DIY mini brown paper and doily snack bags

So it seems lots of people thought the little handmade brown paper bags that I popped my sugar spiced pecan cranberry popcorn mix in were a bit cute so I'm doing up a tutorial on how to make them below.

I'm not actually big on craft and do it more out of.....uh saying necessity would be wrong, perhaps lack of forward planning and cheapness might be more accurate. The idea for these bags came about something like this.

Hmmmm I've made up this yummy pecan nut mix and it is REALLY good but just photographing a pile of sticky looking pecans might not convey just how good so how can I make it look better in the photo's. I've just had a look in my 'prop' cupboards and nothing is really cutting it.

Oh-oh it's 6 o'clock now and the kids will be up soon, I better hurry. Think...think. Brown paper bags,yes you serve nuts in bags. But I only have big ones or these kinda cool envelopes that tie up with string, oh I like those and forgot I had them, nice! (Tie up and untie little envelopes)....focus I need little bags. Doh why don't I just cut my big ones down.

Double oh-oh one of the kids is awake. Sure sweetie we can make blueberry pancakes. 

So I did it - well both of the it's. In between making pancakes I cut down my savings brand brown paper bags and used some double sided tape to stick the the bags back together on the sides that needed sticking.

They still looked a little boring so I thought I would add some paper doiles and tie them up with a little paper twine I had saved.......and the end result looked pretty good in my picture with the nuts spilling out if I do say so myself ;) Well definitely better than a pile of sticky looking nuts.

Pretty swish for something I whipped up during breakfast. I've given really simple instructions on how I made the bags down below.

Yummy Sugar Spice Cranberry Pecan Popcorn Mix - Recipe HERE

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DIY mini Brown Paper Doily Bags
Finished bag are approx 10cm (4") X 13cm (5")

You'll need:
Regular sized paper bags
scissors
double sided tape
oval doilies (mine were 22cm (8 3/4"0x 14.5cm (5 3/4")
twine or paper string
(optional hot glue for adhering string to back of bag)

Make up your own mini brown paper bags by cutting a regular bag into quarters.

Trim off a half a cm (1/4") from the bottom and side of the top 2 bags and then trim the corners (see picture below bottom left) so that you can fold together to make a neat bag. Use double sided sticky tape (I cut my double sided tape in half lengthways as it was a little too wide) and then fold the sides over to secure, Press down with a ruler to make the folds/edges sharp and neat. Make sure you have trimmed a triangle off the top corner so that the shape and opening of the top look the same as the original regular size bag.

For the bottom 2 quarters you will need to trim half a cm (1/4") from the one long open side and use the tape down that one side and fold it over to make a mini bag. I then cute half a cm (1/4") from one side of the top of the bag and a little triangle at each side of the top to make the shape and opening of the top look the same as the original regular size bag.

Adhere a lace doily to the mini brown paper bag.

Trim doily to size - mine were large oval doilies I picked up at a discount store so I cut them in half. Use double sided tape to adhere the doily to the bag, making sure you fold the edges neatly (use a ruler to press flat if you need) over and stick the back edges in place.

Finish by tying some twine, paper string or jute around the bag. Use a little glue on the back or tape to stick it in place.

There you have it super cute little bags that can make anything from M&M's to sugared nuts look even better.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Ant picnic in the park cake and cookies and a little secret

This fun ant picnic cake was for a friend's picnic in the park party for her son's birthday.

Shh don't tell everyone but I'm going to share a secret.......although the bottom cake is super delicious chocolate buttercake covered with butter cream frosting the top 6" cake is actually a styro foam (fake) covered with fondant and then topped with hand made ant picnic figurines and decorations.

Sometimes I do that with the cakes and make a fake cake for the top tier.....although it's pretty much just as much work (well apart from making the cake and frosting) you don't end up with all that left over cake and you can make it a little bit in advance. It's a neat trick if you know you'll be a little rushed for time before the party.

When Daneve from Ah-Tissue mentioned she was throwing together this super fun filled party, I offered to help out with the cake, so she kindly directed me to her pintrest inspiration board.

and I totally did not spend hours looking at perfect white kitchens, fabulous shoes and hairstyles that I could never actually do, let alone wear.

Ok maybe I did just for a little bit :) Afterwards I had a peek at Daneve's party inspiration board, and noticed a bit of red gingham and quite a few ants......

Anyway so ants.....I'm not a huge fan of ants on food so I thought I would try a kinda cute cartoonish ant look for the treats, in the hope the kids would like them and so that it wouldn't completely freak me out.

To match the cake I made these square cookies with hand cut details for the ants, fondant red gingham and ant track drawn on with edible black pen.

and a plate piled with red macarons with filled with white chocolate raspberry ganache finished off my contribution.

Seriously Bubble and Sweet are having a totally awesome time

I'm not quite sure what's going on with the pose in this photo ???

WOW the actual party was so fun, with little picnic blankets, kids meal packs, and a great selection of sandwiches and salads to make your own picnic lunch.

As mentioned above Daneve from Ah-Tissue styled the party with a cute gingham theme. And I think quite a few of the party table pieces were from Creatively Bespoke Weddings & Events.

I truly loved all the little food packs it was such a great idea, and the suitcase of park friendly toys like frisbees and balls was a great touch.

 Make your own ice-cream stand - YES please

It was a fabulous fun filled morning.

 YUM!

 The Birthday Boy - awe he was such a sweet little host (photo by Darren Frankish)

Head on over to the Ah-Tissue blog if you want to see more photo's of the super cute picnic in the park party.

Oh Sweet Mum - A rustic pie buffet party table

I love my mum.

