Christmas tree o christmas tree

Here is an eco-friendly and fun christmas craft! All you need is a little bit of time and some old magazines laying around the casa.

start with a magazine

gently bend the magazine and loosen the binding without ripping any of the pages out

starting with the cover page, fold from the top right corner down towards the inside seam.

next, fold the same sheet again from the bottom right corner toward the inside seam again. 

turn the page over

now insert and fold the bottom tail up into the main fold.

make sure the fold is flat so the tree will stand up straight. now that you have mastered your first page, repeat with the remaining pages. Your tree will start to take shape naturally. 

Your final product! I left my magazine tree naked for now, but will decorate later with glitter. You can spray paint with your color of choice and make sure it dries completely. Finish by spraying the tree with an adhesive followed by glitter.

Here are some beautiful golden trees courtesy of Martha Stewart.

After this Christmas season, if you decide to discard these, you can recycle them!

Have a great weekend!

What to wear under the mistletoe

So the holiday madness has begun... and  if you are like me I find myself waiting to the last minute to find something to wear for the celebrations. Here are some options to get you ahead of the game.

1. Te Amo Dress, Modcloth, $132

2. Golden Tier Dress, Forever 21, $24.80

3. Whipped Butter Dress, Modcloth, $77.99

4. Sequin Bustier Dress, Victoria's Secret, $89.50

5. Closet Brown Dress, Dorothy Perkins, £ 38.00

6. Gold Sequin Dress, Dorothy Perkins, £ 40.00

7. Ruffled Dress, Etsy, $29.00

8. Pleated Flute One-sleeve Dress, Topshop, £ 46.00

Hope you like the selection!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Snowflakes and snowman on your mind? Here are some cute treasures to help you start thinking about what to decorate your pad with this season to "make your spirits bright". Hope you enjoy!

1. Vintage snowman, Etsy

2. Snowflake placecards, Etsy
3. Drink charms, Etsy
4. White ruffled wreath, Etsy
5. Christmas trio antique spoons, Etsy
6. 12 days of Christmas salad/dessert plates, Williams-Sonoma
7. Noel pillow cover, Etsy
8. Small felted snowballs, Etsy
9. Hushed night ornament, Anthropologie
10. Angelique stocking, Crate & Barrel
11. Angelique tree skirt, Crate & Barrel
12. Metallic border table runner, Target

Have fun decorating!

Library Love

Yes, you can have a library at home (even in the smallest spaces)! Here is a bit of inspiration:

(Apartment Therapy)

(kabmurungraya)

(belle maison)

(house beautiful)

(pepper)

Lack shelves? Simply stacking books mindfully can look just as great.

Have a great weekend.

Sweets for your little sweet

Babies, babies and more babies! I do believe there are time in your life when there is that "something in the water" going around. Here is a cute and inexpensive idea if you are throwing or attending a baby shower.
With some cookies cutters, fondant, food coloring, toothpicks (optional) and some rubber stamps ..... the possibilities are endless. I created some cute cupcake toppers.

 I used powdered sugar to dust the working surface and my rolling pin. I used old letter rubber stamps I had to spell out BABY. When using a stamp, dust it slightly with powdered sugar to prevent it from sticking to fondant when pressing.

I like to use a cheap eyeshadow brush I always use to clean out the letters if there is any sugar remaining on the fondant.

I brushed a little sugar water on the back of the top layer so they stick together. You can either have the toppers standing upright (with a toothpick) or simply place them laying down on top of the frosted cupcake.

Enjoy!

"Your love is better than chocolate..."

After watching the oh so delicious Chocolat (yes I would be referring to Johnny Dep) the other day, I decided to attempt my very first batch of chocolate truffles. They may not look the greatest, but my mouth didn't care.

Recipe courtesy of Linda Collister - "a passion for chocolate"

Recipe:

Ingredients

- 3/4 c heavy (double) cream

- 10 oz. plain bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

coating

- 8 oz. plain bittersweet chocolate, chopped

- 1/2 c good quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

- baking trays, lined with parchment paper

put the cream in a saucepan, bring to a boil and remove from heat to cool for about a minute. pour chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. pour in hot cream and stir gently until mixture is smooth and let cool. 

when the mixture is cold but not set, beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until very thick and lighter in color/texture. scoop out marble-sized pieces and hand roll into balls. chill until very firm.

now time to coat. put the remaining chocolate in a heatproof bowl. place bowl over a saucepan steaming water (not boiling) and melt gently. remove from heat and stir until smooth. cool.

use 2 forks, briefly dip each truffle into chocolate until coated. return coated truffles to parchment paper. leave them until chocolate coating has set. roll in cocoa powder (do not go overboard on the cocoa powder)

package and chill. can be stored in a refrigerator up to a week. serve at room temp. 

ENJOY!

"Please allow me to introduce myself..."

Hello fellow bloggers. I am so excited to start this side project of mine. I have always enjoyed reading other fabulous bloggers out there and thought "why not?!". I hope you enjoy my blogs of randomness. My goal is to create posts on stuff that inspire me... fashion, FOOD, music, movies, DIY projects, art, etc. You might even find some blogs about my life with my "lil nugget" (my 2 year old daughter).

Thanks for letting me into your life (well for a few minutes at least).
Toodles,
Luv n' Lullabies