Gift for my niece

My little niece turns three this week! I made this Little Lola Doll for her, her sisters both got one on their 3rd birthdays too.

I love this {Julie Blackmon photography}

Julie Blackman has such a creative style! I love her work! I want portraits of my kids that look like these!

I made them! {Rosette Cookies}

Remember this post where I bought these?
Well I finaly made some, and boy are they GOOOOD!

They are so delicate and crispy!
Very rich, too; shouldn't have eaten so many. :0
Below are the rosette cookies I made this afternoon. Enjoy!
(Scroll to bottom of this post for a little tutorial!)

Just look at how neat they look on the inside, (below) they're so lacy and fragile.

Here below is the only surviving butterfly cookie.
I made these last and was running out of batter, oh well, kind of
pretty and sculptural looking though.

Here is one of the last blobs of batter I poured into the oil.
Not crispy and light at all, but they were still super yummy.
(Tasted a little like the funnel cake you get at the fair.)
Want a mini tutorial? :)
Well here you go then...

*************************************************************************************
--How to make rosette cookies--

• Make your batter ( I used Martha's)
  
• Heat your oil. (Not too hot; if they're burning then turn down the heat or put cookie in for less time.)
• Heat the iron in the oil till it's hot too.

1. Dip hot rosette cookie iron into batter. Be sure NOT to cover the top of the iron with any batter. (cookie won't come off)
   
2. Batter should coat the iron nicely.
   
3. Put battered iron in the oil and submerge it. Let it get pretty brown on the edges, tastes way better.
   
4. cookies may come off the iron in the oil so I scooped them out with a spaghetti spoon. Be sure and drain oil from inside of cookie. AND sprinkle generously with powdered sugar
   

*************************************************************************************

Everyone in the world MUST try these at least once in their life! (Or maybe much more than once) Have a great day!

In the mood for spring fashion

(images via Boden)

I wish I could prance around in sandals and pretty spring frocks! Alas our warmer weather (50 degrees is warm for Logan) is probably not here for good. My hubby would look so great in one of those jackets!

the primary colors are 123...

red, yellow & blue

I just love these! I want all of them for my home! Too bad I can't afford any of them.
(All via urban outfitters)

what I'm currently loving

A white kitchen with one or two color pops.

rosette cookie irons

I just got these rosette cookie irons at the thrift store for 1$. I can't wait to make cookies with them! They look like this (below) when they're done. So cute right?

These heart shaped are the ones Martha Stewart makes.

Martha video here
Martha recipe here

new little storage jars

I bought these little candy jars for 50 cents each at the thrift store and wanted to show them off!

ready for a change

Today I'm going to be a little bit of a wicked blogger and post these above photos without giving source links because frankly I don't know where they came from. When I saved them I didn't think I would be posting them here. But aren't they so lovely? I want to redo my bed room and dining room! What a silly thing to say nearing the end of this remodel, but it's true, I am so ready for a change! Trent and I have noticed that for the first part of our marriage we moved every six months, then after we bought this house we did a major remodel every six months. Its been a while--probably a year--since we have done any major changes. I did go through a phase where I was sad about selling this house, but honestly I am ready for another project--another creative challenge! Isn't that weird? Are we the only people who make a crappy house into the ideal home only to be hungry for another crappy house? OK probably. :) We get so much gratification out of creating; and now that we're nearing the end, we are ready for more! Bring it on, old ugly houses! We are ready! Here are some photos of homes we are looking at... I know they are a bit on the ugly side, but they're a dream come true for me and my husband.

1

2
3

Have a great day! Mine was filled with home tours! Yippee. (Now we just need one of them to make a good offer!)

having fun with photos

Today I took the kids to this awesome turquoise warehouse to take photos. It's only a block from our house. I always thought of it as an eye sore to our neighborhood till I looked at it through a photographers eyes. These photos were so fun to shoot!! I am super happy with how well they turned out! Editing and filtering was almost as fun! More photos here.

new table ware

I just bought these dishes last night at the dollar store. I had never owned water goblets before and I already love them! I was pleasantly surprised that they had such a great selection of table ware there. I found red woven place mats but could only find two so I brought red to the table with apples and roses

What a fun time we have been having beautifying our house for buyers to come and tour this Saturday. We still have touch ups to finish so wish us luck! (For more of our house remodel updates go to our house blog.)

P.S. look at the pretty new dark mahogany stain on the floors!