Egg Shell Cakes

I saw these egg shell cakes and wanted to make them for Easter.  Here was my try.  The cake was just box cake.  It was pretty easy, but very time consuming to get the eggs out of the shells.  My holes were some thing like a 1/4" wide.  I decided to save the egg to use for breakfast so I had to keep eggshell out of them.  It helped to kind of shake the egg in order to get it out, and much easier once the yoke broke.

(My young daughters had decorated the shells before I took the eggs out, which was crazy itself because I was very nervous about the girls breaking the shells.)

Then I mixed the batter and piped it into the greased shell.  The greasing was just spraying cooking oil into it, and knowing it would be enough coverage.  I did open the hole in the shell up a bit more for piping.  It was very difficult to tell when 2/3 of the shell was full.  I am think more like 1/2 should be full in this case.  It was easy to take the batter off the outside of the shell, but it ruined any of the decoration on the outside.

Then I decided to just break off a bit more of the shell to help people to eat them and top with whipped cream.  It was a lot of work to make, and a lot of work in order to eat.  I would not make them again unless there was a very special occasion which called for these very cute cakes.

Teacher & Staff Appreciation 2014

So I did something for the staff on Teacher Appreciation Day because I know they work just as hard as the teachers, just in a different way.  They got a wrapped candy bar with this cute printable I had found.  I think I cut and pasted to super resize for my candy bars.  I also did a different large bar and the original size wrap was perfect.  And I also gave a funny moving critter in hopes they can add humor to a stressful day.

Then we have swim teachers so they got a fish bottle filled with goldfish puffs.  I found some bottles I liked but ended up not being shipped because they were out of stock.  Then I found some other ones which arrived broken and were returned.  The third time was a charm and I dare say the better looking bottles!  The tag was a printable I found here.

And there are some dance teachers as well so they got some shiny totes with candy thrown in there.  I've actually only met the instructor once since the class is during school hours before pick up time and I haven't been thrilled with her correspondence so I did not want to work too hard for her appreciation gift but still felt the need to give one.

The next pictures are of the little goodies left in the teacher lounge at the school.  I was not sure at all if the Parent-Teacher group was planning on doing anything for the teachers so I wanted to make sure they got something each day.  The first day was something I had around.  Then we did fish goodies, cookies, and finally nuts.  The last day of the week I knew they would be getting something along with all of the moms.  The tag on the fish was a printable I found here.  The other two I just made.

Teacher Appreciation 2014

Monday: cookie cutters.  The label was a simple one I made and reads "Thank you for cutting this cookie into one awesome student."

Tuesday: oven mitt with goodies.  I did not find a printable I liked so I made one up really quick saying the same thing as all the others, "I have to ad-MITT, you're a great teacher."  The mitts include a matching oven pad, a knife, scissors, a funnel, and a silicone baking sheet.  More stuff for home than for school but could possibly be used in either place.

Wednesday: spice jar filled with gum balls. I found the printable tag here.  I couldn't decide what spice to put in the jars so I went with gum balls instead and it worked out okay.

Thursday: flower pots.  The flower pots are just as they come in the store because the ones I wanted to use were not large enough for the plants I ended up using.  I also tied gloves on to the pot and added some rubber flowers which are actually wine glass markers.  The tags are a printable I found here, with an extra phrased added to the back.  The back says, "Teachers plant the seed of knowledge that will grow forever."  That is really what I wanted the tag to say but could not find anything I really liked so I used the printable I found and added to it.

Friday: candy in a bowl.  The bowl is bamboo and I hope the teachers will find it useful at home.  There are several different candies inside.  Nerds: Thanks for making a nerd out of me. Three different fun size M&M's together: M&M (many & many) thanks for all that you do. Reese's: There are a million Reese's why you are a great teacher.  York Peppermint Patty: I mint to tell you how much I appreciate you.  Almond Joy: It is a joy having you as a teacher.  Mounds: I had mounds of fun this year.  100 Grand: You are worth a 100 Grand.