Deb, I don't have many tips, as this is the 2nd batch I've made. I did find that I had to dunk the ends of the sticks in the coating, then stick them into the cake balls and freeze them before dunking to coat or they just slipped off the sticks into the melted coating. I have to confess, these are not the crumbled up cake and frosting mixture, I made those once and just found the texture too disgusting. These are made with one of those "Babycakes" baking pans, Makayla got one for Christmas. You just fill the indentations with cake batter, bake 5 minutes and have little balls of cake. You still have to dunk the sticks in coating and freeze them, though. To put the ears on the cake, though, I had to cut little slits in the sides of the cake balls to insert the ears. Some broke in half, but I "glued" them back together with coating, figuring that after they got dunked, no one would notice. I was right... Funny you should mention "Hello Kitty". The first batch I made, with the frosting/cake mixture, was supposed to be "Hello Kitty". I used butterscotch chips for ears and made fondant bows. Dunked the cake pops and tried to make faces with those edible marker things. I got something that looked more like zombies with horns and pink bows, LOL, they'd have scared the dickens out of "Hello Kitty". The worst part was that they also tasted disgusting, even the kids wouldn't eat them. So, I guess you don't want pointers from me. (grin) Annie

I've opened the packages I have today, and it was so much fun! I'm glad I waited because I just got more excited as I went along, sort of like a kid on Christmas morning, y'know? Care to see some pictures? Well then, let's start the show! Here's the first picture I took of all the envies laid out like a 9-patch block... Then, while I'm pulling out all the cards and reading them, my roommie finds one I dropped on the way to my bedroom... I'll be able to put together an extra block thanks to those of you who sent extra pieces, thank you!!! And here are the blocks I've received so far. When I receive Bevs, I'll post a picture of that block for you all to see. Ladies, thank you one and all! The cards were great to read, and I'm looking forward to putting all these wonderful blocks into something which will keep me warm in the winters and remind me that summer is on its way! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME INDEED! Dan

LOL My hubby says crick! LOL I'm from Edmonds, and we didn't talk that way! LOL how was fishing on the Yak? I would love to learn to fly fish! DH was up at Seiku and caught NOTHING! lol which is really unusual for him. My brother called that Sunday evening (they were staying for the week) after DH got home and said they had their limit in 45 minutes! and caught fish every day after that! LOL

I love fruitcake This sounds delicious! You gonna have some for us in Dec? My favorite of all fruitcakes is apricot fruitcake, I had in Texas at a KT gathering.