Such Pretty Things

Fairy Wand Lollipops

This morning I decided to get a head start on the goody bags for my little one's princess party.  I am trying to stick with the "princess" theme, so I thought it might be fun to include some chocolate fairy wand lollipops.

 

I've made chocolate lollipops before and they are really pretty easy to make. To begin, you will need the following: plastic lollipop molds in the shape of your choice (I used a star shape for my wands), chocolate melting wafers (these come in a variety of colors and flavors), microwave-proof plastic bottles, lollipop sticks, sprinkles or candies for decoration, and cellophane bags to wrap the finished pops. These supplies are all readily available at any larger craft store, like Michael's or AC Moore.

 

Make the lollipops according to the directions on the chocolate mold package - it really just involves melting the chocolate wafers in the plastic squeeze bottle and filling the molds.  I chose to use pink wafers and I added the sprinkles while the chocolate was still warm. I do suggest that you buy multiple molds so that you can make a bunch at one time.  They are fairly inexpensive (I bought mine on sale for 99 cents each) and you won't have to worry about your chocolate hardening in between batches.

 

Once the pops are completely set, you can remove them from the molds and package them.  I used some small cellophane bags and lots of pretty ribbons and millinery flowers.

 

If you have a party coming up, I really suggest you try these.  They are so easy to make and really give a personal touch to your event.  O.K., now, I have to go hide them so that nobody (including me!) is tempted to eat them before they make it into the goody bags.  :)

Pretty Storage: Vintage Glove Boxes

I love to use pretty boxes and containers in which to store my craft supplies. These vintage glove and hankie boxes provide wonderful storage and also look so beautiful sitting on my shelves.

They are covered in flowery vintage wallpapers - my favorite!

The patterns are so romantic and the colors are fabulous.  This one reminds me of a Cath Kidston print.

Love these cabbage roses...

These square pink ones are vintage hankie boxes.

 

I don't have many hankies, but I do have lots of millinery stamens!

See, isn't it fun when the storage container is as pretty as it's contents! :-)

Target Tuesday: Sweet Treats

I think I need a disclaimer for this week's Target Tuesday. You see, I went to Target three (yes, three!) times over the past week in search of something fabulous to share with you and, each time, I was disappointed. There was just nothing to get excited about. I suspect that a bad economy is to blame, but Target is just not getting in new shipments and collections like they used to. I remember the good old days (like last year!), when I would find something new every time I went there - and believe me, that was a frequent occurrence.  So, that said, I hope you won't be too terribly disappointed by this week's Target find...

 

These fun swirled marshmallow pops were just being put out for Valentine's Day.  They're $1.99 each and fairly substantial in size.  I think I bought comparable ones for the girls at Disney for about $7! They are super cute and the colors are very pretty. I guess the theme for the week will just have to be marshmallows! I decided these would make great party favors, but I wanted to dress them up a bit. The first thing I did was remove the "Target" packaging and transfer them to clear cellophane bags.

 

Better already, right?  Next, I simply added some ribbon, millinery flowers, and a vintage wallpaper heart.

 

 

 

So, not my best, but I am hopeful that Target will come through for me in the future.  If not, I may have to resort to "HomeGoods Thursdays"!  

:-)

Jessica

Pink Confections

I have always wanted to make my own home-made marshmallows.  Pale pink ones, especially.  I had saved a copy of a Martha Stewart recipe from many years ago, but never seemed to get around to making them. Plus, I guess I've always been a bit skeptical - it seemed almost magical to me how someone could actually "make" a marshmallow.  But, today the girls and I decided to give it a try. We gathered our ingredients and got to work.

 

I was surprised by how simple the actual marshmallows were to make.  And the girls were able to help with almost everything except cooking and pouring the hot sugar mixture.

 

My only real difficulty came when I tried to remove the sticky marshmallow mixture from the mixing bowl - what a mess!  I thought we had done a good job of oiling everything - we even used the parchment paper as recommended, but it was soooo sticky.  At one point, I even broke the top off of one of my spatulas!

 

A couple of things worth noting: The recipe doesn't make mention of food coloring, but since I wanted pink marshmallows, I added some gel color at the same time that I added the vanilla extract.  This seemed to work fine.  Also. I wanted to make my marshmallows into heart shapes, so instead of cutting them into squares, I use a heart-shaped cookie cutter dipped in confectioner's sugar.

 

I am still really rather amazed that we were able to "make" marshmallows. Marshmallows that even taste like marshmallows!  And pink ones at that. Truly incredible. Now, they aren't perfect - not as smooth as I would have liked and rather on the short side, I think. I suppose they would have been taller if I had managed to actually scrape all of the batter from the bowl!  Oh, well.

 

This was our trial run, but I'm thinking of making some more as gifts for Valentine's Day.  

