I don’t know about you, but I’m always stuck on what to get my boyfriend for a special day like our dating anniversary or Valentine’s day. Guys have it so easy: Buy flowers, sign a card, rinse and repeat.

But my guy hates cards. And I don’t think he appreciates P.D.F. (public display of flowers) quite the same way that I do. So when his birthday rolled around this year, I decided to scrap the bouquet and go for a broquet.

The bro-quet is like a bouquet’s manly, DIY counterpart. Just like a gorgeous floral arrangement, this crafty gift has major “Wow!”-factor when you leave it for him to find, or drop it off at his office. But instead of flowers and greens, he’ll get to enjoy eating and drinking his favorite candy, liquor and snacks. What more could a guy want?

The best part is that it’s easy to make.

Materials:

• A vase or container for the base (I used a chinese take-out style box from a craft store)
• A block of floral foam that fits inside your container (“wet” floral foam is easier to cut)
• Pennies or weights (optional)
• Sticks, such as lollipop sticks, wooden skewers or popsicle sticks
• Hot glue & a hot glue gun
• Candy, snacks and other goodies to fill the bro-quet
• Ribbon, tissue, name tags or other decorations (optional)

Steps:

1. Cut down your your floral foam so that it fills your container. If your container is light (like mine was), you may need to weigh it down with pennies or another small, heavy item before filling it with the foam.
2. Take your bro-quet goodies and attach a stick to the back of each one with hot glue. Try to vary the lengths of the sticks; bigger items like beef jerky should go in the back on longer sticks, smaller items like the liquor bottles are in front on shorter sticks.
3. Once you’ve got everything attached to a stick, begin to push each stick down into the floral foam. This is where you put on your ameteur florist hat and try to arrange everything in a way that shows off each item and gives the bro-quet a nice round shape.
4. Finish off the bro-quet with embellishments like wooden letters, tissue paper or ribbon (either wrapped around the bro-quet, or attached to another stick like I did here.

The bro-quet makes a great gift because you can completely customize it to your man’s tastes. Does he love beef jerky? Chocolate covered pretzels? Whiskey? Sour gummy worms? Snickers? And you don’t have to stop at the edible. Try adding golf balls, fishing lures, DVDs, gifts cards, video games, or anything else you know your guy is into.

Because I know it can be tough to shop for this sort of thing, here’s a run-down of all that went into my bro-quet:

• 2 mini-bottles of Jägermeister
• 1 mini-bottle of Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey
• 1 mini-bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey
• 2 5-Hour Energy Shots
• 3 Nerds Ropes
• 2 Mike and Ike fruit twists
• 3 Charleston Chews
• 2 sticks of rock candy
• 2 snack packs of Goldfish crackers
• 6 Airheads
• 3 bags of Pop Rocks
• 3 mini boxes of Mike and Ikes
• 1 pack of Big League Chew bubble gum
• 1 full-size bag of Peanut M&Ms
• 1 full-size bag of Pretzel M&Ms
• 2 packages of Oberto beef jerky

Happy snacking and happy crafting!

Because food groups are important. But so are donuts. And biscuits. And cupcakes. And gelato.

Rise in Durham is the best spot ever for breakfast. Whether you want savory or sweet, they’ve got you covered. Because the serve two things: Biscuits and donuts. My recommendations: The Maple Bacon bar, Orange Curd donut (dusted with Pistachio Sugar), or literally anything on a biscuit. That’s a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit pictured above.

Sugarland in Chapel Hill calls itself a “bakery,” but it’s so much more. A rainbow of decadent gelato peaks (which you can get in a pretzel cone), crazy gorgeous cupcakes, …and, oh, you can get a frozen gelato martini. What’s not to love?

It’s that time of year again! No, not Valentine’s Day or Can-We-Put-The-Coats-Away-Yet? Day. It’s almost time for the Academy Awards. And of course, for the 2013 Fantasy Oscars Draft.

In case you missed it last year, I put together a little cut-and-play game for you to follow along with the award show and make it more competitive (a great idea, especially, if you’ve got some guys who think an Oscar party is their version of hell). It borrows elements from Fantasy Football, where you put together a dream roster of pro football players who earn points for your fantasy team; only this time, you’re choosing films, actors, actresses, performers, preseneters, producers and directors to fill out your 2013 Oscars Dream Team.

