Confessions of a pie addict...

I have a confession that I must confess to you all (seeing as how that's the nature of a confession it only makes sense really).  It's serious and very well...  confessionesque (as in filled with hair pulling, tears, drama, more tears and of course... a fork)!  A fork you say?!?!

Yep.  It rips me in half to admit it... but it's true.

I love pie.

So lovely, so flaky, so achye breaky.  So pie-ish.

When Sara and Kate from Our Best Bites contacted me to help them out with some tags for a pie post... you had better believe that I jumped at the chance to bust out some download and print freebies related to pie.  We are not talking about any regular pie here folks.  We are talking about a fast as you please whip-up of a hoard of pies to store in your freezer for a personal-sized-pie-per-day extravaganza!!!

What if I don't want to hoard mini pies Lolly?
Wait...  you don't?  Hmmmmmm.  I guess we can still be friends. <Maybe> 

Sew I guess the other great thing about these pies is that they are are pies you can give away (let me get a Kleenex real quick cause pies you can gift brings a tear to my eye).

These are pretty little personal sized pies to be shared with those you cherish the most (if you need someone to cherish - I'll be happy to volunteer).  These little fellas would make terrific house warming gifts or perhaps small somethings you can bring to a holiday party (or you can whip up a batch of 12 and keep them all for yourself).  I know that goes back to the whole pie hoarding thing again...  but I can't help myself.

I made up 7 different tags you can use with your pies.  Some are labeled for specific flavored pies (apple, cherry and blueberry)...  and some have a space where you can write your own flavor.  The last set is just a little pair for gifting with two labels.  One has a "To" & "From" written and in and the other the how to cook-em-up instructions.

Before we dive into the crust of the matter...  I have to make a little blog format disclaimer.

Blog Format Disclaimer:  I seem to be having some serious issues with my blog platform so my image placement is about to get really wild.  Not roller coaster wild.  Just images all stacked on top of each other because something is going wrong with Typepad wild (which is not nearly as much fun as roller coaster wild).

Now back to our regularly scheduled pie post.

The sacrifices I make for the blog...
In order to test drive the tags I was forced to make up a few "test pilot pies" so I could ensure that the tags were gonna work (it really broke my heart... let me tell you).

Lisa and Sara have LOADS of tips and recipes for these little guys so I am not going to get into it (you have to head over to their place if you want to get to the heart of the matter)...  I'll just share a few pics from when I put them together (again sorry for the picture format here folks).

I cut out a circle 6 inches in diameter and that seemed to do the trick for getting just the right amount of crust into the little jar.  I kinda folded it into a flower and tucked it inside and then pressed the sides down.

I used the lid (the one that sits on top of the jar not the one you screw down) to cut out a pie top.  I then used some mini cookie cutters to create a little vent hole.

Note:  The lovely brownish orbital globs in the pie jars above is canned cherries packed in water that I turned into pie filling with the addition of a little sugar and cornstarch.  Keeping plain ole canned cherries in the pantry makes for a pie filling you can whip up yourself that's not too sweet (I find that the ready made cherry pie filling is a little too sweet and thick for my taste).

This is a little pic of the tag with the cooking instructions and the to/from tag.  You stack them like a sammich.  1) Lid with the rubbery ring goes on the jar (to seal it).  2) Then the cooking directions tag gets placed on that lid.  3) Then a piece of fabric (to make a little jar skirt).  4) Then goes the metal band that you screw on. 5)  ...and lastly you use some super sticky tape to glue the to/from tag in the center of the fabric.

So here is the side view (I love making little jar skirts...  I even do layered ones sometimes).  If you want to do a layered one - cut a 6 inch in diameter circle for the top layer and a 7 inch in diameter circle for the under layer.  I find that sheer fabrics or tulle work best for the under layer.  It's thin enough that you can still screw the lid on with two layers of fabric.

...and the top view.  I think that solid colored fabric sets the tags apart a little bit better than a print.  But that's just me thinking.

As with all of my tags...  you can use any 2.5 inch circle punch to punch these tags quick and easy...or you can cut them out.  I have the Marvy pink circle punch - so that's what I usually use.  If you like the scallop tags in this set - the Marvy pink scallop punch works perfectly with that one as well.

Is pie the only thing going on today Lolly?
Heck no!  So while I was busy working on pie tag graphics, making pies and taking pie post pics...  MomChops was busy too (she came over Sunday morning and we had breakfast and then got to work)!  I sent her a link on Friday to a little pillow that was featured over on Pink Chalk Studio!  I figured her pattern would make the perfect craft room chair pillow!  SEW...  "Super Fabulous MomChops" (her new official title) whipped up some honorary pie post pillows!  You can grab the free pattern to make your own totally cool pillow HERE!!!  Just a tiny note:  MomChops was threatening the sewing machine when she was in the gathering phase of the pillow making process.  We almost did not have any pie post pillows.  It was touch and go there for a while...  but a little piece of pie cleared the air and set the craft room karma back on track.  Whew.

You can download ALL of the tags in one MEGA file below.  I was going to break them up but I think it's better to knock them all out with one big ole download (when I say big I mean BIG...  have a little patience...  it's gonna take a sec...  remember... it's 7 whole pages of tags)!

Now for the exciting part of the pie post (as if that pie post pillow were not exciting enough)!
It's time to play NAME THAT SHAPE shape shape shape!  I made up a little pie crust leftovers jelly tart for RonChops (he was a real trooper through out the whole pie making day).  I think it kinda looks like a trout.  What do you think?

Enough with the pie, pillows and bad puns!  Bring on the winners!
Ok now for the REALLY exciting part of the pie post.  It's time to announce the winners of the cookbook and LollyChops craft craziness giveaway!

The randonly chosen winners and their oniony comments are below: 

Neen - Neen's Been Scrappin
"Mmmmm onion chip cookies.....
At least no one would EVER get the flu if they ate this way... fluless and friendless."

Lindsay - Brooklyne's Chaos
"Cry Baby [pureed onion baby food]"

Rebecca - Roots & Wings, Co.
"How about onion ice cream? Cry Me A River (you know, because they make some people cry...?). Ummm, An Onion A Day Keeps The Doctor Away? I don't know what these would actually be recipes for, but as long as they included onions it would be fine, right? I love onions. I swear I do. Ask my daughter...she...doesn't! Ah, it's fun teaching her to cook because she's finding out how many things I actually put onions in that she wasn't aware of...hee hee hee. French Onion Soup sounds really delicious right now."

April - The Tottles
"grilled steak of onion with a side of scalloped onions"

Congrats to the winners!  I'll be in touch with you guys tonight to get your addresses!

I'll be back later this week with the other butterfly project (and I have another giveaway coming soon too)!

P.S.  Make sure you head on over to Our Best Bites to learn all about how to make these little fellas!

P.S.S.T.  Here's pie in yer eye (xoxoxox)!