Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Melting Peppermints

I saw on Cooking Light peppermint topped brownies and I thought it would be a lot of fun to make mini "gingerbread" houses out of brownies with peppermint roofs to put at each place for the kids - but brownies do not work for this.  And since it was last minute anyway I scrapped the idea and just went with their original idea.  But next year I plan to try this again using a chocolate cake.  I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime - melting peppermints is a breeze.
Heat oven to 300 F.
Line a pan with parchment paper and mark out 1.5 - 1.75 in squares on the back side (you don't really need to do this and if your peppermints seem bigger go farther apart, smaller go closer together.  Since mine didn't melt perfectly together I swirled them with a toothpick.)
Wait 10-15min.
When them come out score with a pizza cutter along your lines.  Once cool they'll break right apart.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas Cookie Boxes

This year I used little white boxes (from Michaels-they're actually mug boxes) to package our cookies for friends and neighbors.
I bought a huge thing of red and white twine awhile back and have used it for lots of things - but this might be my favorite!  It looks so festive for Christmas! A "ho ho ho" stamp on some labels and ... done! Simple and easy! Asa enjoyed the packaging too - I'd turn around to find a few cookies missing and a small trail of crumbs to wherever he was.


I got the twine from Amazon - should last awhile...!  Other places like Divine Twine sell it in other colors.
Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 17, 2010

Can't Find Your Phone?


I gotta say - this came in really handy today!  I saw it on my friend, Ashley's, blog awhile back and it stuck in my head soo when I misplaced my cell phone today (with it on vibrate!) this came to my rescue!

www.icantfindmyphone.com

Anthropologie Gifts!

I got this butter dish from Anthropologie for a friend of mine - but I'm really tempted to keep it!  (And hopefully she doesn't take a look here before I give it to her...)

Friday, December 10, 2010

Tinsel and Glitter

Some centerpieces for a work party - I used tinsel in the bottom to reflect off the candles and glittered boughs in the vases. (I'm still finding glitter everywhere!)
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

TRG Prints Giveaway

Don't forget to go enter the second week of Advent Giveaways at TRG Prints!
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Gingerbread Houses

Back in highschool my sister and I started doing gingerbread houses.  Nothing extravagant - just classic houses for fun!  Over the years I've gone through a lot of gingerbread recipes, interesting patterns (which resulted in the use of a glue gun on multiple years), and various icing recipes. (Side Note: muffin pans work great for holding all the various kinds of candy.)

Last year I was fed up with trying to get the shape just right so that it would hold together - when it bakes it inevitably spreads! - and purchased this gingerbread house mold.
This works great although a little time consuming.  One side creates a brick house (see below) and the other creates a log one (see bottom).  I bake the dough directly in the pan, lightly greased, to maintain shape.  No question of bad fits and pretty easy.  This is actually my brother and sister-in-laws' house.  (Mine is at the bottom.)  They tend to take a lot of time decorating theirs...
Here's the recipe I used this year.  I added 1 tsp cinnamon, some cloves and nutmeg and used a little less flour.  It wasn't great tasting but I wanted to do a recipe with shortening rather than butter because most people tend to eat the candy, if anything, and not the house.  Why waste the butter!?

This year I tried out a Fluffy Meringue Icing from the Wilton recipe that's included in the can.  This worked great!  It doesn't dry rock hard like royal icing, has a great sheen and is pure white.  Just a tad sticky to work with!  (Make sure to keep plastic wrap over the bowl while you're going along.)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Personalizing Bouquets and Boutonnieres

I love tiny personal details - especially on flowers! There are a lot of unique options you can do to add a special extra touch or your "something old" to your bouquets. Notice the batman pin hiding in the background up there? You could also use an antique broach, pins, rings, necklaces, handkerchiefs, lace doilies... the list goes on and on! So be creative with your flowers - I'm sure your florist will love the unique detail and extra thought.

all images from Style Me Pretty
Posted by Picasa

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thursday, November 25, 2010

CSN Giveaway Winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered- trust you all had a great Thanksgiving!  Continue to check back - I'll be having a couple more giveaways before Christmas.

