It's the most beautiful time of the year....

I have a few things to share with you tonight - all things having to do with the holidays!  First off I had showed you all a picture of a table decorated in silver holiday decorations from Pottery Barn a few weeks ago and now I want to show you my version.  I collected various silver holiday decorations, some in the past years and some this year.  Right after Halloween I was in Rite Aid and found bird candle holders.  From a typical passer by they probably looked hideous but to me after the 75% reduction in price I saw beauty in them.

With a little silver spray paint and some love I was able to transform these into candle holders for my silver scene:

These are perfect for the scene, look so much better, and only cost me 1/4 of the original price...I am a sucker for a deal.  After collecting a few more silver decorations I was ready to set it up.

I am pretty satisfied with how it came out so let's hope we can survive without a coffee table for the next month.  I want to explain a few of the things I collected.  The deer was in the $2 bin at Target, the trees were received as gifts, and the mercury glass candle holder and the placements were purchased at HomeGoods.  I think the scene adds a bit of holiday cheer to the living room.

Next up I want to share with you a holiday decoration my mom made for me 2 years ago.  It is very simple to make and looks great on any table. 

How cute is this?  All you need is a short vase (it can be round or square), small glass ornaments, and festive candle holders.  The colors all go together great and are not your standard holiday colors which we all know I am a huge fan of! 

The other day I came across a similar candle holder at Pottery Barn which was all silver - my mom was ahead of the curve :)

And finally I started my present wrapping - yes I know Christmas is a month away but I had a present and all the wrapping so I couldn't resist.  In October I purchased rolls of wrapping paper for a $1 at Target so I decided to use that.  When I opened it I was surprised to find it was foil wrap and not paper.  I was hesitant at first but ended up using it.  I started with this:

Remember I overstocked earlier in the month on things to decorate my Christmas presents so after adding a bow and an ornament I have this:

When I was home this weekend I was lucky enough to receive a bow making class taught by the one and only...MY MOM!  My mom has the best present wrapping skills I have ever seen.  Now I will no longer be giving presents with boring, simple bows!  If you are reading this blog and receive this present make sure you compliment the wrapping I worked so hard on :)

Next up I recreate a holiday decoration I spotted in Pottery Barn and share our not so traditional Christmas tree we are getting this weekend.

Until next time...stay creative!

Shady Lady...

A few things before I get into the main blog topic...roman shades.  Last week I told you all about the arrangement I made at the flower class which I was not the most thrilled about due to the flowers that were provided.  Well I had a bouquet of flowers at home from the weekend that I needed to use or else throw out as we were traveling so I put them to use.  I added a few more lemon leaves, some roses, a cabbage, and pumpkin garland to make the arrangement more up to my standards.

I used a few tricks I was taught at my first class (the class I really liked) and opened the petals of the cabbage for a fuller look.

This is the final arrangement after I added a few flowers and decorations - not too bad considering what I started with.

Next I want to share with you what I did with the turkey pops.  My mom suggested I make these for the kids coming to our house for Thanksgiving so that is what I did.  My mom made these adorable cones to hold candy including my turkeys.  She then hung all the cones from a tree branch she found outside and when I arrived I added my turkeys.

So there you have our Thanksgiving tree!! The kids loved the pops and candy but the best part was they made the cones into hats.  I helped them by lengthening the ribbon.

Now onto the main event...roman shades!!  A few weeks back my future sister-in-law sent me a link on how to make no sew roman shades that she was going to attempt.  I loved the look of them and knew I had to try it.  All our windows have blinds but the kitchen window does not have blinds so this would be the perfect 'test window'.  While I was home this weekend I bought fabric and was ready to go.  When I got home today I removed the blind and started the project by first laying the blind flat on the ground:

Next I needed to remove the thin cord which keeps all the blinds equally spaced, not the thick cord running through the blinds:

Once the thin cords were removed it was time to make the thicker cords the right length.  The window is 42" long so I decided to make the shade the same length.  I had to remove the plugs on the bottom blind and cut the cord to the right length as well as remove the excess blinds:

