Do you have big plans for the holiday weekend ahead? Don’t forget to serve a signature drink! I found this very cool “Make your own Mojito” bar on The Den by Big Leo {as published in BHG magazine} and just had to share it with you all. It’s a perfect example of setting up a bar using items from around the house – a small open shelf placed on top of a table.

The shelves hold everything you need for the bar while the table provides a work space.  A framed sign tells guests exactly what they need to know, and the set up includes extra glasses {non breakables for outdoors}, flavored simple syrups, the drinks for combining, and accessories used for mixing.

You can do this in whatever seasonal color you’re working with, and also whatever signature cocktail you decide to serve. Cheers to that!

Have a great weekend!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

I think this is the final post in the Shabby Chic bridal shower series {although, you just never know} and its all about those amazing little brownie pops on the dessert table. I’ll admit this isn’t the most “unique” concept on the web, but I did want to give them a stand alone post so when you’re searching for a sweet treat to make, you can easily find these.

Cake pops have become a staple item on dessert tables over the last couple of years, but if you’ve ever tried to make them on your own you know how messy it can be mixing in all that frosting with the crumbled cake. I thought of an easier way to make pops several years back for our Christmas cocktail party, and it was to use brownies instead. And guess what…the boxed mix is the best way to go!

Brownies are naturally very moist and deliciously chocolatey – that’s why we love them so much, duh! So when you roll them into balls it sticks to itself easily. No messy frosting required! Are you convinced yet? Need further convincing?

I’ll tell you a little secret – cake pops are sort of hit or miss with me. Sometimes they’re delicious and other times they’re just so so. These brownie pops are a winner EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I have one girlfriend who called me up begging me to make them for a girls night get together we had coming up!  But don’t take my word for it – try them your self…

Brownie Pops

• Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix + ingredients to make them
• Melting chocolate {white, dark, and/or milk}
• Lollipop sticks
• Sprinkles if desired

Mix, and cook brownies according to package directions. Allow to cool until able to handle.

Use a mini scoop if you have one and scoop up some of the brownie from the center portion. Roll it into a ball and insert a lollipop stick. Continue until you have as many as you need.

Place pops in the freezer until firm {about 30 minutes to an hour is good}.

Meanwhile, melt your chocolate using a double boiler. Remove brownie pops and dip them one by one into the melted chocolate, using a spoon to help cover all the way including some of the stick {this helps is stay secure}.

Place on a large cookie sheet that’s been lined with wax paper, and let the chocolate pool around the bottom to act as a base.  Place in the refrigerator to set for about 30 – 45 minutes and then dip them in the melted chocolate a second time to get a nice smooth, even coverage.  Top with candy sprinkles if you like, and place in the refrigerator again to set up.

TIP:  For the best shaping experience, stay away from the crusty edges, and even avoid using too much of that flaky layer that forms on the top.  It’s not as moist as the rest of the brownies so doesn’t stick as well.

FYI, for this batch I used the peanut butter chip fudge brownie mix because I liked the idea of having a surprise inside.  The problem was that the peanut butter chips in the mix were HUGE so they made rolling the balls a bit difficult.  I think it would work fine though, if you used the regular brownie mix and added in your own peanut butter chips – regular size of course.

For more tips on making pops you can see how I made these cheesecake pops – another easy option!

To make it all pretty I played around with decoration on these, partially double dipping, drizzling alternate colors, and using sprinkles.  I’ve also done zigzags patterns with an alternate color of chocolate too – the sky’s the limit when it comes to decorating!

Place them on a dish or tray and surround them with sprinkles like I did here, for a beautiful dessert table presentation.

If you like what you see here please SHARE and PIN with others. Have a great day!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

Let the summer celebrations begin with Memorial Day this weekend. I can’t believe it’s that time already, but the weather is begging for us to plan those outdoor parties. If you’re planning a Memorial Day party or any party for the season, I’ve set up a fun little ice cream dessert table idea on Homes.com this week. {Read more….}

Also, I’d love for you to join me {@CelebrateAtHome} along with @HomesDotCom and @AptsForRent for a Twitter chat this Thursday{5/23} at 8pm EST. We’ll be talking about backyard bbq’s and grilling. Just follow the hashtag #HomeChat and join in the conversation for a chance to win 1 of 5 $50 gift cards. Hope to see you there!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

A couple of weeks ago I remembered one of the treats I used to eat when I went for sleepovers at my girl friends house. I think it was around 7th or 8th grade and when she introduced me to these cracker-marshmallow treats I thought it was so unique, so ridiculously simple, and SO YUMMY!  I guess you could sort of call this a sweet and salty spin on the classic s’mores.

