Tantalizing Tuesday- Flowers with Evan

I'm completely giddy today. I've been waiting for Tuesday to roll around so that I could introduce you to my newest friend, Evan. She is amazing at decorating cakes, and she's volunteered to teach us a few things a few times a month. I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.

So, without any more blabbing from me, here she is!
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Hello "Oops, I Craft My Pants" readers! Welcome to Tantalizing Tuesday! First of all, I want to thank Erika for letting me be a part of her super awesome blog. I'm truly honored.

Now, I have a craft for you that is of the edible variety: beautiful and easy sugar flowers for your homemade cakes or cupcakes. These flowers, though not any real type of flower, are really easy to make. Depending on how long you let them set, they can be a nice cupped flower or a spread out flattened flower. I didn't have much time, so this one is flat. Oh well, it still looks nice.

You will need to purchase a couple of things to makes these flowers, but it doesn't cost much and the addition of one of these to a homemade cake makes all the difference.

Tools needed: fondant or gumpaste, curved petal cookie/fondant cutters (at least 3 sizes), small bowl with plastic wrap inside, fondant ball tool, flower-forming foam (optional; you can just use the palm of your hand), sugar flower stamens

Instructions:

1. Roll fondant or gumpaste out on a surface that has been lightly dusted with corn starch or powdered sugar. Cut 2 flowers using the largest flower cutter. Cut both in half. (I only use 3 for this part, but you can use 4 if you like.) Place one half onto the thin foam and, using your ball tool, roll the edges until they are thin and petal-like.

*Do this in the palm of your hand if you do not have foam.

*Use a toothpick or a skewer if you do not have a ball tool.

2. Fold the 3 petals towards each other (see below for example) and then place into the bowl with plastic wrap. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with two more flower halves. Use a little dab of water to "glue" all of the pieces together.

3. Cut out the two smaller flowers and thin the edges using the ball tool.

4. Place the petal rounds, largest then smallest, into the bowl on top of the large round of petals. Attach them with a dab of water. Gently press down into the center with your ball tool to make sure they are together.

5. Cut some store-bought white stamens for the flowers. Each stamen has two ends. I cut them in half and cut off a little of the unwanted ends as well. The resulting stamens were about 1/2-inch long each.

6. Stick the stamens into the flower around the center.

7. Attach a yellow ball of fondant to the very center with a dab of water.

8. Dust off the cornstarch with a soft paint brush and spray with pearl luster dust for a sparkly effect (also optional).

YOU'RE FINISHED! You can let it set for a few hours or even a few days. Actually, these flowers will last for months. Have fun! Mix up the colors and show me your creations!

With love, Ev

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Are you not in love with her? I have some major envy right now. She's completely talented, right?
I'm totally considering changing "Tantalizing Tuesday" to "Teach Us Tuesday". Hmm.

**I'm looking for maybe one more food blogger to join me on my blog on Tuesdays. The plan is to have three or four bloggers who switch weekly and teach us how to make something edible. If you think you'd like to be one of those teaches, feel free to email me.