Tiny Animal Rings

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a fetish for two things: rings and miniatures.  Oh and shoes...so three things, but who doesn't love shoes?  So you can imagine my delight to see two of my favorite things together.  Aren't these tiny animal rings darling?  I'm smitten with the little bird and giraffe, but I would happily take any of them.  (Did you get that honey?)

What do you think lovelies? Which ones do you fancy?

Homemade Conversation Hearts

We bought our first box of conversation hearts the other day and I did not enjoy them. They weren't the chalky sweet that I remember. Then I came across these insanely adorable homemade ones (along with a recipe)and I am dying to give it a try!

Wouldn't these be a fun little way to say "I love you" to someone special?

Source: redpathsugar.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Pallet Decorating

I've had a thing for pallets for a while now. It started two or three years ago when I saw it on Scandinavian design blogs and was instantly smitten. Now it seems like I'm seeing it everywhere and I LOVE it! In fact, every time I pass a construction site or a warehouse with stacks of pallets I find myself looking at them longingly. Seriously. Yes I do think it's high time that I pick some up for myself.

Remember this gorgeous Scandinavian home?
I think this headboard should be my first project

What do you think dears? Fancy some pallet decor in your home?

Source*

Cabin Porn

Sometimes it feels like my days just flyby without even a small moment to myself. Lately I've really been missing winter (crazy), so when I've had an especially long day,  I daydream about being in a quiet snowy cabin with a little fire and a good book.   In my search to put a picture to my daydream I ran across THIS very aptly named blog.  Pages and pages of quaint little cabins/cottages in the most picturesque settings for me to drool over (sigh).  So now you know my dirty little secret.

Pretties, what awesome places to you daydream about?

Source: freecabinporn.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Winter Look

I adore Emma Stone anyways, but I especially adore her in this cute wintry outfit. Red pants, shiny oxfords and a navy wool coat. Does it get any better than this?

Sweets, would you wear this look?

Get the look

Curry Red jeans
Gold Oxfords
Retro Coat 

Source: usmagazine.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Adorable Updo

 Because I have little hands that like to grab my already falling out hair, I wear my hair in a bun 99% of the time. Although I haven't mastered the technique to get perfect bun, I still adore them. However, every once in a while I need to fancy it up a bit and try something different. Isn't this just the prettiest updo ever? It even looks easy enough for me to try it. I'm thinking I might need her bangs though....oh but that's a whole other post.

Also lovin' this updo tutorial. I think I can do this one too. LOVE it!

Source: datsucks.com via Amanda on Pinterest

The BEST Cupcake Frosting

For my daughters princess party this past weekend she wanted cupcakes...and she wanted me to make them (gulp).  I can make cupcakes, but I am not good with frosting.  That is until I came across THIS baby. OMG! It's light and fluffy, but still creamy...(pausing to daydream). It really is the best homemade frosting I've ever had. It's super easy too, which is key to success for me. I've now done vanilla, vanilla bean, and last night I made a batch with almond extract.  I think next will be lemon, but the possibilities are endless...(drooling again).

Also, if you're like me and are challenged when it comes to putting the frosting on the cupcake, here's an awesome tutorial.

Looking for Chocolate?
Multicolor swirl how-to

Enjoy!


Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

3 tablespoon Flour
1/2 cup milk (whole milk is best, but I use non-fat when it’s all I have and it’s actually fine)
1/2 cup real butter (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
1/2 cup sugar (that’s granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan.   Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.

Put  mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top.

Using an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer if you have one, instead of the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating!  Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies.  Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.

What's for Dinner?

I'm a soup person anyways, but my family LOVES the broccoli cheese soup from Panera Bread. So I thought instead of going out and spending $30 on soup, I'm gonna try and make it myself. Very ambitious - Panera was my back up if I botched it. I turned to Pinterest and found this recipe.  Sidenote: (don't look at food on Pinterest if you're hungry). It was dinner last night and it was super YU-MMY and easy.

P.S. You know how kids are about chunks in their food, so I pureed it like the recipe suggest, but it would have been good either way.

Do you stick to the tried and trues when it comes to dinner or do brave something new every once in a while?

Ultimate Princess Party

Sorry for my lack of posting these last few weeks, but me and Husband have been busy planning and getting ready for the ultimate princess party for my 7 year old.  She has wanted a party for the last 2 years, but with it being so close to Christmas, there just was never a good time.  This year we'd promised her, so at the last minute, we threw together some invitations. 

With invitations out, we HAD to now figure out what we were going to do.  Aside from booking a "real" princess to make an appearance, we did most of it ourselves to cut down on cost.  We took a lot of inspiration from Pinterest (here and here) and I loved the idea of a candy buffet instead of those cheap party favors.  Husband put up most of the decorations and lights and I worked on the food. The little princesses arrived all dressed up and they were absolutely adorable.  It was a full on sparkly pink and purple, twinkle light, princess bash.  So much fun!


P.S. I'll do a post on some of the fun and easy money saving things we did. 

A New Year

Do you do resolutions?  Do you ever keep them?  I, like many people, have tried it and failed miserably.  It's a good gesture though right?  Start out the year with lofty goals.  This year I decided not to go for the high failure rate, but instead reach for common sense stuff.  Just focus on being emotionally, physically, and spiritually happy. So here's my list of quasi resolutions:

1. Ignore the pull of the perpetual "to-do" list and just enjoy life more.  Especially with my kids.
2. Do something creative every day.  Even if it's small.
3. Be more active.  I'm so much happier when I do this.
4. Go on more dates with husband.  No one spitting up on me or whining, just me and him.
5. Read more.  I don't ever do this anymore.  I miss it.
6. Keep in better touch with friends.  I'm horrible at this, but it doesn't mean I don't think about ya.
7. Be happy.  Try and look for the positive side of things.  Even when it's hard.

That's all I have for now. I'm sure there are a few I've forgotten that I'll think of the second I post this, but there it is.  Happy New Year dears, hoping 2013 makes all your dreams come true!

Photo via*

Christmas Magic

I've been sick for over a week and didn't get to do my Christmas post!  I've had the after Christmas funk today, so I thought doing a post would help me hang on to my Christmas spirit a little longer.

Christmas evolves with you and changes over the years, especially when you have kids. My favorite thing this year was watching my kids.  Doing with them some of the fun traditions that me and husband had when we were kids and watching the excitement and magic of it on their faces.  Catching Santa's boot print, seeing the milk and cookies gone... It brings back those same feelings that I had when I was a kid.  My mom was/is AWESOME at creating that Christmas magic for us and I feel so very blessed to be able to do that with my kids.  Anyhoo, I hope you all had a wonderful and memory filled Christmas. 

And just for fun, what were some of your favorite things about Christmas this year?