{ Blog Design Giveaway }

I so need a blog re-design. I don't know squat about all that stuff, but I wish I could just get someone to help me for free... but wait! I can! Or at least I can try and get them to give it to me for free, haha, and you can too :)

I was visiting the Busy Vee Activities Blog where she posted about Fresh Design Studio who is doing a contest to win a free re-design of your blog. So ......if you're like me and WANT a better design but have no time, money, or skills and are forced into using a template from blogger, Kaela from Fresh Designs can help you. And you know what? If I don't win, maybe when money things get better after the wedding I'll pony up some $$ (holy COW I just realized she sells her redesigns for a mighty affordable $50!) and buy a redesign from her etsy shop!

{ Waffles & Roses }

Hi Internet friends :)

I'm off to the city to look for some things I need for our wedding reception - to fit my 'spring place-card' idea etc.  Thank God for Nancy & Linda at Mezze Catering who recommended a couple of places for me to go in the Garden District as well as some fantastic reception/cocktail ideas!

Before I go, I thought I'd post 2 pics from this morning... I've gotta remember to put these flowers away so my cats don't try and eat them!

{ Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting/Filling }

I really felt like baking something today. How awesome was it that Martha Stewart had a little photo submission area on the site for favorite chocolate recipes! My two favorite things combined... making stuff and photography, woot! Anyway its good they wanted chocolate because it really narrowed down the stuff I could make (or that I know HOW to make, haha).

I searched online and throughout the Martha site for something interesting and a little different than I'm used to... then I found a great idea! On Marthastewart.com there was a recipe for Creme filled Chocolate Cupcakes... there were some mixed reviews (one lady saying that they came out pretty sucky), but it gave me a good idea. I made my chocolate cupcakes the way I usually do and then made a marshmallow creme filling/frosting with Fluff, Powdered Sugar, Butter, Milk & Vanilla. I'm submitted the photo below to the site, so... whoo hoo! My first submission of this type!

{ Even More V-Day Cards }

I'm having too much fun with all this felt stuff :) I had to finish up, because Thursday night I'll be at Twestival in NYC!

{ Great Design Folks on Twitter }

I'm sure you know of my Twitter obsession, and maybe you're on Twitter too! If you're not familiar with the increasingly popular micro-blogging & social networking tool (I know I know, I didn't want to say tool either but it kind of fit), here's a list of some cool people who pretty consistently tweet good design ideas, tech stuff, etc.

The Odd - my tech & music crazed fiance, a little nepotism never hurt anyone ;) - http://twitter.com/theodd

Emmaopeel from The 47th Precinct - http://twitter.com/emmaopeel

Jena Coray from Modish Blog - http://twitter.com/jenacoray

Design Milk - http://twitter.com/designmilk

Holly Becker from Decor8 & Haus Maus- http://twitter.com/decor8

Poppytalk (Handmade) - http://twitter.com/poppytalk

Michelle Verdugo from Design Evolution - http://twitter.com/vertigodesign

Patrick Norton from Tekzilla & Systm - http://twitter.com/patricknorton

Kevin Rose from Digg's Tea Tweets- http://twitter.com/goodtea


Enjoy fellow Tweeple, haha! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Valentine's Cards

Woo hoo! I've never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day, but ever since I started baking/crafting I get really excited whenever there's an occasion to gift treats and gifts away :)

I want to make something to give away this year. Last year I made these Felt Fortune Cookies that I found on Martha Stewart's site and filled them with a happy valentine's day "fortune" and a pair of earrings I made. I'm into the idea of doing something cute like that this year too but I'm short on funds as you can imagine.

So what I did was go into my 'craft cabinet' haha, I'm such a nerd!! I have the following things already so I decided to do a little cut & paste (and very little stitch).

Mini Craft Cards & Envelopes from MUJI (you can use any kind of card stock)
1 Sheet of Red Felt
1 Sheet of Pink Felt
Craft Glue
Scissors
Needle
Yarn or Thread

I cut out hearts in both pink and red. I also cut out rectangles long enough to stitch the hearts onto. I tried different things too, cutting half a heart in pink and the other half in red. I tried sewing the heart to the card, and gluing them as well. I cut out conversation bubbles and put hearts in them. Here are 2 of the cards, I'll post more pics as I make more.




Now, I just need to do some baking so I have some treats to give away with these :)

Gift Guides on Etsy

I know this isn't news to a lot of people, but some of you may not know that the awesome handmade site Etsy has it's very own gift guide! Custom picks for the man, woman, parent or child in your life even specifying certain personality types (read: nerd, punk, tree hugger)... click here for the goodness.

Bonus! Click this link for their Home Interiors & Design guide! Some of my favorites are below...

Limited Edition Library $35 Print from Nesta Home

Pale Blue Kelp Pillow $20 from Apetite Home

Vintage Brownie Camera $35 from Thrush

Circles Table $350 from Michael Arras

Dip... Mid-eat

Oops!!! I forgot to post it before people started to eat but I guess
it's a good sign that it's half gone!

Super bowl Dip

We're going over to Wade's sister's place to watch, so I just put together a little layered dip to take. Super bowl food is SO yummy but most of it is pretty fatty, etc. I modified a recipe I found online a little bit to make sure it was just a tiny bit healthier! I'll be popping it in the oven when we get there so that it is warm when we end up eating it.

Ingredients:

1 small bottle salsa
1 1b ground turkey (97% fat free)
1 packet Taco Seasoning
1/2 onion diced
1 pepper (yellow, green, red or combination) diced
1 can low sodium cream of mushroom condensed soup
1 package lowfat cream cheese
1 packet Shredded Mexican 4-Cheese (2% milk version)
1 can fat free refried beans

Directions:

Brown 1 lb Ground Turkey & added Taco Seasoning

Mixed Lowfat Cream Cheese with Cream of Mushroom soup

Sautee Diced Red/Green/Yellow Peppers & Onions then mix in with salsa

Layers:

1/2 Cream Cheese Mixture
1/2 can Fat Free Refried Beans
1/2 Turkey Mixture
1/2 Salsa mixture
1/2 Packet Shredded Cheese

Repeat the layers then cover loosely with tinfoil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Uncover then bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm!

Assembled Dip (Pre-oven)... I. can't. wait.

little apple in the big apple

little apple in the big apple, originally uploaded by A Bella Life.

A photo from my lunch break last week. Don't worry, I washed the apple before i ate it.