Such Pretty Things

Target Tuesday: Shabby Hot Chocolate

I picked up these pretty marshmallows at Target last week.

I loved the delicate snowflake designs imprinted on them.

All they needed was a steaming cup of hot chocolate, some whipped cream, and maybe a few of these...

Shabby hot chocolate with marshmallows.  Pretty and yummy!

 

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays!

:-)

Jessica

Vintage Pretties

I've written about my good friend, Lisa Mainz, before.  She and her husband, Andrew, have the most incredible vintage trimmings shop, Accessories of Old. She called me the other day to tell me that she had just discovered some long forgotten vintage millinery flowers and that I should hurry over to the shop before they were all gone.  Needless to say, I ran right over - and lucky for me that I did.  Look at these beauties...

I love that they have their original paper tags.

Vintage velvet forget-me-nots are my absolute favorite millinery flower.  Look how delicate and pretty these tiny petals are...

I think these are Sweet Peas.  I couldn't resist the gorgeous colors.

This one is so cute and has these unusual spiky "greens" mixed in.

This one is also very unusual.  The stamens are so cool.

A classic pink rose.  So sweet.

More lovely pastel velvets.

And a bouquet fit for a bride - a creamy velvet confection.

Even though I really, really (REALLY!) wanted to, I couldn't buy them all.  So, if you hurry over to Lisa's, you may be able to get some of these vintage pretties to add to your own collection.  :-)

Happy Holidays!

Target Tuesday: Holiday Gift Wrapping

If you read my previous post, then you have an idea about how much I LOVE wrapping presents.  I went to Target on a mission this week to find some pretty papers and trims that I could use for my gift-wrapping this year.  I didn't have to look very hard...

Target had some great stuff - all with that wonderful vintage-look that I'm crazy about!  I love these spiky, glittered ornaments.  So fun!

These over-sized jingle bells are the prettiest pale mint green color and their ribbon ties are a pale aqua color.  Very shabby chic!

These silver glittered snowflakes were a bargain - four for only $1.99!

And I couldn't resist this lovely little pastel glittered reindeer.  So cute!

I must admit that I had some difficulty finding holiday wrapping paper to match my color palette (where is all the Rachel Ashwell stuff this year???), so I just looked in the regular gift wrap aisle.

Then I got to work wrapping...

Miss sparkly reindeer got a pretty pink bow.

The jingle bells just needed some pastel-colored ribbons as an accompaniment.

 

The glittery, "spiky thing" was paired with a simple swath of turquoise ribbon.

And the silver glittered snowflakes worked perfectly with a bow made from pale green organza ribbon (also from Target).

So there you have it - Target comes through once again!  

Happy wrapping!

It's a Wrap

I love to wrap presents and I am a total nut for anything related to gift wrapping - the papers, the ribbons, the bows, etc...   I spend the entire year collecting pretty papers and trims to use for my holiday packages. I usually come up with a basic color palette to work with - this year (surprise, surprise!), I decided to go with mostly pale blue and aqua with some touches of pink, mint, and silver. 

Here are this year's papers...

 

It's nice to have some pretty tissue papers on hand.

 

And ribbon in an array of pastel colors.

And trims, of course! These vintage pink metallic leaves are one of my favorites.

 

Then the fun begins...putting it all together!

It can take me days and days to wrap all my presents, but I love every minute of it.

I really like the combination of vintage millinery flowers and mercury glass baubles.

I had been waiting to find the perfect use for these ribbon roses.

And I thought these vintage millinery stamens made such cute "toppers".

Don't you just love the exquisite color of these vintage Lilly of the Valley stems?

Well, it time for me to get back to wrapping.  I still have quite a pile to get through!  I'll be back tomorrow with some more gift wrapping ideas using some great trims I found at Target.  See you then...

Jessica

Holiday Baking: Glittered Cookies

I don't claim to be a wonderful cook, but I do love to bake.  I think cookies are lots of fun to make and the arrival of the holiday season always inspires me to try out some new recipes.  I was very excited to see the latest issue of Gourmet Magazine  - lots of pretty cookies on the cover.

I was especially intrigued by those colorful sandwich cookies in the upper right-hand corner.  There are called Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies and you can find the recipe here.  The "glitter" in this case is really just colored sanding sugar, but it really does make the cookies look very sparkly and pretty! Here's how mine turned out and please keep in mind that I am not a professional food-stylist.  :-)

I was rather pleased with them, although my older daughter said they looked like tennis balls.  I guess they kinda do.  I, of course, had to use my shabby pink and aqua sugars, but you could obviously use any color of sugar. They have a delicious lemon butter-cream filling in the middle.

 

I also decided to make Pecan Puffs  (also know as Mexican Wedding cookies). They are always a hit and very easy to make.

And you really can't go wrong with good, old sugar-cookies.  These are actually just your basic shortbread cookie coated with lots of colorful sugar crystals.

I usually like to make lots of cookies and give them as holiday gifts.  This year I placed small stacks of them in polka dot cupcake liners and grouped them all together on a pink cake stand. I try to collect pretty plates, platters, and cake-stands throughout the year - that way they become part of the gift and you don't have to worry about getting your plate back.

Happy baking!

