christmas cookie time

today, rachel invited me over for some baking. we made these chocolate cookies, covered them in white chocolate, then sprinkled them with crushed candy canes. i'm not sure what they're actually called, but think peppermint bark and thin mint hybrid. so good!

ornament exchange!

so here is my little pineapple ornament. many hours of hand sewing sequins, but it was fun to give it away. time to get started on next year's ornaments!

(please forgive my less than perfect photos. i was running on stress and having camera issues yesterday).

ananacouture

please stop by rachel's new etsy site, ananacouture to check out her handmade stuff! she has some really adorable coaster sets, aprons, and bowls for sale.

we had a lot of fun on our photo shoots and i'm looking forward to more!

garden party inspired

so, i may be a few seasons late with this idea, but the garden party is happening in a few weeks! my sleep patterns have been way off lately, hence my late night martha stewart binges and obsession with ditsy florals. i've found some really great ideas along my researching way...

1. the addy dress from anthropologie recently caught my attention-- i love the floral combo with the grey hues. it's not too dark and gloomy but isn't something i'd wear to a spring fling.
2. just found this adorable miniature tea cup ring by kacchan. it's definitely got the alice in wonderland vibe without being over the top. sometimes it's easy for me to get carried away with theme-y accessories, but this ring adds the perfect little touch. (she also makes miniature pastry and dessert cocktails rings!)
3. my friend rachel has offered to help me make these amazing lollipop cupcakes (by martha, of course). seriously, how perfect are these?! i am hoping to either make or find a tiered cupcake rack for these babies.
4. a party isn't a party without champagne! better homes and gardens has a simple recipe for champagne cocktails-- not sure if i'll actually attempt this, but it sure looks pretty. i've seen so many beautiful drinks that i don't quite know where to begin. what does everyone like to drink?

i'm still hoping to check out thrift stores in the area for tea cups, jars, bottles...anything that could hold a candle or flowers. my grandma gave me a funny set of bowls the last time she came to visit and i'm torn between using them as candy dishes or succulent homes. outdoor lights, pumpkins (?), miniature pineapple upside down cakes, a good playlist...

but what will i wear?!

happy birthday flowers

a friend is having a birthday celebration this evening and i really wanted to bring flowers. for this arrangement i used hydrangeas, stock, veronica, and bupleurum. the mason jar was leftover from my grandma's tomatoes. i love using these containers around the house or as gifts. reminds me of summers on my grandparents' little farm. i love this mason jar lantern on etsy.

printing

last week i made some little van dyke photograms with hydrangea petals. i was inspired by these on etsy and thought the flowers would be appropriate for the invitations to the garden party. soon i hope to have some digital negatives made for other projects in mind. it feels good to be making stuff.

on a photo shoot

today i spent the day at rachel's apartment photographing her items for etsy. the area is surrounded by crops and various dirt paths and goes on for miles. i really love using rural spots like this as backdrops for photos-- so beautiful and interesting! we had some fun in the sun while showing off her handmade aprons and bags, then had a nice relaxing lunch at sophia's in the a/c.

diy birthday card

in honor of a friend's upcoming birthday, i decided to get creative and make her a card. my inspiration was drawn from these little treats.

ingredients for the cupcake card:
scalloped scissors
card stock in several colors
good ol' crayola crayons
glue stick
regular scissors
stationary sized envelope

i really enjoy using different shades of the same color in projects. for me, it keeps the piece classic. the great thing about simple cards like this one is that it would be easy to tackle in numbers or in the case of a last minute gesture.

looking forward to more crafting...

720 miles in three days

we've had the longest few days ever!

after work on thursday (yeah, i have a job now!) trev and i began our road trip to philadelphia to see theresa and steve. we stopped at his aunt bitsie's one night, and on the way back stayed with his aunt susie. unfortunately we didn't visit with either aunt as long as we would have liked, but it was still really nice to meet them.

we didn't have much time together in philly, so we hit some major spots. one being the philadelphia museum of art, which had an amazing permanent collection. our two hour window in the museum went by wayyy too fast. and thennnn, we had to have a philly cheesesteak. it was heavenly. weirdo canned cheese (think nacho style) and finely chopped up meat and sloppy onions on a big roll. deelish.

to my great surprise, trevor did most of the driving while i tried to soak in as much of ct, ny, nj, and pa as i could. on our way back i caught a glimpse of manhattan and was excited to see lady liberty from a distance. next time, we'll get much closer.

rummy

greg and alaire came over yesterday to hang out. after an afternoon of chili burgers, pirate's booty, and a movie, we sat around the table to play rummy.