Since the length was 42" I decided to space each blind by 6" and kept 6 blinds on the shade:

The shades look so bare!  Next I needed to ensure the fabric was the right width and length.  I used iron on hem tape for the sides to create a straight edge on each side.  The length was perfect and did not need to be hemmed:

It was the right width once hemmed and was now time to equally space the blinds. The original directions used tacky glue but I used a hot glue gun to secure the fabric to each blind as well as to the top and bottom of the shade:

After securing the bottom of the fabric to the base of the blind it was time to hang the shade and try it.  I was a bit nervous not knowing want to expect but here it is:

I was happy with the way it turned out but it definitely takes a bit of practice before mastering it!  If you want more detailed instructions this is the website I followed:

http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html

I will leave you with this last bit.  On our way home today we stopped at HomeGoods and I

'adopted' a green sparkly reindeer to add to my Christmas decorations.  I picked him up and handed him to my husband who asked no questions and brought him to the register so I could pay.  I guess my husband is either completely staying out of my decorating madness or knows it is better now to ask questions.

Next week when I unveil our first tree as a married couple this little reindeer will fit right in!!

Until next time...stay creative!!

The Big GOBBLE Reveal

Last post I shared with you the cake balls I made for book club well I thought I should show you the final product.  The recipe states to serve the cake balls cold but I actually preferred them at room temperature.  They tasted just like funfetti cake batter!

Next up I wanted to also share with you a little bit about a flower class I took this evening.  The class was called 'Make It and Take It' so we made a Thanksgiving long and low table arrangement to take home for the holiday.  Tonight's experience did not compare to my last flower class by any means.  The instructor started with listing all the flowers we were going to use on the white board...as soon as I saw carnations I knew I was in for it.  If you can remember from my last flower post I highly dislike these flowers.  I cringed and continued to follow the instructor's direction.  I am not an expert in any way but I am almost positive I knew more about flowers than the instructor.  When we all got done I wanted to take a picture of her arrangement because it was not looking too good.  All in all I am glad I went just for the experience.  I present to you the centerpiece:

Although I did not like the carnations I did like using ivy and lemon leaves around the base of the arrangement.  I will say it seemed everyone else enjoyed making the arrangement - most people in the class had never even really touched flowers so for them I am sure it was a great experience.

And now I reveal the turkey pops:

These things were the biggest pain BUT I do like how they came out.  I had several problems and as you can see this turkey does not have any legs.  The legs were just not cutting it so I decided to do away with them. 

The flock:

As you can see in this picture some of the turkeys have legs - these were my first batch but the legs were causing pressure on the cake balls and as a result the chocolate coating was cracking.  I made several changes to the head of the turkey but now I am tired from chasing all these turkeys around so I will share the tricks in my next post.

Until next time...stay creative!

A few updates...

A few things to start before I rave about the cake batter truffles I made this evening.  Remember I had written in a previous post about how to revive a hydrangea? Well today I was able to try it out.  I had purchased flowers yesterday and there were two hydrangeas in the bouquet which were gorgeous.  Well this morning one looked a bit sad which I was happy about because I wanted to see if I could make it alive and well again.  Here it is feeling sad and vulnerable:

After I cut the stem at a diagonal I put the flower in a cup of hot water from the faucet.  The key is to make sure you use the hottest possible water from the tap.  After a few hours in the hot water I present to you the new and improved hydrangea:

The trick really did work - now it will be interesting to see how long it lasts at this state (I will keep you all posted).

Next on the list are the turkey cakepops...well I started making them tonight and let me tell you they are not as easy as Berger was.  So far I think I dipped 11 cakepops and only 3 or 4 were salvageable.  I finally put the project aside for tomorrow evening as I was getting too frustrated.  I moved on to making cake batter truffles.