Pretty in Pink: Palm Beach Vintage Finds

Hi again!  I know, back so soon, but I had a few minutes so I thought I would go ahead and show you those fabulous vintage finds that I discovered while on vacation in Florida.  I found all of these in a wonderful antique mall in the Lake Worth area. The prices were great - almost every dealer was having a sale! Gotta love that.  I was still very much in the holiday frame of mind, so I grabbed up these pretty vintage mercury glass baubles.

I love old corsages and these were in my favorite pale aqua blue colorways.

This pink mercury glass ball cluster is gorgeous and the leaves are such a pretty, pale, faded minty green color.

These pastel striped ornaments were a must have.  I didn't think they would survive the trip home, but I hand-carried them on the plane and they made it in tact!

I always buy vintage floral wallpaper when I find it.  This pretty rose swagged border will be added to my collection.

And last, but not least, my husband found me this great hat completely covered in pink millinery flowers.  I have trained him well!  :-)

My next few posts will be all about wrapping ideas for your holiday gifts.  One will focus on using vintage trims in decorating your packages and next week's Target Tuesday will be all about gift wrapping that incorporates some lovely items I found at, where else - Target!

See you soon...

Jessica

Pretty in Pink: Palm Beach

I have been going to Florida every Winter since I was about five years old. We used to go visit my grandparents after they left New York and moved down there in search of warmer temperatures.  It's a tradition that I've chosen to continue now that I have a family of my own.  So, every year, we pack up the sunscreen and flip-flops and fly South.

 

This year we thought we'd surprise the girls and stop here first:

We've taken them to Disney World before and they loved it, so we thought it would be so much fun to surprise them and just go for a day before we went on to the rest of our vacation.

We had some lunch here and met lots of princesses!

I always wondered what the Interior of Cinderella's Castle looked like!  Last year, I waited too long to call and couldn't get a reservation.  Bad mommy!

Then we had to have some of this. Can you tell that I have an addiction to sprinkles???

And we actually managed to stay for these...although we were all barely standing by then.  Too bad they don't make those rental strollers in adult sizes!

 

So, now that the girls had had their fun, it was time for ours.  So off we went to Palm Beach and one of my most favorite resorts.

The Breakers is a gorgeous old resort located right on the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.  We stay here every year and I never get tired of it.

The resort is all dressed up for the holidays this time of year. I Love this huge floral chandelier.

Garlands hung from the tall ceilings.

HUGE flower arrangements in the lobby.

 

But the best thing about the Breakers is the view from our room. It's like being out at sea.  The ocean and sky are constantly changing.

The girls love hanging out at the pool. My husband and I do, too!  Ahhh, a Pina Colada and a good book - my idea of the perfect vacation! :)

If you get tired of lounging by the pool, you can always explore Palm Beach.  Lots of beautiful pink ocean-front estates and flower-covered walls.

Shopping (or at least "window" shopping) on the famous Worth Avenue is a must.

And you must stop in at Lilly Pulitzer - so quintessentially Palm Beach!

 

I also managed to find some wonderful vintage bits and baubles while antiquing down there, but they will have to wait until the next post... right now I have a lot of unpacking and laundry to do!  :-)

Target Tuesday: Tree Tea Towel

If you are looking for a last minute holiday gift, this would be a great one to give.  I found this very pretty tea towel in the holiday section of the table linens department at Target.

 

It's a pale cream-colored, linen-like fabric with a lovely little green tree embroidered on it.  I chose this for today's Target Tuesday because it struck me as another one of those items that has a very hand-made, detailed quality to it. Just look at the hem stitching along the bottom.  This gives it a very high end look at a very low price ($3.99!).

 

To make my tree tea towel (try saying that five times fast!) a bit more special, I decided to "spruce" it up (bad pun intended!) with some vintage glass rhinestone "ornaments".

 

I LOVE vintage rhinestones and will have to do a post on them one of these days.  These rhinestones are very old and the colors are magnificent!  They have holes in them so that they can be sewn on, but if your pressed for time (like me), you can just use some washable gem glue. I simply trimmed my little embroidered tree with the rhinestones.  If you don't like rhinestones, you could use beads, sequins, pearls, etc...

 

 

And there you have it - a really special, one-of-a-kind gift for just a few dollars!

Way Too Cute

I guess you can tell that I'm in major holiday shopping mode.  I've actually already made or purchased most of my gifts, but I've been having a really hard time trying to think of what to get for my younger daughter. She's completely impossible because she plays almost exclusively with either Polly Pocket...

 

...or Barbie (Hmm....I just noticed that they all have blonde hair. Where are all the brunettes?).

  

She really does adore them and I love to encourage creative play, but as you can see, we really have more than enough of both!  So, I was super excited when I saw these at Pottery Barn Kids over the weekend.

 

These adorable play foods are part of PBK's  "Baked Goods" collection.  Don't they look home-made? The stitching and meticulous detail remind me of something I might find on Etsy.  Aren't these cupcakes fabulous!  LOVE those sprinkles!

    

The colors are so cheerful and happy.  Look at the tree-tiered cake!

...and the cherry pie.  Already pre-sliced for your convenience!

So, yes, they were just way too cute to pass up.  Plus, I know that my daughter will love them - I just hope she lets me play with them, too.  :-)