I don’t know what took me so long to make them for my own kids but ever since I did, they’ve been begging me for them almost every day. There’s only 3 little ingredients that you’re likely to have in your pantry right now. Here’s the “recipe”…

Cracker-Mallow Snack Treats

• Ritz crackers – 2 per treat
• Classic size marshmallows
• Peanut Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread peanut butter on one cracker, top with marshmallow, and place on a baking sheet.

Bake for about 4 minutes.

Remove from oven and press top cracker down slightly to adhere it to the hot marshmallow.

Let cool slightly {if you can} so it doesn’t burn your mouth, and enjoy.

Has anyone else ever made these?? I’ve never seen anyone else do it so I’m very curious.

The ooey gooey marshmallow and peanut butter adds just the right amount of sweetness to the salty crackers. They’re so easy and quick to make you may find yourself serving them as a staple after school snack.

Please SHARE and PIN this idea if you like what you see. Have a great day!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

I love it when I see women follow their passion and make their dreams come true – it’s so inspiring!  This has been an amazing couple of weeks for our friend Kori, who’s just opened up her new website/shop selling her own illustrations and graphics.  True, she’s been selling her designs for years through her etsy shop and branding work, but the new website, KoriClark.com is her new baby and much more personal.

What It Is:  Kori’s design shop offers original hand drawn illustrations and graphics that you can use to make your own party printables, crafts, or other stationery items.  Whether you’re an amateur or a pro, this is where you go to get all types of themes and designs that add personality to your projects.

What I Love:  I’ve seen several graphic shops, and many of the designs are very “cutesy” which works fine for some kids parties.  But Kori’s signature style shines through as the graphics have a sophisticated look that appeals to both adults and children.

I hope you’ll show some support for one of our favorite gals, and check out KoriClark.com and share it with others.

Have a great weekend!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw me post this book recently, and a giveaway to come. Well, today’s the day you can enter to win a copy of Flavored Butters by Lucy Vaserfirer, and I’m sharing a couple of recipes from the book to get you excited about it. I chose one sweet and one savory, and I can attest to the fact that they are delicious and easy to make!

Making flavored butters, or compound butter, is a classic way to impart more flavor into meats, vegetables, and breads. It’s also a great way to add a special touch when entertaining, but simple enough to do for everyday meals.

Blue Cheese & Chive Butter {from the book, Flavored Butters}

• 1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces Gorgonzola dolce, crumbles {or other blue cheese}
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste {I actually eliminated the salt}

Blend all 4 ingredients together in a medium size bowl. Form into a log shape and roll in wax paper. Refrigerate until firm, or over night.

Slice and serve on French or Italian bread, on burgers, over steak, or with pasta.

Apricot Butter {adapted from the book, Flavored Butters}

• 1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves {or other fruit preserves}

Blend together the butter and preserves in a medium size bowl. Spread mixture on a sheet of wax paper, about a 1/4 inch thick. Top with another piece of wax paper and refrigerate until firm, or overnight.

Once chilled, remove and cut out shapes using a small, shaped cookie cutter. Lift shapes off wax paper using a thin spatula.

Serve over toast, french toast, biscuits, crepes, or other breakfast fare.

Both recipes I made were so good, especially the blue cheese butter. I literally had to FORCE my self to stop eating it on slices of French bread!

Now it’s your chance to win a copy of the book, Flavored Butters. Just follow the steps below.

Enter To Win!

Terms:

**This giveaway is in no way affiliated, administered or endorsed by Pinterest.

**Winner will be CHOSEN AT RANDOM by Random.org, and notified by email on Tuesday, May 21, and will need to respond within 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

**Winner must be 18 years of age or older and a US citizen/resident in order to win.

**All prizes will be mailed by the sponsor and participating blog owners are not held responsible if the prize is not fulfilled.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

I’ve been meaning to do this post for weeks but as usual, other things seem to come up and take precedence. I’ve gathered up {mostly} all of the diy projects I did for my shabby chic bridal shower and dessert table, and none of them are outside the average skill level. So this is it dear readers – YOU CAN DO IT!

