DIY Love Jar

This is a cute and quick way to show someone that you love them. I had everything I needed to make my Love Jar around the house.  I got the idea from Collen Ludovic she has a full tutorial here.

I decorated the outside of my jar with glitter heart stickers that I got from Michael's. I covered the lid with some heart tissue paper I had left over from last year's Valentine's Day. 

I filled my jar with some cute notes, cinnamon hearts and Love Tea #7. I used the tea filters that I had and secured the end with some glitter heard stickers to make them a bit more festive.   

Gift: Hot Chocolate in a Mug

I knew I wanted to share some of the marshmallows I made with my friends and family. So I put together these super cute and simple mugs with everything they would need for a mug of hot chocolate.   

I found the mugs at my local dollar store. I was surprised by their super cute collection of Christmas mugs. I decided to add a small bottle of Baileys since its amazing in hot chocolate and found a sample pack at the LCBO. I add a pack of hot chocolate and some marshmallows then wrapped it up in cellophane. It was a quick and easy gift that I know they will love for under $10. 

Homemade Marshmallows

First of all, I always thought it was spelt marshmellow but I guess I was oh so very wrong. Spell check and the internet gods have corrected me. Anyways. I was excited but slightly terrified at attempting these marshmallows. I knew that if they turned it they would be one of those things that had people saying you made what??? I didn't even know you could make those. But if they didn't turn out it would just be a huge, sticky, sugary mess. Luckily they turned out. They were also SO simple to make. I was really excited to use my brand new candy thermometer that I bought especially for this occasion ( I am really just picking recipes where I need to buy new kitchen gadgets - its a great excuse to go shopping.)  I used Smitten Kitchen's Recipe which was a bit different from others as it had the addition of egg whites. Since I have never tried making marshmallows before I can't tell you if adding egg whites actually makes them fluffier then if you don't (I am assuming it would plus Smitten Kitchen said so, so really there is no arguing).  But now that I know how easy they are I will have to try a different more classical recipe without eggs. I dipped mine in chocolate and sprinkled crushed candy canes on top to make them more festive. I cannot wait to try them in hot chocolate! 

How To: Make a Cupcake Costume

I am known for my cupcakes. So I thought it would only be fitting to be a cupcake for halloween. After much googling I found a few different techniques for making a cupcake costume. I really liked All Things Alisa's tutorial and used it as a base for building my own cupcake. I used a round laundry basket instead of a larger bin and used a slightly different technique for making my frosting. I loved how my costume turned out and I cannot wait to wear it!

Project difficulty: Medium (I would recommend having a friend to help)
Time: 1.5 Hours

Materials:
- Round laundry Basket
- 3-4 coloured Bristol board (I used hot pink)
- hot glue and glue gun
- batting (I got mine from walmart)
- Wide Ribbon
- Feather boa
- Glitter Styrofoam balls (or pompoms)
- Headband
- Cupcake plushy (Keychain from Dollarstore)

Directions:
1. Cut bottom off of laundry basket
2. Cut bristol board to desired length, I made mine about 5-10 cms longer then the basket. Fold accordion style

3. Glue folded Bristol board around laundry basket. We cut a tab on each side of our bristol board to glue under the "lip" of the laundry basket. It took about 2 and a half of the bristol boards to fully cover the laundry basket.

4. Measure ribbon "suspenders" at height where you want the cupcake to be and glue ribbon onto laundry basket. I would make the straps a bit longer then you think you will need. You can always cut and tie the ribbon in a bow on your shoulder after. I would recommend a friend help you with this step.
5. Fold batting in four into a square slightly larger then your basket. (There should be four layers of batting).  Make sure you tuck your straps into the laundry basket before you glue on the batting!

6. Glue small sections of laundry basket and tuck batting up and under so it forms a pouf and "muffin top" edge around the laundry basket. Glue all the way around laundry basket in small sections securing batting as you go.
7. Attach feather boa with hot glue around the edge of the laundry basket between the paper and the batting.
8. Use the hot glue to add "sprinkles" around the edge your cupcake. I used glitter Styrofoam balls that I found at the dollar store but pompoms would work well.

