Weekly Wanted Wonders

     With Valentine's Day right around the corner, and my mother coming in town this weekend, I have been on a cleaning spurt trying to make everything look sparkly clean especially after the Crafternoon party, I keep finding glitter everywhere. Then again, who doesn't love a little sparkle to their step? This week, I can't get enough of:

1. Valentine's decorations
    
   
   
    I love the kitschy look of them; they just add such fun to my living room.
   
   
    
2. Heart Shaped Plates
   
   
   
     Made from plastic and sparkly, these are perfect for serving dessert or a whole meal on for a nice dinner during February. Plus they are from Target and only about 2 dollars each!
   
   
    
3. Beautiful Tray
   
   
   
     I picked up this tray at Goodwill the other day for under 5 dollars, and while it's pretty, I think I could clean it up a bit and make it really shine. Any ideas are welcome, please!
   
   
    
4. Lisa's Closet from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
   
   
   
     I adore Lisa and her house is to die for, just look at how pretty and organized her closet is! If only I had that kind of time/money/skill to get my closets to look like that.
   
   
    
5. Coaster
    
   
    Aren't these too funny? They add such whimsical humor to the chore of asking people to use coasters.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   What's inspiring you this week?
   

50 dollar fix: Kitchen Hallway

      My breakfast nook is small. My kitchen is tiny. I like cooking stuff, thus I have an organizational nightmare trying to get all my dishes and stuff to fit without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I needed something to hold extra bowls, cups and a few odds and ends. Plus I needed some way to spruce the place without painting.

    
     First I found this DVD case, which sleek black shape worked perfectly in the narrow space. It's just deep enough to hold bowls but shallow enough that it doesn't impede the walkway. The shelves adjust so that I could have more room on the bottom to place taller things. The doors keep it looking neat and clean even when I am in a rush to clean for company and just shove things in there.

    
       Second thing is this vintage English World War Two propaganda poster in a vibrant pink color. I could have ordered it online and paid a fortune for it. Instead, I found the image online and took it to my local print shop. They were able to print it out on glossy poster paper (about 18 by 24) for fewer than 20 dollars. Next, I went to Target and picked up a poster frame for about 5 dollars (it was on sale).

Voila! Another 50 dollar fix!

Easy Entertaining: Apple Dips

      During my crafternoon party, I had seen in the September issue of Living magazine these beautiful apple dips. They didn't look too hard to recreate and seemed like the perfect addition to my red and pink themed afternoon. I choose peanut butter, caramel, and my special fruit dip to place in my three apples.

Apple Dips

  Materials:

Large Apples

Melon baller (Make sure it's a sturdy one, I broke my dollar store one)

Lemon Juice

                 Pastry Brush

Directions-

1. Slice the top off the apples. Then to level the bottom, cut off the bottom part to make it level.
   
2. Use the melon baller to scoop out the inside; don't worry if it's not perfectly smooth since it will be hidden by the dip.
   
3. Take the pastry brush and dip it in lemon juice then coat the inside of the apple to prevent it from browning.

 And the recipe to my special fruit dip:

Fabulous Fruit Dip

1 part Marshmallow Fluff

1 part Cream Cheese

Simply mix together in a bowl and try not to lick the leftovers. Perfect for apples, grapes, bananas, strawberries, etc.

Martha Stewart Sundays: Valentine’s Crafternoon

      Every Sunday, I shall attempt to do something like Martha does, from baking to cleaning to (God help me) glittering pictures of your dog.

       For my first installment of Martha Stewart Sunday, I took her idea in the February 2011 Living magazine of a Valentine's Crafternoon. I invited a few girlfriends over for snacks and crafts. It was a blast, we sat around for a few hours in the afternoon happily cutting and glittering to our hearts' content. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon away from all the super bowl fanfare and instead create cards for our loved ones. Later this week, I will be breaking down everything I did for the party as far as food but here is a quick overview of the Crafternoon.

