[pumpkin cream pies and...]

Jon and I have been stuffing our selves silly on some pretty fantastic pumpkin cream pies (also know as pumpkin whoopie pies) and we've been loving every bite of it. But what's Halloween if not a time to share our sugary loot with others?

So I got to work putting together some origami treat boxes (using my sister's fab tutorial here) so that we could share our baking delights with those we so hauntingly adore. These boxes are deceptively simple to make and quite addictive (...almost as addictive as these cookies!).

For the boxes I used 12"x12" scrap book paper but, as my little sis frequently does, you can use wallpaper- or really just about any paper that has a stiffness to it. Add a bit of wax paper, a couple of cookies and you're set.

Top it all off with a few embellishments and you are ready to share your tricks and treats with all your ghoulish friends!

[from paper bags...]

OK ladies, like we need another excuse to go shoe shopping. But it certainly doesn't hurt if we know we will be reusing our shopping bag afterwards, right!? I've been particularly fond of this DSW striped shoe bag for sometime and have been saving it for just the right project. I think I finally found it! So today, for my second Halloween installment, I'm sharing with you how to make these super easy, super cute bat holders out of a cardboard tube, a little paint and a paper bag (or any other fun, thick paper you have lying around). This project is a fun and easy project for your kids to do as well.

First thing you do is cut the card board tube down to the size you want (you can use old paper towel or toilet paper rolls, etc.). Then you paint the tubes with black craft acrylic paint. While the paint is drying, cut out some bat wing shapes out of your bag/paper. (Because this bag has been around for sometime, it's a little wrinkled, but yours will most likely be smooth). Be sure to leave a little extra room where the wing will be attached to the cardboard roll as that part will be folded over and attached to the roll. Now cut two small black triangles for the bat ears.

Once the tube dries, go back and paint a simple bat face using white craft acrylic paint. After that dries, adhere the bat wings onto the body of the bat by folding over a bit of the wing and placing adhesive on the folded tab (I used glue dots for this but you could use simple elmer's glue). Place a dot of adhesive to each bat ear and then adhere them to the inside of tube wherever you want your ears. Give it a moment for the adhesive to do it's magic and then, voila! you have yourself a fun little bat in a matter of minutes!

The real batty magic happens when you decide just want to do with these little bats. You could use them as finger puppets and put on a spooky show or just set them out as a Halloween decoration but I really like their utilitarian value. For example they make great napkin holders and would be darling as a last minute addition to a haunted feast!

Or my personal favorite, candy holders. Don't you think these would make great favors at a Halloween party or serve as a fun way to package a treat for coworker, friend, etc. ?

In fact, they are so enticing they won't stay around for long. Watch our for little hands trying to sneak away with the candy!

[coconut cream donut...]

When I asked Little A what kind of cake we should make for Jon's birthday he said immediately and emphatically "a coconut cream donut cake!". Jon and I looked at each other wide eyed, laughed and then smiled. Jon was definitely on board. I thought I would have to make this "cake" up but we managed to find a recipe for "coconut cream donuts". We couldn't find any coconut cream so we filled them with banana pudding (an interesting and yet still scrumptious variation).

They took a long time due to all the episodes of risings required but they were very fun to make. I've never deep fried anything before and let me tell you it was especially satisfying dropping the dough into a pot of hot oil and then watching it brown and "inflate".

My favorite was the donut itself just after cooling down a bit, with a little icing. Yum. Little A was just all about the coconut and the icing on top (as was his brother). Jon loved the entire donut. I'd say it was a great alternative to the traditional birthday cake. Thanks Little A for the inspiration!

I also thought I'd share another little gift I made for Jon on his day. I used an old typewriter that a friend gave me and wrote 34 different "titles" that Jon currently holds, such as "father", "actor", "friend", "teacher" and so on. I then turned them into little white flags and then stitched little flag poles with white thread. It was fun and simple way to celebrate Jon and all that he's accomplished thus far in his life.

Can I just say I love birthdays?

[Hop on over to Cafe Mom for a summer...]

The lovely Sheri Reed from the Stir (a Cafe Mom blog) asked me to be a part of a wonderful summer table setting series. It's been so hot here in So Cal (100 degrees+) that I haven't dared go outside to dine, but my little masked tea party could work just as well outdoors as in.

