Real Simple Love

So Im sure of you feel the same way about Real Simple Magazine as I do - Its pretty much the most amazing magazine and I absolutely LOVE it! The best part is everything in it really is simple and completely doable right!? 

Well what would make my love for the magazine grow? Um how about the fact that they featured my photo I posted on my instagram on their instagram and Twitter! PRETTY AMAZING RIGHT!?

This is our sweet Cookie who enjoyed the stud muffin on the June Issue of Real Simple:

AND here it is on Real Simple's Twitter:

AND on their Instagram:

Miss Cookie is totally famous!

P.S.. You can follow me on here on Instagram!

Tea Cup Candles [Baby Shower Favors]

Hello!! <3 Before my sister even got pregnant she said that she wanted to have a tea party themed baby shower, so when she finally announced she was going to have a baby naturally I though of a Tea Party Theme for her shower! You can view pictures of the shower Here!

For the favors I made tea cup candles which are something I had seen on Pinterest multiple times and thought they would be perfect. They are actually quite simple - a little time consuming but VERY easy! :)

Before I got started I found a great webstore on Ebay for my wax, scents, and candle wicks.  I purchased the coloring from Michael's Craft Store. I really loved the wax because it was flakes rather than a hard block which melted down so much easier. 

First, I prepped all of my thrift store tea cups by washing them. I then put the wicks in the cups and used hot glue to adhere them. My wick holders are coffee sticks taped together to keep them wicks in place when pouring the wax. Trim the wick about an inch above the cup - you can trim it down one they are done!

I also placed the cups in a cardboard box trimmed down to make clean up easier incase I made a mess while pouring ;)

Then using a double broiler I started to melt the wax -

Once the wax was melted I turned off the heat and addd the coloring and stirred it until it melted too.

I let the wax rest for about ten minutes before adding the scent, then I poured! 

They dried for about 24 hours before I removed the wick holders and trimmed the wicks. 

These would be a great gift, favor, or even perfect for just because!

What do you think!?

Kate Spade & Keds Love

One of my favorite blogs is Atlantic Pacfific, you can link to it here, it is written by Blair Eadie. She is pretty amazing and has fabulous outfits. I not only follow her blog but also her instagram and pinterest! This blog is the first place that I go to when I am in need of an outfit that is fashionable, fun and classy. ANNNNND I must admit I do purchase many of the items she wears or showcases because they are THAT amazing. 

One of my most recent favorites and purchase is a pair of shoes from  Kate Spade & Keds collaboration. I saw these Rally Leather shoes and instantly fell in love.

Do YOU love them as much as I do??

From Free to Fab

By now I'm sure that most of you know how I obsess on things - home things, fashion things, all things. Well, one day I was driving to work and I saw a pair of chairs in a garbage pick up pile on someone's curb - obvious they didn't want them any more. I kept driving and stopped about a mile up the road and turned around, something about the detail on the chairs just caught my eye. 

They were a mess, dirty and covered in spider webs, and left out side for what seemed like forever.

SO I dusted off the webs and put them in the back on my car and contented on my way to work. 

As soon as I had the chance I hosed them off and let them dry in the sun. You can see from the closer up they were pretty beat up. Once they were full dry I used the vacuum to get out all the dust and degree from inside the cane on front and back of the chairs. That was a challenge and I may or may not have included picking some out with a skewer. I slightly sanded them down and filled in a few places with wood filler.

Oh, I should also mention that I kept them a secret from my husband for the duration of the project. He knew I was working on something but just not sure what. I had such a vision for them and I knew if he saw them in their "hot mess" state he would have that forever in his mind :) 

Once they were totally dry I went to the hard ware store and picked up some spray paint. LOTS of spray paint. 

I wanted to do a dark grey at first but I couldn't find a shade dark enough so decided that a high gloss black would work as well! [Sorry for the horrible glare - painting at sunset]

I patiently waited a whole day between each coat which I never do because I wanted them to look amazing! After about three or four coats they looked perfect. 

That's when I got a little crazy- to add a pop of color I taped off and painted the bottom six inches of the front two legs hot pink. Yep, hot pink. 

After two coats and another day of drying they were ready for their high gloss poly top coat! 

Don't you LOVE the difference!?

I moved them into our house, made a black velour seat cushion for each, and a faux sheepskin pillow to modern them up!

 I also wrapped a turquoise floss about an inch thick above the pink to tie them in with the turquoise rug that is in our family room. :)

I still love the detailing on each of the legs. What do you think - worth picking up off the side of the road!?

