Angry Birds Birthday Cake

Posted on July 30th, 2011 by Jean

The girls and I wanted to do something special for hubby’s birthday, so when I saw these adorable Angry Bird cake pops, I knew we had to (attempt to) make them. Tom is a huge Angry Birds fan.
 

 
A few days before his birthday, we went to JoAnne’s Fabric & Crafts to buy lollipop sticks and meltable candies. We also found candy eyes, reasonably priced, and overpriced beaks which we nixed. At the check-out, the friendly cashier recommended a cake-pop tray. Sounded ultra-easy to use, so we bought it too.
 
Birthday eve we began baking. We whipped the chocolate cake mix, poured it into the mold, and popped it into the oven. Ten minutes later, we inserted the lollipop sticks, and returned the pops to the oven to finish baking.
 
Baked and cooled, it was time to pop the pops out of the mold.
 
Mistake – the cake balls slid down the lollipop sticks. Speared birds wasn’t the effect we wanted.
 
We baked another batch of birds, and began melting the colorful candies to coat the cooled ones. We stuck eyes on while the candy-coating was gooey, then sat the birds in the freezer to harden. We frosted orange beaks on upon removing the birds from the freezer.
 
There was enough cake batter left over to bake a single-layer round, and we frosted it green to represent a grassy hill. We were ready to surprise Tom, and surprised he was!
 

 
I’m not a baker by any means, but it sure was fun attempting these.
 
• What themed cake would you make?
• Do you have any cake ball tips?
• Play much Angry Birds?

My Favorite iPhone Apps

Posted on May 19th, 2011 by Jean

You can get the iPhone 3GS for $49.00, which I what I recently did. The monthly service plan is actually $20 less than what I was paying on the original iPhone 2G ($40 compared to $60). Upgrades between the 2G and 3G include recording video and texting photos.
 
What’s the first thing I did when I received my new phone? Started downloading apps!
 
My Favorite Apps
 
When I have some down time, I visit Facebook to see what is up with all of my friends. It’s easy to add a photo or a location like I did when I was chowing down at In-N-Out Burger (pre-diet).
 
Yes, I’m digging being the Mayor of McDonalds. This app allows you to check in to local businesses, become Mayor, and take advantage of special offers. Newbie (first check-in) Specials include $2. off Arby’s Market Fresh sandwich and 20% off at RadioShack. You can opt out of FB/Twitter sharing if you’d like, meaning you don’t have to broadcast your whereabouts.
 
Hipstamatic really should have a post all to itself. It’s a cool photo filter program that helps you create amazingly fun photos. A few filters come with the app, and additional filters can be purchased.
 

 
The top game for me and my entire family would be Angry Birds. All of the versions. Free, upgraded, Seasons, Rio… they are all great. Rio just released an update, and has several updates scheduled. This newest update includes a Beach Volleyball level.
 

 
 
This app notifies you when there’s a sale on airfare. Tell the app which airport you fly out of, and it will send you great deals. Last year we flew to Sacramento for under $40 per person.
 
Want to know the latest about Arnold & Maria? TMZ is the app for celebrity news. You’ve heard of TMZ. They were the first to report Michael Jackson died, and the first to release photos of Rihanna. They provided pics of Tiger Woods’ smashed SUV. If you can’t pick up an Enquirer, download TMZ.
 
Hypnotic mind-play. Waiting in the doctor’s office? Play Bejeweled. Hubby watching football? Play Bejeweled. Kids want supervision in the shower? Play Bejeweled.
 
Kids, yes, I’ve got ’em. Sometimes they need to keep themselves busy like when we’re waiting on food at a restaurant, or waiting for the fireworks to start while camped out across the river from Laughlin. You will need apps for them too.
 
Kids’ Favorite Apps
 
Burp, Fart, Relief. Totally disgusting, just what kids like. Many foul burps, farts, sighs and screams from which to choose.
 
With the addition of the new Charlie character who has tiger’s blood, the pygmies survival rate decreases even more. You are the Pocket God, controlling the fate of the little island pygmies. You can strike them with lightening, have ants attack them, throw them in the volcano, drop them into the ocean and spear them. You can give them fish and coconuts, help them start a fire, show them a double rainbow across the sky. Good or bad, it’s up to you. Err, up to your kids, I mean!
 
Yes, you’ll want to take the phone away and compete with them on this app too. Jumping from platform to platform, avoiding aliens, grabbing a jet pack, it’s all fun!
 
Sometimes they just want to be mellow, coloring pictures. This is the app for that. They choose a scene and color it by tapping first a colored pencil and then the area of the screen to fill. Once all the white space is filled, a party horn plays.
 
Your app store is right on your iPhone, or you can visit the app store on iTunes.
 
What are your favorite apps?

Facebook Profile Hack

Posted on December 20th, 2010 by Jean

Artist Alexander Oudin is credited with creating the new Facebook phenomenon, profile hacking. In essence, beautifying fb profiles by cropping a single photo six times, tagging yourself in five, and making one your profile avatar.
 

 
Hundreds have jumped on the bandwagon, and the results are highly entertaining.
 

 
Applications are popping up to slice & dice your favorite photos, making a snazzy profile page. I used Pic Scatter to create mine using the awesome “Kitty In A Tree” picture from last week. Another app that looks handy is FBCrop.
 
If you’re like me, you’re going to waste spend a lot of your day uploading pics and playing around with these apps. Have fun, and let me know what you create!
 
Here are a couple I made yesterday while I could have been cleaning the house, watching football, and feeding my family.
 

 

 
Don’t blame me if you do not get all of your errands accomplished.
 
• Will you hack your FB profile?
• Would you rather friend request Burt Reynolds or Kim Kardashian’s Ass?
• Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

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