Happy Cinco de Mayo!

What are you doing today? Will you be celebrating Cinco de Mayo?

Today is not Mexico's Independence Day, it actually celebrates a battle from 1862 when a small group of the Mexican army defeated the French in Puebla.

My husband's ancestry is Mexican and we will be celebrating tonight and this weekend (holidays on Tuesdays are the pits!)

I have a free printable for you! You can quickly download and print for your holiday display. This would be a great discussion starter for children interested in Mexico's history.

Tonight I will be getting together with my stitching group and I plan on making these churro cupcakes from Desert Chica. Don't they look so amazing?

And of course some fresh margaritas. I made these last weekend and they were insanely good. You can find the recipe on The Pioneer Woman (take her advice and add a bit more sugar in the blender unless you want them tart.)

Princess Leia - Crochet Beanie Mini Tutorial

Have you joined the Resistance? We are huge Star Wars fans and proud members of the Rebel Scum. When a dear friend asked if I could create a Princess Leia cap for her baby girl's photo shoot, I jumped at the chance. This crocheted hat is adorable, simple, and you can create it during a nap! Don't crochet? No problem, you could also adapt this to a pre-purchased knit or crocheted hat.

If you love to crochet, but need an easy beenie pattern, I found a fabulous one over at Left In Knots. There are multiple sizes, you could create matching Princess Leia caps for May the 4th!
I used a dark brown acrylic yarn, easy to wash and durable for little kids. I used Vanna's Choice in Chocolate.

Next you will cut 36 pieces of yarn measuring one yard. Pull out that yard stick and let the kiddos help. It doesn't have to be crazy accurate. Divide the stack in half - two sets of 18 pieces. Now with each set you will create a large braid - 3 groups of 6. Just a traditional braid - again, you could enlist you kiddos to help with this. It's a fabulous fine motor activity.

Then gently roll the braid into what kind of looks like a cinnamon roll. Using a yarn needle and another long piece of yarn, sew the bun layers together. Make it nice and tight, don't worry about the seams showing - it all blends in.

Place the beanie on and decide placement of the braid buns, but they are basically low to the cuff and centered. Sew them on and call it a day!

Wasn't that easy? Now you and your strong girls can join the Rebel Alliance or party hard on May the 4th Be With You! Have questions? Drop me an email or comment below.

Isn't my friend's baby the most adorable Princess Leia ever? You can easily adapt this into any size. I'm considering making myself one for snowboarding season!

Are you looking for more Star Wars fun? I have a fun baking blog over at Sweet Jenny Belle. I recently created a round up of all my galactic fun cookie and cupcake tutorials, recipes and ideas. Whether you are with the Rebel Alliance or have gone to the Dark Side, we always have cookies!

XO, 

Jenny

Grand Re-Opening of All Things Belle Etsy Shop

My studio is overflowing. I didn't start painting with the intent to sale, but it seems crazy not to. With some reservation, I've decided to reopen my Etsy shop. For now I am selling my original paintings, textile art and mixed media piece. I hope you will stop by now and then and see what's over there. I will start selling prints in June of 2015.

 Vanilla Milkshake

 French Macarons

Her Last Bath

Tulip Festival - Thanksgiving Point

If you live in Northern Utah, chances are you have been to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. There are so many fun adventures waiting there for children and adults. One of our favorite events is the Tulip Festival in the Gardens. The Gardens are over 55 acres and feature more than 250,000 tulips! You can even rent a golf cart or segway to move about quicker if desired. It's open for another week or so, if haven't made your trip there yet.

At the end of the festival each tulip bulb is unearthed and many are sold at Thanksgiving Point - I am definitely purchasing a slew of them this year! Every year the gardens are redesigned to create a new display.

We climbed up and down those stairs for quite a bit of time. And many wishes were made into the fountains on Momma's spare pennies. 

This little pathway was our favorite. The colorful lanterns had my children giddy and they tried desperately to jump high enough to grab one. This would be an amazing display for a party or wedding reception!

Dipped S'mores Cupcakes - Oh My!

If you know me, you know I have a love affair with S'mores. I may go camping as much as I do just as an excuse to have them. The toasted marshmallows, the sweet chocolate and crunch of graham crackers. Oh my!

And you will also I know that I loooove cupcakes, but not such a fan of cake. Go figure.

This past week I made dipped s'more cupcakes that had my family and friends in tears of joy.
Want to make them?

This is not completely original, so I'm going to send you where you need to go for the recipes and give you the steps, ok?

1. Bake lots and lots of mini cupcakes (These are a big mouthful - eating a normal size cupcake would be crazy! Trust me on the mini size.) I used Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe. And it is soo perfect! This made several dozen mini cupcakes. Bake and cool.

2. While it's cooling you can make the toasted marshmallow butter cream frosting. Don't use fluff - gag. Make it from scratch and you will be amazed by the difference! I used Cookie and Cups recipe. Now I won't lie - this is a messy endeavor, but way worth it! Frost the cupcakes high and mighty with a star tip.

3. Place frosted cupcakes in the freezer for 1 hour. While they are freezing, smash a few graham crackers. Take out the week's frustration on them with a mallet!

4. Now you will need 2 bags of Wilton's candy melts in the S'more flavor. I am not a fan of artificial flavor, it usually fails horribly. However these are so good - I could eat the bag of wafers all by myself. You need to slowly melt these either in the microwave or double boiler.

5.Take out your cupcakes, dip the tops in the melt and sprinkle crushed graham crackers on top. Allow to rest on the counter for a few minutes and you will see them magically harden.

6. Eat allll the S'more cupcakes!!!

Yummy! Hope you try these <3 p="">