PROJECT SECRET FRIENDSHIP RENEWAL Package

Though I made the holiday peace offering dinosaur a few weeks back, I haven't had a chance to create the full "package" and plan how I'd deliver the package to the person in question for the following reasons:


1. I have been really busy with work and school
2. I didn't want to send it via post because the handmade items (such as googly eyes) might fall off if they're handled a lot
3. She does not have an easily accessible mailbox
4. I'm pretty sure she is still very bitter about everything (I still don't fully understand some of the reasons for why she is upset...) and my lack of understanding is fueling my insecurity about sending her a peace offering.


I decided to opt NOT to write a message like "I made this holiday dinosaur for you. Can we be friends?" with an attached check "yes" or "no" box because I think it's a bit too direct.  Normally, I am very direct, but knowing that she is the type of person to hold grudges and be very upset about things for long periods of time, I thought it best to sort of say things indirectly.

For those of you who might have trouble with small text, I'll transcribe the message.  It says:


"Dear ________,


This is Steggy, the holiday dinosaur.  He is really happy that it is Christmas and he looks very festive in his red feathers.  He wants to thank you for drawing him and bringing him to life.  He also wants to wish you a very merry Christmas.  I hope he will prove to be a very loyal and fun friend for you!"


I'm hoping she'll find it humorous and less "serious," though I am very serious and eager about moving on and letting bygones be bygones!


Anyway, I just spent a couple hours fashioning a letter and envelope.  I must say that I am proud of my work and I hope she takes this as evidence that I do think about her often and that I do very much want to let the past be the past.  I am not angry anymore and I hope that she has let go of her anger as well... so here it is!  Keep your fingers crossed that she'll at least email or text me that she got it!!!

PROJECT SECRET FRIENDSHIP RENEWAL: Unveiled!

I fell out with one of my oldest and closest friends a little more than a year ago, and to be quite honest, the experience crushed me. 

We always got along amazingly well until the friendship took a toll for the worst, quite unexpectedly.  It seemed conclusive that our long-lasting and otherwise easy-going friendship was officially at its end.  It was a hurtful experience for us both, and even with a mediator trying to get us to overlook our differences, we just couldn’t see eye to eye.

Recently, our mutual best friend (also our mediator) got married, and we got in contact again.  Judging from our conversations, I think that it might be possible to … MIGHT… to rekindle the friendship.  I am just really, really scared of hurting her again or getting hurt and of her rejecting my genuine attempt to befriend her. 

So because our words failed us the past, and because we are mutually not very appreciative of cheesiness (ok, I do but only when it comes to my boyfriend), I think I’ll take a gentle, non-threatening approach to attempt to befriend her.

I call this gentle, non-threatening approach

PROJECT SECRET FRIENDSHIP RENEWAL.

OK. It is not secret anymore.  But it will be secret to her! 

This project will have several stages, and I will require much courage to follow through with it, seeing that I am really scared of feeling rejected by her and feeling that she doesn’t care.

The first stage will be to send her a holiday craft in the mail.  It will be fashioned in the likelihood of an illustration she drew with me at our friend’s bridal shower.  Yes, she also draws dinosaurs.  At grown-up events.  Hers was a stegosaurus with feathers for plates.  I hope she will like it and not throw it in the trash :(

Should I write something like this attached to the dino craft I made?

I guess we’ll see where all this goes.  I think the pain is still there for us both, but I am ready to at least try again.  I don’t know what or when or even if there will be a phase 2 of PROJECT SECRET FRIENDSHIP RENEWAL (what if I get hurt againnnn), but I know I have to be strong and just TRY.  I honestly want to do things right and I want her to know that I am willing to let the past go.

Um. Yeah.  That was kind of… personal.  Guess all I can do is stay positive and keep trying!!!

Or should I just write this?  I don't know!!!

How to make Rainbow Kirby Cupcakes

How to make Rainbow Kirby Cupcakes

I recently saw this tutorial by Youtube user Fondasaurusrex on how to make rainbow cupcakes.  Naturally, I wanted to put a video game theme to them, so I decided to make them Kirby cupcakes, because he’s so darn cute!  Here’s how I made them.  Enjoy!

What you’ll Need

-         White cake mix and the ingredients listed on the package

-         Food coloring

-         Black icing

-         Pink icing

-         White icing

-         7 bowls or disposable cups

-         7 disposable spoons

-         Cupcake tin

-         Cupcake liners

-         Piping bag (unless your icing comes with nibs)

Steps

 1.  Make the cake mix and set the oven according to package directions.

2.  Ladle the mix equally into the 7 bowls.

  

3.  Mix the food coloring into the bowls.  Continue mixing colours until you get all the colors of the rainbow.  I have purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and reddish pink.

A cautionary note:  my cupcake tins were too small for the amount of colours I made.  I ended up splitting my cupcakes into two: one batch had purple, blue, green and pink, the other had yellow, orange and pink.  I'd recommend using a large cupcake tin if you want all the colors.

4.  Line your baking tin with the liners and start layering the colored batter.  Start with purple.  Continue adding the colors one by one until you read the top (reddish pink).

