Oreo Cream Cheese Truffles

I thought I would share a few more pics from My sis-in-law's engagement party.  We had fun stylizing the food and drinks.  I wish I could have gotten more photos but it was a bit hectic.

My favorite part of the food display were the oreo cream cheese truffles.  They were AMAZING...thanks to Sarah. She is so good at making these. She made them look so perfect for the party by adding the little pearl sprinkles (from Hobby Lobby).

Here are her masterpieces.

Try them yourself!

~Ingredients~

1 package regular Oreos (not Double Stuffed!)

1 eight ounce package softened cream cheese

Twelve ounces of melted white or milk or dark chocolate (or all three!)

Baking pans lined with wax paper.

~To Make~

~Combine all Oreos and softened cream cheese in a food processor.

~Form into balls.

~Put balls on baking pans lined with wax paper.

~Freeze until hardened probably 10-15 mins.

~Dip balls into melted chocolate. 

~Set back onto wax paper.

~Refrigerate to cool and store.

You can decorate any way you want.

(recipe from here)

OH, and another easy party tip...line plates, trays, or tiers with cute scrapbooking paper to make it go with your color theme.  It's really easy and a cheap way to change things up.

I hope you enjoy!  Have a great Wednesday and enjoy this weather!

Turn Dead Flowers into Fresh Flowers!

Sometimes I forget that I can still salvage a bouquet of flowers when the majority of it is dead.  All I can see is the yucky dead stuff.  BUT WAIT...don't throw it away!  Just take out some of the smaller, fresher flowers or greenery and make a  pretty little arrangement out of it in a smaller vase!

I love fresh flowers, so this little trick makes me happy =)  Here is the arrangement I made this weekend from the Valentines flowers Justin got me.  They were beautiful before, but the Gerber Daisies were all droopy.

I'm sure you all already do this...just a little reminder =)

Have a good Monday.

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

Sometimes I get in a mood to make something fancy. I have to be in the mood though.  I wish it happened every day...and I'm sure Justin wouldn't mind either=) I tried to have everything ready for Justin by the time he got home the other night...well, that didn't happen. I got a little ahead of myself.  It was fun though.  I made "stuffed mushroom" stuffed chicken.  Sounds good for you right!?  Not so much, but it was definitely tasty.

Here's the recipe.  I just kinda went with it, so the measurements are up to you. You really can't mess this up.  I just put the same ingredients that I put in stuffed mushrooms.

Mushrooms

Onions

Fresh garlic clove (or two)

one or two pieces of torn bread

Butter

Feta Cheese

And I added some fresh Thyme

You just cook all that down in a pan with butter and then stuff it in your thawed chicken breast...as much as you can stuff...you stuff!!  I know...it looks kinda gross..

More Color Decisions

I'm just about ready to send some designs for my pillows to the printer!  I'm so excited. I just have a few more decisions to make about color combos and inks. 

My plan is to send just a couple designs in and get sewing on those. I plan on having up to twenty total pillow designs. That's a lot of pillows...and a lot of decisions to make. I'm really excited about the designs that we're gonna have printed first.  I think they are going to be really fun! 

I had all this laid out on the floor yesterday and told Justin, "It's really happening!"  I am so giddy about it.  These are all the fabric swatches and ink samples that Bigfish let me take home. They have been so helpful!

Party Paper Wheels

We had the privilege of hosting and engagement party at our house. It was so much fun. We are so excited for the very special Bride and Groom.

We had lots of fun decorating for the occasion.  I wanted to share a few ideas with you.
Here is a really great DIY I found on how to make paper wheels...if you don't already know.  They are super simple and add lots of fun to a party!

Here's how our backdrop turned out.

Thanks to all the special people who helped.
 I have  a few more pics coming.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Swatches and Inks

I've been having lots of fun with this stage of the pillow process...pairing up the ink colors that I want with fabrics I have chosen.  There are SOOOO many options though!  I love having options, but it makes the decision making a little tough.  I brought home the ink swatch book from bigfish, where I will be getting lots of my designs printed. I'm so excited!

Here's my swatch board.  And there are lots more inks to choose from than what you see here.

 Justin has been such a big help and encouragement through it all.  We now have 2 designs that we are for sure going with. We've probably made 10 but that's what you have to do to get the cream of the crop=)

Oh...I also got two more pillow form sizes in the mail, the last ones I was waiting on . Now I can get the designs to the printer!  I have lots more to do...but it's coming along!

Hope you all have a great weekend.  We get to host an engagement party at our house this weekend.  I'm honored that we get to.  I'll share some decor ideas with you next week=)

Valentines

It was a good day yesterday.

I know it can be a really annoying day...but I guess we can either hate it or use it to make people we love feel a little extra special.  

We had a fun night last night...not because we HAD to do anything special...but just because we could.  We fixed a really fun dinner and rented a redbox.  It wasn't too different from any other date night for us, but it's always special.  Justin got me some really sweet flowers.  I love having fresh flowers in the house...they really cheer up the place.

I made Justin a really cheesy gift.  We have the game Settlers.  I don't know if any of you know what it is...but we are kinda nerds about it=)  I made him little "satchels" for the little game pieces.  I know...real nerds here.  He loved it though=)  We were laughing about it. Here's the wrapping.


