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! 

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…

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!

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

I made this cake for our favorite football team, and my employer, Notre Dame!

The first step is to make a 13 x 9 cake of your choosing.

Next, mix up some rice cereal treats. I'd recommend using, and plan to next time, Fruity Pebbles. That way you won't need to paint them with food coloring later on.

You'll next need to color some frosting green for the field.

Frost your cake, then use a fork to gently pull up some grass on the field.

You can then use the rice cereal you mixed up to form angled "walls" around your cake. These will represent the fans in the stands. Push hard on the rice cereal to get it to stick together and then use a large knife to cut straight lines on the outside edges. You can use frosting like glue to attach the rice cereal to the cake. Next pipe some simple white lines on the field.

You'll then need to roll out some fondant for the outer walls of the stadium.

Again, use plenty of frosting like glue to carefully attach the fondant walls to the stands.

If your fondant walls crack, use some food shortening to smooth them out.

I used a sponge and some black food coloring to dab on the fondant, giving it a stone-like look.

I then painted the rice crispies with food coloring to look like little fans, then formed a football out of a chocolate tootsie roll and placed it on a plastic toothpick.

Fo the ND symbol, I rolled out another piece of fondant, cut it into a square, and used a food paint brush to paint on the letters.

I used some more fondant to make little field goals, attached my ND logo with some frosting, piped on a couple encouraging words and we were ready to party!

Hey there!  This is part one of a mural I am currently working on.   Check back soon as I post pictures from the other side of the room! 

I like to start out by drawing whatever I want to paint on the wall in chalk. It's easy to paint over and super easy to just wipe away when you're done.

Generally, I start painting the background first and then add the characters afterwards, because it saves you a little time not having to worry about messing up your tight lines with background. But, in the end, painting is about having fun, mostly, so feel free to start with whatever you're excited about!

I took pictures of the little boy who this mural is for and used that for reference when adding this little guy. It's fun to add those little personal touches in order to make it special and unique.

When you're painting, or waiting on someone to finish painting for you, keep in mind that things like trees and grass and backgrounds usually go really quickly and detailed work like figures and text can be much more consuming. Just so you're prepared!

I recommend using paint pens for text. They're more expensive, but can really speed things up.

Another tip... I've found old plastic shower curtains make GREAT drop cloths! The paint doesn't leak through and it feels good to be recycling too!

I also added name tags on the figures in this scene. I put the names of the little boy whose room this is on the boy in the foreground and his brother's on the boy in the background.

Here are some close ups on some of the far away details in this mural. Adding details can seem tiresome, since they're often so small and tedious, but they really do make a big difference.

If you’d like a mural like this one, or would like a free personal consultation
to help you dream up something special for your space,
please contact me at CaseyKizerKiel@gmail.com.
I’d love to hear from you! 

Our family, driven by our big hearted/one legged leader, has been on vacation this last week.  I mention the fact that my hubby is in a one legged state purely to lead up to this point… There are very few times in life that having one leg is a benefit.  In fact, only two that I can think of off the top of my head…

Number one: Awesome Halloween costume opportunities.

Number two: bypassing lines at theme parks.

Both of these benefits were enjoyed on this vacation.

This is us getting a “leg up” on the other costume contest participants.  Sorry…

This was our fifth attempt at getting the perfect cliche family photo in front of the castle at Disney World.  The first attempt was in the morning sun and featured our family complete with crumpled grimacing blinded faces. The second featured all our smiling faces, minus our youngest, who was just a mickey hat. The third, taken by a kind stranger, showed only us and no castle. Really, sir? What’s the point?  The fourth featured all of us including a very unhappy arms-crossed-fed-up-with-photos 2 year old who was undoubtedly sick of his mother’s perfectionism.  So this is the fifth “attempt” if you can call it that. It’s technically a combination of photo attempts three and four, with strategically placed text to cover my less-than-photo-worthy legs. Enjoy!  We think it’s a good idea to label your children and put them in bright colors when attending highly populated areas. At one point we temporarily “misplaced” our youngest.  I just cried out, “Anyone seen Thing 1??!!”  And half a dozen people called out, “He’s right here!”  Handy.

So there you go.  My photographic evidence to excuse why I’ve been absent from the blogging world.

And now, I’m back! Let the blogging resume! Oh, and the dishes and the laundry and the cooking… (sigh)  :)

(MOPS is a International Organization that brings Mothers of Preschoolers together together twice a month for brunch, crafting, discussion, fellowship, and fun!)

Let’s be honest.  It’s not always the easiest task to get preschoolers out of the house early in the morning.  They’re whiney, you’re sleepy, and just as you finished putting on the last sock and tying in the last hair bow, someone discovers a poopy diaper has left a stinky streaky trail across the living room carpet. It happens. And it usually happens right as you’re trying to run out the door. 

So why do it?  Why wrestle squirmy little kiddos into shoes and car seats in order to come to MOPS? 

Ask any prior attendee of MOPS and she might give you a different reason.  Maybe it’s the joy of fellowship and laughter amongst friends. Maybe it’s the guilt-free provided child care for two blissful hours, while you know your children are being taught and cared for. Maybe it’s the comfort of knowing another mother is struggling with the same issues you are and finding answers in her trials and triumphs. Maybe it’s the opportunity to sit down and listen to someone speak for a whole twenty minutes without having to say, “Shhhh! Mommy’s trying to listen to this!!” Maybe it’s enjoying craft time without having to watch out for sticky glitter covered fingers knocking over your perfectly positioned project before it’s glued. Maybe it’s
enjoying a warm yummy and diverse breakfast without having to cook or clean up the dishes! (Can I get a “whoo hoo” to that one??)  Or maybe it’s the opportunity to grow closer to other moms while growing closer to our heavenly father. Whatever reason you may have for attending a MOPS group, I hope you do.  MOPS is a place to share ideas, stories, meals, and laughter.  MOPS is a place for you!

~Casey Kiel

To find out more about finding a MOPS group near you, click here: http://www.mops.org

PS. That comic strip depicts actual events.

Yesterday my hubby, my pastor and his wife, and I all went to see the movie Courageous, by the makers of Fireproof.  We were actually thrilled to see, even after arriving 10 minutes early, that the movie was almost completely sold out.  We sat in the very front row, like little kids who don’t know yet that those are NOT the best seats, because these were the last seats available. It was worth the slight neck strain and subtle nausea. GREAT MOVIE!

The movie is certainly a challenge. Not only does it challenge your emotions the whole way through, it leaves fathers with an enormous, heartfelt challenge to better themselves for the sake of their families.

There’s no debate that research shows that strong male role models are a key ingredient in the success of any young person’s life. We see this demonstrated by the drastically high percentage of prison inmates who report having no father figure in their life. Moms (speaking as one) are pivotal. But Dads matter too! Not as emotionally absent pay check providers, but as engaged, purpose driven, loving leaders. This movie is powerful in it’s ability to relay this message.

Don’t expect to be bored either.  You’re going to find yourself on a real roller coaster of emotions, for sure.  You’ll be crying (or tearing up… we’re not all cry babies, I suppose), then laughing, then ducking, and laughing again.  It was fun to experience this in the theater and enjoy the sound of the audience laughing and then sniffing.  It was moving and inspiring, without making me feel preached at.

To sum it up, check out this movie! It’s will definitely enhance your day and MIGHT just enhance your life!

Hope your Day is Bright!

Supplies You’ll Need:

Black Paint Pen
Orange, Red, Yellow, & Green Acrylic Craft Paint
Drill
Plastic Bottle Caps
Green Pipe Cleaner
2 Ear Wires
2 Eyepins
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealant
Paintbrush
Scissors