The instructions are included in the file, but here’s the gist of how it goes: Print and cut out the cards included in this PDF (they also fit perfectly on to Avery tear-apart business card sheets) and lay them out onto a table face up. Players (your party guests) take turns “drafting” their favorite cards onto their Oscars Team. After everyone has a set number of cards in their hand (5-7 fantasy cards is a good number for each player’s team, but you can use the whole deck, if you want), you’re ready for kickoff—er, to start watching the Academy Awards on ABC this Sunday, February 24.

As your fantasy players—that is, the movies and people on your fantasy team—are mentioned, shown on screen or win awards, you earn points. Your party guests can keep their points tallied on the cards (don’t forget to lay out some pens!), and the winner earns a prize (or bragging rights) at the end of the night!

Ready to play? Just download the file right here:

>> Fantasy Oscars Draft Cards

And I’ll share my favorite tip from last year again, too: Print these cards onto the back side of scrapbook paper sheets so that the back of your cards have a cute pattern that matches your party. Gold or yellow glitter paper is always a hit for the Oscars.

But I usually snap out of that day dream pretty quickly when I realize that calligraphy can be an expensive hobby. And it takes a lifetime of practice to become as good as gals like Melissa Esplin and Jessica Hische.

So for the rest of us, there’s fonts. I’ve spent some time collecting them on my laptop for my projects and crafts (like the Pumpkin Place Cards I made last Halloween, featuring the Some Weatz font), and I thought “Why not share these?”

So here you go. Put calligraphy on everything, no ink neccessary.

1. Antrokas
2. BlackJack
3. Centeria Script
4. Respective
5. Contribute
6. Some Weatz
7. Dancing Script
8. Janda Stylish Script
9. Janda Elegant Handwriting

Somewhere along the way between Atlanta and Gainesville on I-75, as I found my bladder too full and the gas tank too empty, we stopped at a cute and only moderately sketchy old-school truck stop called Magnolia Plantation. It looked a little run-down on the outside (the gas pumps had mechanical counters), but inside it was amazing. There were jams, jellies, syrups and butters for as far as the eye could see. There was tradional stuff, like blueberry syrup and apple butter, but also some really unqiue things, like Garlic Jam.

You know what happened next. I bought jam. From a gas station.

So here I am, with some of what is sure to be delicious Garlic Jam, and no idea what to do with it.

I turned to the web, and found a few inspiring and mouth watering ideas. I can’t wait to try them all. But I wanted to jot them down in one place first in case there’s any other impulse truck stop shoppers out there like me.

And if you don’t have a sketchy-vintage-amazing Southern gas station/truck stop nearby, you can also make garlic jam at home. This would be a great gift, methinks, as long as you give them some ideas of what to do with it.

I’ve managed to combine some of my favorite things with this project: Neutals, Neon, and unwrapping presents.

Even though Thanksgiving is still a month ahead of the gift-giving holiday we all know and love, it’s never too early to unwrap a little something. But instead of unwrapping presents, we’re unwrapping plates. Because the real gift at Thanksgiving is all of that insanely delicious homestyle food you get to enjoy with your family and friends.

I found these plastic wishbones from Lucky Break at a local party store, and they were too cool to pass up. They’re designed to snap in two just like a real wishbone. I mean, we all love breaking the wishbone at Thankgiving. But it’s messy and there’s only one. And wishbones always end up with one person who doesn’t get their wish.

With these plastic ones everybody gets their own, so there’s plenty of wishes to go around. And integrating them into the place setting in such a fun way is a great way to get everybody psyched about their turkey and stuffing. Because before you chow down, you have to break open the wishbone to get to the plates.

Making these is really easy, too. You just need some wishbones (one for each person; plastic or real, whatever you can get your hands on) and ribbon. I used a simple cotton twill, but this would be great with a thin satin ribbon or even baker’s twine. If you want to give your wishbones dipped tips like I did (neon yellow, if that’s your thing), you’ll want to grab some paint and let a few coats dry before tying them on to plates.