For tips on how to make your very own masked tea party hop on over here (and I might include ironing your table cloth...something I neglected due to an annoying flu bug and retched heat that made an iron the last thing I wanted to be near).

Happy summer dining!

[two parties...]

A few weeks ago I received a call from my friend Jordan asking for assistance and creative inspiration for a baby shower she would be throwing for her sister-in-law Brooke. Knowing both Jordan and Brooke to be ladies of great taste, and even better company, I was more than delighted to take part.

And then I heard that Jordan had a little more planned up her sleeve. Not only was she aiming to throw a baby shower but had a mind to hold her daughter's 3rd birthday party earlier on that same day. Now here was a challenge to sink my teeth into! Needless to say, I was definitely on board.

The inspiration for Brooke's shower was easy. We decided to base it on the adorable invite that graphic designer Brooke herself had created. I fell in love with her color choices at once and who doesn't love an elephant motif?

In fact we took this theme and ran with it - branded it, if you will, as Jordan and Brooke's husbands (who are also graphic designing brothers) comically put it. Jordan and I divided up the work load and proceeded from there. I made a slew of white iced sugar cookies and packaged them as celebratory favors.

And then went on sprucing up and personalizing water bottles, stacking a diaper cake, and dotting fabric back drops.

Add some blue tissue paper poms, delectably dipped strawberries, a corner store's worth of blue candies, scrumptious sandwiches, a sinful strawberry spinach salad and some pretty darn good store bought cupcakes and a party spread we had.

The guests arrived and we enjoyed our time celebrating Brooke and her little bundle on the way.

Now for the birthday party for a certain little 3 year old princess. Jordan made the most incredible princess cakes out of my Williams Sonoma pumpkin cake mold. I don't think these Disney princesses ever looked so good, do you?

We doubled up on the iced sugar cookies and went with the same circle punch sticker solution for the packaging, reducing the work load a bit.

The princess of the hour no doubt enjoyed her day very much as did all her little guests.

Jordan made these darling hats and birthday banner.

We used the same water bottle label solution and doubled up on the party poms (only adding a few more colorful ones for the birthday bash).

(princess party photos courtesy of Jordan Daines)

Happy faces and delighted darlings tell the tale of a smashing party.

Whew! Well from my perspective we pulled it all off rather well. And if you are thinking of doing something similar, here are a few pointers:

-most definitely pull someone else in to help you

-double up on as many goodies and design solutions as possible, still making sure each party has it's own signature look

-plan as much as you can ahead of time, divide and conquer

-simplify wherever you can

-when the clock is ticking, ditch whatever isn't working

-and when it's all said and done, let it all go and enjoy your guests along with the fruits of your labors

Happy party planning!

[celebrating...]

Like so many of you, I can't believe the legacy of LOST has come to an end. And what a moving and beautiful ending it was, wasn't it? I mean WOW. Well, we were happy to celebrate it with friends munching on island delicacies such as wild boar (pulled pork sandwiches), sushi, smoke monster pudding (complete with a black and white edible stones for Smokey and Jacob) made by Jon, and Dharma Initiative cupcakes (recipe courtesy of Magnolia bakery) and more.


Jon went as the perfect Sawyer (he had the scowl down to a science).
(And can I just brag that I cut his hair? I really had no idea what I was doing but I think it looks particularly good in this photo...)



And I went as Kate with a muddied up T-shirt and boy jeans (couldn't come by a rifle...).

We had fun reminiscing, predicting, discussing and I'll admit it, crying...just a bit...

I hope all of you had an enjoyable, relaxing and reflective weekend as well...and if you are a LOST fan, I'd love the hear how you celebrated the finale!

[a delightfully, delicious...]

I hope all of you had a magnificent weekend celebrating the mothers in your life. I know we did! We seemed to have a strawberry theme going on this year. Instead of the typical flowers that Jon and I usually send our mothers we traded up for something sweeter and tried out Shari's Berries, chocolate covered strawberries. Both of our mothers LOVED them and couldn't stop raving about how delicious and grand they were. We were so happy we could show our appreciation and adoration for two magnificent ladies in such a refreshing and scrumptious way.

