Christmas Dinner Party

A few weeks ago before Christmas, my hubby and I hosted a small dinner party with a few friends at home.   Because I was sooo busy with orders in December, I didn't have much time to get it all together but I think it came out pretty good despite that and everyone had a great time so that's all that really matters!

Check out these pretty candlesticks I got from Home Goods for only $7.99 a piece!

 

Here is the table setting I did. I used a regular 6 foot folding table and covered it with a white tablecloth. I purchased some sequin fabric for the overlay, then did my place setting. I used folding chairs and covered them with stretch chair covers.  Check it out!

 

I purchased the ornament that is placed on each napkin from the Dollar Tree!

A few of the appetizers!

 As favors, I gave everyone a Red Velvet Gabby Cake! These mini cakes are to die for and they come in these great little boxes pictured above! My good friend

Kendra makes them and they are delicious! You may remember her from TLC's Next Great Baker show (Season 1). You can buy some Gabby cakes for yourself here: 

www.keshajobakes.com

We had a blast and everyone enjoyed the food!  I hope everyone had a  Merry Christmas!

Toy Chest Tutorial - Great Baby Shower Gift!

One great gift idea for a baby shower is a custom wood toy chest!  I decided to do one for my bf's baby shower. First thing you have to do is buy a wood toy chest.  I was surprised at the cost of them.  Unfortunately, they aren't cheap.  Depending on the size you get, real wood chests can be pricey. The one I purchased shown below is pine and its about 35 inches wide.  I got it on sale for $155 but you may be able to find one a little cheaper. I researched online and saw prices that ranged from $100 and up for the size I got but if you have to have it shipped, that could increase the cost a lot since its heavy OR if you are handy, you can build one. I would have LOVED to build one myself but clearly I'm no carpenter...lol

 

Next you have to removed the hinges so you can take the lid off.  Then I primed the whole box and lid.  Dont skip this step, the primer helps your paint adhere better.  As you can see, I was working on a lot of things while working on the chest lol

 I painted the box white and chose to go with a striped design on the front of  chest. I had a few other ideas in my head initially but they didn't quite work out.  So this is how it came out after painting: 

 

Once everything dries, attach the lid back on the chest.

 Next its time make the cushion.  First you have to purchase foam from your local fabric store. I got 2 inch thick foam for my cushion. Its about $30 a yard and I needed a yard. Luckily I had a 40% off coupon at Joanns. Next I measured the size I needed for the cushion and used an electric knife to cut it. You CAN NOT cut this foam with a pair of scissors so don't bother trying.

 

 Since this was my first time making this type of cushion cover, I completely forgot to take pics of how I made the cover :(  But here is how it looked once I was done! It wasn't perfect but not bad for my first time. And the great part is it can be used with or without the cushion. I also got the material for the cover from Joann's. It was $26 a yd.  And the cushion cover is removable and washable.

 

Lastly, time to customize with the child's name.  I painted letters and attached with a hot glue gun.

Walah!! All done! :) It takes some time to complete this project but its worth it for the outcome! Don't you agree? :)

And remember when I did this one for another one of my friends? This chest is a lot smaller. Its from Micheal's and was only $50 but again its wayyy smaller. But you can use a Michaels coupon to buy this so that's a steal!

Fall/Pumpkin Themed Baby Shower PICS

Here are a few other pics of my besties shower I decorated. We did a Fall/Pumpkin themed shower which worked out great because it was so easy to find things to use for the decor! :)

CLB Ultimate Holiday Trunk Show PICS

This past weekend I participated with 29 other designers at the CLB Ultimate Trunk Show in Brooklyn. It was a great event, great music and great people! I didn't get many pics but here are a few:

My set up at trunk show

Me

The crowd

A few of my super cool friends :)

Great Treat for the Holidays!

One of my besties, Karee,  is an aspiring caterer and loves to cook! Whenever I have a food related question, she is one of the first people I call.  Last year she gave me a great and SIMPLE (my fav kind of recipes...lol) recipe for Chocolate Covered Peanut Clusters. Who knew these great treats were so simple to make! :) They are also great to give as little gifts for Christmas. I made a bunch last year and put them in Christmas tins and gave them away. And everyone LOVES them! My husbands barber even told him I should start selling them! LOL
But of course, I have no intentions of doing that.  My dad and father in law also love these babies!

This years I am also going to make Pecan Millionaires. Not sure how those will turn out so I'll wait until I try them before I share!

So for those of you interested, here is the scoop on the best chocolate covered peanut clusters you've ever tasted! :)

INGREDIENTS
1- 12z bag of Semi-Sweet chocolate chips
1- 12z bag of Milk Chocolate chips
2- 12z bags of White Chocolate chips
2- 16z jar of Planters Lightly Salted roasted peanuts
Wax or Parchment paper

DIRECTIONS
1.  Get all your ingredients together:

 

 2.  Get a large pot and pour the Semi Sweet Chocolate and Milk Chocolate in.  Turn the stove on low to medium heat. You don't want it too hot because it'll burn the chocolate.  

 

3.  Slowly stir it as the chips melt down. After they have melted down a little, add in your 2 bags of white chocolate and do the same ... slowly stirring as they melt down. 

4.  Continue stirring until you get a smooth consistency like this: 

5.  Now its time to add your peanuts in. Pour the jars of peanuts in the chocolate. You don't have to use 2 jars if you don't want to.

 

 6.  After you pour peanuts in, stir them all together. Then take 2 spoons and take out clusters of the mix and place on parchment paper or wax paper.  Do this until the mix is gone and let sit in a cool area for about 4 hours to harden, then refrigerate in an airtight container and they are done! Easy peezy, right?!  Enjoy! :)