Did you know that you can change the background of your start screen in Windows8?  It is pretty awesome.  This way you don't have to use the backgrounds which are cute, but pretty boring after a while. 

Here's the one I made today.  So, want to know how to do it?  Keep scrollin'!

The first thing you need to do, is go here and download the ModernUIStartScreen.exe.

Once you have this, install it while you are on your desktop.
Open the ModernUIStartScreen program.  From here, you can click "Load Picture"  and choose any of the photos you have taken and use them as a background. 

Now, after you load the picture, drag the outline which is showing up over your photo in the top left corner.    See where the little arrows are in the top left corner? 

 

Drag it down to the right edge.  Like this.

Then hit Apply & Save.

It will show up... like this! 

You can make your photo smaller and play with it in your photo editor software to make it look the way you would like.

If you do digital scrapbooking, you will can also make your own background like this one.

Now you need to open your graphics program (ie Photoshop or Paintshop Pro). 
Save the template below (by right-clicking) and  open it in PS or PSP and fill it in as you like with your choice of graphics.

This should fit perfectly into your background (I think!)  It fits my laptop. :-)  If it doesn't work size-wise, you can add to the top and bottom (or to the sides) of the template until it fits better.

 



Now go to ModernUIStartScreen and "Load Picture" and add it!  Pretty simple.
 
If you have questions, leave a comment and I will try to help.

Have you seen these cute little airplanes made of candy in blogland or on Pinterest?  They are so cute and really pretty simple!  I actually made them last year for Valentine's Day, so I thought I would do it again since I now know how to make them more quickly.  They took me quite a long time last year, but this year, they were much easier because I had learned from my experience.

I thought I would share with you how to make them and teach you what I learned. 

Here are the ingredients you will need for each airplane: 

2 Lifesaver Candies

1 Stick of gum

1 pack of Smarties

a rubberband

a printed message

heavy string (like kitchen string or twine... I used crochet yarn because I had it around)

white cardstock

scissors

a hole punch

straight-edge cutter if you have one

I found everything here at Walmart Supercenter.  The candy and gum was in the regular candy and gum aisle which is in the food section... who knew?   The cardstock and the rubberbands were in the stationery aisle.  I liked the Flare 5 gum because the wrappers were red.  Some of the other 5 gums have different colored wrappers.... like, I think the peppermint wrapper is black. 

I suggest you get the assorted rubberbands because it is hard to say which size is the best for this .  I got these at Walmart and there were several sizes and thicknesses.  The medium, thin ones seemed to work the best.

Start by using your scissors and open all of the Lifesavers you will need.  Mine were individually wrapped, but if you find the rolls, it would be easier.  Thread a medium-sized rubberband through the holes of two lifesavers.  You have to find the best rubberband so as to not bend the gum too much {as you will see further down the page}.

Now place the wrapped gum through the loops of the rubberband.

Pull the Lifesavers apart and stick the end of the Smarties between the gum, rubberband and the Lifesavers.  You can see how the rubberband pulls the gum down.  This is where you will need to experiment.  Once this was together, I straightened the gum and it was fine.

Next, you need to use your straight-edge cutter to cut your messages.  I printed them on cardstock using a size 18pt font with 18pt space between them.  Again, you will have to experiment depending on the font you choose.  You could also do a hand written note which could be really cute in a child's handwritting. 

Cut a V-shape out of the end of the banner and cut a hole in the front of the banner for the string.

If there is a difficult part, it is tying the string on.  I tried many things last year and found that this is the best way to do it.....

I used a 10-inch piece of string, folded in half.  This is too long, but you can trim it at the end.  It is easiest to tie the knots with a longer piece than a shorter one.  So, fold the string in half, like below.

Thread the folded part of the string through the hole like so....

Loop the ends of the string though the loop like so....

Pull tight (but not too tighly or you will rip the paper!) on the ends to attach the string to the message.

Now, to attach the Smartie to the message, you will create a slip knot.  Fairly close to the message end of the string, create a loop, like so....

Pull part of the excess ends through the loop you just made, but don't pull the ends through! 