P.S. These little bags are really fun to make.  Not hard at all.  They're great for little gifts like this. Just grab some burlap and some scrap fabric=)

Pillow Progress

I've had a bit of a break in the planning for my pillow shop. I've been really busy lately with sewing jobs. I am so grateful for them but it's put the shop on the back burner.  I do things when I can though. I want to be able to work on it all the time, but life and bills are real=)

I finally figured out where the pillow forms are coming from... they are REALLY nice down inserts. They're the softest ones I've ever felt.  I'm really excited about finding the right ones.

I moved the wire shelving from our closet to my sewing space so I can organize all my products.  Here are some of the pillow forms I have and some new vintage inspired fabric I just got!

Speak to me: Naturally

Good morning to you all. There's snow on the ground and it is beautiful!  I love it but it makes me want to do nothing but curl up by the fire under a warm blanket!  I hope you all enjoy it today.

I'm not too big on electronics.  I enjoy them, I guess...but I would be ok with a little tiny tv with only the sound that comes out of the speakers attached to the tv=)  I just came across these amazing speakers. They are made by Joon&Jung Designteller.

 They might not give out the greatest sound but are they not the neatest things?!  Justin would laugh at me for once again, putting asthetics over functionality.  I can't help it.

Darling Prints

I was looking for some artwork to fill our walls and came across these really fun prints by Laura Amiss on Etsy. I couldn't stop looking at them. They are all so cute and so full of color.  Just wanted to share them with you.

Lula in London: Interview

A friend of mine recently started up her very own online boutique.  It is absolutely ADORABLE!  She calls it Lula in London...named after her daughter.  You need to check out her blog too...it's filled with home renovations, adorable decorating ideas and real life, relatable stories.

She asked me this past November if I would like to be a part of selling a few things on her site.  I was thrilled to be a part of it.  I gave her several of my baby dresses, pants, overalls, and little monsters.

Beautiful Little Images

I came across these pictures and couldn't stop looking at them!  They are such gorgeous pictures.  I love photography. I agree that a picture can speak lots louder than words sometimes.  With Justin in graphic design, I have seen even more how powerful images are.

Meg Bitten at www.megbitton.com has the most gorgeous pics.  Here are the ones I first came across.

You should check out more at her site...she's really inspiring.


Pin It

My First Pinterest Recipe!

I just recently got a pinterest account. It is really fun.  What I like most about it is that I finally have a way to neatly and easily store all the photos that I like.  I always drag pics to the desktop...which we all know can get cluttered so fast.  I am loving the different boards that help me organize so much easier than before.  Yay for pinterest.

I saved this recipe for Naan a few weeks ago and have been wanting to try it. I love bread. I don't know why but I always have. This one just looked too good to pass up.

We loved it!  It could be used with so many meals and is really easy to make. It does have to sit for about an hour to rise, but if you plan that in your day...not so bad!

Here is the recipe...and the pic I saw that made me want to make it!

Getting the Office Tidy

Our office is organized...kind of.  We know where things are, but I'd love for it to look a lot more organized than it does. It's one of those things where you think it looks organized since it is better than it once was, but when you really take a look....yikes.

So...I started last night going through all the little stacks of paper messes (not my favorite thing to do) and filing. I got really motivated to have it looking nice.  I'm hoping we can build a new desk for me for my sewing space.  I have one now, but it doesn't give me much room to work...plus with my new serger, I'm gonna need even more space.

I also took off the collaged art on the wall.  It kinda made a mess.  Some were stuck on the wall with those sticky squares they give you...NOT A GOOD IDEA!  They pretty much ripped chunks out of our wall.  So, I mudded and now I just need to sand and touch up.

I'm wanting to put up a really big peg board and maybe paint it a fun color. I like how peg boards look, and they are great for organizing!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Kendra.

cfoxlive.blogspot.com, merrypad.com, homestoriesatoz.com

New Serger!!!

I did it.  I bought the serger. Like I said, I've been doing lots of research for the past six months. I looked online, on craigslist, and in stores.  A lot of new sergers are electronic...which I'm not a fan of. I would rather know that I'm controlling the machine.  I guess I'm kinda old school like that.

SO...I went with a Pfaff 3.0 Coverlock.  I sat in the sewing shop today for about an hour learning how to thread the beast. It's not like a sewing machine...I can tell you that!  I have LOTS to learn about this guy. I think I need to name it too.  I'll be using it LOTS.  Is it weird that I like naming inanimate objects?

So, here it is in the box. 

There's just one thing after another though. Now I need a bigger desk since I'll have both the serger and sewing machine out at once.  Yay for projects.  I'm excited though to get my work space practical and neat.

Excitements and Letdowns

Today was a day of rises and falls.

After I got off work, I went to the sewing store to look for a serger! I've been wanting to get one for years now but I just havn't been able to make up my mind. I found one I really like today but once again...the price kinda throws me off.  Justin keeps telling me it is an investment and as much as I sew...it will pay itself off quickly.  He is right but making the decision is still hard for me.  Commitment.  I gotta commit to a machine.

So I get home today and guess what was at the front door!!!  My first package for my shop!  It was a big big box full of pillow forms. I was so excited...ecstatic!  I got the pocket knife and ripped it open.  I was expecting amazingly soft, luxurious down inserts...what I got were cheap feeling polyester cotton filled forms.  WHATTTT!!!!!!  The first business mistake.  I guess it's not really a mistake because I now know what I don't want.  But it was still a bit frustrating.