Sunday, February 6, 2011

Moving to a New Home

Dearest Hopscotch Champion readers,

As of today, Hopscotch Champion has moved to KellyCloninger.blogspot.com
All past posts are there for your reading pleasure and future posts will continue along with added tabs of my personal work, information, and press. 
See you at my new home!



Friday, February 4, 2011

Ridin On My Bicycle

I may not be a devout bicyclist, but I am certainly a bicycle enthusiast. I love to ride bikes (who doesn't) and when I was little, I used to even name my bikes (you know, cool names like Lightning and Wave Runner). One of my favorite things to do once spring and summer finally roll around is to ride bikes, and with all of this itching for some warm weather lately, I thought looking at some lovely bicycles may just hold me over for now. Not that I can afford any of them, but a girl can dream.


Abici via Adeline Adeline : $950
Studine Classic via Velorbis : $880


Girardi via Electra Bikes

Build Your Own Bike via Republic : $399

Poppy via Adeline Adeline : $995

Public J7 by Public : $495


Monday, January 31, 2011

Cinnie Buns Please

No matter the occasion, I have always been a sweets indulger. And this week I intend to bake, eat, and share as many sweets as time allows to keep me sane.
First up : cinnamon buns.

I haven't actually made them yet, so forgive me if they fall short. Made from scratch cinnamon buns seem to be a very tricky task, but these babies got nothing but rave reviews. Wish me luck!

CINNAMON BUNS

INGREDIENTS :
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

FILLING :
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, softened

  • ICING :
  • 8 tablespoons margarine
    1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
    1/4 cup cream cheese
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    1/8 teaspoon salt

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in
  • a large bowl. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

  • Once dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 thick.

  • To make the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
  • Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

  • While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. When the rolls are done, lather them up with as much delicious icing as your little heart desires. Enjoy!


  • Tuesday, January 25, 2011

    Rabbit Mania!

    If I haven't already mentioned it, I have a bit of a thing for rabbits. Quite a big thing really. So today's post consists of some rabbit loveliness, starting with my very own : Tuna

    And second to that, comes a photo still from the "rabbit cafe" in Nagoya, Japan. A place where cute cuddly rabbits roam, all coffees and treats are rabbit themed, and you can even BYOR (bring your own rabbit). Better known as heaven if you ask me.

    My Little Tuna

    Tuesday, January 18, 2011

    Strawberries Please!

    Lately I've been doing a lot of thrifting (it may be turning into a little problem) and keep finding tons of cute strawberry goodies. I didn't want to hoard it all to myself, so today I share with you awesome vintage strawberry finds, all for sale on the almighty etsy. Happy shopping!

    Sunday, January 9, 2011

    Snow Day!

    Here in Atlanta we get real excited about even a half inch of snow. So when we have three inches on the ground and it's still coming down, it's hard to contain ourselves. Three layers of pants and socks, fuzzy sweaters, hot chocolate, sledding, snowball fights, snow angels and tongues up in the air will all be had within the next twenty four hours. In celebration of the white glow outside, I bring you all things snow.




    Life Size Snow Globe

    Friday, January 7, 2011

    A Hot Minute

    Okay, so it's been a hot minute since I posted, but I just came across someone so lovely I had to drop everything and jump back on the ole blogging. She's a graphic designer/illustrator living in Dublin and her name is (drumroll) Denise Nestor. You can see more of her amazing work on her blog.