Five Things

 {fresh tulips}
Much of my weekend will be spent catching up on some reading and doing crocheting while I am on the train headed to New Orleans. What are your plans for the weekend?
 {new eyelash curler by Tarte}
 {mini chicken salad sandwiches, chips and cookies for an afternoon with my aunt}
{apothecary jars filled with Valentine\’s treats}
{roses drying to make the perfect sachets}

30 hour train ride…here I come

 {new handbag and sunglasses for the trip}
handbag: Fiorelli – sunglasses: Tory Burch cateye
Friday morning I will be boarding a train for a 30 hour ride(YIKES!) to New Orleans. I never like packing bags, but this trip I really did not like packing for. I had to omit clothing and shoes in order to pack food, a sleeping bag and a travel pillow. What are your travel essentials?
 {colorful ribbons that help me identify which suitcase is mine}
 {my great aunt taught me how to crochet a new stitch so I can mix things up on the train}
 {face and makeup essentials}
{some snacks for the train ride}
no food cart on the train – it\’s hard to think of food to bring that is healthy and filling.

Puppy Love- a valentine\’s treat

When it comes to cooking, baking, crafting and creativity my mum\’s imagination is endless. One of the many reasons I love coming home is being able to spend time in the kitchen with her. This weekend much of our time was spent doing just that – creating confections in the kitchen. One of my favorite confections is this adorable puppy for Valentine\’s Day.

Buy a loaf of pound cake. Cut into 1/4 inch think slices. Use a heart cookie cutter to cut out one to two hearts(per slice) depending on your cookie cutter size. Turn the heart upside down and insert a lollipop stick that has been dipped into melted chocolate. Place in the freezer and allow for the pound cake to become firm.
Once you remove the upside down heart shape from the freezer frost the top and sides with chocolate frosting.

To make the ears: Place Tootsie Rolls in the microwave for five seconds (this makes them pliable).  Form each Tootsie Roll into a floppy ear shape. Frost the ear and attach it to the sides of the heart. Note: I did some ears just using the Tootsie Roll for some of the others I put caramel in the center to give the ear some dimension.

Attach a pink candy heart(conversation side not showing) where the mouth would be. Pipe on a pink nose, black eyes, black whisker dots and a black line to the mouth.

That\’s it! So simple and so cute!

 You can find other versions of this super cute pup in \”cupcakes, cookies, & pie, oh my!\”, plus lots of other adorable kitchen confections. This is actually my favorite book from the \”Hello Cupcake\” line as it provides some of the prettiest confections – all of which are simple so any skill set you have will go perfect with this book.

How to: Fold a Fitted Sheet

Do you know how to fold a fitted sheet? I always would bundle mine up into a ball and shove it into a college somewhere – until my senior year of college when one of my friends taught me how to properly fold a fitted sheet. Note: Since I am only 4\’11 and my wing span is not very long I have to lay it on the bed to fold mine.

Step 1: With the sheet entirely inside out, place your left hand into any corner, and your right hand into the next closest corner.
Step 2: Placing your fingers into the seam corners match up the adjacent corners and place one corner into the other so the sheet is now folded in half.

Step 3: You now have two corners in each hand. Bring your hands together and flip the corners from your right hand onto your left hand, making sure all the seam corners are touching.

Step 4: Grab the right edge, and gently shake the sheet, allowing the elastic edges to fall toward you. Lay the sheet onto a flat surface. Note: make sure the left and bottom edges are straight and square.

Step 5: Fold in thirds length wise. 


Step 6: and into thirds once again.

Step 7: Smooth out, and be proud of your awesome work!

Note: I always fold my flat sheet with the wide edge showing so I can tell them apart.

Neon and Neutrals

If you asked me if I liked neon my first response would be no. However that isn\’t necessarily true. Last summer and spring I paired nude nail polish on my nails with neon polish on my toes. I also wore neutrals that were carefully paired with neon accessories.  It seems like for spring and summer this year neon and neutrals are all the rage… what do you think about this unlikely pair?
{Zoya Shay & China Glaze Shocking Pink}