May 26, 2020

This Chocolate Tool Box with CakePops for tools is what I made for a carpenter. This is also a fun idea for Father’s Day?! This is almost completely edible! Besides the little cake pop holder insert on the inside and the cake board it sits on;)!

Things I used to make the tool box portion was a wood grain mold, and disposable cake pop stand from BRP Box Shop, 2 cardboard cake Circles, washi tape, a metal straight edge, almond bark and a pretzel rod.

First I measured the cake pop stand against the chocolate mold so I could see how big I wanted to make it. I didn’t worry too much about getting it perfect but I knew bigger was better than smaller. You can always cut away what is too big!

Melt your chocolate almond bark on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Then spoon or pour it onto the mat.

I wanted the inside to be smooth, so before it set I put a peice of wax paper over the melted chocolate and gave it a light roll with the rolling pin. This will smooth it out. Be careful not to press too hard and thin out the chocolate. If it is too thin it will be fragile.

Once it is set you can remove the wax paper. Then I heated up a metal straight edge to trim the chocolate panel.

Now it is very easy to trim the panel to size.

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Then just repeat this process until you have enough panels to complete the build! I made 6 panels. I made 1 to go up against each side of the disposable cake pop BRP Box (4 total), and then another 2 for the top side portion that the pretzel went through!

Don’t you just hate when you forgot a picture!! But I used a tiny circle cutter to cut the hole out of the top portion for the pretzel to go through!

Next it was time to “glue” the panels together! I used just melted alond bark for this step. I put the melted chocolate into my fancy piping bag (aka sandwich baggy with tip cut off;)) and “glued” each corner.

For the top portion, I wanted it to be at a slight angle. To do this I filled up a tall glass with water and placed it inside the box. This way I had support for the chocolate panel until “the glue” had set. I really “glued” this portion so it was really sturdy!

Next to cover all my seams I used some chocolate buttercream! My favorite buttercream recipe is equal parts butter & Crisco, a tbsp of vanilla, and about 3 cups of powder sugar (or till the consistency is firm enough to hold a shape).

I used a 1B tip.

And piped a zig-zag line over all the seams!

Next to make the cake pops!

To make these pops you will need to bake a cake. Then let it cool and turn it into dough by either kneading that down to a doughy consistency. The food processor is the fastest, but you can do it by hand too. Just mix it up with some of your favorite binder, like buttercream, jam, pudding, the list is endless;)!! If you do use the food processor, all you need is the cake, check it out:

Then roll them out into little 1.25″ balls.  Of course to knock this boring part out in no time flat, may I suggest you take a look at the Easy Roller and roll up to 21 cake balls at a time;)!!

Once you have all your cake balls rolled to 1.25″ in diameter (about the size of a ping-pong ball) dip them into your candy melts or almond bark. Before they set I rolled these cake pops into crushed oreo, coconut flakes and crushed peanuts! Then let them set!

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Now it is just time to “glue” 2 cake circles together (for extra support.) I used washi tape around the edge to cover the exposed cardboard. Then the disposable BRP Box Shop cake pop stand to the cake cardboard circle. Fill up the stand with the cake pops and slide a pretzel rod through the top!

If you liked this tutorial please take a look and share with your friends our Easy Roller!! It is how we keep these tutorials coming to you:)!

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May 11, 2020

How is it possible I have never written a post about how to make Football cake pops?! With Football being so wildly popular these are some of the first cake pops I have ever made!

These are so easy!

To get started, bake your favorite cake recipe. If you are just making cake pops, one box of cake will make about 30 cake pops if you are using the standard Easy Roller.  If you don’t have the Easy Roller yet, think ping pong ball size once they are dipped.

You can also take all the tops and bottoms from a decorated cake, yesterday’s cupcakes, or even a store bought cake! Just crumble and knead it down until it is a pliable dough.  Think the consistency of Play-Doh;)!  You can do this by hand (you also will need a bit of frosting this way). However, it’s faster, and easier on the wrists if you just put your cake into the mixer or food processor. Just leave it in there until it turns to dough! No Frosting needed! However, if you’re looking for some extra sweetness, or special flavor, go ahead and add it all in at once!

Next take that dough and roll them into balls.  We do this step with the help of the Easy Roller!It can roll an entire cake in no time at all, since it rolls 21 cake balls at one time & they are all the same size! Here is how it works if you haven’t seen or heard of it yet!