MIND BLOWN!

Okay so a while back I went on a Martinelli's Apple Cider kick [yes, like I am five] and I was literally drinking a bottle a day. Living it up! And I started gathering quite the collection of those little white plastic caps that come with you can save for later, which I obviously didn't need so I would just toss them in the drawer. Then came the A-HA moment! 

Those handy little white caps fit most champagne and wine bottles. NOT all but most. And its way better than the cork and way cheaper than the fancy little gadgets you can buy. :)

Try it!

Back In Action

Its been WAY too long since I have been in the wonderful world of blogging but nonetheless I am SO happy to be back. In short we have gone under some major life changes in the past six months [all for the better I promise]. Even though life has been hectic I have still managed to find time for fun projects, new recipes, and LOTS of fashion. 

I can't wait to catch you all up on what I have been up to BUT in the mean time what have you been up to!? I'd love to hear <3

Chanel Storage Bin

So a while back I feel in love with this photo on pinterest:

It led to a story on Yatzer featuring The House of DJ Pil Marques in Brazil. Pretty amazing house! 

Anyhoo I LOVED the industrial steel drum turned to chic Chanel side table- I knew that this was going to happen in our home!

I think that I forgot about it for a while, then we got this cool vintage hi fi stereo system for our entry way living room/dining room turned entry way and it replaced a little side table with storage basket that I used for all of our dog stuff. We have three dogs so there is a decent amount of leashes, collars, shirts, jackets, bandanas, and so on. I was at a loss for where to put all this stuff - I wanted something more stylish than just a basket and then the light bulb went off! 

I looked on line for a steel drum - the one in the picture is a 55 gallon drum which is HUGE! But they also make 10 gallon drums that was the perfect size. The cheapest price online was Amazon but surprisingly enough there is steel drum company only 10 miles from my house! AND their price beat Amazon's! Woo hoo!

I picked it up, used a can of flat black spray paint to pain the white lid and give the glossy black body a once over so it was matte too. 

I created a template on my Silhouette Machine using a font that was the closest I could find to the unique Chanel No 5 font:

Printed out on white vinyl and put it on my cute little drum!

It is the perfect storage for our dog accessories, the lid just sits on top of it so it is super easy to open, and is the perfect place for Z's backpack when he gets home from work! :)

Mini Boston Cream Pies

My absolute new favorite dessert to make is Mini Boston Cream Pies - not only are they incredibly yummy, they are actually fairly easy to make, and a great dessert for a party or barbecue because they are already in individual proportions! 

I have tested a few different recipes and my favorite is actually using the cake recipe from Martha Stewart, the cream filling from Six Sisters' Stuff, and the chocolate glaze is my own adaptation. They turn out so light and fluffy and decadent. 

This recipe yeilds about 18-20 Mini Boston Cream Pies 

The First Step:

Martha Stewarts' Boston Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or grease and flour the cupcake tins. 

-Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. 

-Warm the milk and the butter in a sauce pan over low heat.

-Next, best eggs and sugar in a mixer on high speed until thick and pale [about 4 to 5 minutes]

- Beat in the dry ingredients - I turned the mixer down otherwise the flour will fly everywhere :)

Once the milk and butter have melted and started to boil add to the batter on low speed and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla. 

The batter will be lighter and thicker than a normal cake batter - put in muffin tins, filling halfway. 

Bake the cupcakes 12-15 minutes until golden brown. I find around 13 minutes tends to be perfect as if cooked for the full 15 they tend to be a bit dry. 

I run a butter knife around the edges of the cakes to help pop them out of the pan as they do stick a little bit. 

Once they are cool cut in half - I like to cut closer to the top so the larger portion is on the bottom (More like a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio). 

The Second Step:

Six Sisters' Boston Cream Filling

This step is super easy (and yummy)!

Ingredients:

1 (3.4oz) box of Vanilla Instant Pudding

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Mix all of the ingredients, pudding, cream, powdered sugar, milk and sour cream, in the mixer on medium until stiff peak forms- usually 2-3 minutes. 

Put the filling in a plastic bag and cut off the end (or use a pastry bag) and pipe the filling on to the bottom half of the cupcake. This works WAY easier than trying to spoon on (as I did the first time around - hence the picture)

Put the tops on:

The Third Step:

Chocolate Glaze/Ganache

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

4-6 oz of chocolate - I mix semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the milk on low/medium heat until right before it boils. 

Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Mix together slowly until the chocolate is all melted and then add the vanilla. 

I let sit for about 5-10 minutes before I spoon on the top of the cakes.