Jon and the boys made me feel very loved as well. After being spoiled with cards, poems, gifts, and lunch, Jon cleared the kitchen so that I could indulge in making a strawberry tea cake for all of us to enjoy (something I had asked for). When the cake was done (and the boys had licked the mixing bowl clean) Little A broke out in a "Happy Mother's Day to you..." tune and we all sat down to stuff our faces. Yum! It was almost as delicious as this little guy.

Then came some dancing on the living room couch, story time, reflection and a few precious moments of completely enjoying being a mother.

With full hearts and full bellies we ended our Mother's day by turning in early, a rare luxury for me and a perfect closure to such a perfect day.

[wishing you all a...]

Yes it's late in the day but I hope you all had (and still are having) a wonderful Easter Sunday. Aside from the cat scratching strep throat I've got going on I think things worked out pretty well for us this year (I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it off the couch).

We made our own dye this year out of food coloring and vinegar and are totally converted (no more store bought dyes for us!). The coloring is so great and sticks to the eggs immediately. We used a few basic letter decals for decoration, dipped away and called it good.


Pretty happy with the results and just might have to do this every year.


More pics of the day to come! Hope you are all munching away on delicious chocolates and scheming up new and creative ways to prepare and eat hard boiled eggs. Happy Easter!

[crackers and cheese}

We had an impromptu Valentines snack this weekend. We made love-inspired lunchables with turkey, cheese, crackers and cookie cutters.

A scrumptious little snack that filled our hearts and our bellies.

A snack that had little A and myself grabbing for more.

yum yum! Hope your Valentines weekend was filled with love and delicious goodies!

[Christmas round up]

It truly has been the most wonderful time of the year for me. With cookie-exchange parties for hosting and caramel apple cider for toasting and caroling around in the car (albeit a little too late on Christmas Eve....oops), I could not have asked for a better Christmas.

We didn't travel anywhere this season because of Jon's work so I tried to get in the holiday spirit by hosting a cookie-exchange party. It was both delightful and delicious. I made Martha's Tree-Sandwich Cookies (found in the 2008 Handmade Christmas special issue). I only managed to get pics pre-sandwiching but they were loads of fun (Little A went nuts poking holes into the trees with a straw) as well as scrumptious (I used nutella as a filling as well as a friends' homemade pomegranate jam...yummy).

I also managed to finish up the boys stockings...just in the nick of time, of course. Inspired by a wee wonderfuls embroidery pattern I had seen a few years ago, I decided to make my own version using a couple of my illustrations. Little A LOVED that he was a reindeer and Baby O is often called O-bear, so his was a polar bear.

And in the spirit of up-to-the-last-minute, I made pajama bottoms for the boys (I will finish the tops..someday) and the boys were as cute as ever. I had so many other crafty Christmas ideas that will have to wait until next year. I decided it was OK to let some things go and just to enjoy the time with my family. I didn't even go crazy with the wrapping (talk about some serious restraint). I was so relaxed on Christmas day and enjoyed every minute of it. My brother was in town and we did visit aunts, uncles and cousins after opening gifts so we were not completely by ourselves, which made things all the merrier.

Jon gave me some incredible gifts that I can't wait to share with you all in a gift post that will be coming soon. In the mean time I'm going to catch some z's and start making my New Year lists...

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas as well and our enjoying time with loved ones!

[Go batty...]

It's no secret that we all love security envelope patterns, right? And like many of you, I collect them, waiting for that perfect moment for when I just might come up with something to do with them. It actually makes receiving those bills not all that bad - almost exciting and somewhat suspenseful waiting to see what special pattern is hidden within.

It just so happens that most of our "important documents" come wrapped in black security splendor. Initially this made me a little disappointed, as I favor the classic blue look. However, it seems that black has come in quite handy for the occasions at hand, and as a result, I have now grown rather fond of it.

Because security envelope patterns are "hindered" a bit by their intended layout, I find that bite sized projects, such as cupcake or sandwich toppers, work best for me. So in honor of the fabulously spooky holiday at hand, I had to make little bats to top off some scrumptious pumpkin shaped sandwiches.

And let me tell you, nothing dresses up an ordinary ham and cheese sandwich better than a cookie cutter and a toothpick topper.

Little A went batty for these and couldn't wait for me to finish the photo shoot before gobbling up a bite or two.

Trust me, these babies with fly off the plate, before you can say BOO!