To gift or keep?

Dying over this beautiful gift set from L'occitane.

Spotted it in the store the other day and ran past without smelling. Doesn't matter, they had me at packaging.

They have bath bombs and lips glosses in cool sliding tins. I usually love to give and get Philosophy gift sets at holiday time. But they don't seem to have anything new this year. Time to move on! L'Occitane has lots of beautiful products in new scents. Check 'em out!

Also really love this gummy bear lamp from Uncommon Goods!

Giant Ice Cream Bowl DIY - Martha's Bundt Pan Challenge

Posted on Martha's FB page was the question, what new use can you think of for a bundt pan? Since I like to help out Martha when I can, I thought I'd think of an answer for her.
I own a bundt pan, but it's not something I usually use. This probably makes me a better candidate to figure out a new use for it.

I decided to try and flip it over and use the underside for baking, as a mold to create a large bowl. It worked!
I love the way the ridges from the bundt pan gave my bowl texture.
I filled it up with enough ice cream and toppings for 8, and got ready some wooden ice cream spoons, which I customize and sell in my Etsy store. I think it would be so much fun to use a party-sized ice cream bowl! Can't wait to use my bundt pan again.

I made the bowl pictured using pie crust. It took a few tries to get it right. I have a few recommendations for anyone trying this at home:
- Do not cut out the hole in the center of the bundt pan. The dough needs the support! Otherwise it will crack in half.
- Pop the whole thing in the chill chest after you get the dough laid out on top for a good 15 minutes.
- Cut a few small slits in a large piece of tin foil (for venting) and cover the entire pie crust. This will also help to keep it from cracking and falling apart. After the pie crust is baked, remove the foil and keep it in the over to brown a few minutes longer.
- Leave the crust on the bundt pan until it's cool. It will be fairly sturdy when you remove it!

Look how pretty!

Knowing what I know now, I may go back and try doing this with a crisp sugar cookie recipe. I also like that I can fancy this up! For a party I would dip the top edge in chocolate and cover it with sprinkles. Also, imagine how yummy this would be with a cobbler inside... yummmmm.

Enjoy!

Preparation!

I have been busy busy and figure you have too! So, I think I need to approach holidays this year with a little help under my belt. For the first time ever, I am going to organize my holidays! Lists and menus and all the things people say you should do to keep from getting crazy.
Here are the 10 things I am making a priority:

1. Gift lists. For family. For hosts. For neighbors. For teachers. For friends & their kids. It's a lot of gifts - better to start planning way in advance so you don't forget anyone.

2. Clean out toys and clothes to make way for new ones.

3. Get out old November and December editions of Martha Stewart, Bon Apetetit, Disney Fun Magazines to get ready for menus and craft projects, get decorating ideas for my house and things for my kids to do. By the way, I have a special magazine file just for holiday editions so they're easy to find. That's a great time saver too!
4. Make menus for the next 2 months. Not just for the holiday dinners, but for every night of the week. Seems crazy, and this isn't something I usually do. But, hopefully it will make things easier to know what I'm making instead of toil over dinner every night. Also, it's supposed to be cheaper to plan in advance, and healthier to have an overview of monthly meals.

5 Get rid of old projects laying around. For me that means thank you cards from Margot's birthday party 2-3 weeks ago, and store returns I've needed to put in the mail for 2 months. Also need to make it around to a few local stores for some returns.

6. Book babysitters early!

7. Collect coupons. In one place. And don't forget to use them.

8. Make a gift list for yourself. Scan Pinterest for ideas, if you don't know what you want. You'll find 200 things you never knew you needed.

9. Shop craft fairs! It's a great place to meet interesting local talent. Shop ETSY! It's great to get out of the huge stores and support people who works for themselves!

10. Don't forget to have fun. It sounds silly, but we get so busy with everything we have to do and everything we want to do. If you've decided to bake cookies for all the neighbors for the holidays and you still have 20 things to do, just send your husband to the store and buy some! Put them in a cute little bag and the neighbors won't even know the difference. Then, when you're done delivering them, put your feet up and have a drink! It's the holidays, after all.

Clothespin Love

Last time I was at Art Mart I spotted some clothespins that were covered in some pretty paper and of course I thought "I want to make that!" When we first put up Nash's art wall in his room, he and I painted a bunch of clothes pins, and glued some buttons on them. There were a few left over and we've been using them as chip clips and I glued magnets to the back of a few and stuck them to the fridge to hold grocery lists. They are great to have around and fun to make!

This blog post is meant to be a tutorial, but to be honest, there isn't much to it! Here's the tutorial section (don't blink, you might miss it): My clothespins measure 3.25" by 3/8". I found my paper scrap stash, and used my paper cutter to cut to size. I dabbed on a little rubber cement... and that's about it!

As I was working on my clothes pins, I realized my surface resembled something else I work with day and night - utensils! So I had to work some printing magic on them too.

I started looking at these on Etsy after I finished my little project and realized there are a million of these out there. There are glitter clothespins and hand painted clothespins and washi tape clothespins. They are so pretty! Maybe if I have a little extra time I'll let the kids make a few packages for the craft show I am doing at their school next month. They are fun and quick to make. Wouldn't it make a cute display for your holiday cards?

