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!