Pretty pink confections for all.  :-)

Rachel's Roses

Today is my wonderful friend, Rachel's, birthday.  In honor of the occasion (it's a BIGGIE!), she's having a cocktail party tonight and she asked me if I could help her with the flower arrangements.  I was, of course, happy to oblige! Rachel wanted flowers that were both sophisticated and romantic, so I decided to go with lots of roses in mercury glass vases.  I started collecting the vases about two months ago. I wanted ones with a silvery color and was able to find most of them at Pottery Barn.

 

Next, I went searching for the roses.  Rachel wanted pinks and reds, so I bought ones in a variety of shades - from medium pink to red.

Because the roses themselves were so dramatic, I wanted to make very simple arrangements.  I started by trimming off all the leaves and cutting the stems to the appropriate length.  These will be placed on bar-height tables, so I couldn't make them too tall.  I grouped the roses into small bouquets, mixing the colors as I went, and secured the stems with a rubber band.  Then, I just placed the bouquets in the vases, adding a few more roses here and there to fill in any sparse areas.  I used about 14 roses per vase.  I didn't use floral foam with these because the vases are semi-transparent, but I would have if they had been opaque.

If you don't happen to be celebrating a birthday tonight, I think these would also make very nice arrangements for a dinner party or Valentine's Day.

O.K., now that I'm finished with the flower arrangements, I have even a bigger job to attend to...deciding what to wear to the party!  :-)

Valentine Candy Box

This heart box filled with candy was inspired by one that was featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine a number of years ago.  I've been wanting to make one for the longest time, so today was the day!

Martha has great instructions and a template you can use to make a heart shaped box, but I just used a ready-made one that I had saved from last year.  I covered the top with one of my most romantic vintage wallpapers, added a pale pink vintage velvet bow, and a fluffy pink millinery rose.

Next, I filled the box with paper candy cups in pink and silver.  I am always collecting pretty candy, so this seemed like the perfect occasion to use some.

I chose to use candies in my favorite pastel colors.  This meant pulling out the ones that didn't fit my color palette, but I'm pretty sure I can think of something to do with them.  

So, there you have it - my own version of a candy filled heart box.

 

I hope Martha would be proud.  :)

Target Tuesday: Flower Power Plates

Target is finally starting to get some new things in for Spring. Yay!!!  I spotted these super cute floral plates in the housewares section.

What I love about them (besides being so pretty and colorful) is that they are plastic, but they look like real china!

They are rather small - about 6 1/2" in diameter - making them perfect for dessert or a snack.  They are called "appetizer plates" and sell for $1.99.

Look at the detail and the slightly raised texture to the design.

I am thinking of using these for the Princess party, but they would also be great for a picnic, a bridal or wedding shower, or just for everyday fun.  My daughters are thinking marshmallows...

 

...for breakfast!  :-)

Have a great Tuesday!

The "Flower" Defense

It's freezing!  I mean, really, really freezing.  And I do not like it one little bit. It's too cold to go out. And it's really too cold to stay in (despite the fact that I have the thermostat set at 80!)  So, to deal with my distress over this miserably cold weather, I am turning to what's known in psychology as the "Flower" Defense. You just look at pretty, flowery things and it immediately counteracts the Winter blues.  O.K., I completely made that up.  But it does work. See...

Don't you feel better already?

These are vintage plastic floral charms and findings.

I just love the color combinations and the intricacy of the details.

These floral buckles are my favorite.

And these roses are so cute.

So, I contend that there is some validity to the "Flower" Defense theory. :-) How do you deal with the Winter blues???

Invitation to the Castle

The princess party planning continues around here.  I was very excited because the invitations for my little one's birthday party arrived today.  I was thinking of making my own, but then I saw these...

 

How cute are these pretty pink castles!  These lovely invites are made by one of my favorite stationary designers, Meri Meri.  They are very well made and I love the details - glitter and rhinestones!  Since I wanted to put a personal touch on these, I decided to add some miniature princess wands.

 

I bought these at a local party store, but I'm sure you can find them almost anywhere. They are only about six inches long, which is the perfect size to include with the invitation.  I decided to decorate these with additional rhinestones and pastel ribbons.

 

I will send these, together with the invitation, in a padded envelope to ensure a safe arrival.

 

Now, I am off to the post office - I sure hope they have some "princess" stamps...

:-)

Jessica

Vintage Wallpaper Hearts

I was going through my craft room and I came across some cut-out wooden hearts. I must have bought them years ago and just never got around to using them. Well, what great timing!   Valentine's day is right around the corner, so I decided to make something with them...vintage wallpapered hearts.

These were super easy to make and a lot of fun.

I just painted the edges of the hearts with some craft paint,

   

glued on a variety of my most romantic vintage wallpapers,

and added some glitter around the edges.

There is so much more you could do with these.  I'm leaving mine "as is" because I'm going to use these as personalized gift tags for Valentine's Day, but you could embellish them even more - adding millinery flowers, sequins, glittery letters, etc....  I think they would make a stunning garland if you strung them on a length of pretty vintage ribbon.  And wouldn't they make the sweetest place cards for a wedding or bridal shower? The possibilities are endless...