It should look like this.  Tighten the knot part of the way.  It should still be a little loose.

Now, put the end of the Smartie through that loop we just made.

Pull the ends of the string.  This will tighten the slip knot around the Smartie.

Trim the excess ends (but not too close to the paper or the slip knot can come undone)

 Here is the finished product.  Cute right?  I also decided to put two kinds of gum in these because it made them sturdier and the kids get more of the stuff they love.... gum!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! Enjoy the cute little candy airplanes!

                

I know I already posted today, but I thought you might like to see the INSIDE of the cake I posted about earlier.  I found the tutorial at Glorious Treats.  Be sure to stop by to see how it is assembled!  Very neat!

I hid the baking and assembling part from my boys.  They didn't see it until the white, whipped cream icing was on it.  Under the whipped cream icing, I made and Italian buttercream and layered and crumb coated with that.  Yum!  My red is a bit pink, but I love pink, so I didn't mind!

Birthdays in December are never a good thing.  So much going on and so many things to do!  I always try to do a real party for my son so he doesn't feel left out.  This year, he wanted a LEGO theme, so I found some LEGO candy for the party.  I used them for a lot of things.  I decorated the table and the cake stand with them and also put them on top of the cupcakes.  I must warn you, these candies are very hard.  I thought they would be like Smarties, but they were more like glass. 

I made some digital cupcake wrappers and printed them up.  I then used some Lego Mini-figure stickers on them.  Fun, striped candles and bright colors around the table brought the birthday party to life.  The cupcakes are brownies with whipped icing on top.  I also added some colorful sprinkles to the top.  You can get the wrappers to print below.

To use these, right-click on the picture and choose "Print Picture"

I also made some mini-figure head lollipops using marshmallows with the smaller marshmallows on the top dipped  in yellow chocolate melts.  I then drew some faces on them with black icing.  The tutorial is at the bottom of this post.

Here's the Birthday Boy!

LEGO Mini-figure Pops - A Quick Tutorial

These are pretty easy to make and you can probably figure out how to make them, but I did learn a few things that may help you in trying them.  Here's what they look like...

Here's what you need.  Another thing that I didn't show here is a piece of floral foam.  It really makes it easy to make these!  See the pictures below.  You can poke the sticks into the floral foam to hold them while they dry and while you draw the faces on.

Here's what you need.  I used strawberry, but you can use any flavor marshmallows.

Large-sized marshmallows (not those HUGE ones)
Mini marshmallows
1 tbsp shortening
Lollipop sticks
A tall glass
Yellow food coloring (not paste)
White candy melts (or yellow if you can find them)
Floral foam or Styrofoam block
Black icing (you can buy this in the birthday cake section of your grocery store, or make your own.  My recipe is HERE.)


Step one:  Put the candy melts in the tall glass.  You can fill it to the top... it will melt down.  Add 1 tbsp of shortiening in the glass too.   Put the glass in the microwave and melt for 1 minute.  Stir.  Melt again, one minute at a time until mostly melted.  Stir between meltings.  Next, add a drop of yellow food coloring and stir.  Add as much as necessary until you get the correct color.

Step two:  Put the larger marshmallows on the sticks.  Dip the mini-marshmallows in the melted chocolate and stick to the top of the large marshmallow.  Like this....

 Step 3:  Dip each lollipop into the glass of melted chocolate.  Tap the stick on the top edge of the glass until there is no excess chocolate on the lollipop. Messy, but fun!

 Step 4:  Stick the sticks into the floral foam.  Once they are dry, stick them into the side of the floral foam like this...  This way the faces won't run while the icing dries.  Be careful though.  If you stick more on one side, it will flip over, so put the lollipops on the other side the whole way around.

 Let them dry and then have a GREAT Lego party!

Here are some other cool items to use for your LEGO party.  I love the candles the ice cube trays and wish I had found them before my party!

LEGO Minifigure Cake Mold 852708
LEGO Minifigure Ice Cube Tray
Concord Candy Blox, Build'Em & Eat'Em- Assorted Fruit Flavor, 1 LbBlokz Candles
Lego Ice Bricks Tray