Worth Pinning

Flower Pounding Spring Table Runner

2013-05-09T02:50:00.000-06:00

Did you know you can pound the color of flowers and leaves into fabric to create your own fabric designs? I shared this project on Positively Splendid last month. If you missed it over there, I'm going to show you how to hammer your way to beautiful botanic fabric creations.

Handmade Chocolate Covered Coconut Candy

2013-05-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid and our family received a box of chocolates, we would each claim our favorites...which meant fighting over the two milk chocolate covered caramel squares. We gladly handed over the round chocolate covered coconut candies to my mom and the rest of the box was pretty much a crapshoot, right? In honor of Mother's Day, I decided to make my mom a box of all chocolate covered coconut candies. Mom, if you read this before Sunday- surprise! This heavenly Chocolate Covered Coconut Candy is handmade using only 4 ingredients.
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Sweet Ambs Cookie Decorating Contest Finalist

2013-05-02T08:39:00.000-06:00

Amber of SweetAmbs is hosting a Spring Cookie Contest and my fairy/butterfly cookies were selected as one of the 15 finalists! To see the full blog post on decorating the fairies using the brush embroidery technique, please click here. Thanks, Amber!

When Snow Falls on May Day - Hatchling Cookies

2013-05-01T13:14:00.002-06:00

These poor bunnies and chicks are trying to be Spring hatchlings, but they don't want to leave the shell when it looks like this outside:

Changing the Color of the Front Door

2013-04-26T16:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't changed it yet. The current door color is on the left and I've been playing with other colors. I picked up a dark charcoal gray exterior paint in the fall to paint the door in the spring. I was sure I liked dark charcoal gray- especially near Halloween when I was thinking orange/black/white wreaths. My two favorites are below...
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Buying a home - Start New Buy Fresh

2013-04-23T21:06:00.001-06:00

Are you a homeowner or renter? I thought I'd be a renter for several more years. Home-ownership seemed like a long shot given my single income and modest savings. As a renter, do you wish you could personalize your space? Custom cabinets instead of ugly stock cabinets? Granite counters instead of linoleum? New stainless steel appliances instead of plain white? Are you already a homeowner interested in upgrading to new or newer construction? Energy efficient instead of money sucking? Click here to continue reading.

Major (or Little) League Baseball Cupcakes

2013-04-20T20:23:00.000-06:00

Get ready to hit one out of the park with these assorted baseball cupcakes! The "official" ball was caught at a Rockies/Padres game last summer and is one of my son's prized possessions. With baseball season well under way, learn how to make baseball themed cupcakes to take to your little leaguer's game this season.
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I want to ride my bicycle pillow

2013-04-17T19:09:00.002-06:00

My friend Holly started selling her artwork via Society6. I ordered my favorite drawing in the form of a throw pillow. I love it! For more of Holly's work, go check out her shop on Society6. I think the Starburst in a 20"x20" throw pillow would go perfect with the 16"x16" I Want to Ride My Bicycle pillow:

Holly's website: spence creative or follow her on FB.

Fresh Spring Mantel

2013-04-15T13:05:00.000-06:00

I wasn't really liking the way I had transitioned the Easter mantel to spring. I had swapped the frame with a gold frame around the moss wreath. The gold really drew the eye to the wreath, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the gold. I'm not big on gold. The four bird nests around the wreath made it look a little too Easter-y and I had a couple of candle holders that just didn't belong.

Fairy Cookies

2013-04-12T16:57:00.000-06:00

I took a few extra cookies I had baked the day before Easter and laid them out on the counter to see if I could come up with any non-Easter cookie designs. I could surely decorate the butterflies for spring, but what about the bunnies? Would they have to go to waste? Yeah, right.
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St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Breakfast

2013-04-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

I'm sharing a St. Patrick's Day breakfast sure to put a little extra Spring in your family's steps. This post was originally shared over at Positively Splendid as my first contributor post. St. Patrick's Day is the perfect opportunity to surprise your kids will a rainbow-filled kind of morning. After months of bitter cold temperatures and snow still piled high in our backyard, mid-March rainbows are a much welcomed sight!