And then voila: 

These beauties are ready to serve!

I usually make day of but they could be made the day before. 

If transporting be sure to use a cupcake tote as they are messy and hard to move. 

Finally, I do not recommend putting them in the fridge- they are best served at room temperature!

Enjoy :)

Leopard, Camo, Dots.. Oh my!

So prints are MAJOR this season. Every magazine and store has all sorts of leopard, camo, polka dots, chevron, and my favorite - aztec/southwestern. I am literally obsessed with it. All of the fun colors and designs makes the sweaters so versatile. Don't get me wrong - I still have my fair share of camo and leopard print jackets but I cannot seem to get enough of the aztec! 

How do you feel about prints? 

I love this sweater from Paizlee.com - It sold out but my fingers crossed it will come back:

This is the Capitana Caridgan from Sparrow (at Anthropologie)

It was featured on the Cotton - Fabric of our lives with Hayden Panettiere.

This is a Ruana- a new term to me :) - from Target.

It is even more beautiful on than featured on the website. I found it on sale yesterday for just under $18.00! Woo! 

Are you big on prints this season too - or not a fan? 

Movin to Bloglovin

Helllllo!! It has been forever. As usual life is crazy and I seem to have a few posts in the works but haven't been able to get them finished. So to be totally honest I'm not even sure how the GFC/Google Reader going away will affect my blog BUT I am switching to blog lovin as well. I want to be able to stay in touch with all of you, read your blogs, and stay inspired by all of the great ideas out there!!

You can follow me here:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

See you all soon! <3

Stop, Look, & Link Party #33 [Plus Features too!]

Hi! Welcome to our Linky Party - This party is hosted by Alexandra @ In Designer Jeans and Lauren @ All Things Homie. We are very excited to see all of your great projects and ideas! 

Once the party is done we will post the most viewed links and a few of our favorites so be sure to check back next week to see if you are featured.

Lucky party number 33! Woo hoo!! Sorry for the delay today.. this week just got away from me! Does that ever happen to you!? 
Ps. Hope all of the mothers out there had a great day on Sunday! 

Features from last weeks Stop, Link, & Look party:

Check out these SUPER Cute Cupcakes from Annie's Home:

It's Always Ruetten shared this before of their soon to be TV Console Center:

The Stitchin' Mommy showed us how to make Chocolate Chip Cookies & Blondies:

Thank you again for sharing your great ideas and for everyone's support! <3

[Now its party time]

The guidelines are simple, promise!

Please follow your lovely hosts so you can share your great ideas every week! :)

Link back in some way... Grab a button on the side bar or a text link on your page

Link projects, crafts, recipes, fun stories, or anything created in some way by YOU

Please do not link up other parties, stores, or giveaways

It is not required but would be much appreciated to check out other links and share the blog love! <3

The party will start at 9am! 

Have fun!

Quick & Easy DIY Candle Gift

This year was my sister's first Mother's day being a mom! Her little sweetpea is 6 weeks old so I wanted to get her something to celebrate the day - even though she is not MY mom! 

Then I had the idea to customize something just for her  and thought a candle would be perfect. I picked up a sweet smelling one from Target [of course] - I really like their candles because the labels tend to peel off easily and in one piece with out any extra help. I would recommend testing a corner in the store to be safe - that way you don't have to use goo gone or hot water on a brand new candle.

I cleaned the surface with alcohol and created a template on my Silhouette Machine:

Then printed out with vinyl and applied it to my candle:

I used the Martha Stewart Glass Etching Cream that I used here. When it was ready I wiped it off annnnnnnd:

I was super happy with it and my sister LOVED! This would make a great gift for any occasion and cost less than $10!

Gold Leaf Flower Pots!

In case you haven't noticed I am OBSESSED with gold - honestly its seems to be everywhere right now in our house and when I saw these amazing gold leaf terra cotta pots on this website I knew I needed to make them. She did an amazing job right?!!

Terra cotta pots are relatively inexpensive so I bought like a dozen of them, one pack of gold leaf foils and then the adhesive. I had enough to make all of my pots and even some left over!

The adhesive is called "Size" which was slightly confusing when I was buying it. 

Then I put a layer using a foam brush on the pot - The instructions say to wait until the size is dry - it becomes tacky however the terra cotta is so porous I applied the gold leaf instantly:

I did a few here and there until:

And then filled them with succulents (the only thing that seems to thrive under my care)

All done! 

They are all mis matched and the foil is in random places on a few but they add a nice little sparkle to our front patio!