9. Cut a small X in the centre of the batting on your cupcake. Use your hands to stretch the batting into a big enough hole for you to fit through.

10. For the head piece: I used a headband from the dollar store and hot glued a plushy cupcake from a keychain onto the headband.

I am planning on wearing it with a white t shirt and shorts underneath. I think it will look great once I do my makeup all sparkly and glittery and wear my favourite pink heels! 

Can't wait! 

What are you being for halloween? 

Jaclyn

Tea Latte

It is no secret that I love tea. I have a cupboard full of David'sTeas and am cannot keep myself from buying the latest tea.  While I drink tea every day (multiple times a day actually) I don't usually have tea lattes and for me they are a treat. They are easy to make and some teas taste better as lattes then others. 

Here is how I usually make my lattes.  

What you'll need: 

Milk

Milk frother 

mug 

your favourite tea (I find black teas work best as lattes)

sweetener if you so choose - I like honey

either a microwave or pot and stove

 boiling water

Direction: 

Steep your tea as your normally would

Warm up milk either on the stove or in the microwave (hint: measure milk using the mug you will be using you will want it about 2/3 full of milk)

Once milk is warmed use frother to create nice and frothy milk 

Add about 1/3 steeped tea to your mug and top off with your frothy milk 

add sweetener if desired  

enjoy!

My red velvet cake tea latte with honey drizzle on top! 

What is your favourite tea latte? 

Jaclyn

Easy Cake Pops

I have an obsession with cake. Its even more delicious and cute as cake pops. I ended up making over 75 of these bad boys for my class and boy oh boy did I never want to see a Cake Pop again. I think I am slowly getting over that and I am planning on making a Cake Pop Tree for the holidays.  They are fairly easy to make (even easier if you have a stand mixer). 

Make your favourite cake (I made red velvet) and let it cool. Crumble cake with hands, Stand Mixer or food processor. 

Make your favourite icing that goes with your cake (cream cheese is my personal favourite). 

Add icing 1 cup at a time until cake sticks together and is easily rolled into balls. This depends on how much cake you make and how sweet you want your cake pops, I think I used about 2 1/2-3 cups of icing. This is where the stand mixer comes in handy. Its super easy to crumble the cake and mix in the icing with a stand mixer. 

Roll cake into balls and place on a baking sheet. Sick the balls in the fridge for a half hour to firm up. While they are in the fridge begin to melt your candy melts in your desired colour (I got mine at Bulk Barn).  I usually add a table spoon or so of vegetable oil to smooth out the chocolate and keep it in a cup for easy cake pop coverage. Remove cake pops from fridge and dip sticks into chocolate and place in the middle of the ball. Then place back in the fridge to firm up again. I suggest working in batches so you can alternate cake pops that are chilling and those you are working on. 

Dip balls into chocolate. Twirl. Tap off excess chocolate on side of cup and place pop either on baking sheet or the stick in a foam holder to dry. 

Enjoy!
Jaclyn

Easter

Hey Everyone,


Happy Easter/ Passover/ Spring. I would love for the weather to be a little bit warmer, but its not. I hear that its supposed to get warmer this week which would be nice, I hate getting dressed then having to go change cause its not appropriate for the weather. It makes it very difficult to get dressed. Oh well.



I baked some cupcakes for Easter, they are very spring looking. I thought that I would share them with you.

Fresh from the oven

Making the icing colourful


The finished product



The marshmallow chicks

I hope that everyone had a good holiday.

Love,
Belle

Semi Dress

Heyy Everyone,

It once again has been a crazy week. This is the time of year at my school when all the major projects are due, plus play is in less then a month. I am in it this year, and it is a bit stressful, to say the least, but its fun, getting to know people from different grades, who you wouldn't normally get to see. Our semi formal was this past weekend, it was a lot of fun, and every one's dresses were really pretty. As per usual there was some drama, which I was not a part of thankfully, its so much more fun with having to deal with all that other stuff... gives you more time to dance the night away. The theme was masquerade, which made me think of Gossip Girl right away.

