LuckY LePrechauN haTs

So it turns out that my kindergartener's school is having their spirit week this week and on Thursday (St. Patrick's Day) they're supposed to wear their craziest hats to school, along with their green.  So when I saw this post at Kiki Creates...well, there was no question...

I had to make two for my little leprechauns. 

I had full intensions of doing a tutorial on how I made mine...but then got too excited to get them done and totally forgot to take pictures of the process. So I'll do my best to tell you what I did...

Supplies you'll need:

1 sheet of felt in all colors...*except green you'll need 3 sheets

Sewing machine

Thread (could use coordinating colors, I just used white)

Ruler

 Scissors or Rotary Cutter

Back around Christmas time I made a bunch of these hats for snowman kits and used the same idea when making these leprechaun hats.  Only difference was that I had to piece together the tube part (the different colors of felt) of the hat.

Because I used the precut sheets of felt I cut 3" inch strips (2 of each color) then stitched them to together end to end making one long strip of each color (about 24" inched in length).  Next I lined up my long strips in the color order I wanted, overlapping them about a 1/4 of an inch.  Then I pinned each stripe in place.  I liked the look of one raw edge showing on the outside of the hat, so I went with that rather than having the seams all on the inside.  See pic below to get a better idea of what I'm talking about...

After that I sewed each strip together and ended up with one rainbowed panel. This is what I used  to make the 'tube' of the hat.  From there I just followed this tutorial to finish it up.  Although, again because I used the small sheets of felt I did have to piece together the brim of the hat.  To do that I cut out two half circles and stitched them together.  Also I made the measurements a bit smaller to fit smaller heads. 

So, for the brim I cut a 12" circle (or two 6" half circles)

and then cut a 7 1/2" circle out of the middle of the brim (the 12" circle)

My pannel for the 'tube' of the hat measured 22" long

And for the top of the hat I cut a 7" circle.

I hope that makes sense to someone.  Next time I will definitely take pictures!  Much easier to explain with a picture.

Anyway, If you can follow my crappy instructions, you might end up with something that looks like this...

Last step is to stuff it with a luCkY littLe LePreChaun.

It's funny, when you place them on their heads they can't help but do a littLe iRiSh jiG.

 

How we CeLeBraTe St. Patty's...

How many of you have those pesky little leprechauns visit this time of year?  They always seem to find us.  We never know what we'll find when we wake up on St. Patty's Day. 

So last year we set a trap...

 

We left a trail of lucky treats leading to a pile of chocolate gold and rainbow cupcakes (cause that's what their after, you know).

...but they escaped...

And ran wild through the house...

Turning things green...yep, even the milk!

They left green treats...

They messed with the furniture...strong little buggers!

And our breakfast (eggs)!

They splattered rainbow everywhere!

And left us a tricky little lunch...

And for dinner, a little Irish ale...our version anyway.

This year we're determined to catch one...my boys have been planning and scheming for weeks.  Watch out little leprechauns!  We're ready for you this year!

How do you celebrate St. Patty's?

Rainbow Cupcakes...a How to

I've had a lot of questions about these cupcakes that I made last year for St. Patricks Day since they were featured on Sister's Stuff today.  So let me see if I can help you all out by answering a few questions here.

1.  I used Airhead Extremes Sour Belts for the rainbows.  You can usually find them in any candy isle.  I recently found them in Target's dollar spot. 

A trick when using these, they're usually a little soft and don't hold their shape when they're fresh out of the package.  So I usually open up the package and let them sit for a day or two before putting them on my cupcakes.

 

2.  To make the cake rainbowed I divided the batter (make sure to use a white cake mix) equally into 5 different bowls, colored each bowl of batter (colors of the rainbow).

 ...then spooned a bit of each color into the cupcake liner til it was 3/4 full.  I used my mini cookie scoop (only filled about half full) to get them filled as evenly as possible.

 This step does take a little bit of time, but it's worth it I promise!

 Also, I used gel food coloring to get more vibrant colors.

And the final product.  So fun to rip open that wrapper and find the rainbow surprise inside.

3.  I use real butter for the frosting...gotta use the real stuff!

Easy Butter Cream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1 lb. powder sugar (about 4 cups)
3 TBS milk
2 tsp. Vanilla

Cream butter til light and fluffy.  Add sugar 1 cup at a time mixing well inbetween.  Add milk and vanilla.  Then whip until it's light and fluffy...really, keep whipping!  Then I spoon my frosting into a quart sized baggie, snip one corner of the bag and pipe the frosting in swirls on top of the cupcake.

Hope that answers the questions.
Good LUCK...hee, hee...with cupcake making!  Love these, they are one of my very favorites. 

It's MarCh!

I can't believe it!

Time is flying.

It's been nearly a month since I last posted.

A baby girl will be here soon.

Trying to finish things up before that happens.

Yikes!

Will it all be done in time?

Made a little St. Patricks print, or two.

Copy, paste, print...if you'd like.

I've got pics of the (sort of) finished nursery.

Hope to have them up soon.

Thats all I have time for now.

Be back soon...I hope.

LuCky CuppY CaKes

Edited:  I've added a How To here if you're interested in making these.

I know, I know...I'm late again with this post.  But that's the way I roll...LaTe.  I figure I made all of these and took the pictures, so I might as well post them.  Just save the idea for next year.  Or even better, take the idea and make it work for the next holiday, party, celebration you're having.

I made a few cupcakes on St. Patty's Day.  The hubs was put in charge of treats for his youth group of about 60 or so teenage boys and girls.  So of course there had to be enough for everyone to have two...did mention they were for teenagers?

A little food coloring goes a long way.  You can change the color of your cupcakes to match any occasion...red/pink for Valentines, orange for Halloween, red, white and blue for the 4th of July.  I did these ones rainbow colored to go with the leprechaun/end of the rainbow theme...

They're even rainbow on the inside.

And of course there had to be some chocolate...wouldn't these be fun with mint frosting?

Fun and festive aren't they?

For the frosting I whipped up my favorite buttercream frosting (recipe below) then put it into a plastic bag, snipped the corner of the bag and pipped the frosting into swirlies on top of the cakes. 

So there you go.  Cinch.

Now go make some fun festive cuppy cakes of your own!

Easy Butter Cream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 cups)

3 TBS milk

2 tsp vanilla

Mix the butter until smooth and creamy.  

Add sugar, milk and vanilla on slow speed. 

Continue to mix until light and fluffy.

Edited to Add:  The rainbow candies are Airhead Extremes, usually can find them in the candy isle at the grocery store.  I believe I've seen them at the dollar store, too.  Also, I used gel food coloring to get more vibrant colors for the rainbow cake.