of each piece of soap.]

 - After the small chunks of soap melt melted, completely add the fragrance oil to the melted soap base and gently stir. Add some color to your soap - Be sure you are using soap-safe dyes - Gently stir the melted soap to completely incorporate the fragrance and completely blend the color. Don't stir too hard or you'll get bubbles in the soap. If you do get air bubbles, a light spritz of rubbing alcohol from a spray bottle gets rid of them.

- Slowly pour the soap into the mold and wait for it to cool down completely. (If you are making soaps of two different colors, this is the point where you would first wait for the feet to dry as described in the "NOTE" above, and repeat the melting/pouring process with the second color.)   Try not to splash the soap or get too many bubbles. (If you do get bubbles in the soap molds, you may here still lightly spray the tops of the bars with rubbing alcohol.)

- You're done for now! Carefully move the mold to a safe place.

- The soap should be hard enough to unmold in a few hours. You can hurry this along by putting the mold in the refrigerator, but don't put it into the freezer.

It will take several hours on the counter or approximately an hour in the refrigerator for the soap to completely cool and harden.

I got these cute bags at Oriental Trading, wrapped a shoe box lid with tissue paper and made a tag saying:

 "Thanks for coming to my Baptism day,
On which original sin was washed away,
Marking my first steps to holiness..."

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Catholics gifts ideas for any occasion

I just found this website! They have a lots of nice catholics gifts and it all affortable.

Check out Promultismedia

This a full decade rosary bracelet!

Ave Maria Rosaries on Etsy

This is so cool...it is a rosary place marker! Yes,  if you know anyone that prays continually throughout the day this gift will be perfect! This is a place marker that you can clip onto your rosary to help remember where you left off.

 From PMMDesigns on Etsy

What a nice confirmation gift this pendant will be!
Find others at Axis Mundi on Etsy

Saint Rita of Cascia Wooden Doll.

From StAnnesPixies on Etsy too!

Annunciation
From StLukesBrush



From LadyinBlue

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