Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

I hope you are all having a spooky scary happy Halloween! We went to a fall get-together this weekend and I made these cupcakes I found on The Girl Who Ate Everything via Pinterest. Super cute idea, little extra work though. 



Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 White cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Stir until incorporated then use mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes. Divide batter in half in 2 bowls. Use food coloring to color one yellow and one orange. 

Spoon yellow batter into cupcake lined baking pan. Spoon orange batter on top of yellow. Cupcake liner should be about 3/4 of the way full. 

Bake according to cake package, should take about 15 minutes. 

Frost cupcakes with white frosting and garnish with candy corn and sprinkles. 

Enjoy!




Friday, October 21, 2011

Happy Fall Y'all!

It's a beautiful Friday and TGIF, if I might add. I feel bad when I don't update my blog often enough and although I don't have much to say I can tell you what I've been up to. Not much. Yeah, there's really no excuse for my lack of blogging except for (un)inspiration. Which is not a word. Since our wedding I really just haven't felt like sewing much or really doing anything crafty. The wedding really took it out of me! I did make those few dresses I posted last week and I also started 2 others but never finished them. I honestly don't have anything fun going on in the next few months that require formal wear so I have settled on making dresses for others. And by others I mean kids! Girls dresses are super easy to whip up and I have a couple planned for the next few weeks for friends and relatives. I'll keep ya posted!

Other than my sewing plans, I have been cooking a bit and I do love fall foods(soups and crockpot dishes). I'm getting really excited for the next few months with the holidays! I know it's early, but just thinking about Christmas gets me all in a tizzy! I'm already thinking about how to decorate!

Before I jump the gun and break out the Christmas tunes, here's a few pictures of my current favorite fall things...

Handyman Dan
We are finally getting around to hanging artwork. I'm anxious to have all our wedding gifts put away and new decor! 

 
Dogs in Halloween costumes crack me up! We tried a few things on Dozer. I don't think he's gonna put up with much. Ha ha! 


I've become obsessed with coffee flavors! I'm one of "those" that puts a TON (3-4) packs of sugar (splenda) + milk in my coffee. And I think it tastes amazing! I switch it up everyday and I'm in love with the holiday flavors. Not sure what I'm gonna do after the holidays. Hmm..

Candy Corn Candy dish. 
Mix candy corn with peanuts. Even better with M&M's! 


Do you know what Pinterest is? Pinterest is a virtual pin board that lets you organize all the things you find on the web. It's great for fashion, recipes, weddings, decor, art, anything and everything! Seriously it's the next best thing after facebook for time wasting. If you haven't already, try it out! Click on the link above, you will be obsessed! This also could be contributing to my lack of blogging. 

Polyvore is another one of my current website obsessions. The website allows you to shop and put together outfits like the one above. It's amazing and so much fun! 



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Oh, do you know....

...the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane?

I just sang this whole song to Dan until the last line when I couldn't remember which lane the man lived on!! So I looked it up and copied it into this post all just to tell you that there is an ENTIRE blog dedicated to recipes made in muffin pans. And do you know what it's called? Do you know the Muffin pan! Obviously!

Check Amy and her recipes out! Love it!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Jalapeno Chedder Cornbread Bites


I have been looking for ideas and ways to use my cake pop maker other than making cake pops. I thought of this idea a while ago, but honestly I'm not a lover of cornbread so I needed a crowd that was.

On Sunday my husband had a few friends over to watch the game so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try the recipe out.

You can easily just make muffins with the recipe.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Bites
Ingredients:
2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix
2 eggs
1 stick of butter
2/3 cup of Milk
1 1/2 cups of Shredded Cheddar cheese
2 jalapenos seeded and chopped

Combine ingredients. Spoon into cake pop maker (little less than a teaspoon). Bake for 5 minutes and use fork to remove.

If you make muffins, follow the directions for baking times and temps on the Jiffy box.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Can you see me now?

When I first saw this material, I loved it. I thought oh this is perfect for fall and has the army green color in it that is so popular. Right there "army green" is when I should have realized. Once I started working on this dress it came to me how I could wear it on deer hunting trips with my brother (and still look cute in the woods?)

The pattern I used is really for a stretch knit fabric and as I was making it and telling my mom how great it was working out not being knit I realized that the pattern wouldn't accommodate my fabric for the neckline, which is why I added the zipper to get it over my head. Other than that it really did work out great! I really like the dolman sleeves and elastic waistband.

I think adding accessories to it makes it less camo looking, but honestly I'm not too sure about it. Thoughts?

Necklace, belt, black tights? Unsure...


Back zipper. 

Did I mention the pockets?!?

What do you think? Should I add an orange belt and give it to my sister in law for Christmas? 

White Leopard

I fell in love with this fabric and bought it right up. I fell out of love with this fabric when my mom said the fabric was sort of thick and 2 friends weren't sure about a full leopard dress. With nothing to wear to my friends wedding rehearsal, I decided to use it anyway and was really thrilled with outcome!

I usually stick to the sweetheart neckline, but ended up loving the strapless look. Simple dress to make and lots of ways to accessorize!



This is how I wore it to the rehearsal with a belt and blazer. I also threw on some red lipstick and my eyes didn't look like black marbles as they do in this picture. But you get the idea! 




If I had a blue clutch this would have been perfect inspiration! 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Cardigan Choice

Thinking about putting together a similar outfit based around the dress, scarf, and tights. So many accessories to choose from. I could dress it up or down.

Monday, October 3, 2011

My Best Friends Wedding


My best friend Lauren got married this past week. I met Lauren in 7th grade when I first moved to the small town in southern Indiana. We were instantly friends and have remained close through high school, college and a couple of moves across the country. I talk to Lauren on the phone every single day, if not more than once. We talk about everything and we talk about nothing sometimes! I couldn't have been more thrilled when Lauren got engaged. Her fiance husband is absolutely amazing and they are the perfect pair! It was such a blast planning our weddings together in the past year. Lauren simply has amazing taste and I knew her wedding would leave no detail missing. Lauren was my maid of honor and I couldn't have asked for anything more, so I knew her own wedding would be stunning and it was!

Let's start with Lauren's freaking AWESOME dress!!!! Lauren's dress with gorgeous, and like no other! I remember when she first sent me a picture and we discussed that it was star-worthy. It looks like it came straight from the red carpet. Beautiful!


Next let talk about the details... I knew about most of them from our daily conversations, but she blew me away! Alumni hall (at Indiana University) never looked better! She chose a champagne pink with touches of gold for the colors and it was beautiful!







As if the day wasn't fabulous enough! Lauren's sister surprised her by hiring Straight No Chaser (men's acapella group at IU) to sing at the reception! So fun! I have a few videos, but can't get them uploaded on here. I'll work on that, but take my word for now, it was SO cool! 



                  Husband and I.                             Chelsey (another high school bestie)                   

Congrats Lauren and Ryan, the entire weekend was so perfect just like the two of you. I am so happy for you both!