…if you don’t make cake pops often but you still would like to make them faster our newest “Mini” Easy Roller is now available! (This one rolls 9 at a time!) Once all your cake is rolled into balls dip them into melted candy melts. To prepare the candy melts, place the candy melts in a microwave safe container and place it into the microwave on 50% power (or defrost) for 1 minute, take it out of the microwave and stir. Put the bowl back in the microwave at 50% power, in 30 second increments until fluid)!

Once you have the cake dough rolled into balls, pinch either side to make a point on each end!

Then dip the stick into the melted chocolate and into the cake ball. Then dip the entire pop into the melted chocolate. From here, you can then go 2 different ways! Either place them upright into a cake pop stand to set

…or downward facing onto wax paper to set. If you are new to cake pops, or just in a hurry I recommend placing them on wax paper!

Once the chocolate has set I just add the details in white! I melt the white candy melts in the same way (on 50% power). When the candy melts have melted I pour them into a sandwich bag and snip off the tip (just a tiny tiny bit!) The smaller the hole the more control you will have!

I start with the sides. One line across each tip. Instead of “Drawing” this line, I squeeze out the melts in an even flow (with wax paper underneath to catch drips) and pass the cake pop under the flow. The line is straighter and more consistent.

Then I make one horizontal line across the top for the laces. Wait for this line to set before moving on or it will all just puddle together! Then when it is dry just make perpendicular lines! If you want to be technical I believe each football as a certain amount of laces, but I don’t get that specific;)!!

Thats it! These are pretty straight forward and easy! Football cake pops are the perfect game day treat!

I hope you give these football Cake Pops a try! I’d love to see them! You can send me a message on Facebook or Pinterest! I will see them there first:).  Also, don’t forget to check out my Easy Roller too! Because that’s how we keep these posts coming 🙂

May 11, 2020

I just wanted to take a moment and talk about the importance of Pinterest Templates. Pinterest is a platform I didn’t really use or pay much attention to until recently. Huge Mistake! There is an insane number of users here! I was just sort of adding a picture and link when I had something new to share (if I got around to it).

Recently I have discovered these Pinterest Templates through a class I was taking! Wow! Game Changer. My content is really starting to reach people! I am using Canva to create these “fancy new pins” that are getting some traction. For now I am using the free version they offer to get to know the software and I was also was spending some time to create new pins. Its relatively simple but being new to the program I was struggling to get the look I wanted in a reasonable amount of time. Who has hours to create 1 pin… Oh Wait, Quarantine;)!

Well, I also have Easy Rollers to ship, Facebook to manage, cake pops to make/ photograph, home-school during this Covid-19 time, a million meals to cook for the 5 us (which means a sink full of dishes that never end)! So I needed a bit of a short cut here! What I found were 103 Canva Pinterest templates! These templates were designed by a Pinterest Super Star & have the look I was trying to create! But it was taking me FOREVER to do by myself!!

I am a DIY girl, but prioritizing my time in order to get through my workflow is essential! I mean, that is what the Easy Roller is all about! How else can you roll 500 balls in less than an hour? Without paying a few people to help you, anyway? These employee cost or if you are lucky, exploiting a friends kindness, gets old fast! That is how value is found in this “plastic, hand powered tool.” You will pay for the Easy Roller in a busy 8 hour day!

I feel the same about these Pinterest Templates I found! What took hours, now takes minutes! This give me more and ultimate adds to my bottom line! Far and away worth the $97 fee to have over 100 templates available to customize at a moments notice!

I would also like to share with you some progress photos. Who doesn’t love progress photos! You can see just how important it is to put some effort into the pin’s you are pinning!

OK, Here is where I started from. This was just February 15, 2020!

This is just shy of 3 months later, today May 11, 2020!

Just LOOK at those numbers!! That is crazy! Impressions from 27k to 210k!! Audience 21k to 161k and engagements from under 1,ooo to almost 6,000!! Incredible!! Take all my money right now!! And this is just the beginning! I have only really just started updating my pins!!!

I have a few more “in between” screenshots if you are curious. The growth from using these Templates have been nothing short of amazing, in my opinion!

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I hope you give these new Templates a try! I’d love to see your progress as well! You can send me a message on Facebook or Pinterest! I will see them there first:).  Also, don’t forget to check out my Easy Roller too! Because that’s how we keep these posts coming 🙂