Boy’s Room Mural Ideas

Posted on February 24, 2012 by caseykiel

Hello there!  I just finished my latest mural (well, a few months or so ago… I’m a terribly inconsistent blogger.  That’s what 4 kids and a couple of part time jobs will do to you… or at least what they do to me!) and I wanted to share what I’ve been up to.  I’m posting my photos of the painting process, you know, just in case you feel like painting one as well, feel like being happy you don’t have to paint one as well, or just enjoy looking at in-progress photos like I do.  Either way, here we go!

My client wanted a construction mural for her oldest son’s bedroom, so I decided to have the painting crash through the wall. I love the look of a crashing in wall. It sort of makes me want to paint them everywhere. That’d be funny to paint my whole house that way, as if every wall was falling down. Ha ha!  It’s not, just so you know. I always start off by sketching out my design in chalk so it is easier to paint over and erase.

For any muralist out there looking at these photos and shaking your head in disgust that I didn’t prime first before painting over blue with yellow… I KNOW.  That was a stupid oversight. It took soooo many annoying time and paint consuming coats to hide the blue underneath. Yuck. I learned for next time.

I painted the driver to look like the Dad of the little boy this was for. His little 2 year old sister noticed her Daddy right away, and that’s always fun for me to hear. Kid critics are often the toughest!

Almost done! The end is in sight! 

 And we’re done!  Shew! Collectively, this took 25 hours to paint, and I enjoyed all of them!  I hope you enjoyed these photos have a wonderful day! 

If you’re interested in having a mural done at your home or business you can contact me at CaseyKizerKiel@gmail.com for your free estimate and consultation! 

Categories: Murals | Leave a comment

Valentines Day Comic Strip

Posted on February 14, 2012 by caseykiel

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Comic Strip about Christmas :)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by caseykiel

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Calvin and Hobbes Snowmen Truffles Recipe

Posted on December 13, 2011 by caseykiel

 

I decided to make these fantastic Cake Batter Truffles that my friend Sisteen introduced me to. If you like the taste of white chocolate and sugar cookie dough, (which I do!) then you’re going to find these fabulous!! (The original recipe was happily discovered on http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com.) But, considering I never can leave well enough alone with an already delicious recipe, I decided to add some Casey flavored artistic flair and turn these truffles into a scene of snowmen. 

First things first, you’ll need…

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 1 cup yellow cake mix
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3-4 Tablespoons milk
  • 2 Tablespoons Christmas colored sprinkles
Truffle Coating:
  • 16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark (or white candy melts)
Snowmen Noses:
  • store bought fondant
  • orange food coloring
Arms:
  • toothpicks
Snowmen faces:
  • black food coloring
  • paintbrush
Fire:
  • cut up orange peel
  • pretzel stick

Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla.  Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Shake in as many sprinkles as you like.

Roll dough into one inch balls for the snowmen heads, slightly larger balls for the tummy section, and even larger balls for the base, then place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. (Make sure you have the same number of head, tummy, and base balls. Ha! I said “base balls”!  Hee hee!) Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.

While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake off excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffles back on the cookie sheet.

Color a 2 inch ball of fondant orange using red and yellow food coloring.  Boys love to help with this job because it’s so messy! But don’t worry, Moms, it really  does wash right off. :)

Squeeze dime sized amounts of fondant into little carrot shapes for the snowmen noses.


Use toothpicks to hold the snowmen body parts together and poke in exposed toothpicks for arms.  Dip a paintbrush in black food coloring and paint on faces and buttons in whatever way you find funniest.  Cut an orange peel (or use more orange fondant) for the flames and break up a pretzel stick for the logs. Then you’re done!  I enjoyed making these melting snowmen, but not quite as much as I enjoyed them melting in my mouth! :)

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Thanksgiving Cakes

Posted on November 29, 2011 by caseykiel

Well, Thanksgiving is over.  Now, with the glittering Christmas lights up and shopping outings planned, I am still feeling enormously thankful.

I thought I’d share my Thanksgiving cakes with you, because what’s the point of creating anything if you don’t share it, right? :)

I made the cake you see above first for the Thanksgiving dinner I hosted at my home, with just our family.  For the cake I just mixed a box of Spice Cake mix together with a small can of pumpkin.  Couldn’t be easier! And, without the eggs and oil and frosting, it’s really pretty healthy too! I made the feathers and turkey “parts” with colored fondant, just rolled out, cut, and layered. So easy I took “in process” photos and felt silly even adding them! When it was time to serve, I divvied up the fondant pieces to the kiddos and served the cake with Cool Whip. Delicious!  And, start to finish, it took less than an hour for everything.

For the Thanksgiving dinner the next day, I took a different spin on a turkey cake…

This cake also only took about an hour and a half start to finish.  I had made the Royal Icing flowers ahead of time, whipped up more pumpkin cake, and molded the turkey out of fondant. The fall tree is a chopstick wrapped in a tootsie roll with a food coloring painted rice crispie tree top.  I painted the eyes with a toothpick dipped in black food coloring.  The shortage of time made this a disappointing cake, but it tasted good and the kids had no qualms about diving into it. :)

Happy ThanksLIVING, today and always, from my family to yours.  I hope you feel blessed with everything SWEET life has to offer!  :)

Hugs, Casey

Categories: edible crafts, Personal | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments