Easy DIY Easter/Spring Treats

I used to be a total “Pinterest Mom”, perfect & meticulous. Ahh yes, the days before my little one could get into everything & stop me from doing anything. Now that I’m scrapped for time & dealing with a maniacal infant & a toddler with the attention span of a goldfish, I need to choose my projects based on how long they take to complete & how easy it is for little hands to contribute. At an approximate total of 10 minutes & super toddler friendly, this DIY Easter/Spring project fit the bill perfectly !

I’m gonna go right ahead & ask for a pardon on the garbage photography, but I was alone & trying to craft, supervise, be in the moment & focus my camera all at the same time. Although the project itself went by very quickly – thank goodness – my little one (2.5 years old) was excited for it for the better part of the day, since we had gone to the supermarket earlier & picked out the ingredients (all 3 of em !) He was especially excited to choose the color of the candy melts himself 🙂

The recipe is super simple & basically calls for laying M&Ms on top of pretzels in a flower formation, all held together with a gooey candy melt. It was nice to have my little one involved & I could see the pride in his face over his “cooking”. Check out the details below !

Easter/Spring Pretzel Bites

• Butter snap pretzels (the square “grid” kind)
• Pastel M&Ms
• Candy melts
  

  Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees. If you’re Puerto Rican like me, don’t forget to remove all your pots & pans from in there first 😉
• Line a baking sheet with wax paper. If you’re fancy, parchment paper, dahhling.
• Line up your pretzels & add one candy melt to the center of each
• Warm in the oven for about 3 minutes
• Quickly begin your M&M masterpiece. I went for a classic floral design. My little one went with… well, you can see below & decide for yourself

Hey, art is subjective, right ?

Tips:

• Don’t leave them in the oven longer than 3 minutes. You don’t want the candy melt to literally melt; just need it “tacky” enough to hold your M&Ms in place.
• Work quickly. By the time we got through half of ours (about 24), the candy melts on the other half were already too hard to hold the M&Ms. If you’re working with a kiddo who needs help, I’d recommend making no more than about 10 at a time. They harden fairly quickly, so it’s easier to just make another batch instead of wasting food.
• Place your M&Ms “m” side down !
• Chill them in the fridge for about 20 minutes so they harden even more & won’t crumble with the first bite.

I’d say it was a success ! And that little face would too 🙂
Happy Easter/Spring, everybody !

Easy Digger Cake + Surprise Cake Smash

I need to preface this post by saying that I committed the ultimate cake smash mistake – the cardinal sin of cake smashes – by using a chocolate cake. What’s the vendetta against chocolate cake ? Well, typically, when you see a kid of diaper wearing age surrounded by brown smears, your mind typically goes….elsewhere. You get where I’m going with this ? That being said, this was NOT to meant to be a cake smash.

A few days ago, while cuddling my oldest & scrolling through facebook, I stopped to check out a photo of a digger birthday cake I had come across & he absolutely lost his mind over it. Seriously, I’ve never seen him that excited about any food. Not thinking much of it, I told him I’d make him a digger cake someday. WELL. Apparently, “someday” couldn’t come soon enough, because he begged me for a digger cake for 3 days ! Finally, I relented & decided to make the cake for Valentine’s Day; the perfect excuse for a sweet treat. 1 hour & a box of Cocoa Puffs later, the digger cake was born. I liked how it turned out so much that I attempted to take high resolution photos of it. KEYWORD: ATTEMPTED.

Had to get a heart in there for Valentine’s Day !

I still had a backdrop up from a shoot I had done earlier in the day & plopped the cake down to get some photos. I was thinking that I’d get all sorts of fun angles & detail shots, but was only able to get one other photo. ONE. Can you guess why ?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my child run faster than when he saw that the cake was finished & on the ground. On any other day, I would stop him & avoid a massive explosion of cake right before bedtime, but he was so excited & the cake was his after all, so given the “holiday” circumstances, I let him go for it. It wasn’t long before the little one came speed crawling along to see what was going on…

And so it begins

These two had an absolute blast & it was so much fun watching them have fun. This was my youngest’s first taste of cake ever & he didn’t miss a beat; he dug right in 😉 The best part was that they both used the diggers to scoop up & eat the cake all on their own. Check out the rest of our spontaneous cake smash session & cake details below.

 

Maxel’s Easy Digger Cake:

• 2 boxes of chocolate fudge cake mix
• 1 box of Cocoa Puffs cereal (smallest size)
• 1 large jar of whipped chocolate icing
• Silver sugar sprinklesI baked 2 cakes; one 5″ round & one 9×13 sheet. While those were in the oven, I used a toy hammer to crush a quart sized ziploc bag filled with Cocoa Puffs to use as my “dirt”. Once the cakes cooled, I added a crumb coat of whipped icing to the sheet cake & sprinkled my crushed Cocoa Puffs to cover it. I then broke the round cake in half (do it with your hands, so it’s less perfect, more crumbly) & covered that in icing & Cocoa Puffs crumbs as well. I used the remaining half of my round cake to crumble onto the sheet cake to add more dirt & layers, added a few whole Cocoa Puffs pieces as “rubble” & sprinkled the silver sugar throughout & inside one of the diggers as “gravel”. Cocoa Puffs pieces were also the outer trim of the cake, which made it look much more put together. The tip of a spoon created my freehand heart & voila ! The easiest cake I’ve ever made !