A Liiittle Into My Toms

I started out with a gray pair about a year ago, and a few months later my Mom gifted me some red ones. While visiting a friend in Miami, I went a little nutty and bought some light blue glitter ones, and burlap. I'd say I'm stocked. So, with the gray ones wearing out, I didn't mind doing a little experimenting.

I know painted Toms are for sale for on Etsy, and I really do love these Van Gogh Starry Night Toms, but I wanted something a little simpler. I read into painting them, but it seems like the paint wears off pretty easily. I remember, from years ago, seeing Martha use a bleach pen to achieve a batik effect on some linens. Why not try it on my old Toms?

I felt like a teenager decorating my shoes, it was so much fun! I get tons of compliments on them, and people asking me how I made them.

It's a good idea to give your bleach pen a test run and see how quickly, smoothly the gel comes out. Once you're comfortable, go ahead and draw it on your shoes. There is no rush to get it all done; if you're using the right amount of gel, it won't drip! Once the gel was on, I left it about 15 minutes, then rinsed it off under my kitchen sink, which didn't smear the gel at all. They were dry the next morning and I was so excited to wear them!

And here is my little boy modeling them.
This was a great project, mainly because it came out well with no preparation. I did mine free hand, but when I do it again, I'll probably use a pencil and do some outlining first. And that's all there is to it! So go make some Toms. Have fun! Would love to hear how this goes and see some pictures!

Pinterest Cookies

I have 2 million things pinned that I want to make, and am not sure I've ever made anything. That stops now! First at bat, pretzel chocolate chip cookies! My husband says, "I mean, those could be the best cookies ever... I mean, SHUT UP." He is not usually a man at a loss for words, and he mumbled these whole chomping on a pretzel chocolate chip cookie. So, they are amazing. Recipe here. I stuck with chocolate chips because I didn't have any peanut butter ones around, and I'm not missing them. Nom nom nom. Anything you've found on Pinterest and made? I'm going to make something from Pinterest once a week. This is my goal. Stick with me.

Making Giant Confetti

**This blog post was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings!**

It all starts with tissue paper....

I am really going crazy over giant decorations! Giant props, giant 36" balloons, and now giant confetti! I first read about this on THIS post on Oh Happy Day. And I have to say, I loved the idea, but didn't read about how to make it. I was wandering through JoAnn this weekend and saw Fiskars circle cutter, and I couldn't resist! I should already own this tool anyway.

I found out later that Oh Happy Day's interpretation of "giant" is a little different than mine. Her confetti is 2", and mine is about 6". And her method of making it was completely different! She used a 2" circle punch, which I tried after I finally decided to read her instruction. Maybe my 2" punch is dull, but it did not like my tissue paper. I was happy with how the circle cutter cut my tissue paper, and I love my end result!


Lastly, I was so happy with my confetti, that I made a little logo on Picnik to print onto hand made bags, which I'll fill with, what else? Giant confetti, of course. Reading the directions is good, but sometimes finding your own way can lead to good things too.

By the way, I've shared this post on Life Made Lovely Monday!

What's Making Me Smile

This website is worth looking at- beautiful products and photos My Little Day


Lalaloopsy pencil toppers!

Completely in love with the blog Oh Happy Day. She loves silly things that I love, just because they're pretty.


Two of my favorite things about St. Louis: Schlafly beer and Cardinals baseball!

Craft Room Neatness

How have I never posted pictures of my organized craft room? It's kinda hard remembering where I put things, between blogs and Etsy and Facebook! So, a few pictures, and a quick story. Once upon a time there was a house with a tiny room in the basement and no natural light. Well, let's just skip to the end! After a few years of not enough space, I have... well... still not enough space! But I do have a craft room, and when it's clean it is beautiful!




When I look for inspiration, I love to go to Flickr and Pinterest and search craft spaces or sewing rooms. There are some beautiful, light, airy ones! And maybe someday I'll have that too. But for now, I really appreciate that I have this small space full of things I need to be crafty.

Margot's Owl Birthday

Margot and her friends had a great time at her birthday, and that's what it's all about!

I started out buying slices of wood to use as trays for the cupcakes, but decided I wanted more! Instead of spending $10 per board, I figured out that I could paint poster board to look like tree rings. It was fun, so I made them for everything!

Kids got to put on masks, which I got for the great Etsy shop The Rasilisk, and they got to make their own wings using sticky-back foam and feathers (held on just with rubber bands). Then they checked themselves out in the mirror!

The customized forks are from my shop Sucre & Spice. I think the adults and the kids got a kick out of them!

I made "crayOWLas" for the birthday girl's friends by melting crayons and pouring them into an owl lollipop mold. And the muslin bags were for collecting candy from the pinata.

Thanks to everyone for all your support and friendship! We loved having you celebrate with us!

Made In St. Louis

Keep singing "On the cover of the Rolling Stone"! OK, it's not quite that big. But still... I was in the paper! It's been a long time since I've been in the paper. The picture is half decent, and it's a cute little interview. I feel so famous.