Such Pretty Things

Pretty Shopping: Bell'occhio

For me, no trip to San Francisco would be complete without a visit to the enchanting Bell'occhio. This exquisite, jewel-box of a shop is absolutely brimming with vintage and handmade treasures.

"Bell'occhio", which means "beautiful eye" in Italian, is well named. Just one look at the glorious vintage ribbons and you know you have wondered into someplace magical...

The lovely and talented owner, Claudia Schwartz, takes great pride and pleasure in assuring that her shop is a visual feast for the eyes.

There are rows upon rows of vintage trims...

Antique ribbons...

Bell'occhio's signature handmade boxes...

And the finest sewing notions...

Every display is carefully constructed and beautifully designed.  The shelves hold miniature scenes...from a whimsical woodland menagerie...

...to Marie Antioinette herself!

I remember the first time I walked into the shop many years ago and saw the gorgeous, millinery-embellished chandelier...

Just breathtaking.

Bell'occhio offers so many special and personal touches. For example, the in-house calligrapher can monogram a pretty burlap bag just for you. And Claudia will wrap up your precious purchases so beautifully - it will make you want to cry. It is really no wonder that Martha Stewart considers this one of her favorite places to shop! Now, if you live outside of the San Francisco area, please don't despair - Bell'occhio also has an extensive online shop!

Bell'occhio                                                                                                                                           10 Brady Street                                                                                                                                  San Francisco, CA                                                                                                                    1.415.864.4048

 :-)

Jessica

 

Crown & Crumpet, San Francisco

Well, I'm back from my business trip to San Francisco and I must apologize for not posting sooner.  But I am hoping that you will forgive me when I show you all the eye candy that I brought back with me. :-)  While I had a bunch of meetings to attend, I managed to fit in quite a bit of fun.  First stop was Crown & Crumpet. This gorgeous tea room has been on my "to-do" list for several years now. Owned by the incredibly talented husband and wife team, Amy and Christopher Dean, Crown and Crumpet is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach!  I knew the moment I saw their millinery-festooned "open" sign that this was going to be my kind of place...

Crown & Crumpet's British meets Shabby Chic meets funky decor is beyond beautiful - filled with Cath Kidston's vintage floral prints, colorful artwork, jars of candy, and pretty china.

Wonderful fabrics abound...

This sweet oil painting over the faux-fireplace was so lovely.

Glass jars filled with candy covered every surface.

No detail has been over-looked in this tea room - from the pretty menus to the fresh roses on the tables.

The entire family accompanied me to afternoon tea and we stuffed ourselves on dainty tea sandwiches, classic English scones, and yummy sweets.

Fresh flowers garnished the tiered stands...

The selection of teas was extensive, but after much perseveration, I finally chose the "Marie Antoinette".  Absolutely delicious.

And how can you not love a place that ends your meal with a pretty candy bracelet wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a ribbon bow?

Crown & Crumpet also has the most adorable gift shop filled with design books, Japanese stationary, unique jewelry, china tea sets, and linens.

Everything is whimsically displayed.

There are also pretty and hard-to-find Bristish candies like "flying saucers" artfully arranged...

Or how about a giant rainbow-colored marshmallow kabob to go?

I am serious when I say that Crown & Crumpet is just one of those places that you must visit in your lifetime! It is located in Ghirardelli Square in the heart of San Francisco. If you are planning a trip, I highly recommend making reservations well in advance, as this a one very popular tea room! And do check out their website for some fabulous photos of their shop - I fear my picures just don't do it justice as it was getting dark when we arrived and I was losing my light.

Thank you so much, Amy and Christopher! It was such a pleasure to meet you and experience your incredible tea room!

I'll be back tomorrow with more pretty things from San Fran!

XOXO

Jessica

 

 

 

Romantic Homes & Hat Box Favors

I am so delighted to have my Hat Box Favors featured in this month's issue of Romantic Homes Magazine!

I must give a huge thank you to Justine Lopez for including this project, as it is truly one of my favorites.  It was actually inspired by my love of vintage hat-shaped candy boxes from the 1940's and 50's.

These sweet candy boxes were fashioned to look like woman's hats and often came in pretty pastel shades...

They were typically adorned with ribbon bows and a millinery flower or two...

You can find the complete tutorial for my party favor version of these in the "Make It" section of the March 2011 issue...and I will also be posting a link in my sidebar soon.

This is such a fun project for Spring and would be perfect for weddings, showers, Easter, and Mother's day!

Well, I am off on a little business trip for a few days, but I'll be back soon...

XOXO

Jessica

Mini Valentine Heart Cookies

I just love Valentine's Day - all the sweet colors, lacey hearts, and chocolate!  We will be having a little family Valentine's Day tea party later today and I thought these little heart-shaped cookies would be the perfect accompaniment.