Wreath Re-do

2013-04-05T16:05:00.002-06:00

I haven't cared for the red wreath below for quite some time. I bought it on clearance after Christmas one year. Seemed like a grown-up thing to do to buy a wreath. I stuck it on the front door after Christmas as a transition wreath through Valentine's Day. I've really gotten into wreath making in the last several months, but so far all the wreaths are too nice to stick on the exterior door. Since I didn't care much for the red wreath, I decided to tear it apart once I took it down from Valentine's Day.

Tween Girl Room

2013-04-02T15:31:00.000-06:00

It's the tween bedroom reveal! One kid down, one to go. Do you know my kids get along better now that they have their own rooms? Maybe that was given. Let's go way back to the blank room. Blank fitness looking room. When we moved into this house, we moved in as renters and the landlord said I could paint the walls any color I wanted.

Chocolate brown and lime green seemed low-risk...as in...I can move when I get tired of the paint color.

Rather than moving, I ended up buying the house.

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Monster Truck Cake - April Fools!

2013-04-01T02:00:00.000-06:00

My nephew turned 5 over the weekend and had requested a monster truck cake in early February. I wasn't sure if I'd see him the weekend of his birthday since it was Easter weekend, but they made it up to the mountains and I started spinning my wheels over a monster truck. I had the bunny cake planned for Easter, but decided it would be too cutesy for a 5 year old boy.
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Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies

2013-03-30T15:55:00.000-06:00

Here are a few Easter Bunnies ready to deliver. Patience really pays off with these sweet little bunny cheeks.
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Easter Ideas on Worth Pinning

2013-03-27T16:08:00.000-06:00

Are you ready for a Worth Pinning Easter Roundup?

Click each thumbnail to open in a new page.

Mini Egg Cakes

Edible Candy Filled Eggs

Thanks for viewing all of our Easter Projects. For other holidays, click the "holiday" tab at the top of the blog. Pin for later by clicking here!

Bunny Cake for Easter

2013-03-26T10:53:00.001-06:00

I called this the Little Bunny Foo Foo cake this morning and it stuck. The bunny and eggs are made of chocolate cake and the grass base is white cake. I envisioned making this cake larger with 3-4 bunnies, extra egges and a white picket fence around the outside, but two birthdays popped up this week and I needed two cakes. Rather than a large rectangle sheet cake, I baked two square cakes. This is the smaller square with one bunny.
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Easter Brunch for Two

2013-03-23T18:23:00.003-06:00

Here is a fun Easter Brunch for two. Take a look at the scrambled egg and bacon bunnies on the left. We'll get to those and how to make them, but first, here is the menu: Blueberry Bunny Bread, Fresh Fruit Cup, Scrambled Egg & Bacon Bunnies, Orange Juice, Chocolate Covered Marshmallow & Nutella Eggs and French Macarons.

Chocolate Eggs filled with Marshmallow & Nutella

2013-03-23T12:02:00.002-06:00

This may be one of the best things I have ever made. I grew up on chocolate covered marshmallow eggs for Easter and this year I wanted to try my own rendition. I upgraded the Russell Stover's chocolate to Godiva chocolate and added Nutella to the melted marshmallow filling.

Re-organizing the Playroom

2013-03-22T20:16:00.000-06:00

I love my playroom. I get away with calling it "the playroom" because I have two kids, but really it has been an extra room for me while the kids still wanted to share a bedroom. They were 4 & 5 when we moved in 4 years ago and wanted to continue sharing a room.

Do you ever feel like you need a space in your own home to escape from everyone once in a while? This is that room.

