Awww, that kinda makes me sad, Sarah! Even though most of us gardeners love the fall-winter time out here, since that's not only the best planting time, but the time when plants look their best, I really do feel bad for those who have to close up shop during the cold seasons. It's still very much fire season here, with a hazardous wind advisory on the way for tonight and Friday. The humidity is so low, my voice now sounds like Barry White's. LOL Have fun in Wisconsin! A northern cabin sounds so cozy right now. Brenda

Luvs, if you are going to hang these on a tree I would stick with the half styrofoam ball, coat it with gesso and use dimensional paint for decorating, I agree that plaster would be heavey, This might sound crazy but if you have old candles laying around you can melt them and whip the wax to use as a frosting over the half ball, you can melt crayons for color shake cake sprinkles over warm wax ( I did this and made sugar cookies ) you could dip the ball in wax if you didnt want to beat it, dimanod dust would look like sugar, the wax might be to heavey also, if you are seting them on a plate it wouldnt matter what you use, sandi idea sound good also, now you know you will have to let us know what you used and photos please! Happy Crafting oddie

My name is Sol, and I'm an advocate for Dulce de Leche [G] And while you can easily find the stuff commercially nowadays, I prefer to make my own, just like my mom, and her mom, and all other matriarchs in my family. Dulce de Leche (sweet milk) is a very thick, butterscotch-like sauce, only richer. If you need help with the cooking process, holler. I recently made pumpkin muffins with a Dulce de Leche filling. But apple or pear muffins would be a match made in Hades, especially for my waistline, since I would ignore my limit consumption. Sol

Woodie, I'm so happy to see you here again, I miss you! Sol, I'll help for Sam's wedding. My cake baking skills are nothing close to yours but I could mix batter or bring the mojitos or SOMETHING... Thank you, everyone. I was pleased with the way everything turned out and doubly pleased that the fondant bow made it there intact. The hearts inside the cupcakes. OK, I hate to admit that it was actually easy, I'd love to fib and tell you it was all difficult and technical. Bake a sheet cake layer of red velvet cake, cut hearts with a small cookie cutter, it has to be small enough to fit down inside the cupcake. Put a spoonful of batter into the cupcake paper or pan, set the heart into it and fill with batter, making sure the heart is covered with batter. Bake again, check for doneness slightly toward the edge. The only trick is that you have to mark the cupcake so you know which direction to cut or you just have a red glob visible from the side view, LOL. This would work with bunnies for Easter, trees or bells for Christmas, Shamrocks for St. Pat's, whatever strikes you and you have a cookie cutter for. It was actually more difficult to get the Snickers bars not to sink into the bottom of the cupcake, we had to eat a couple of batches before I figured out to freeze the candy before plopping it into the middle of the unbaked cupcake. It was a difficult job, but had to be done. (grin) I did have some dedicated volunteers that helped me with that one..... Annie