Bake and Share: Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Homemade ice cream sandwiches can be made ahead for an easy and delicious end to a barbeque gathering. They are also a great way to thank a neighbor for picking up your mail or watering your lawn while you were on vacation. Just wrap in wax or parchment paper, add a stamped gift tag and deliver when you know they are home.

The chocolate cookie recipe is another one from Martha Stewart. Because it uses confectioner’s sugar instead of granular sugar, the cookie has a great denseness. Remember you can also divide the dough and freeze portions for up to three months, so you’ll always be ready with a delicious summer treat.

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 large, lightly beaten eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Using an electric mixer combine butter and sugar, beat until fluffy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture on low speed.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

On floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 thick and cut shapes.

Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

If all you’re doing is circles for ice cream sandwiches then you can skip refrigerating the cut shapes before baking.

Wait for the cookies to be completely cooled before adding the ice cream centers. Use your favorite ice cream flavor and spoon small scoops around the entire surface of the cookie, then add the top cookie applying only a little pressure. If you’re using classic vanilla ice cream, roll the sides in sprinkles for a fun summer look. For a more adult version try a Starbucks ice cream, like Java Chip Frappucino.

Window Drawing

Happy summer to everyone! Now that the kids are out of school it is time to find them things to do. Letting them draw on your windows sounds like it's breaking the rules and thus an exciting way to spend an afternoon. If they're old enough, challenge them to write backwards so that it's legible to a passer-by. Bright Stick wet-erase markers work well, so do Chalk Ink markers. Both wipe off with a damp cloth.

Window drawing is a fabulous way to show off your child's creative spirit, give them something to do on a rainy day, and make everyone who walks by smile.

Making Wrapping Paper With Kids

Turn an afternoon of art into a useful project by asking your little ones to help make wrapping paper. Any medium will do, colored pencils, markers or crayons work great if you’re short on time. Let them paint if you have the time to let it dry. Pre-wrap the gift and let them draw, even glue things to it.

Large rolls of plain paper are great to have on hand for projects like this. Ikea has cute easels for $14.99 and paper rolls for $4.99. The paper is great on the easel, but can also be used as base for other projects. Reuse that piece of paper a couple of times and it can also be turned in to wrapping paper. Add ribbon, gift tag and stamp for a truly personalized package.

If you’re thinking of using a existing piece of artwork from their enormous stack of artwork make sure you ask your little one first. You want them to be excited not devastated that you are using their artwork. And even though you may think their blue and red blobs look alike, there’s a little artist in your house that thinks differently.

Save Money on Greeting Cards

There some beautiful greeting cards being created today, but having the perfect card for every occasion can be difficult and expensive. By having a personalized rubber stamp and a few gift tags on hand (you can also make you own gift tags) you can always be ready for any event. 

Birthday, wedding, new baby, new home or graduation gifts can all be ready at a drop of a stamp. You never have to make a special trip to pick up a greeting card, just stamp on one side and write a note on the other. Use a gift tag instead of greeting cards and the stamp pays for itself in seven or less uses.

New Designs

We are using our Etsy shop to test out some new designs. Here are our latest, a new birds with heart from stamp and a dog print new address stamp set.

As always we’d love to hear what you think. Comment or email us at ideas@butterflyfly.com.

Handmade From Little Ones

Handmade is not reserved to the many talented people on Etsy. It can easily extend to your budding artists at home. No matter how young, chances are they love to create and they love to give.

On her blog, My Favorite Everything, Shanna Coady had her two little ones paint rocks and a pot for their grandpa’s birthday. The joy it will bring to grandpa every time he sees them in his garden and the thrill the kids will have when they visit their creation in use, proves art projects don’t need to be complicated to be great. Gift tags, a from the family stamp and accent stamp gives it a polished presentation.

‘Handmade’ can be a cheat. Here the wooden bird houses were bought at Jo-Ann’s for a dollar each. The three year old who painted them for his grandmas doesn’t consider them a handmade stretch. In his world these are masterpieces marked with his seal of approval- his name stamp on gift tags. A simple name stamp works great as a sign off or the word ‘handmade’ can be added to many of our name stamps. Check out our handmade stamp collection for more ideas.

Find Free Inspiration

Butterfly Fly is based in Chicago, where there is a wealth of free days at our many museums. The Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and Chicago Children’s Museum all offer free days throughout the year. The Chicago Public Library also offers museum passes for free admission that you can checkout for a week at a time.

With kids, don’t worry about seeing everything in the museum, just spend time in the areas they find interesting. It may be a Miro painting, the jellyfish, stegosaurus bones, or an upside down prop-plane. Often a museum visit makes for great dinner conversation, and may spark a special trip to the library for books on a subject or even inspire an art project.

Free outdoor concerts are a wonderful gift that come with nicer weather. Millennium Park offers lots of free concerts- great for picnic dinners. Old Town School of Folk Music offers free children’s concerts in the summer mornings in Millennium Park. And many of the Chicago Parks have free concerts throughout the summer featuring a very wide range of musical styles.

Old paper towel rolls transform into a number of pretend instruments and for older children chop sticks work well for drumsticks or a conducting baton. An inspired 'musical performance' can continue for days after- sometimes weeks.

Be sure to check with the museums, city and parks around where you live for free opportunities and get inspired!

Add an Extra Touch of Color to Your Stamps

Our line of accents stamps are one way to add a pop of color to your layout, but another idea is to color in a few areas of your personalized rubber stamp. Choose a color that’s the same general color as your ink or something completely different. It’s another great way to make your communications truly personal.

Colored pencils work great because you can use them two different ways; by pressing firmly for opaque color or lightly for soft color.

If pressing softly, try to color in the same direction for the entire area that you are filling in for a more uniform look.

You can also use a maker to fill in areas on your stamp, but try to stay within the stamps lines if using our Vivid! inks. Because they clean up easily with water they can also smudge a little when they come in contact with markers. If you have an older child this can make for an excellent challenge and a half hour of creative entertainment.

Get Back Your Gardening Books and Magazines

Spring is such a lovely time for anyone with a garden. If you have a particularly lovely garden, chances are you get asked lots of questions. That often leads to lending out your favorite gardening reference to friends and neighbors. Make sure your books get returned, by using a personalized garden stamp as a bookplate or on a bookmark.

Use your stamp on a Post-It® note and stick it to the cover of a favorite magazine to serve as a gentle reminder to return. Because a great article on ferns or slug control never goes out of style no matter how old the magazine.

Mother's Day Offer

If you're looking for a gift that's unique, personal and something she doesn't already have, then a personalized rubber stamp is a perfect gift. Use a name stamp to create a family stamp- versatile for any occasion. Or if she has a specific interest like gardening, baking, reading, knitting or crafting then we have great designs for you to customized just for her.


Order by Tuesday, April 20th to insure delivery by Mother's Day and receive 20% off your entire order, including paper and ink. At checkout enter: MOMLOVE


Have a wonderful Mother's Day!