just the little things

iDIY…

Who says diy has to be limited to weddings/parties and home improvement? I first stumbled upon Luzel’s blog because she had such wonderful diy projects focused on wedding related items! But the last 2 nights, I have seen such fun projects that I had to share the wealth!

Come on… make your own ‘drumsticks’? GENIUS idea! You can add as much chocolate inside the cone as you want!!! Hm… I may have to make this for brunch next weekend… *I’m a firm believer that you can eat ice cream at any time!

And I just adore how you can re-use an egg carton to hold the cones up…

Now that we’re officially in fall, this is a perfect little project…

Who knew you could make something out of maple leaves!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I’m crossing my fingers that the rain holds off on Saturday evening for an outdoor ceremony!

detox

Lately, I’ve been eating a lot of junk … cookies, pizza rolls, frozen pizza; you get the picture. For some reason, I actually craved a salad for dinner last night and went a little crazy with it:

avocados + red peppers + chicken + range peppers + edamame + mini farfalle noodles + sliced almonds + boiled egg. all on a bed of red leaf lettuce and spinach

And then I decided I wanted something a little hearty and made garlic, buttered corn + walnut, garlic green beans. Maybe I’m longing for Thanksgiving already? It felt good to eat something healthy but my hunger seeped in 3 hours later!

mm… more sweetness

Last weekend, I was in DC/NOVA and had amazing cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake. They are located in the heart of Georgetown. It’s a little cute shop started by 2 sisters! I didn’t capture any pictures of them in the pink box because we devoured 4 of them right away! What a silly thought of waiting to have them for dessert, after dinner. We made a mess right on Potomac Street in front of everyone else waiting line for their cupcakes. [And the line was pretty long!] Isn’t it a cute little shop?

I have to say that the lemon berry was my favorite… the few little bites I ‘stole’ from my friend’s daughter! I’ll have to go back and try them again when I go back next Spring for the Cherry Blossom Festival!

 

[images courtesy of Georgetown Cupcake]

a quick brunch

I had brunch with 2 dear friends… gosh, I think I have known them for, let’s just say more than half of my life! We don’t get together too often but when we do, it’s like the days we lived together in college… we just gab away about anything and everything! I brought over some brunch: bento box style! I really like my flower-shaped cookie cutters. I think I’ve used them on just about anything I can!

Breakfast sandwich: Pillsbury Grand Biscuits, lunchmeat ham, American cheese, and an egg omelet.
 
2 different styles of spam musubi: inspired by here and here. And then threw in some large grapes in a cupcake liner. I also made sure to place a layer of wax paper in between the food and the tissue paper because the food has a tendency to create oil marks on the tissue paper.

chopstick holders: I tucked in a little napkin too. Perfect for parties/picnics! I tucked them in between the folds of the takeout box and wrapped it with thick twine.

I’ve been inspired reading Zakka Life… I just wish I lived near a Daiso! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

recycle-reduce-reuse

I have some old textbooks from college still. I have no idea why I am holding onto them… they just collect dust in the bookcase. I’ll recycle the inside pages. I bet you can also use some really heavy duty chipboard or glue a few of pieces of chipboard together!

Instructions here. I think I’ll put all of my loose recipes in one of them. Maybe some mail/bills in another one?

Thanks Craft Mag for finding another great one!

blonde designs

My google reader is busting at the seams these days. Every time I check, there’s SO much to read. One week, I fell behind and it was pretty overwhelming to catch up… I think I marked them all as read. And I must say, I read some of the oddest blogs, but they all inspire me in such different ways! Well I hope I don’t fall behind again, but if I do, I’ll make sure to read this blog without checking them all as read, thanks to Design Mom.

Blonde Designs are 2 women who are former art directors at Martha Stewart. I think that’s all I need to say! [Oh and Angie always re-wraps water bottles… right up my alley!]

How cute are these bumblebee hair clips?

[images courtesy of Blonde Design]

Hope you have a lovely Labor Day! [how is it September already?]

cirque du bebe: deux [2]

Here’s an overall picture of the tent. It’s such a good thing we went with this because we had all sorts of odd weather that day. It rained, the sun peeked, and then we had this ferocious gust of wind as the party died down… I think some guests were expecting snow too!

:the 3 tents took up the entire backyard::

:inside the tent::

:popcorn + cotton candy machine:: These were a hit!

:more decorations:: I made this penant banner [it only made it half-way around the tent] based on these instructions. This was right up my alley since I still haven’t figured out how to use the sewing machine!

:the spread::

cirque du bebe: un [1]

My friend is having her baby in November, but is also moving moved away to California this month, so we thought it would be best to have her shower before she left. We brainstormed and all she requested was to have a cotton candy machine. Well, one thing led to another and before you know it, cirque du bebe was born. I thought it was a little classier than a baby circus!

:invitations:: it’s supposed to look like a vintage entry ticket to an actual circus

:cupcakes:: in lieu of a cake, but each one had a picture of the mom and dad-to-be on each side when they were infants

:water bottles:: in 3 different designs

:centerpieces:: orange dahlias in a white ikea vase

:decorations in the tent:: tissue pom-poms

you too can letterpress!

There’s an affordable letterpress kit out on the market soon by Lifestyle Craft.

Of course, it can’t do everything the original letterpress machines can, but for a wedding or a large event, this might do the trick!

Here’s a look at how it works:

And here’s a sample:

Pre-order here!

[images courtesy of Lifestyle Craft]

I <3 jmraz

I always liked Jason Mraz’s music. Who doesn’t like the catchy ‘I’m Yours’ or ‘Lucky’? On a whim a few weeks ago, my friend won tickets and off we went to Detroit. I think the 3 hours from the time I decided to go to the concert to actually leaving Chicago was a complete blur. Then there was the 5+ hours to drive there. Then we forgot about the time change and freaked out a little bit. But we got there. btw… Michigan streets are weird. We missed the turn into the venue and couldn’t make a left turn for a while which made us late by another 15 minutes. But we made it. We created our own parking spot [It seemed legal enough] and bolted for the front door where our tickets awaited us.

We found out that he just started 20 minutes… grr… if it wasn’t for that missed turn.. But it was worth it! The best part was the second set he played for the back half of the venue. He was so close to us and he even turned around a few times!  

hope to see you again, Jason!