      I bought stickers, cardstock, tissue paper, scissors, glitter and glue plus more. I also asked the girls to bring over some crafting things; if they had anything to contribute (glitter hearts are not cheap). For food, I had the pie, candies, apple dips, brie bites and raspberry ginger ale with frozen cranberries.
Here's what the work table looked like:

 

 

Sandra Lee-ing a Martha Stewart: Boozy Bartlett Pear Pie

     I love Martha Stewart, she is amazing at everything she tries from modeling to stockbroking, and the woman is a GOD at baking. Yet I wish her stuff came with rating levels, like this is for a beginner crafter to this is for expert bakers only with 10 hours to spare and several special baking utensils. Sadly, I don't have 10 hours to roll out dough and then refrigerate it overnight, then cut into small pieces and then roll it all together and start again. Take this pie for instance, looks amazing. The hearts cut out and pressed in circles to form a top crust. Fresh Bartlett pear peeled, cored and cut into small slices (3 lbs. of them). Frankly, I don't have the patience for such a thing or the time for that. Thus this is my "Sandra Lee-ing A Martha Stewart" for Pear-Raspberry Pie.

My improvements:

-add brandy (Sandra Lee would)

-readymade pie crust (I don't have to time to make it)

- canned pears and frozen raspberries

-change the hearts (cut 48 individual hearts, and place them in circles around the pie crust, WAY ABOVE my pay let alone skill level)

So here is my nouvelle recipe

• 2 readymade pie crusts
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 2 cans of pears (slices or cut them yourself)

 

• 1 ½ cups raspberries ( I used frozen)
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1/3 cup brandy
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
  
  Directions:
  

1. Trim one pie dough to fit a 9-inch pie dish and trim edges. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, and raspberries over low to medium heat till it turns a bit gelatin. In another sauce pan, combine 2 cans of drained pears, brandy and brown sugar over medium heat. Combine the two sauce pans once pears have soaked up the brandy and sugar plus the raspberries are more gelatinous.
   
3. While the filling cools, roll out the second pie crust on a lightly floured surface and use heart cookie cutters to cut large and small hearts. Use scraps to roll out more dough to cut.
   
4.  Once slightly cooled, pour filling into pie pan, then using alternative directions to press the large hearts into the outer rim of the crust. Once full circle is formed, place the small hearts all facing the same direction on the edges.
   
5. Lightly brush egg yolk over crust and then use sugar to sprinkle over the crust afterwards.
   
6. Bake at 400 degrees for roughly 30 minutes.
 

 

Pretty Pretty Notebooks: Part Deux

    So I realized in previous post, I forgot to include a few photos of the finished product. So here it is and a few other notebooks I've covered lately.

Weekly Wanted Wonders

     As many of you may already know, next Monday is St. Valentine's Day, unless you are my boyfriend (It's February 14^th, dear). It seems that so many of my friends and family members have birthdays around that time, making the holiday extra important. These are the things inspiring me this week.

1. Pear-Raspberry Heart Pie
   
   

    

   Heart Pie

    It almost looks to pretty to eat. ALMOST. I love the heart cut outs for the pie crust. Maybe this will be a weekend project…
   
   
2. Florist Measuring Cups
   
   
    
   Measuring Cups
   I wish I had something to bake deserving enough of these cups! I feel I would just place them on a shelf and never want to get them messy, which isn't really the point of them.
   
   
   
3. Marchesa Gown
   
   

   
   I know this has nothing to do really with décor, but I so want this dress and somewhere to where it. Any ideas on how I could possibly justify it?
   
   
   
4. Damask Flocked Wall Paper
   
   

    

   wallpaper
   I don't really know where I would put this, but I know it would be beautiful. I love the soft purple offsetting the more modern foil behind it, making it more whimsical than stuffy.
   
   
   
5. Heart Shaped Valentine's Bejeweled Box
   
   

    

   Bejeweled Heart

    My boyfriend wouldn't appreciate it, so I might have to end up making this for my best friend and giving her a bunch of homemade goodies to fill it with à la Martha!
   
    
   
   What's inspiring you this week?