I have book club tomorrow night and I volunteered to bring a sweet treat.  I found a recipe for cake batter truffles and knew I had to give it a try.  I started out by making dough using yellow cake mix, flour, sugar, vanilla, and butter:

I contemplated using confetti cake mix but wasn't sure how that would be since the batter isn't baked.  I opted instead for hand mixing regular rainbow sprinkles into the mix:

Next up I made the dough balls:

Then it was time to dip the balls.  I found white chocolate melts with sprinkles at Michael's and had to use those as the coating:

Stay tuned for the final product!  I don't want to give them away in case any of the book clubbers are following this blog!  My personal taste tester tried them tonight and he liked them better than the cakepops but that may have been because he had just eaten several cakepops and was overwhelmed by the chocolaty goodness.  Here is the recipe:

CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup yellow cake mix
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3-4 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Truffle Coating:

16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark (or white candy melts)
4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix
sprinkles

Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla.  Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.

While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake of excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on the cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished.

Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles.

I encourage you to try making these because they are so much easier then the cakepops and a great way to start experimenting with chocolate melts if you ever try cakepops.

Until next time...stay creative!

Gobble Pops!

My next project involving sweet treats are turkey cakepops!  I have the cake baking in the oven right now.  I am hoping these will come out as well as the Berger replicas came out.  I am again using my Cakepop book by Bakerella and hoping I can find all the turkey 'accessories'.  Here is a preview of the what they should look like:

How cute are these?  My mom sent me these cute cones she made to hold the pops and also sent me the candy corns.  I am off to find the head, beak and the red gobble, gobble thing.  Sorry this is so short but stay tuned for more fun creations!

Not your average wreath...

A couple weeks ago I showed you a picture of a picture frame with a bow and ornaments used in place of a typical wreath during the holiday season.  This weekend I tried to make my own but using a slightly different color scheme than was used in the picture below:

I came across a frame on clearance at Michael's and decided to try my own frame decoration.  I started by spray painting the frame a jade color.  I wanted the frame I was creating to be bolder and not as country looking as the one above.

I wanted to stay away from Christmas colors and make it fun.  I also purchased ribbon and ornaments from AC Moore.  The ribbon was in the dollar bin and the ornaments were 50% off so it was a great deal!  I also found some gold and red ribbon I had in my ribbon collection at home to use for the ornaments and got to work.

After looking at the ornaments with the frame and deciding on the correct length of ribbon for each ornament I tied all three together.  Next I hot glued the ends of the ribbons to the middle of the frame.  I wasn't sure how they were fastened to the frame I saw online but this was the best solution I could come up with.

Next I made a simple bow for the top and made sure there was enough ribbon on each end to hang over the frame.  I secured the bow on top of the ribbons once again with hot glue.

Now it was time to see how it looked on the door:

I was happy with the outcome and thought it looked like the one I had seen on Pinterest but also just different enough to show my own personal touch in the colors and ornaments.  The total cost for this project was approximately $13 - not bad if you ask me and a fun project to make!

On Monday when I was changing the water for the bouquet I made over the weekend I decided to transform it into a short, small table arrangement.  I have several vases and found the perfect one to hold the shorter bouquet.  After re-arranging the flowers I added a leaf from the previous arrangement to the water and cut the stems:

It is bright and cheery...too bad winter is on the way because this reminds me of spring! 

Until next time...stay creative!!

 

Flower Power

Sorry I have been away the past few days but I have a great post today!  A few weeks back I decided to take flower classes - I wasn't sure where but using my best friend Google I found a few places.  I signed up for a Thanksgiving arrangement class which is next week at Boston Center for Adult Education and then I received an email with an offer to get one class at half price at Twig later that week.  I saw it as a sign and carpe diem kicked in.  I bought it right away but wasn't sure when I would use it.  On a whim Friday I signed up for Saturday's class which focused on hand tied bouquets.  When I got to the flower shop this is what I saw:

(heaven)

(more heaven)

The concept of the shop is that the customer can come in and see all the available flowers.  There is one typical cooler which was very small and had tulips and roses in it.  I was shocked by all the flowers out on the table.  The instructor informed me that the website was wrong and I was actually crashing another class (a more in depth, more expensive class) but I was welcome to stay.  I was so excited to attend the better class.  After waiting a few minutes the other two participants were no shows and I had a private class! The class was designed to go over long and low table arrangements, tall vase arrangements, rose arrangements, and hand tied bouquets. After a history of flowers the instructor took me around the table and told me about every flower there.  I thought I knew flowers - I was wrong.  We both connected right away on our shared dislike for carnations, however the flower shop does carry one type of carnation!