Here is the mask:

I bought the gold mask and added the feathers and the stick (wrapped in ribbon) to make it fancier.

I got both my shoes and my dress from Le Chateau. I really like their dresses and they have cheap but cute shoes.

I loved the bow at the back.And finally the dress...

I wanted something that I wouldn't normally get and was fun. I loved the colours and the print of this one. I am glad that I chose it. ( I pretty much tried on every dress in the store)

I hope that everyone has a good week, I will be back next week with a Valentine's Day/ possibly an outfit post.

Love,

belle

Journals and a DIY

Heyy Everyone,

So I must confess, I have an obsession with journals. I love them. I love the idea of an empty journal and all the possibilities that it holds. I however always start writing in journals and then stop halfway through them or after a couple of weeks.

Each journal has a different use, and therefore they never get used up. Some are travel journals, some are regular journals (the diary kind), a few are blank, one is full of lists, and the one with cat on it is full of quotes, pictures and other random things.

Lately, I have become obsessed with making journals. The blue one is an old journal that I covered in felt. The polka dot one has post-it notes in side (originally posted here) the other one is made up of random scrap paper (originally posted here).

My new obsession with making journals lead me to make this:
The front
The back

I got the idea and instructions on how to make it here.

Well tomorrow is back to school. I'm really not ready for the break to end. I have no idea how I am going to wake up tomorrow. I really want to post at least once a week this year, hopefully I will be able to keep it up.

I hope everyone has a good day back,

Love

belle

Thanksgiving

Heyy Everyone!
Happy late Thanksgiving ! I am stuffed from all the food I ate. Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays. I love all the good food and I love fall. This year I decided to make pumpkin pie.

I love baking, I find it very relaxing and often if I don't have anyhting to do I'll start baking. I got the recipe I used here. It's by Anna Olsen, I love her show Sugar on the Food Netwok. It's one of my favourites, although I have a love/hate relationship with Anna, I love what she cooks but personally I sometimes find her annoying.

This year I was one of the people in charge of they food drives at my school. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. We were able to get a lot of food in to help those in need.

I went to a farm yesterday. There was lots of pumpkins, a hay wagon ride, roasted corn and candy apples.

I love this time of fall right now, when the leaves are falling and they get all crunchy. I love fall outfits, the scarves, vests, jeans, boots and jackets. I can't find a good picture of one right now, I know that the Gilmore Girls have it down, but when you are looking for something you can never find it.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Have a good week
Belle

Shopping and DIY

Heyy Everyone,
I can't believe that it is already back to school on Tuesday. I don't know where my summer went. It went by so fast! I know that I said I would do a wish list post, however I am still not 100% sure of what I really want yet. I might just add an item to the end of each post for now, but I am not sure. I volunteered at a theatre camp the past 2 weeks and the first week the kids put on Horton hears a who and then they put on Wicked. I have had the Wicked songs stuck in my head for days. I went to see Vicky, Christina, Barcelona. yesterday, it was a pretty good movie, although I don't think that I really understood it. Barcelona was beautiful and I really want to visit it one day. I have been shopping which is always fun, and here is some of what I bought:

I got this grey vest, which I love.

I also got a beret. I have wanted one for a while, but I could never seem to find one that looked right. This one is perfect.

These headbands are really cute, and they are only $1.50 for 2. I couldn't resist. I got 2 black ones, a purple one and a white one.

I really wanted these Coach shoes for a while. I finally got them. I love them, they are very comfortable and cute.
A DIY:
I found an old card, and decided that it was too pretty to throw away, so I covered the inside with pink paper, and then glued in some post its. I love post it notes, they are one of the greatest inventions ever. I use them all the time. Now mine are covered and look like a note book, which is held closed by 2 buttons. If you would like more information on how to make one, just ask.

Anyways that's all for me for now. I am working on another Canadian designer post, so check back soon.

Belle