There are at least 15 simple DIY projects that you can do to incorporate into a theme like this one, or add to any other color or theme that you’re working on. For instance, the iron on transfer signs can be made and used in a baby shower in pretty pastel colors. Or, the diy food tags can be used on any buffet table for any occasion. There ARE a lot of project here for one event, but you can always choose just 2 or 3 to re create. Are you ready to get started?

Iron On Transfers

1 – 4. IRON ON TRANSFER SIGNS & TAGS – Maybe it’s my background in fashion, but I have a deep love for textiles. I love working with fabric in my party design projects. I see SO many printable paper items in party design, but hardly ever see fabric being used except for the occasional rag swag or fabric bunting.

There are so many other ways to use fabric in party decor and I think I have about 7 listed here. Iron on transfers are one of my new favorite things since I discovered these printable transfer sheets at the craft store {in the sewing crafts section}. I used them to make the name place holders, the embroidery hoop sign, the bottle necklace tags, and the table welcome sign.

• The important thing to remember when using the iron on transfer sheets is that you have to reverse your project so that when you iron it on to your fabric, it reads correctly.
• I did this with the online photo editing site, PicMonkey.com.
• The base fabrics I used were canvas ribbon, a piece of cotton fabric, and canvas tags I found at Hobby Lobby.

For the bottle necklaces I used ball chain to loop through the canvas tags and it was done – so easy!

5. IRON ON LETTERS – My other iron on project was a little simpler. I used a package of iron on transfer letters and applied them to burlap to make a “bar” sign. Pulling off the edge fibers gives it a fringed edge that’s more decorative than a straight cut.

6. EASY DISPLAY TAG HOLDER – The food display tags are super easy to make. All you need is a base – in this case a spool – and pin tacks with a spiral end. All I did was drop the pin into the hole at the top of the spool and insert the paper tag into the spiral holder. Some other bases you might try are wine corks, tiny flower pots filled with a plant or herb, or any item you can attach the pin to using glue dots.

Quick Sew Projects

Everyone can sew a straight line or a button on, right?!  I HAD to do some type of sewing for this ‘fashionista’ concept, which mostly included adding button details to some items.

7. PUFFY HEART FLORAL INSERT – I had a felt puffy heart which was sold as a Christmas ornament a couple of years ago. The item was perfect but the colors were not. I re-designed the heart by adding a burlap heart shape and a button, cutting off the hanging ribbon, and inserting a skewer into the bottom between the stitching. Now it makes the cutest flower insert for this shower design!

8. DIY PIN CUSHION – I think the most trying project I did was make my own pin cushion. It seemed easy enough, and it was really, except for one thing… I couldn’t figure out how to get the round shape to be crease free. I feel like there was a lot of overlapping fabric around the bottom, but oh well, I think it turned out pretty cute in the end.

• To make it I formed a ball with “stuffing” – like you use for pillows. Cut fabric in a circle, sized to fit around the ball, and began gathering the ends together on the bottom. I used hot glue to secure it.
• Next, I used embroidery thread to wrap around and form the decorative lines. I cut a piece of felt into a star burst shape and secured it to the top with a button and thread. I thought it make an adorable mini sign holder.

9. EMBROIDERY HOOP HEART – One of the first things I did for this shower project was to make embroidery hoop “hearts” to put at each place setting. It took about 5 minutes to make each heart using embroidery thread, a knitting needle, and burlap. You may not need to make enough for every place setting, but making a few to set around the party would be really cute.

10. UTENSIL PACKET – You can also make utensil pouches for any occasion like I did here. Use long envelopes and drop in the cutlery. Wrap the outside with twine and a cute embellishment from the scrapbook aisle.

Wrapping

11 – 12. WRAPPED STYROFOAM BALLS & SPOOLS – There was a LOT of wrapping going on for this design {and I don’t mean the Jay Z type of rapping}. I wrapped foam balls with yarn, large vintage spools with embroidery thread, regular size spools with embroidery thread, and even MORE spools with scrapbook paper. It’s pretty mindless work but it takes a while to cover up the Styrofoam balls and the large vintage spoils. Just turn on the Real Housewives of the OC and get to wrapping. The effort is worth it.

