May your day be filled with lots of LOVE!

While making Happy Valentine’s Day boxes for my college kiddos, I decided to use Mini Tootsie Pops as edible filler.  As I tossed them in, for just a moment, it looked as though one was looking back at me.  With a little embellishment from my trusty pen, he really was looking back at me.  (He didn’t wink, though.  That would have been weird.)  But, Ding!  Idea for a Valentine’s Day treat.  I decided to make a whole batch of Tootsie Pop People for Margaret’s Advisory Snack Day.  As I began, I realized that they needed a way to stand, since they had no legs, so I decided to give them big sweet cupcake chairs.  When I finished the project, I thought they looked a little bit like they were all seated in the movie theatre just waiting for the romantic movie to begin.

To begin, I needed a recipe for a great cupcake.  Margaret suggested that I use Funfetti cake mix from the grocery store, but I had just finished a tight deadline, and I was in the mood to make them from scratch.  I chose a recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in New York City because when I searched the web, it was mentioned all over the place.  (I did not choose it just because it was the favorite cupcakery for the Sex in the City ladies … I promise, I learned about that later!)  You can see the recipe here. And, if you click here, you can see a nifty how-to apply-frosting video from the cupcake pros at Magnolia Bakery.  This recipe did indeed yield some tasty cupcakes that blended with the buttercream frosting for a melt-in-your mouth happiness, but just so you know, I suspect I would have recieved the same appreciation for Funfetti cupcakes from my teen.  So depending on your mood and time, I would suggest this for Step One:  Either prepare your favorite cupcake recipe OR purchase Funfetti cake mix from the grocery store, which is perfectly acceptable, and possibly preferred, if the age range of your audience is anywhere from 6 to 16.

For directions to make EASY Tootsie Pop People Sitting On Cupcake Chairs, click here.

We received a gentle correction from one of our readers pertaining to the previous post honoring Groundhog Day:
Email Subject:  There’s a Groundhog Day in Australia? Who knew?
He also relabeled my artwork:  Punxsutawney Phil visits his Aussie cousin Adelaide Adelaide.
Okay, very funny.
But, alas, he was correct.  Although artist’s prerogative does allow all of my critters to live in an eternal springtime, I do agree that perhaps Punxsutawney Phil probably was looking for his shadow from a more wintry backdrop, which I have provided above for our more literal readers.  I did have to hold myself back from adding earmuffs and mittens to my little fellas, who have always lived in Springtimeville and might be a little chilly in their new home.
Thank you Doug for watching over our truth in blogvertising.  :-)

No matter whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, all of the critters at Cathy Heck Studio hope you are having a very nice Groundhog Day!

We are FINALLY taking down our Christmas tree.  Is there anyone else out there as late as we are?  Anyway, I was sort of intrigued with the groups of ornaments which were waiting in Ornament Purgatory … somewhere between hanging on the tree and returning to their off-season homes, so I snapped this picture.  And it’s a good thing I did, because it turned out to be Exhibit A!

When we did finally begin to place them into their proper ornament boxes, I noticed that the Bunny Groom was missing.  I noticed, because I always put him in the same ziploc bag as the Bunny Bride.  My helpers suggested that maybe he had not made it onto the tree this year, but I was positive that I had taken him down with his bride.  And, in fact, I had taken a photo of him … See?!  There he is … upper right … our handsome groom bunny. Proof positive.
So we searched hither and yon and the dapper groom was nowhere to be found.  Hmmmm … we  turned to Neville (our carol-singing dog of whom we were so proud at Christmastime) … “Neville, you didn’t steal the bunny groom did you?”
“He couldn’t have,” I said, trying to defend my obedient fella.  “I have been here all along, and all the other ornaments are still here … he would have had to pluck it out of the pile like a pick-up stick game!”  Then, suddenly, and I kid you not, Neville raced out the back door to the back gate, where he immediately turned himself in as the culprit and pointed to the mutilated groom … okay, well he did seem to be proud rather than remorseful, but still, he did fess up!  See his handiwork below.
We think our husband-to-be now looks like a groom who was mugged on the way to the wedding, but his adoring bride loves him anyway. It’s a rough start for this little bunny fella in the new year, but things can only look up from here.  Happy 2010 everyone.

(And, just so you know, Neville has been placed in Maximum Security (the backyard) until all ornaments are boxed and stored safely.  We are hoping that he will only have to endure two or three hours before being released for good behavior.  However, now that he has had a little taste of bunny ornament, our question is, will he try it again next year … and perhaps, right off the tree?  We may have to hire a rehabilitation officer to work with Nev to help him with his new problem. We’ll keep you posted on his progress.)

As usual, we will all be piled in watching our favorite Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life.  We hope all of you find yourselves doing a favorite thing with those you love.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Cathy and Ellen.

How one cute fourth grader became Grand Marshal of the Rockwall Christmas Parade:
Step 1:  Grace created artwork which her teacher entered into a city-wide art contest.
Step 2:  She won!
Step 3: She was named Grand Marshal of the Rockwall Christmas Parade.
Step 4: Grace was introduced to her senator and the mayor.
Step 5: Grand Marshall Grace rode in a convertible and waved to all of her fans.
Step 6: Grace even made the paper!
Congratulations little Grand Marshal!

In our house o’ girls, it became clear very early on that the dad would be relegated to packmule status for life!  We would like to wish a very happy birthday to our favorite packmule.
Thank you for carrying luggage, carrying backpacks, carrying us, driving us everywhere, changing light bulbs, changing the oil, changing diapers, supplying our techno needs (we know you actually like that), waiting for us in the shoe department, cooking pancakes, grilling burgers, driving carpools, putting the worms on the fishing poles, watching gymnastics on TV even when there is a football game on a different channel, tying skates, tying boots, tying ribbons in our hair, teaching us to ride bicycles, teaching us to drive cars (that’s scary),  watching ballet recitals, filming lacrosse games, throwing us in the air, making studio mockups, shipping tight deadlines, taking samples to the warehouse, retrieving samples from the warehouse,  washing windows, to-doing to-do lists, buttoning dresses, helping with homework, drying our tears and making us laugh. YOU ARE THE BEST.
Happy Birthday from all of your girls.

Our house was built in 1958 and we like to call it “moderne” (we say it with a French accent).  Santa brought this tree to me about ten years ago to match our house … it was just waiting for me in the entry, with the multi-colored rotating light and all!   I heard through the grapevine that Santa found it at a thrift shop and it was in its original box!  Every year, when that box comes into the house at decorating time, we just pull out the pretend trunk and pop on the foil limbs, turn on the turny light and Christmas begins.

This year, we are sending our Christmas card via blog express because we wanted to be able to share it with you in video form. This past summer, we acquired a rescue pup, Neville, whose genealogy is rather vague. One of the interesting things he likes to do is to lie down under the piano while Margaret is practicing, and in doing so, we discovered that he has a favorite song. We would like to share it with you in the video clip below. We hope your holidays are merry and bright!

Merry Christmas from Cathy and Jim, Ellen and Andrius, Julianna and Margaret … and Neville.