Without a doubt she has been the hugest female influence in my life. She taught me to cook, to love and to be the best I can be, she made me who I am and if my own children end up loving and respecting me as much as I do my own mother...then I'll be pretty happy and call my time here a success.

So when Jacki from Blissfully Sweet asked if I would like to be involved in an E-vent being organised in memory of her own mother I was honored to participate.

When I signed on I had no idea how gorgeous the Oh-Sweet Mum E-vent would be. Jacki co-ordinated a group of super talented stylists, artists, florists, florists, cake decorators and more from within Australia and around the world to come up with a day of amazing events.

I would highly recommend that you CLICK HERE to read the E-Magazine that was created to showcase the E-vent. It includes so many beautiful images, information about the contributors, recipes and diy ideas including my recipe for Caramel Slice.

Want caramel slice to rival these babies

....click over to the E-zine it includes my recipe

Anyway......my mission (if I chose to accept it) was to create a Pie, Tart and Slice E-vent and I decided the best way would be a dessert buffet.

That little Mission Impossible pun is due to the fact that Pies are not really my thing.

But I think I met the challenge and came up with a rustic inspired pie and slice table with my own Bubble and Sweet spin. Although there are a couple of traditional pies on display I have included 'Pie' Macarons, Whoopie Pies, Pie Pops and pretty little Chiffon Pumpkin verrines with mini macarons and pecan pie crust bites.

I'm pretty happy with the end result which I'm going to admit is only this good due to the contributions of Naomi V Photography and Ah-Tissue.

With the original concept of the Oh Sweet Mum E-vent in mind and in the interests of women's health, I am going to donate a dollar for every comment on this pie table post up to $100 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  (I know that there are many other important aspects of women's health and other great organisations I have just chosen this one this time).

Also as a mother to 3 young children myself I know that sometimes my own health takes a back seat to everything else going on. But regardless of what is happening I do make sure I always keep any of my regular doctor's check up appointments and I try to remember to keep up my own self-examination routine. Please if you take anything from this post today I hope that it how important you are to your friends and family and that you should look after your health.... and the same applies to all you men out there as well :)

OK now that I've got off my soap-box, back to the yummy treats:



Rustic Pie and Party Table menu included:

Sky High Apple Pie
Rustic Cherry Pie

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with mini chocolate macarons and pecan piecrust bites

Pie Pops (recipes from Sweets on a Stick)
Peanut Butter Boston Cream Pie

Rustic Chocolate Pecan Pie

 Chocolate Cream Mousse Pie with mini chocolate macarons and Hazelnut Tart Shell

Whoopie Pies

Assorted Slices (Rocky Road (recipe from Sweets on a Stick), Mum's Sweet Caramel Slice and Cheesecake Slice)

 Chocolate chunk fudge brownie Slab; and

 Apple Pie macarons

The table theme was inspired by the chocolates and caramels in the treats with some gold and teal highlights.

Ah-Tissue created an amazing display of paper and hessian wall pom poms which I can only describe as wall art.

The gorgeous photography is by Naomi V Photography. and the photo's are taken at her studio

(This was my favorite photo of the day - apart from the girls of course - 

I think because they were my favorite treat - super yum)

Printables are by Style Me Gorgeous.

The dresses and hair pieces that Bubble and Sweet are wearing are Tea Princess purchased from Tea Princess and Vintage Ladybird.

Recipes for the Pie Pops, Boston Cream Pies and the Rocky Road are from Sweets on a Stick

Sweets on a Stick 0ver 150 Kid Friendly Recipes available from Amazon and Fishpond 

(and lots of other places too)

Pretty Easter Pastel Rainbow Party

I know I say it a lot but my daughter (Sweet) was the inspiration behind this pretty little party.

Her favorite color is rainbow......which suits her personality perfectly.

It's quite a simple party as it was for Easter and there would be lots of chocolate eggs soon to follow.

I made a pretty pastel rainbow ruffle cake (CLICK HERE FOR HOW TO MAKE IT) as the center piece of the party. It is actually also 5 layers of rainbow cake inside to match the outside ruffles and adorably pretty.

Then I made up some Oreo Eggs (CLICK HERE FOR OREO TRUFFLE RECIPE) and dipped them in a rainbow of candy melt colors.

I also made up some simple chick cookies in rainbow colors. The cookies are all about the cute cutter which I picked up at Ecrandal.

I found a pretty Easter printable range at The TomKat Studio which was in soft pastel colors that worked in well.

The Candy are actually Yogurt Gummy type lolli's. I know it sounds totally weird but they actually taste nice. They are 99% fat free, 50% fruit juice with yogurt powder and milk solids - Oh my goodness it's nearly like a health food (saying that mockingly). But I was really pleased I found them as they are a super pretty pastel color and they were so reasonably priced. They came in a huge packet which also had orange and white and I just popped on some gloves and separated them. They are made by vitabite and also come in frog and snake versions. In the US I found some on a site called Yogurt Gums that looked the same.

I filled pretty mini baskets I picked up last year from Sharnel Dollar Designs with jelly bean eggs and chocolate eggs and decorated the baskets with The TomKat Studio printables and a ribbon as thank you gifts.

The pretty mini pom poms are from Ah-Tissue,

and I popped some on hand made card rosettes and some on hand dyed pink paper doilies.

To hand dye doilies pop on some gloves, mix up some food color in water in a shallow bowl. Hold on to the edge of the doily on the right side, dip the left half and then hold on the other side and dip the right side. Place on Viva or paper towels until dry and then iron inbetween a couple of paper towels.

 Suppliers

Cake, cake pop and cookies by Bubble and Sweet (see post for instruction links)
Printables by The TomKat Studio
Mini Easter baskets by Sharnel Dollar Designs
Mini Pom Poms by Ah Tissue