Happy Valentine’s Day, guys ❤

 

Photographed at my studio in Cameron, North Carolina.
Crunchy Glamour serves, Sanford, Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Fayetteville, Raleigh & all surrounding areas ! Yes, I travel !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

 

In 2018, remember that the best camera is the one in your hands. Sometimes photographers get caught up in chasing after the latest gear & the newest technology, but if you find a way to stay inspired, you can create using just about anything you have around you. Don’t wait until you save up for that fancy new camera or light or whatever it is you think is stopping you from being your best self. Shoot your shot. Shoot now ! 

Cheers, to an assertive 2018 🙂

This was shot on a whim with a broken camera on my living room floor using a blanket & some post New Year’s Eve mess, 2015

Christmas Morning

Finally. My little one is old enough to “get” Christmas ! My oldest is 2.5 years old & officially pumped for the holidays. I always tend to be a little snap happy at family gatherings & events, but this year I was super excited to take photos on Christmas morning because I knew this one would be a particularly special one. I was right ! Every year, I learn a little more through trial & error regarding what to/not to do during holiday photos & thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned so far.

 

• Get down low. Kiddos will most likely be sitting on the floor & looking down a lot. Get on their (eye) level ! The last thing you want are 20 photos of the top of someone’s head; you won’t catch their expressions & may encounter perspective issues or distortion, depending on your lens. And while you’re at it…
• Change angles often. Over the shoulder, from the ground, from high above; there are lots of different ways to capture the spirit of the morning & you should use them all !
• Be prepared to move around. Little ones get really excited & in their own zone & end up all over the place. Seriously, stretch before your kids wake up & set your shutter speed high.
• Tidy up. A big messy shot is essential after the Christmas morning madness, but make sure your point of view will look good from all angles while they’re opening their gifts. A pile of forgotten coats or shoes in the background may not lend to the look you’re going for.
• Don’t be afraid to “stage”. I don’t mean break out the Hollywood clapboard, but set the scene for your best photos. I moved the coffee table out of the living room this year & it made all the difference in being able to capture the mass (and mess) of toys.
• Utilize all those lights ! Spend more than 7 seconds on my website & you’ll realize I love bokeh. Set your aperture low (I used my 50mm 1.4 for a few of the photos above) & you’ll really be able to see the glow & blur of those gorgeous christmas lights.
  

  It was a great day, but I can’t say I’m not glad the holiday hustle is over !

  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays !

Elf on the Shelf

The Christmas tradition of Elf on the Shelf is not something I, myself, grew up with but nevertheless, I was still super excited to finally start it with my oldest. Our kiddo is nearly 2 1/2 & is finally getting excited for holidays & from the first time I read him the book, I knew he’d be ALL ABOUT Elf on the Shelf.

Our first ever Elf on the Shelf

If you aren’t familiar with the concept, here is the description from the manufacturer:
Scout elves are eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously. Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. However, since these elves like to play games, don’t expect to find them in the same spot! While some like to hide in the freezer (probably because it reminds them of the North Pole) and others prefer to sit on the fireplace mantle or hang from the chandelier, these elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families.

Basically, it’s Mom and/or Dad’s job to keep the magic alive & move good ‘ol Mister Elf around the house every night while your kiddo is sleeping. There are still 10 days left til Christmas, but I wanted to post some of my ideas to maybe help inspire my fellow parents. Enjoy !

Rock-climbing wall made from leftover Halloween candies.
Use museum putty to stick without damaging your surface !

We told our kiddo that the Elf would be going to/from his adventures via this tiny door & on this day, he brought some of the North Pole – and a candy treat – back with him.

A bottle cozie/sleeve made the perfect elf t-shirt. I got this one HERE.

We’re obsessed with Starbucks holiday cookies here, so when I found a tray of mini snowman cookies, I HAD to have them, even if they were ridiculously overpriced. I told our kiddo that the elf brought cookies for both of them & he got such a kick out of being able to eat a cookie for breakfast, so meh. Whatever.

He tried decorating his Christmas tree & got tangled in the lights. Relatable. All of the tiny props from this post were purchased from dollhouse suppliers or in the fairy garden isle of Michaels/Hobby Lobby.

I’m running a little dry on unique ideas at this point, so I sewed tiny magnets onto the hands of the elf. Now I can just toss him on a metal surface & call it a day. No positioning, no tying & he can easily get onto high up places like chandeliers & the refrigerator.

I get the feeling he’s going to be spending the rest of his time waiting for Christmas on metal surfaces…

Have fun & be good !
…the Elf is watching.

Christmas Snail Mail

I’m a huge Christmas card lover. I’m one of the weirdos who enjoy the whole process; shooting, designing, addressing, picking out stamps…totally into it. We’ve also made a couple of big announcements via Christmas cards, namely our babies. Below is a compilation of some of my favorite Christmas cards & photos of mine and even a video Christmas card !

Anyone remember the ridiculous Starbucks red cup “controversy” from a few years ago ? This one was a nod to the times.

Another special memory involving Christmas cards is when my husband & I traveled to Puerto Rico to hand deliver my Dad his card, which included the announcement of his first biological grandchild. I’m so glad I had my camera set up to record his reaction & we will always have adorable footage of this reveal. All the feels.

Want some epic family greeting cards of your own ? I offer photography & design services & am running a holiday photography special RIGHT NOW !
CLICK HERE for more info.

Santa Sacks

I was recently made aware of the tradition of Santa sacks:

A child puts the toys they no longer play with into a sack on Christmas Eve for Santa to bring to other children who might not get many toys & returns to fill it with new toys. Sounds like a great way to give back & add a little extra magic to the holidays !

I found these gorgeous personalized sacks that I just know my boys will love.
You can find them HERE.