mini mason jar sherbert shots

huh?

does this mini jar wanna fight?

naaaw, i think it wants us to make him!

ok let's see what's up.

that's right! they're mini mason jars!

they're on sale now so hurry and pick some up-i saw some at tj maxx and homegoods too.

and oh my gosh i LOVE their cuteness!

i bought a few boxes actually cuz i plan to decorate them in all kinda ways but today i made some goofy silly fun ones.

just do this:

then bake them in a cold oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees to set the paint. or leave them alone to cure for at least 24 hours.

so what to do with them?

i think they need some hair. don't you?

let's make sherbert shots!

all you gotta do is put some sherbert (any amount) in each jar glass and fill it up with cherry or regular 7-up.

and woolah! instant hairdo.

the 7-up makes the sherbert real frothy in an instant and the drink is really quite refreshing.

i blogged about raspberry sherbert drinks a few years back and make them all the time in the summer.

aww, the poor wide smile guy wants more hair.

no prob, just add more 7-up.

there ya go.

i love a good hair day don't you?

summer in bloom link party

hi everyone! hope your summer is in full bloom! i have teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers to bring you lots of amazing summer recipes, printables and party ideas. 

 now, we would like to see your favorite summer ideas.

our Summer in Bloom Link Party starts today and will run through August 1st. 
link up any ideas new and from years past that make summer special! your ideas will show up on all of these participating blogs!

Bloom Designs | A Night Owl Blog | Giggles Galore | Jaco'lyn Murphy |Dukes and Duchesses | Kiki and Company | Spaceships and Laser Beams | Ginger Snap Crafts| Not Just A Mommy | Belle of the Kitchen | Katarina's Paperie | Confetti Sunshine | Crazy Little Projects | Anderson & Grant | Hoopla Palooza

make sure to follow all of these ladies for inspiration throughout the year! you can find each of them on social media sites by click on their name:

Bloom Designs Online

A Night Owl Blog

Giggles Galore

Jaco'lyn Murphy

Dukes and Duchesses

Kiki and Company

Spaceships and Laser Beams

Not Just A Mommy

Belle of the Kitchen
Katarina's Paperie

Confetti Sunshine

Crazy Little Projects

Anderson & Grant

Hoopla Palooza

thanks SOOOO much for linking up!

you make it bloomin' happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

sunshine lemon cookies

while i was doing some major cleaning in my cluttered garage last week, i happened upon some cool wavy baking cups that i got at jo ann fabrics. 

they made me immediately think of suns.

maybe because the summer sun is causing major meltdowns and heat stroke in my body and that i made some sun macarons recently, that i had suns on my mind. 

and since it seems sunshine is more than just on my shoulders, and the fact that many folks aren't keen on making macarons, i came up with a pretty easy way to make sunshine cookies instead of worrying about getting feet on macaron cookies.

just follow this recipe except for the baking time and you'll be on your way to make some summer fun.

mix these all up and make your dough. 

easy peasy.

baking time is longer cuz these are thicker but don't overbake them cuz they'll be overcooked on top. just bake til the top is golden brown and when the cookies cool, the inside is soft and chewy. yummy!

follow the recipe i mentioned above to see how to make the glaze too. another easy peasy except i dipped them instead of scooping the glaze on the cookie.

now let's have some fun.

you can add any candy you want but i added this to them:

and there you have it!

sunshine cookies without the hassle of macaron making.

and if you don't want them to be cookies, 

just make them cupcakes!

another easy peasy :)

so now all that's left to do is,

thanks for your sunny smile :)

summer sun macarons

hi guys!

i got a repeat for you in case you missed it over here on Jenny's Bloom Design blog when i guest posted on July 7th-here goes!

**********

we are officially in mid-summer status. 

the sun is beaming, the kids are sweating, and the moms are beating their heads trying to find ways to entertain the kids. 

well this post is not about entertaining, 

but it is about treats. 

summer treats! yahoo!

hey wait, i guess this falls into the entertaining category eh?

i know i know. macarons you say?

but what about the scale thing? and the egg temperature thing? and the almond flour coarseness thing? and the i didn't let a shell form on them before i baked them thing? 

and the...and the...and the...

whoa!

all these things are what i was afraid of as well when i first started on my macaron adventure. 

but i just followed martha's recipe to a T and i mean

TO. A. T.

that did not have a scale involved or a specialty almond flour or anything special really, as surprising as that may seem for martha, but it really does work, at least for me.

so i made these:

i used the same lemon filling that i made when i made my mommy macarons last year cuz 

mmmmmmm if that's enough reason for ya.

i had some batter left over so i made 4 circle ones er...somewhat circle ones and then decorated them with a food marker.

and i decorated my suns too.

can i tell you how easy it is to use food markers on these?

my markers never behaved as well as they do when you draw on macarons!

