Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Easy Earings






Let me show you how to make the easiest earings.


They are really simple. I usually get stuff from Michaels, in the bead section. There is so much variety there and they make it so simple for you. Alot of the items are already prepared for you. They have done the hard stuff and you get the easy job of just attaching an earing hook and Ta-da.


I always get compliments on my earings and people are surpised when I tell them that I made them. So I am not sure if I should be giving away my simple secrets. Although there are more complicated earing that I make that are alittle to hard to blog about.




This is what I chose, but honestly go to Michaels and look for different things. There is alot to chose from.



Your supplies.
Two hook earings
and whatever you want to put on the bottom



Take a pair of needle nose pliers. Most guys have a pair of these, so just ask around for some.

You need to pull apart the ring on the bottom of your hook. Use your fingers and the pliers.





You can see from the picture I had of the supplies that the base of my earing already had a tiny ring attached to it. Like I said, they have it all already for you.

So now you just slip that little ring around the seperated ring on your hook earing and the close it together. Again with your fingers and pliers.




And Ta-Da. Cute little earings. It takes about 1 minute to make (maybe 2 minutes for your first pair).


The possibilities are endless.







These were all made just by attaching what I wanted to a hook earing. Simple.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Pumpkin Pecan Cake


My baking thoughts have turned from summer baking to fall baking. And I thought that I would try something new with canned pumpkin besides the usual pumpkin pie. Not that I don't love pumpkin pie, but I just thought that I would find another use for the canned stuff.

This cake was really good. The cake itself is really moist, but with a bit of crunch with a pecan crumb layer. The cream cheese icing is always a favorite of most people and the caramel drizzled over top just adds so much more.


Crumb layer:
In a large bowl, combine;

2cups crushed Vanilla wafers (about 60 wafers)
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, softened



Mix until crumbly.



Press into 3 greased and floured 9 in round baking pans.




Cake:
In another large bowl, beat;
1 package Spice cake mix
1 can (15oz) solid pack canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just pumpkin)
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Then beat on high for 2 minutes.




Spread over crust in each pan



Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick.




Place the first layer of cake on a cake plate, crumb side down.



Cream together
2 pkg (8 oz each) Cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
8 cups icing sugar




Spread icing over the layers. Placing each layer on top of iced previous on. Make sure to put the cake crumb side down.




Ice the entire cake.



Arrange pecan halves around cake.



Drizzle with 1/2 cup (or more) of caramel ice cream topping, letting it run over the edges




Oh, how good does that look.



Enjoy!!
Store in the refridgerator. It actually tastes better cold rather than at room tempurature.