Catching Up!

It's been a while since I have updated!

Well, I didn't register for the DIY Wedding show soon enough (missed it by 2 days...). Since then, though, I've been doing a lot of wedding planning help and baking and designing and creating! Here are a few of the things I've been up to:

One of my colleagues is having a baby girl in August and our 'work baby shower' was the last week in May. She and her husband are decorating the baby's room with blues, purples, and butterflies. I picked up a few supplies (12 pack of butterflies from the Flower Factory, felt, scrapbooking paper, fleece, a styrofoam ball, a candle bowl, moss, and a big butterfly from...actually... the dollar store!), brainstormed, and this is what I made! I think it turned out really cute!

The weekend of June 17-18, some of my other coworkers participated in the Relay for Life in Green. The theme for their booth was "Grease" and they asked me to make a wearable Grease Lightning. After waiting for some good boxes to use, I took about 2 days, hot glue, red paint and glitter glue and made up this cardboard car. It was about 5 feet long by 2 feet wide. I was happy with how it turned out.


The next project was a small one. After school one day, I was checking my email before I left. I have been getting the daily cookie recipe from Martha and this one I couldn't pass up. I printed it out and ran in to show our guidance counselor and another colleague. It was for S'Mores Cookies! Yumm! I came home and made them that day. They were pretty tasty- though much better the first day (the marshmallow starts to harden). Also, next time I think I'll make the cookie part a little smaller to get more of the chocolate/marshmallow taste in each bite!

Next post: Bryant Street Festival!

DIY Wedding Show

I think I'm going to join the DIY Wedding Show in Pittsburgh in May! I need to get some inspiration to get some samples done!!!

Merry Christmas!

This year, I finally talked my wonderful husband into "letting" me decorate my own "Martha Stewart" tree. We bought a 6.5' artificial tree at Target on Black Friday along with silver and teal bulbs and silver ribbon. A few days later, I found a perfect tree topper on clearance at Joann Fabrics. We put it all together and, if I do say so myself, it is just perfect!

Oh! Also, right before we put up our trees (yes- trees- we have two!), I decided I was going to make my own tree skirt! It's white fleece with felt hand-embroidered snowflakes. My mom, my sister, my sister's neighbor and I were working feverishly to finish these snowflakes. I had eight all together and only four ended up on the skirt. By the time I decided I really needed to put the skirt under the tree (like 2 weeks before Christmas), I only had four flakes done... So now I have four more to add on for next year. Here's a close up of part of the skirt:


On Christmas Eve, we went to Midnight Mass. While waiting to leave, I decided to get a family picture of Kevin, myself, and Mia (our kitten). This picture is so funny because it captures Mia's "evilness" quite perfectly!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year's! I most certainly did!

Pop, Pop, Pop!

Every year, my brother has an amazing Halloween party. He gets so into it; it's cute! He chooses the theme by the end of the Halloween party the year before! He is already planning for next year. This year, though, the theme was "Evil Carnival". Well... I don't like being anything 'evil' and scaring the kids, so... I was... an 'evil' box of popcorn!


I bought four 2' x 3' foam core boards, trimming them down to exactly the same size. My wonderful husband helped me by trimming (with painter's tape--be careful peeling it off!) and painting the stripes. Then, I covered each panel with Mod Podge. I bought a piece of white poster board, traced a plate, cut it out and drew "POP CORN" inside the circle. I glued the circle to two of the foam boards-- for the front and back of the box. Once they were glued, I colored in the letters. I let that all dry overnight. The next day, I cut out two holes for my arms on the sides opposite the "POP CORN" cirlces. I used hot glue (thanks, Grandma!) and duct tape to attach the sides together. I slightly cheated in buying the popcorn accents from work (thebookbag.com). I hot glued them to the top of the box...and voila! a popcorn box!


This was a very inexpensive and easy project! Just a little time consuming putting it all together. It was fun, though, because I got to work on it with my husband! Thanks for all your help, babe!

Thanks for looking!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Sooo, my very best friend, Meghan, sent this recipe over to me a few weeks ago. Since then, I've been DYING to try it! The first picture isn't mine (have to give props to "Cook Like a Champion"!).


Here is my attempt:


I wish my bottle were cuter! I got it from the Goodwill so it was cheap. I really wish I had one like Cook Like a Champion!

...and... the recipe!

Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin purée

Directions:
-In a small pot over medium heat, dissolve sugar in water.
-Once sugar is dissolved, add remaining ingredients. Allow to cook
for 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not boil.
-Strain mixture using cheesecloth or a tea towel.
-Pour into a small (8-10 ounce) bottle and store in the refrigerator.
-To make a pumpkin spice latte, simply add about 1 1/2 tablespoons
of syrup for each shot of espresso.
-For an iced latte, stir together syrup and espresso
before adding desired amount of cold milk.
-For a hot latte, add frothed milk and stir to combine.
Top with whipped cream, if desired.

I added a little more pumpkin syrup than the ratio she states above. My homemade PSL was delicious!!! Let me know how yours turns out! Enjoy!

Cupcake Gift Card Holders

My sister (One Star Away) made a gift card holder resembling a cupcake for a wedding gift. I thought it was adorable and begged her to send me the tutorial she used. After briefly looking it over, I got an idea of how to make it. Instead of using the tutorial step for step, I decided to make it my own! Below are the pictures of the wedding cupcake GC holder that I made for my friend Erin (who got married just this past Saturday- congrats again!) and also one that I made for our wedding photographer (who got married last month).

Cupcake GC Holder for Erin:


Cupcake GC Holder for Tori:

I've decided I'm going to make a whole bunch and keep them around for whenever I may need them (birthday, wedding, just because!) =)

Thanks for looking!

Call Me Mrs!

Kevin and I got married!!! Yay!

Here's a picture of us saying "I do!":


Here's a picture of the beach in Jamaica! (view from our hotel)

The wedding & reception were perfect! The honeymoon was wonderful! Loved coming home to family and friends to share pictures and stories!