Fresh & Fancy Business Cards

Don't you hate it when people ask you the name of your business, or for your contact information and you're just not prepared?  You end up having no choice but to either A) tell them verbally what the name of your business is (which can be hard for anyone to remember, especially when there are cocktails involved) or B) find a pen and write it down for them on a napkin (which feels really silly).

Until recently, I haven't had any physical business cards.  I know, it sounds dumb, but I just hadn't focused on that part yet.  So, after having a few people ask me for a business card (and explaining that I didn't have them yet) and an upcoming wedding to attend where the subject of "so, what do you do?" might come up, I decided I better get with the program.

After spending a little time drawing, then printing, then piecing together about 10 times to see what worked, this was the outcome....

I have to say, I am pretty excited about how they turned out!  They are like a little package with a surprise at the end.

If you're wondering, they actually did come in handy at the wedding!

Rainy Saturday

Coloring with my adorable niece...... She turned 2 last weekend and changes so much every time I see her.

 

 

Adventures in Baking : Mini Blueberry Pies

So, now that I'm a wife (officially for 27 days now, woo!) I have decided that it's time to get serious and hone my baking, cooking, homemaking, and all around wifey skills. Don't worry modern ladies, I'm not saying it's my "duty". What I am saying is that without wedding planning taking up all of my time outside of work, I have time to enjoy and try new things. Yay! Plus, these types of skills are actually pretty good to have ready in your back pocket.

The cute little heart shaped pocket pie mold below is available at Williams Sonoma and was a wedding gift from my good friend Samantha. I love it! It's so easy to use and adorable.  See below for the How-to...

To start, I found this recipe for the perfect blueberry pie filling. I take no credit for coming up with the recipe.. Only credit for doing it correctly! As for the pie crusts, I bought 3 boxes of Pillsbury roll-out refrigerated pie dough, and followed the dough handling instructions on the back of the Williams Sonoma box (although the Williams Sonoma recipe called for dough made from scratch... Um yeah not today, thanks).

What you will need:

2 pints blueberries (4 cups) - makes enough for about 15 mini pies

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon lemon rind, grated

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 pie crusts (3 boxes of Pillsbury roll-out refrigerated pie dough)

1 Pocket Pie Mold

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp. water (for egg wash)

2 tablespoons sugar, for tops of pies

Directions for pie filling:

-  Combine 1 cup berries with 3/4 cup sugar in pan.

-  Simmer on low heat until sugar is melted and mixture turns to liquid (about 10 minutes).

-  Combine cornstarch and water in bowl, then add to pan with blueberries.

-  Cooke over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil and is clear and thick.

-  Pour hot mixture into large bowl and let cool until warm.

-  Fold in remaining 3 cups of blueberries, lemon rind, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter.

-  Let cool completely before adding to pie crusts.

Directions for pie crusts:

-  On a floured surface, roll out 1 raw pie crust.  Brush off excess flour. (repeat these two steps for each pie 

   crust).

-  There are two outer sides to the Pocket Pie Mold that act as a cookie cutter to make the heart shapes.  Cut 

   out 15 "solid" sides and 15 "vented" sides.  Try to cut the shapes close together so that eventually you will 

   end up with enough pieces to make 15 whole pies.

-  Open the Pocket Pie Mold and place a solid dough shape into the bottom half of the mold.

-  Gently press dough into the mold.

-  Fill the center with 1 to 2 Tbs. pie filling and brush the edges of dough with egg wash.

-  Top off with one of the "vented" dough shapes and press the top half of the mold down to seal and crimp the 

   edges of the pie.

-  Remove the pie from the mold and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

-  Repeat with the remaining dough shapes and freeze pies for 30 minutes.

To bake:

-  Preheat oven to 400F.

-  Brush the pies with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

-  Bake until crust is golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling (15 to 20 minutes).

-  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Ta da!  Enjoy!

Ranunculus

 

 

 

Light Box-ness

A while ago I finally made a light box/tent (whatever you want to call it) using this tutorial and have been meaning to post about it.  I've been meaning to make one for a while, but never did even though I had all of the supplies.

Turns out, it was pretty easy.  Eventually I'd like to invest in some better lighting, but the daylight bulbs and clamp lamps did the job for now!  So, here it is, in all of its cardboard glory....

I went a little crazy testing out backgrounds (8.5x11 sheets of paper) and photographing different objects.  There had to be about 1,000 pictures when I was done.  Here are just a few below...

Some antique Italian chandelier crystals that I have sitting around, waiting to be used for something...

The charm bracelet I will be wearing on my wedding day that my mom gave me for my 18th birthday.  I add charms to it whenever I get to travel.

My favorites so far are the hot pink and bright blue backgrounds.  It's amazing what you can do with a cardboard box and some lightbulbs!  Oh, and a little bit of help from Photoshop (only a little, I promise).

Vintage Find: Ball Blue Mason Jar

I'm obsessed with most things vintage and antique... I really do love almost anything with a history.  I have been searching for Ball blue mason jars lately and when my fiance found this one, I was pretty  excited...    

According to this website, the jar is from 1910-1923, I think?....  I'll have to do more research on dates and such later to be sure, since there's a lot more to mason jar history than I expected.... nerd alert.

PICTURE TIME!

DIY: Easy Circle Garland Tutorial

With my wedding coming up in April, I've been planning and testing out so many DIY decoration projects.  This was a little test run I did to make sure my idea of sewing the circle garland together (instead of gluing/taping) would work.. . and it did!  So easy and inexpensive and would be so great at any party. 

Enjoy!

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What you will need:

- Sewing machine

- Scissors

- Paper (the number of sheets is up to you)

- Matching thread

- Pencil

- Several objects with circular shaped bottoms of varying sizes (jars, canned food, etc)

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Step 1: Trace the bottoms of your circular shaped objects onto the paper

Step 2: Cut out the circles you traced  Tip: I found it was easiest to stack pieces of paper on top of each other while I cut, that way I'd be cutting out multiple circles at once (stacked paper shown in the 3rd photo).

Step 3: Keep cutting, cutting, cutting...  There's no set number on how many circles to cut out, it just depends on how long of a garland you want to make.  I definitely cut out way more than pictured below...

Step 4: Make sure you have your sewing machine set to a long stitch length (I set mine on 4).. A short stitch length could cause the paper to tear as you sew it.

Step 5: Pass your first paper circle under the presser foot, making sure to sew a straight line....

Step 6: Once the circle has come out from under the presser foot, continue letting your machine sew while gently pulling the paper circle out the back of your machine (3rd picture below).  This thread will be what sews your whole garland together..

Step 7: Once you feel that there is enough spacing for your next circle, go ahead and pass the next paper circle through the machine...  It's up to you how much spacing you want between each circle on your garland.  Personally, I varied the spacing and also alternated circle sizes to mix it up a little.  Keep repeating this over and over and over over over over over (you get the idea) until you run out of circles.

Step 8: After you sew through your last circle, continue to let the machine sew, to create a string for tying at the end of the garland.

Step 9: Cut the end thread to detach the garland and you're done!  So easy....  Now go hang it up somewhere!