When you’re setting the table for Thanksgiving, lay a length of ribbon across each setting (measure out a strip 2.5 times the diameter of your biggest plate). Then, set the plates and napkin down on top with a wishbone in the center. Pull the ribbon tight and tie the ends around each side of the wishone, trimming any exess.

Wrapping the plates helps Thanksgiving to feel like the special occassion it ought to be, and your guests will love kicking off dinner with a wish. Hopefully they wished for turkey.

I’m a firm believer that holiday calories don’t count. Especially the sweets. Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie? Eat away. Christmas cookies? Have a dozen.

It’s this philosophy that allows me to enjoy—nay—to revel in this dessert, whose recipe calls for more than a dozen gloriously glazed Krispy Kreme donuts.

Because this is really the perfect holiday dessert. It reminds me of Christmas celebrations: Sweet, sugary, warm, and with a touch (or a lot) of bourbon.

The sauce isn’t as sweet as you’d expect, and complements the strangely satisfying soft-crunchy-sweet bread pudding perfectly.

Salivating yet? Get the recipe below, but first here’s a tip: The best part is the very top, where the glazed and soaked Krispy Kreme pieces get all crispy and crunchy. If you have a big, shallow dish that maximizes top-surface area, use it.

Halloween may be over, but pumpkin season is just getting started. Just because your Jack-o-lantern is headed for the trash bin doesn’t mean it’s time for your pile of pumpkin-flavored recipes to be stashed away until next year, which is excellent news for all us pumpkin-lovers! November and December are full of holiday parties, family get-togethers and general fall and winter festivities, meaning you’ll have plenty of reasons to indulge in pumpkin goodies galore in the coming weeks.

Pumpkin pie has always been the most popular pumpkin dish out there, but if you’re anticipating a pie-overload this season, these mini pumpkin cheesecakes are perfect for putting a little twist on your typical pumpkin dessert. These cheesecakes are made with a nutty walnut crust, filled with a creamy mixture of pumpkin, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, and finished with a dash of sweet whipped topping; is there any combination more perfect for the holidays?

Need another reason to make these cuties? They’re mini! Mini things are not only easier to serve to a crowd than are big desserts that need to be sliced or scooped, but they’re also lighter for when you just need a mouthful of something sweet—perfect for rounding out a huge holiday dinner. And if you can’t tell from all of the yummy ingredients, these cheesecakes are absolutely scrumptious.

Get the recipe below.

Thanks, Meredith!

Games, crafts, drinks and football. I love the fall.

Favorite activities: Miniature golf, pool at the bar and seeing a few bands. The best was seeing the insanely talented Delta Rae live in Atlanta. Check out their single “Bottom of the River” if you haven’t already.

Favorite crafts: The painted pumpkins I featured here on Formal Fringe, and the London 2012 silver medal I put together for my Halloween costume; I went as McKayla Maroney from the McKayla is Not Impressed meme.

New obsessions: Tea. Warm, unsweetened tea. Oh, and the vanilla Slurpee I got my hands on when we visited Florida last month. There’s no 7-11 near us in Atlanta–what a bummer!

Good news/bad news: My Florida Gators were on a roll in October, staying undefeated until a late October loss against the Georgia Bulldogs. I lost a bet living here in enemy territory and have to spend the season with a Georgia flag at my desk.

I know, I know… Who can think of Ice Cream at a time like this? It’s practically freezing outside! But let me tell you a little something about myself: I’m a Florida girl who tends to exaggerate when it comes to cold weather, and I love ice cream. If you love ice cream too, you might love this simple DIY project I pulled together.

To fancy up an ice cream bar or just a cozy night in, dress up your ice cream with rubber-stamped spoons. It’s an easy way to tie a store-bought dessert into your party theme, and guests will appreciate the little personal touch.

Start with a set of small alphabet stamps and pack of wooden spoons; I used these craft spoons, but this wooden cutlery would work for a more refined bash. Assemble your phrase with the stamps and tape them together in place, then ink them up and stamp them down.

“Yum!” is a great phrase for anything you’re serving up. You could also use this project to label individual servings by flavor, or stamp spoons with names to make sure everybody gets their share.