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Basketball Mini-Quesadillas

2013-03-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

March Madness anyone? If you are hosting a party during this year's tournament or you just have basketball lovers in your life, make these basketball mini-quesadillas. I thought up this basketball snack while running yesterday. The quesadillas were easy enough, but how to make the hoop dipping cup I had in mind...Hmmmmm. Pasta? No. Licorice? No. By the end of the run, I had it figured out.
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Hand Painted Stool Before & After

2013-03-19T00:30:00.000-06:00

This plain ol' stool has been supporting the humidifier in my bedroom for a few years. It doesn't go with anything in the room, so I decided it was time for a makeover.

To start: 1. Sand the entire stool. 2. vacuum the stool to clear the dust. 3. wipe the stool with a wet rag to remove any lingering dust. 4. apply base coat of white semi-gloss paint.

The stool dried for approximately an hour before applying a second coat of white to the legs:

Then I applied two coats of teal paint to just the top of the stool:

Allow to dry an hour or so.

I wanted to create a chalkboard bunting across the top of the stool seat. First, I placed the punched-out stencil (Handmade Charlotte Stencils by Plaid) pieces on the top for a visual and to figure out the spacing. You might want to lightly trace the stencil so you can see where to line it up on the surface because the stencil is made of cardstock and is not see-through- making the lining up a little bit of a challenge. Using the sponge brushes, I worked from the outside and allowed enough time to dry between flags so I wouldn't smear the paint. I ended up cutting the stencil apart and only used each flag once. If you use the same one over and over, you have to be careful to let the paint dry completely on the stencil or you will smear the paint when you place the stencil back down. I have not worked with chalkboard paint so I'm not sure of the consistency, but it seemed rather thin and as I dabbed with the brush, the paint bubbled. It wasn't a big deal for me in this project because I have no intention of using chalk on the stool- it was more of a background color.

I had several projects going on this particular day, so I didn't mind walking away and allowing proper dry time between coats and stencils. At first, I wanted to paint cupcakes in the center of the bunting, but the cupcake stencil was just a shy too big. The ice cream cone stencil lined up perfectly. I started with the tan cones and then added the ice cream colors. Rather than leaving space between the cone and the ice cream (like the stencil, as shown), I placed the ice cream right on top of the cone and then did some shading so the cones wouldn't be just a flat stencil.

I was reminded how much I love to paint with this project. My son even said, "I knew you could paint, but I had no idea you could do it that well, Mom!" It has been a while.

After painting cherries on top and allowing to dry overnight, I lightly sanded the top the following morning for a subtle distressed look.

I can't believe I had that plain ugly stool for so long before thinking to paint it.

No way is this stool going back under the humidifier! My daughter and I used it for a cute photo shoot last weekend and now it is in her bedroom.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream

2013-03-15T13:02:00.002-06:00

After making macarons earlier in the week with Nutella Buttercream filling, I had a ton of the filling left over. It was 10pm and instead of storing the Nutella frosting like a sane person, I reheated the oven to 350F and started mixing a double chocolate cake. The cupcakes were baked, frosted and sprinkled by 10:45pm. The great thing about this fluffy Nutella filling is

French Macarons with Nutella Buttercream Filling

2013-03-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

I have been wanting to try a macaron for a very long time. I see them in beautiful styled party photos online. I've read other blogger's triumphs and frustrations and I have to say, I was intimidated. I like things to work the first time and by all info gathered across the web, it looked like it would take several attempts to get it right. I probably would have put it off longer, but a friend posted a photo of macarons to my FB timeline and asked if I could make them. Ever wanted to try to make them yourself? I'm going to show you what worked for me on my very first attempt.
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Gold Leprechaun Traps for St. Patrick's Day

2013-03-11T15:13:00.000-06:00

It was already late Saturday night when we started thinking about the Leprechaun traps we want to set up for the Eve of St. Patrick's Day. With one kid away at a sleepover, it was a mom and son night. This was a perfect activity to even out the fun.
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