Easy Embellishments

13. EMBELLISHED MONOGRAM – A couple of projects that can literally be done for any theme or occasion are the embellished monogram, and the diy drink stir sticks. My “C” was spray painted a vanilla color and fabric flowers were attached using glue dots. Make these for birthdays, weddings, showers, or special holidays.

14. DIY STIR STICKS – You can see how I made the drink stir sticks here.

15. MOLDED CUPCAKE TOPPERS – Another simple thing you can do to dress up any party is make your own molded cupcake toppers. I made white and dark chocolate buttons for this one ahead of time and kept them in the freezer until ready to use. To make them I used a lollipop mold and just eliminated the stick when I poured the melted chocolate in.

If all those projects don’t get your creative juices flowing then check out the ribbon and trim “cake” centerpiece here.  Great idea for your next birthday or shower.

So, there you have it – at least 15 simple projects you can do to give your party or shower a unique touch.  Which one is your favorite?

If you like what you see here please SHARE and PIN so others can be inspired too. Have a great day!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

I have a pretty, feminine tea party to share today, all the way from Portugal. This tea party display was put together by Sophia of Bistrot Chic, for a client celebrating Mother’s Day a little early with her mom and aunt. Although Mother’s Day has come and gone, ANY time of the year is right for a tea party.

I love using open shelving for food display and that’s exactly what Sophia did here….

From Sophia: “We used a piece of furniture from the house and styled a sweet cabinet in a rustic but elegant way that was the request of our client. She also told us she wanted no cupcake or cake pops, but something different which was a challenge for us!

Lot’s of fresh flowers were used, mainly roses but also gypsophilas. We spread some petals in the cabinet, as well as old family tablecloths, matching napkins and a tea-set. The result was a fresh white cabinet, styled in pink and yellow in a very romantic way.

Besides tea and scones, several other sweets from Taste Spot were served, such as marshmallows with lemon butter cream roses, mini lemon curd tarts with currants, berry pots with cream and mint leaves and “Lérias” which is a typical Portuguese desert made mainly with egg yolks and sugar, a desert that was created more than 500 years ago in a monastery and that remains in the Portuguese habits so far . The cake was made of chocolate and filled with raspberries and lime cream, as well as real raspberries and chocolate crumbs.”

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With Mother’s Day being this Sunday it’s time for that mad dash to be made from the kids and Dad.  Feel free to direct them to this post so they’ll get some ideas of how to celebrate.  Or, maybe you need some inspiration for honoring your own mom!  Either way I’ve gathered some ideas and tips to set you on your way.

1. If you love the idea of a Mother’s Day tea party then Confetti Sunshine has you covered.  Her tea party is a lovely modern take on the traditional setting, and she’s got FREE Printables for you too!
2. If Breakfast in Bed is your idea of being pampered, then this Lemon Mascarpone Stuffed French toast looks divine sitting on a tray with bacon, juice, and coffee.  I think I may need to email this one to my husband…
3. For a special touch to add to any Mother’s day setting, get this FREE Printable Sign made by Kim for Red Barn blog.  The classic subway art will look great on a brunch table or buffet table.
4. Maybe cooking is out of the question, in which case you can set up a Bagel Bar like the one by Maria of Giggles Galore.  I love any kind of bar where I can pick and choose what I want.
5. This Pretty Table setting complete with Mimosa Bar would suit any meal of the day from brunch to dinner.  I love the modern vibe and feminine color palette.
6. Still in need of a gift idea?  Check out my gift picks for mom based on her interests.
7. For a fantastic brunch casserole to serve a crowd, whip up this hash brown and ham breakfast casserole.

Do you have special plans for Mother’s Day?  I think my daughter {12} and son {10} are planning to cook me breakfast – the first time they’re doing it on their own.  Can’t wait!

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!

Oh, and by the way – Happy Moscato Day!  That’s right, today is “national Moscato wine day” so open a bottle at the end of the day and Cheers with someone you love! If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s delicious!  It’s white and light and has just a hint of sparkle.  A great wine for your garden party

For more inspiration, follow me on Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter. Cheers!