Long and Low Arrangements:

We started with wet block and greens as filler (at this point I had not asked if I could take pictures so not many pics of the process) and then just added flowers here and there.  His biggest instuction was not to be symetrical and put flowers where ever.  I also learned it is best to put smaller flowers in clumps of three or more.

You can see there are clusters of red spray roses and an orchid.  The orchid is actually fastened to a pick as the stem isn't long enough.  Low arrangements are typically used on a table for an event or dinner so the flowers really only need to be good for the day/evening so the orchid will be fine for the day.  By adding more greens to the side you can give the affect of the arrangement being longer.  Next up tall arrangements.

Tall Arrangements:

This arrangement had a very rustic theme.  During this session I was told that when you do a tall arrangement the flowers should be double the height of the vase.  Not always possible but a good rule of thumb.  You also need to be aware of the diameter of the vase so you don't get over zealous and can't fit the flowers in.

First a leaf was added to the vase - I love when leaves are in the vases I think it gives a polished, vibrant look.  Waxy leaves are best to use because they repel water and won't decompose.

Then the arranging began with willow, sunflowers, mushrooms and more!

If you look at the sunflowers closely there is one without petals.  The instructor removed the petals which I think really gives it character.

Rose Arrangements:

I am not a huge fan of roses but this shop had so many varieties and colors there were some I could really learn to love.  The instructor showed me a very simple rose arrangement that can be used for the holidays - very simple but elegant.

Wet block in a simple silver container.

Almost there.

Final product - the instructor added a few rose stems and wire to give it more dimension.

Hand Tied Bouquets:

This was the class I originally signed up for and my favorite part mainly because I will be able to use this again.  The instructor made his own first and then let me have two buckets of flowers and told me to get to work.  It was like my final exam and I think it turned out pretty well!

First you have to hold the flowers lightly and let the flowers lay against each other at an angle (this was new to me). 

Once it is complete you can use floral tape to secure the top and bottom of the stems then wrap it nice and tightly!  Now if this isn't your thing then you can cut the stems and put it in a low vase.

How neat and simple is that.  Now it is my turn!

This was the bouquet I made and was able to take home.  I hand tied it just for the challenge and then removed the ribbon to put it in a vase.  I tempted to cut the stems and put in a low vase.  I mentioned carnations earlier and how much I dislike them well there are carnations in the hand tied bouquet I made.  Do you know which ones are carnations...the green ones! How great are these carnations??  They add so much texture to the bouquet.

All in all I had a great class and absolutely loved working with Rob at Twig.  It was such a great experience and I would love to do it again.  Some key things I learned:

1. You need to change the water for bouquets daily to avoid bacteria (this seems so obvious but I didn't know it was daily).

2. In order to keep hydrangeas fresh in a vase you need to cut their stems diagonally and place them in hot, hot water from the faucet. This was the best tip because they wilt so easily so as soon as you see that you need to cut them and put them in hot water and they will be like new.

3. You want the wet block to soak up the water on it's own - if you run the faucet over it or force it in water you will block the holes and no water will get in the middle.

4. If you push a flower in the wet block too far you need to remove it and make a new hole to ensure the flower is getting water.

5. Not all carnations are bad!

The place also does parties that you can bring your own adult beverages to - how awesome.  That is all for now but if you want more information go to: www.twigboston.com and ask for Rob! 

Until next time...stay creative!