and it doesn't matter what brand you use cuz i have a bunch of different kinds and they all work the best on macarons. (take it from someone who has tried to draw on fudge, candy melts, marshmallows and well, you get the picture). but if you must know, i used americolor brand for these.

here are some more suns.

now if you notice, because i haphazardly on purpose made the rays different on each cookie, 

the rays do not match up. i did that on purpose so the macaron would have a 3-d effect of their rays.

is that enough sun for you?

imagine if we had no sun...

oh what a sad day that would be!

but sometimes the sun does this too, 

where it's kinda too much sun.

whoa nellie!

grab your sunglasses!

there ya go.

summer sun. just right.

here's to sunny days throughout the year :)

hawaiian tiki pole cake pops: guest post on PINT SIZED BAKER

hey guys!

it looks like i'm on another "summer vacation"!

this time i went back to hawaii (kind of) after making my hula girls and am now over at Karyn's awesome site 
Pint Sized Baker because she actually is in hawaii (lucky duck)and asked me to guest post! YIPPEEEEEE!!!

so come on over HERE and join me for a luau and you can see how i made these crazy cake pops:

see ya over there and don't forget to bring the roasted pig and pineapples!
oh and the comments-those are the best.

decorated fortune cookie wafers

do you play with your food?

cuz once you start playing with your food, 

it's really hard to go back.

i mean, i've gotten to the point where i see something and try to figure out how i can change it.

either that or they just speak to me themselves.

hey!

see what i mean?

these spoke to me almost immediately when i saw them. 

look! they're all natural!

and they taste DEEEE-LICIOUS seriously! 

like a really light fortune cookie that melts in your mouth and eating them is much like eating lay's potato chips cuz there's no way you can eat just one.

but best of all, they make

yup. 

they totally looked like canvases to me, just waiting to be drawn on. 

i saw an entire bag of faces actually.

so i got to work.

yup!

a summer scene with sunshine, a beach ball, and a swimming couple including one with a hairy chest and legs and another...oops! 

uh ma'am?

could it be i kinda screwed up?

i'm sorry! here lemme fix that for you.

uh don't think so mister.

but i will give the lady an instant makeover. 

yup.

that is very true.

good call mr. swimmer. you're a keeper.

so there's your interchangeable summer scene.

hey let's make something else!

i just made one per holiday but you can of course expand on the number you want.

and you can see that half cookies make cute rainbows. 

donuts, cupcakes, and pancakes with butter and syrup.

(the cookies really do look like miniature pancakes 

by the way.)

i think it'd be real cute to make a bunch of cute donuts or cute cupcakes and put it on cute plate.

ok so here's another idea.

stick them in your kid's lunchbox as a surprise with some plain ones or hubby's lunch or even your own to remind you about an errand you gotta run.

the possibilities are endless.

your kids can draw on them too.
you can draw babies for a shower, couple names for an engagement party, a birthday cake and gifts, messages with one word on a cookie as a game to figure out, or whatever and stick them all in a jar as a unique gift or just in a baggie for fun.
they can be as detailed or as simple as you want. and the marker doesn't smear at all.

you may be unsure at first on what to make of them because of the endless possibilities.

but i know one thing's for sure,

hawaiian hula girl fudge sticks

did or are you on summer vacation yet?

we always do road trips for the summer so it's kinda hard to get to places from here to there 

if they involve an ocean in between. 

i know it's much easier to fly but hubby 

does not like to fly.

anyway, hawaii is one place that i am sure is gorgeous in the summer, even though the beach is literally 25 minutes from our house, i think walking on a hawaiian volcanic black sand beach would be pretty dang cool.

so since it does not seem that hawaii is in our future plans, i am bringing it here at home.

check it out.

if you take the 2 pics on the left and put them together, that's what the package looks like. it was kinda hard to get the whole thing in focus and up close cuz the package is a little long.

their colors caught my eye (there were pink ones too in the cake decorating section) but i dunno about their purpose.

if they really are for centerpieces, they look a little droopy.

so i flipped them upside down and got an idea.

not sure if you ever saw these silly "fishes" that i made a few weeks ago but i had some leftover fudge from this recipe and made this treat, but any vanilla fudge will do.

heck even cake pops will work but i was too

lazy to make cake pops.

anway, let's begin.

do you see what i'm making yet?

and most importantly, grab some mini peanut butter cups too.

and i mean mini mini mini cups like i got at trader joe's. 

if you get regular mini reese's cups then your treats will look like dolly parton.

and dolly does not equal hawaii.

use a black food marker to draw the bikini top strings. 

my kids said they needed strings cuz they looked like bOObs without them.

darn kids. they're watching too much mtv. 

(lol! just kidding!)

aw man, bOOb talk again?

but we know those aren't real coconuts right?

so hey you got something to say about that hula girl?

nothing?

anything?

ok i'll take that.

and i think dolly would agree with that too.