Father's Day Love

My friend Michelle took a tip from Martha and put together a shadowbox for her fiancee's first Father's Day. I was so happy to help out and share some bits and pieces from my stash. We used fancy papers for the background, foam core to make the pics stick out, pins, and a glue stick and double sided tape to make the magic happen. Michelle included the teeny hat Ms. Bryn came home from the hospital in and the only pacifier she would accept for the first few months of her life. I thought this was such a sweet idea and would make a great gift for any special holiday.
Happy Dad's Day!

The Green and Red of Mayo

Happy St. Patrick's Day from a beautiful 60 degree day in Chicago.

This day is nothing without family, friends, hop 2-3's and The Saw Doctors.

Slainte to you and yours!

Lucky You

Kim Stoegbauer of The TomKat Studio recently put together a collection of St. Patrick's Day decorating and craft ideas for HGTV. See how to make this printable banner and a few other treats here.

Mini CB Sams

The perfect bite sized corned beef sandwiches for your St. Patrick's Day festivities.

You'll need: One loaf of cocktail rye, a half pound of corned beef, 1000 island and some swiss cheese (I got a third lb. but that was way too much). Makes about 12 sandwiches.

To do:

1) Chop up the corned beef into little square pieces and separate in a bowl

2) Pour in some 1000 island

3) Mix those two together

4) Place rye bread on baking sheet and add corned beef mixture to each slice

5) Cover with swiss cheese

6) Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes

7) Slice diagonally. Serve with a side of 1000 island and enjoy!

Photo credit: Herself

Abe & Mary

Meet my new roommates. They used to live at my favorite antique store right near my house. Dan O knew I had my eye on them for awhile (mostly because Abe is his favorite pres and I was thinking about getting them for him), when lo and behold he gifted me with my first ever President's Day present last night. He mentioned the woman behind the counter said something like, "A President's Day present! Well that's a first. Isn't that somethin?" It most certainly is.

A Little Something

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Painting the Roses

BMine E-Valetines, Kate Spade; I Heart Umbrellas, ModCloth; Boucle Blazer, Forever 21; Red Lips Hinged Bangle, Betsey Johnson all Valentine's gifts on sale until the 14th!; Red Cheetah Tray, Furbish Online; Nebb Frames, Mascot; Dolce Vita Strappy Platform Wedge, Urban; Duck Bag, Baggu; Mini Cake Stand, A Fabulous Fete.

Chocolate Heart of Gold

The only thing better than a box of chocolates is an assemblage of mini cakes designed to look like a box of chocolates. The gold heart shaped wonders are a dream. Read here how Rosie from Sweetapolita (new favorite baking blog) put this confectionary masterpiece together!

Spotted on Sweet Tooth by way of  Twig and Thistle

A Coral Love Story

Adam Crepe Paper Skirt, The Outnet; Leafy Heart Rubber Stamp, Paper Source; Custom Floral Portrait Print, Rifle Paper Co.; Color Block Shoe Clips, Ban.do; Nude Feather Clutch, ASOS; Little Blouse, Emersonmade; Arrow Earrings, Curiousity Shoppe; Strawberry Cheesecake Necklace, Anthro

Excruciatingly Sweet Gumball Necklace

I want to walk right up to this project, say GET OUT and maybe push it.

 It's just enough to push me over the edge. You too?

Even past Feb. 14th they could stand as invitations or party favors.

Valentine Gumball Necklaces from One Charming Party

Found via Aesthetic Outburst 

Doily Love

$1.75 heart shaped doilies and yarn makes some simple and sweet Valentine garland.

Sweet Cakes

One box of Devil's Food and one box of dark chocolate cake, 4 eggs and 2/3 cup of oil...

 Rolled into 2 inch balls and thrown in the oven for 10 minutes at 325...

 With a simple cream cheese and powdered sugar icing...

Gets you about 25 unbelievable, highly addictive little cakesters.

Tuck them in a little mailbox (from Target or Michael's) and you've got yourself the perfect Valentine.

See the recipe here...and make sure to drop the icing in a ziploc bag, snip off a corner and pipe the icing. Easy peasy.

October, 2011: Since January, I have probably made these cookies 10 more times. Every time seems to be a little different and the batter can sometimes be brutal (cement-like, completely stuck to your hands, want throw the whole bowl away, etc). I figured out that a) mixing with a fork is best, and b) I always bake them on parchment paper. For the most part I think these are super easy to make in just an hour or two and worth a little tantrum with the batter.

Tardy for the Holiday Party

I held a little soiree over my glorious 2-week long Christmas vacation, and this little bar made an appearance. Some of my visitors were less than legal and some enjoyed the bottle of Bailey's nestled in the back. I collected anything I thought might be fun in hot chocolate or to nibble on otherwise. Height differentiation was key with this little space, since it was in such a little space.

Lastly....I have a newfound respect for Bakerella. Over the course of 2 days I made 150 cake pops and probably only 90 survived. Shown above are the misfits. The ones that passed inspection were stuck in baskets that I filled with styrofoam and tissue paper, all from Michael's. I brought them to all the family parties I attended spreading yuletide and cavity ridden cheer!

Maybe Next Year?

An upside down Christmas tree.

From Bakerella

String Art Ornaments

I had some giant glass ornaments and acrylic paint at home so I did the most logical thing I could think of at 9pm last night and got to jazzing them up.

I cut some string and heavily painted the ends with whichever color and dropped the painted end in the ornament. Then I shook it up a bunch of times (with my thumb over the opening) and came out with the picture above. Repeat until you're happy with the result.

I also got a little impatient with the string art and started oozing paint in and hitting the sides of the ornament so paint would slide around. In the ornament on the left I poured a little water in and shook it up a bit.

Bowling balls, right?

I dropped each one opening side down into a plastic cup so the extra paint would drip out.

And there you have it.

Sugar Sugar

I've always had an itch to make practically perfect sugar cookies like these.

I think they're such a nice little gift for co-workers and friends.

From Cupcakes and Cashmere

Decking the Darby

I'm supposed to be moving but a cold got in the way so instead I made a little garland project last night which looks much better on Darby than a tree. I'm not sure she would agree.

All you need are "fashion colors" (very fancy, yes) multi-pack pom poms from Michael's, a needle and thread and about an hour.

Wreathing

Acorn wreath. Painted blue. With a silver ribbon. Yes, yes indeed.

Spotted on See Kate Sew by way of Aesthetic Outburst

Jumping Right Into Christmas

The only problem with this is that I can't knit. But to have this handmade framed poinsettia wreath? I'd learn.

From decor8

Crystal Place Card and a Tartan Runner

I just really like where this Thanksgiving place setting is going. From High Gloss Blue.