Scrabble + Honeymoon + Flowers...= ?

So what happens on a lazy Saturday afternoon with my creative juices dying for a new challenge? Let's see...

Project #1

I wanted to save a few things from our honeymoon to frame and cherish in the days to come. I found a black frame in our back bedroom. Gathered up a couple of old board games of Scrabble that I bought for $1 at a yard sale (I LOOOOVE Scrabble), a dictionary, and some memorabilia. Armed with my glue gun I got to work...



I took a page from the dictionary and cut it to the size of the frame for the background. I chose my letters from the Scrabble game...

Hot glued Paris to the top of the frame...

Then I added coins that we had saved from the honeymoon. I also wanted to add a couple of metro tickets to the collage as well. I wanted a "3D" effect if you will, so I hot glued coins behind the tickets, so they would "jump off" the page. I was pretty happy with the final product!


This would also make a fun idea to make gifts for friends & family. You could easily spell out their names, and add items of their interest!


I was still burning with lots of energy! So I decided to finish up a project that I had been wanting to finish for a long time. :D

Project #2

I found this urn at thrift store for a couple of bucks. I thought with a little spray paint, it could be a cute little base for a flower arrangement. I found some great chocolate colored spray paint to accomplish my goal.

Hobby Lobby was having a great 50% off sale for their flowers, so I stocked up on a few that I wanted to make an arrangement with. I was going for a look that was festive enough for the holidays, but could be used throughout the winter!

So I was excited to finally have a centerpiece for our dining table!

...and that is how I spend my afternoons with DIY energy running through my veins. If only that would happen more often! :) Check out more fun DIY stuff at A Soft Place To Land and Today's Creative Blog...see link below!

What kind of projects do yall enjoy working on?

Scrooge? Not me!

Can I just say that the weekends are the best? I mean seriously...sleeping in and spending quality time with my hubby. I eagerly await each Friday, like a kid on Christmas morning...

Speaking of Christmas, we had a date "day" yesterday! We loaded up on popcorn, cherry coke and Twizzlers to enjoy a showing of A Christmas Carol in 2D! I gotta say I had my doubts, I'm no fan of Mr. Jim Carrey, but it was really good. I've seen so many versions of this movie, but this one definitely kept your attention through the entire story line. The music was wonderful as well! I left the theater happy that it's finally the Christmas Season. Yes, I'm one of those people...as soon as November rolls around I'm all about Thanksgiving AND Christmas. To me the two just "go together".

After the movie, we feasted on Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill! I forgot how much I love that place. We went home to watch an old 80's film, which I don't care to share about. It was okay, but kinda sad movie. That's okay, because the Black Tie Cupcakes from a local cupcake bakery kept my spirits happy. All in all we had a fabulous Sunday as always...thanks Babe...you are the BEST thing since sliced bread (yes, I do tell him that all the time. ;-))

So, what about you folks? Are you all about the Christmas Season?

P.S. Post coming soon on several DIY projects, and confession that I may or may not have attended 3 book sales in two days...

P.S.S Speaking of Christmas...I am SOOO ready to get my Michael Buble Christmas CD out!

My New Look & A little Love

Before I go off on another chocoholic rant, I had to throw out major props to the husband. Check out my new header? Pretty awesome, eh? I'm in love. Even better? I totally love him...to Paris and back. ;-)

So back to the choco rant. If you've been reading my blog awhile, I'm sure you have gathered at least 3 key ingredients to my life: One...I love Chocolate. Two...I love to bake. And three...I couldn't follow a recipe to save my soul. I generally start out with good intentions of following a recipe, but then I always start adding, subtracting, and playing around with the ingredients until my taste buds are satisfied that my work is finished...

But I digress. These Neiman Marcus Cookies were just that. I started out making this delightful looking cookie. But half way through the process, I realized I was missing a few ingredients. That's okay. I ended up getting a pretty amazing cookies. Chewy, fudge-y, melt in your mouth goodness. Even the husband ate almost as much as I did. And that says a lot...

Here is my adaption of the Neiman Marcus Cookie...nothing major changed, just a few ingredients, this time.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons Organic granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of Hazelnut Syrup (sound familiar? ha!)
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour + 2 heaping tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1-1/2 teaspoons coffee powder
1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. In another bowl blend butter, eggs, vanilla, hazelnut until fluffy and add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon on a well greased pan. Bake at 300 for 7-9 minutes. Let the cookies set for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!


I'm thinking these cookies would make great hostess gifts for Thanksgiving dinner & Fall Parties...and I'm sure they'll love you for it!


Be sure to check out other great DIY projects here at A Soft Place to land and of course check out the button below for Today's Creative Blog! :)

Well, folks...I'm off to catch up on sleep! Happy Tuesday!

Trash The Dress & Buble

I had fun this weekend going through more of our wedding portraits. I finally got a few of them printed a while back to frame. Now I'm gearing up to print our absolute favorites to put together our wedding & honeymoon album. Have you ladies done this? I'm also thinking a little book from Blurb would be a fun little display for our home...!

In other news, the plans for a Trash the Dress session are in the works! When we got married I opted out of traditional bridal portraits. Instead, I knew I would want to take the dress to the streets amid bridges, and sidewalks, spiral stairs, and downtown atmospheres. And I can hardly wait!

One final note...I'm adoring Michael Bublé's newest release, are you?

Lovely Little Things...

Anyone that knows me, will tell you I'm a die hard fan of Red Velvet. Red Velvet Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cake, Red Velvet Ice Cream...if it says or looks anything like it, I've gotta try it.

While browsing some cake box cookie recipes, I couldn't help but think...Red Velvet Cake Cookies would be yummo.

I used the classic recipe:

1 Box of Cake Mix (red velvet, obviously, lol)
1/3 Cup Oil
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Sugar (to coat cookie dough)

After mixing the ingredients, form into tablespoon size balls. Roll in sugar until well coated. Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes. Once out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with more sugar. Let them sit for 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Edges should be slightly crispy, and the inside very fudgy and chewy.

I thought they tasted good, but these aren't for the faint of heart! ;-)

In other news, I got crafty for the first time in a loooong time... I snagged up this plain little grapevine wreath for a quarter at a neighborhood sale! And was ready for DIY project...



So I headed to Hobby Lobby for their 50% off sale on their fall flowers, and got to work. I chose my color scheme, my favorite flowers, and bought what I thought I would need. Instead of using hot glue, I simply wound the flowers into the grapevine. My goal was to re-use this wreath again at the end of next month and re-dress it for Christmas!



Now I just need some pumpkins to spray paint and decorate outside our door...I absolutely cannot wait for Thanksgiving!! It's my favorite holiday after Christmas! =)

For more DIY Projects check out A Soft Place To Land, the DIY Show Off blog & Today's Creative Blog!