Averting a Pinterest Fail

How is your 2013 so far?  Did you have any fun New Years Eve plans?  We have been lazing around the house with the girls for the last two days reading new books, watching fluffy movies, and playing card games with the girls.  It's been lovely!  Oh, and eating.  My husband has decided that he is really into cooking lately (which is great for me!).  He made a whole mess of appetizers, my favorite being parmesan puffs (mmm  fried!), fontina fondue (with green apple was best), and bacon wrapped dates filled with goat cheese.  YUMZ.  Last week, he made Moroccan Chicken with Lemons & Olives, and it turned out very good!

We've been so lucky to have great neighbors on our old street AND our new street (which is right around the corner from where we used to live).  Our neighbors across the street brought over wine & two little stuffed bears for the girls the day after Christmas.  I decided I wanted to make some cute Pinterest New Year's Eve cupcakes for them.  Here are what they were supposed to look like:

Here is what the clock faces looked like after simply following their instructions (not good):

Those Wilton food writers they say to use?  They don't work.  At all.  Maybe they would work better on fondant, but they do NOT work on Oreo cream.  And they were expensive too. 

First off, you need to use a sharp knife to cut off the top layer of cream & Oreo crumbs.  Good thing I bought Double Stuff!  Luckily, I am a huge hoarder of sprinkles & baking products in general.  I pulled out my bottle of Halloween sprinkles containing confetti & tiny nonpareil sprinkles & pulled out all the black ones.  Then I sent hubby out in the snow to a candy shop to get black licorice strings (I'm not that mean-- he had other stuff to get, and it was on the way to the grocery store). 

Here's what I ended up with!  Did not nail it, but not exactly a Pinterest disaster either.  Give-worthy I'd say.

And here are the little labels I made to attach to the top of the cupcake box:

Feel free to use.  You can save these at the original size then paste them into a Word doc or otherwise.  Print out on cardstock or full sheet label sheets and attach to hostess gift bags, boxes of treats, wine bottles, etc., and I left a place to sign your name!  Voila.

CAKE TREASURY!

Maisey's Daisey's was sweet enough to feature Girl Land's Buttercream Love earrings in her cake treasury (I want some right now) and even sweeter let me know about it! This plus a very sweet email from a satisfied customer made my day a bit brighter. Especially after having a sick kid (at least we just found out she doesn't have mono...phew) and having my car break down and get towed today. This weekend can only get better, right?????!!!!

P.S. I want that Let Them Eat Cake necklace like stat...

Are You Ready????

The shopping's done, the wrapping's done. I think I'm ready! Although the hubby pointed out a very depressing thought-- by this time next week it will be long over. Seems like such a to-do for such a finite period of time, doesn't it?

The girls have been, well, a bit rowdy. I thought Elf on a Shelf would help with the impishness, but not so much. I keep telling V there is still hope IF she can curb the obnoxiousness. This is what she has asked Santa for (with a bit of coaching from Mom):


Post Edit: the above is the Strawberry Villa by Le Toy Van from Amazon (I hope Santa knows V would love it-- hopefully his elves can recreate it) :). I wonder if she will get it. I think Santa may take pity on her.

I just got done finishing up some French macarons we bought last weekend. How have I gone so long without eating these??? My friend told me about a local bakery called Cup.cake that sells them, and I bought 1/2 doz chocolate peppermint last weekend. So delish.



If you haven't tried them, they are like a cross between a brownie and cookie sandwiching a light cream filling. Cup.cake's Facebook page tells you what kind they have every day. If you are a regular blog reader, you most likely have seen various posts about macarons especially from Miss Emily Martin (aka The Black Apple). I think I avoided them for so long because I thought they tasted like meringues. Can't wait to order some for a birthday party! They will be so pretty and tasty.

And speaking of The Black Apple, look! An early Christmas present for me!


It was on sale at Urban Outfitters for 50% off, and I snatched it up for $9.90. Score! It was the last one. My non-crafting, non-blogging friend looked at me like I was nuts when I found the sole copy. She thought I was buying it for the girls. Looked at me even nuttier when I said they would not be touching it, and it would be kept safe and sound in my craft room.

I've been collecting all my home decorating ideas for the new house on Pinterest. Have you all heard of Pinterest? I'm slightly obsessed. Psssst...you can follow me if you wish! I have been finding myself liking the mixture between vintage and modern. But someone PLEASE talk me off the wallpaper ledge! I love it so, and I know it's "in", but I have a feeling I will hate myself later for it. But just LOOK at this wallpaper!


Le sigh.

Anyway, have a wonderful short week leading up to the holidays. :) I'll be back soon. xo