Congratulations #16!!! 

DEBORAH said:

I love the Skip Hop Owl Zoo Pack!
I'll be contacting you via email shortly.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Christmas Postcard Design


Here's a sneak peak at the Christmas postcard I designed for us this year.  Whenever something works out in photoshop I get really excited since I don't really know what I'm doing. (Learning by trial and error!)

I made the snowflakes from photoshop (really easy tutorial on that here- I skipped all the background stuff and added some extra styling)  and the font in the bottom right is a free font called Matilde available here.  They're currently off at the printers (overnightprints.com) and then hopefully arriving in mailboxes before Christmas!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

CSN Giveaway!!

It's time for another giveaway from CSN stores!!  Enter to win a $35.00 gift certificate to any of their stores!  (There are over 200 CSN stores.)

They have every kind of suitcase imaginable in their luggage store (handy for traveling around the holidays) to furniture, baby supplies, and home decor.



How to enter:
1. Head on over to the link above.
2. Come back and leave a comment on this post listing your favorite travel item, name, and email address.
3.  For an extra entry - put a link on facebook or your blog and leave a second comment telling me where you posted.
4. I'll pick a winner next Wednesday, Nov 24th.

Good luck!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Inspiration Board: Sage and White with Dusty Pink Accents

Here's the current inspiration board for an outdoor garden wedding featuring sage and white with dusty pink and purple accents.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Wedding Details: Dress Hanger

In case you didn't have enough details to think about on your wedding day I thought I'd bring up the hanger for your wedding dress!  Your dress will most likely be photographed and as a result so will the hanger.  Instead of just bringing the dress in on the hanger from the bridal salon, take an extra second and grab a wooden one or some other kind of hanger.  Take a look at the difference between the two photos below.  Small detail but it makes a big difference.
(image from here)

(image from here)

If you want to have a little more fun with your hanger you can get personalized hangers or paint your own.   There are oodles available on etsy.

(image from here)

(available here)



(available here)
Posted by Picasa

Friday, November 5, 2010

Sarah and Adam

 Here's some of the photos taken by Jean Marie Photography.  She did a fabulous job capturing the feel of the wedding.  For more of pictures of Sarah and Adam take a look at her blog.




Sarah put a lot of time and thought into planning her wedding.  And the result was fabulous!

One of my favorite details that Sarah wanted to include was using her grandmother's ring (which was also a "something blue").  I attached the ring to the front of her bouquet.

The centerpieces at the reception (held at SEL Event Center) were curly willow, river rock and roses.


Sarah's bouquet featured burnt orange calla lilies, red and orange dahlias, roses.

The fantastic cake was made by Sarah's mom, Kathy.  Mainly red velvet but a few layers of Funfetti just for the groom.  (Funfetti also happens to be my favorite kind of cake!) Her sister-in-law made the "Love Is Sweet" sign for the dessert table and loads of her relatives came to help us decorate the reception site.

Thanks and Congratulations!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Yellow and Grey

 When I saw these pictures I had to show you a couple images of this wedding featured on Style Me Pretty!  I love yellow and grey as it is but then throw in all the fun details and Billy Balls - fantastic!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Fall Leftovers

I don't typically make large arrangements for myself but all of these roses were past selling point so we get to enjoy them! I'm also thrilled with the vase!
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, October 28, 2010

In other news...

I'm due in early May and anxious for my energy levels to come back to normal and the nausea to dissipate! (Which is my excuse for the large gaps in my posts or any kind of craftiness besides weddings lately.)
But we're all pretty excited!
Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 25, 2010

Jenny and Jay Sneak Peek

Here's a couple shots I grabbed of Jenny's flowers.  Jenny's flowers included: hydrangea, eskimo roses, lisianthus, freesia, and gardenia.  I'll try to get some of the professional shots so you can get an overall look at the wedding.  Her colors were bright blue and red.  Congratulations!


And here's the inspiration board for the wedding:
Posted by Picasa
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...