 5.  Place the cupcakes in the oven for the directed amount of time.  When they’re done, let them cool completely.

 6.  Since most of mine came out cracked, I decided to ice the top to smooth them out before I added the Kirby faces.  To do this, take some white frosting and add a little red food coloring.  Then, frost over top of the cupcakes.

 7. Decorate the faces with the black and pink icing

 8. Give them to your friends and enjoy!

___ Face -->

You get 10 points for finding the hidden messages.

Co-drawn with boyfriend at a co-ed bridal shower.

How to make a Jigglypuff Bento

I recently got a request to make a Jigglypuff bento (thanks, Heather, for the great idea!).  Here’s my second bento, made with the leftovers from my Kirby bento.

For Heather: a Jigglypuff bento!

 

The concept of the bento was inspired by the video game Super Smash Bros.  I also riffed on the themes of “before and after” the honeymoon phase of a relationship, or it can represent the thin line between love and hate, or loosely on the theme of “friendly competition.”  Something’s telling me that you’re probably thinking that I’m getting too “English Literature Teacher-ish” and that I should end my paragraph right about…now.

If you’d like to know how I made this or if you’d like to replicate it, here’s the tutorial!

What you'll need:

-       A bento box (or Tupperware-type container)

-       Scissors

-       Cookie cutters

-       Toothpicks

-       Nori

-       Cheese (I used 2 kinds: white cheddar and American)

-       Lettuce

-       Ham (I also used salami inside the sandwich for variety)

-       Mayonnaise

-       Hot sauce (or ketchup)

-       Mustard

 How to make Jigglypuff:

Jigglypuff and Kirby are basically circular ham and cheese sandwiches.  I placed ham over top and stylized it to look like the desired characters. The Jigglypuff is my design, and the Kirby is Anna the Red’s creation (for Kirby, follow this link, or go to Anna the Red’s blog).  Here's how to make Jigglypuff.

1.  Cut pieces of nori into the desired shapes.

2. Use a circular cookie-cutter to cut pieces of toast.  I used 2 large pieces of toast to make 4 slices (which makes 2 Jigglypuff/Kirbys). 

3. Cut 2 slices of cheese with the circular cutter. This goes in the sandwich.

4. Use a smaller circle cutter (or the top of a heart-shaped cutter, as I did since I don't have a smaller circular cutter) to cut Jigglypuff's arms.

5. Cut several slices of ham with the circular cutter (depending on how much ham you like). Cut Jigglypuff’s arms and ears (and Kirby’s arms) as well.

6. Spread mayo and mustard onto the slices of bread.

7. Add the cheese and ham.  Save the top slices of ham for Jigglypuff and Kirby’s face/body (you’ll need 4 for each mini sandwich).

8. Place the remaining slices of ham on top of the sandwich.

9. Slide Jigglypuff's ham "limbs" in the desired locations.  Use cheese for Jigglypuff’s legs.

10. Cut circular pieces of cheese for the whites of Jigglypuff’s eyes and place accordingly.

11. Cut lettuce for the eyeballs (heart-shaped for the “love” look, and circular for the “angry” look).

Kirby is pretty much the same thing.  The only differences are that I applied mayo with a toothpick to make the twinkle in his eyes, and several dabs of hot sauce on the ham to make his rosy cheeks.

Final product: WIN!

Ta-da!

You know your friend hates you when…

You know your friend is a passive-aggressive coward who secretly hates you and indirectly wants to stab you in the back when he invites you over to his place when he’s sick and he only reveals this information upon your arrival.

It’s not that I think my friends really do secretly hate me.  Perhaps the reason they invite me over when they are deathly contagious is because they love me SO much that they want to spend their last moments on Earth with me. Like somehow, my presence will lift them out of their dreary state and bring to fruition their wildest dreams.  And double-bacon cheeseburgers. 

Perhaps I really should be flattered.  

But I’m not. 

Shouldn’t real friends have the decency to consider that I, too, have a life, and that I, too, would like to live my life free of unnecessary illness? 

Getting sick unleashes a very evil and hurtful domino effect of negativity.  If I get sick, I can’t go to work.  If I can’t go to work, I can’t teach my students.  If I can’t teach my students, they will inevitably fail.  If they fail, their lives will be ruined. POSSIBLY FOREVER.

Seriously.  No one can be THAT inconsiderate.  Especially people who are sweet and kind and magical and wonderful under normal conditions. Another theory must be considered.  And I think I’ve found it. 

(Or at least I’ve convinced myself of this obvious lie so that I can remain friends with certain individuals who would otherwise be considered DECEPTIVE AND COWARDLY INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLES)

Here goes.

So. It’s not that I really think my friends are evil.  No.  They are in fact, innocent and lovely beings who have become prey to a power much larger than them.  The only logical reason for their deception and inconsiderate invitations to their germ-incubation-nests is this: they have been possessed.  Satan has coerced them into wreaking biological warfare.  Because Satan has an illogical desire to spread misery. 

This is the only way I’ve been able to make sense of this otherwise senseless situation.

So please.  If you’re reading this blog, all that I ask is you heed this message.  Do not let yourself slide into the horrible Land of Failcakes.  Do not be a bad friend, neighbour, parent, or lover.  Be kind and if you are sick SAY NO TO SATAN. JUST. Say no.

The end.

Love, Sick Sharmycakes