it's almost here!

Today, I am off to the craft store. What I intend on making... I'm not sure. Recently I have researched and discovered so many do-it-yourself crafts that I think I'm finally going to give in and try some of them.

If you recommend any crafts, let me know :)
♥

my pottery barn wish list

Every girl has her wish list, right? I sure do, and my weakness has always been {and will always be} Pottery Barn. For now, I have a couple of items in mind that I would love to have by the Summer. Cake pedestals and this awesome galvanized drink caddy. Check them out!

candy galore!

NOTICE: This post will intensify your sweet cravings!

Yesterday I visited We ♥ It, and found some amazing photos and ideas, too! If you are looking for some beautiful and colorful ways to decorate your next dessert table then you are going to love these.

Oh, and for fun, I have provided some off-the-cuff captions...



















Those other round marshmallows are sooo last season.





















So many cupcakes, so little time.

























Who cares if it sticks to your face? This stuff is awesome!

























Oh, little sodas. How sweet.




















Simple, yet beautiful.


















Forget meat and veggies! It's marshmallows, fruit and chocolate for me!




















These aren't realistic. When will someone produce chocolate worms?

train themed birthday party

You are going to love this post! Mostly because it's filled with deliciousness and cuteness. While visiting the Flickr photo gallery of Cake Ink, I fell in love with this adorable train themed birthday party dessert table. Just take a look at all of the goodies. Marshmallow cupcakes, meringues, blue lemonade, and my favorite... blueberry sour straps! Take a look at Cake Ink's Flickr gallery for yourself -- there's more, too.

cookie sandwich recipes

Love cookies? Well, then you will probably go crazy over these scrumptious cookie {and brownie} sandwiches. Instead of making this a very long post, I provided the links, so you can easily find the recipe.

As for me, I am taking the weekend off to just relax and do a little paper + food brainstorming. Until Monday...

♥


Sweetheart Sandwich Cookies by Delish
























Chocolate Sandwich Cookies by Not So Humble Pie






















Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches by Williams-Sonoma

kite birthday party

Of all the birthday decorations I have ever known, a kite themed party is new to me! I just wanted to share this unique, clean-cut and fresh birthday decor with you. What's your favorite detail of this kite party? Personally, I love the glass candy jar filled with meringue!

Photos are the property of Tracey Lau.

i need hugs + kisses

Soooo... yesterday I had my last wisdom tooth pulled. No. No. I did not say surgically cut from my gums, I said pulled. As in uprooted. Like, all of my wisdom teeth surfaced {I am one of the lucky folks who had enough room in their mouth for wisdom teeth, so no crowding of teeth}.Okay, okay, I won't go into detail, but I will tell you that I am a little sore. At least I can eat though :)

After coming home with my mouth still sore, you know me... I still had time for Etsy browsing! While feeling sorry for myself, I found a super cute letterpressed card designed by Lucky Bee Press that was meant especially for me. So, I am being a über Princess and dedicating this card to myself, because I am in need of hugs + kisses {just not too rough in the jaw area}.

deluce design letterpressed products

Check out this new, sweet little letterpress shop called DeLuce Design. I came across their Website today, and I just adore the soft colors and Springtime feel. You can check out their site and find a store near you that carries the DeLuce Design letterpress products.

royal icing tips by cake journal

I'm so excited that I have found a Website that gives in-depth instructions on how to frost cookies with royal icing! I have never tried to make frosting from scratch, but I really want to now that I know what a beautiful touch it adds to cookies.

Cake Journal has some great instructions, and beautiful photographs, and their step-by-step instructions are great for folks like me who need picture instructions.

If you have never visited Cake Journal before, then head over to their site now! Here's a glimpse into what they have created, and I can't wait to try it out for myself.

curious george birthday party

I found some adorable children's birthday party ideas while visiting the photography Website of California photographers, Don and David. They are brothers who enjoy wedding photography, but of course, they are talented in just about every area of photography you can image. Just check out their Website for yourself. Here are a few snapshots of a birthday party they photographed.

polka dot cake by country living

"Oh, the fun with pastry bags." That's what I always think when I read cake decorating instructions that call for the good ole pastry bag. I can still remember the days of my youth when I tried to get crafty with the pastry bag, and in the end, somehow, the icing wiggled its way out of the back of the bag and all over my hands. But... I think I might try my hand at it again soon, though I will be using the Pampered Chef Decorator Bottle Set!
























I want to try some simple cake decorating, and what is more simple than frosting dots, right? When I saw this picture in the Country Living photo gallery, I thought this would be a good place for me to start. Not to mention that Country Living has some cake decorating tutorials which I hope will help me out in the future.

Take a look at what I have in mind...

mini oreo cheesecakes

I love Oreos. I love cheesecake. So you can imagine my bulging eyes when I found the recipe for Oreo Cheesecakes on the Wicked Noodle blog!


















Ingredients:

• 42 Oreos (almost one whole package), 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds (32 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch of salt


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 F (yes, 275). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Enjoy ♥

chocolate pumpkin cupcakes by country living

For those of you who love to make Halloween themed cookies, cupcakes, and anything edible...this post is for you.

By now you probably know I have a small obsession with cupcakes, and I cannot resist passing up a cupcake recipe when I see one. So, when I stumbled upon this Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake recipe by Country Living I wanted to share the love.

Note: This recipe can be used to make a cake or cupcakes. I have divided the recipe into sections for the cake/cupcake ingredients and directions and also the frosting ingredients and directions.

























Cake/Cupcake Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup good-quality cocoa
• 2 tablespoons good-quality cocoa
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• Orange Cream-Cheese Frosting

Cake Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter three 8-inch cake pans and fit each bottom with an 8-inch circle of parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. Combine the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition.

3. Divide the batter among the pans and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean -- about 35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pan for 20 minutes. Remove cakes and cool. (For cupcakes: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in standard cupcake tins and fill each with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 22 minutes.)

4. Trim each of the layers. Place one layer on a cake plate and top with one third of the frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers. (To ensure that the cake layers do not shift, cut three skewers to 1/4 inch shorter than the full height of the cake and insert them before icing the top layer.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 package(s) (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
• 4 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) orange food coloring

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Directions:

1. Blend the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, until smooth.

2. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 3 more minutes.

3. Add the food coloring and gently stir until the color is uniform.

4. Chill the frosting until ready to ice the cupcakes or cake.


Yield: One 8-inch, 3 layer cake or 36 cupcakes.

carnival of sweets by ruby press

Today, I found myself over at Ruby Press, where I discovered one of their creations---a Carnival of Sweets. As you can imagine, when I saw the word sweets, I was immediately interested. In 2009, they produced an amazing event for one of their clients. Just check out the beautiful invitation, dessert table, and my personal favorite, showcase of cupcakes. Mmmmm.

chocolate chip cookies

One of my favorite kitchen aromas is the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven {not to mention the taste}. Recently, I realized that I don't have a chocolate chip cookie recipe in my recipe box! But now, thanks to Honey and Jam I have something new to add to my little box.










































































Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 with oven rack in the middle.

2. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter, shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in bowl of a stand mixer on Medium-High speed until creamy, scraping down bowl once or twice.
Add vanilla and egg and mix well.

4. Reduce mixer speed to Low and add the flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat until dough forms. By hand, stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans.

5. Drop dough in rounded tablespoon about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are brown along the edges.

Yield: 4 dozen

holiday place cards

Since the holidays are just around the corner, I began brainstorming about how to prepare for the biggest part of holidays. Eating! What could make a finely decorated Thanksgiving table better than festive holiday place cards? Softday Studio caught my attention today while I was browsing online for some holiday place cards. Take a look for yourself...