They are really tiny - only about 3/4th of an inch tall (made with teeny little heart-shaped cookie-cutters).

I used Martha Stewart's sugar cookie recipe and decorated them with royal icing and hand-colored nonpareils ("how-to" found here).

Lavender and pink has always been one of my favorite color combinations.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and all your loved ones!

XOXO

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: Goody Bags

Today, I thought I'd show you the goody bags that I put together for the cake-decorating party.  In keeping with the bakery theme, I decided to use these adorable little Patisserie Shop boxes.

They are made by Meri Meri, one of my very favorite invitation and party decor designers.  I love the incredible attention to detail - the french pane windows, the detailed shutters, and the colorful striped awnings...

For the treats inside, I just collected anything that I could find that was cupcake or cake related - erasers (Michael's), a little pad of paper (Target Dollar Spot), a pretty flower-topped cupcake lip gloss (Michael's), and stickers...

And a sweet little cupcake necklace (Forever 21).

Oh, and some candy, of course!

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!

:-)

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: The Aprons

I have been working away on some of the final touches for Mini-Mini-Me's birthday party, which as you may recall from my previous post is going to be a cake-decorating party at one of our favorite bakeries. I really wanted to add a bit of vintage flair to this party and I thought that aprons would be the perfect way to accomplish this.

I contemplated sewing them myself (as I had for Mini-Me's cake decorating party several years ago), but the whole point of having a "not at home" party this year was to make life a bit easier for Moi - so, I nixed that. :-)  Instead, I spent hours on-line and running around town looking for the perfect aprons.  I wasn't having much luck and then I found these...

Aren't they adorable!  I just love all the bright, happy colors and the wonderful mixture of vintage-style patterns.

The details on these are fantastic - sweet ruffles, ric rack, and fabric-covered buttons.

For a little extra girliness, I decided to add some pretty flowers that I found at the craft store.

I just love how they all look together and I can't wait see all the girls dressed up in them!

* If you want some for your next party, head on over to Marshalls, HomeGoods, or TJ Maxx - it took me a total of about five trips to find all the best patterns, but I think you will agree that it was well worth it!

Happy Friday!

Jessica

Sugar Flowers

I bought these pretty sugar flowers for an upcoming project and I just had to share them with you.

They just looked so lovely sitting there all nestled in the box.

You can make these sweet flowers yourself (with some royal icing and a little practice) or you can buy them on-line or at local cake-decorating shops.

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful emails and comments about my piece in Artful blogging!  As promised, I randomly chose a winner to receive my extra copy.  And the winner is....Jeanne of Jeanneszewczyk.blogspot.com.  Congratulations, Jeanne!  And be sure to email me your address.

Target Tuesday will hopefully be back next week...our local Target is currently under-going a MAJOR renovation and expansion.  I know it will ultimately be bigger and better, but for now I am having major withdrawal symptoms. :-(

Happy Tuesday!

Jessica

Fabulous Fairy Cakes

Fairy Cakes. I just adore them!

They are really just the British version of what we call "cupcakes" here in the States, but they are so very pretty and sweet.  Plus, I must admit that I am a bit of an Anglophile. :-) While there are plenty of fairy cake variations out there, I am crazy for the classic, flat-topped version. These are typically a light genoise cake iced in pretty pastel tints - a delicate flower or two adorning their velvet-smooth tops. Sweet simplicity.

I decided to make some yesterday.  I skipped the genoise and just used one of my favorite yellow cake recipes.

I believe that the secret to the fairy cake's elegance is that perfectly smooth, level iced-top.  This can be achieved by only filling your cupcake cases a little over half-way full with batter.  This ensures that the top of your cake doesn't rise past the ruffled top-edge of your cases.

You'll also need to wait until your fairy cakes are completely cooled before you ice them.  You will need to make a simple, fondant-style glaze.  You can find recipes on-line, but I just make my own using cream, confectioner's sugar, a bit of vanilla extract, and a touch of food coloring. It's always a good idea to sift your confectioner's sugar before using it.  This only takes a second (you can just pass it through a fine strainer) and will keep your icing from being lumpy.  Slowly add the cream to the sugar until you get the consistency needed - it should be thick, but also thin enough to pour.  Also, remember to tap your bowl of icing on the counter several times to remove any air bubbles.  Then slowly spoon over the tops of your fairy cakes, being careful to just fill them to the very top of the cases without spilling over the edge.  If you still see any air bubbles on the surface, use a toothpick to "pop" them.

This icing tends to set up quickly, so be sure to add any decorations right away or you will "crinkle" your tops (and we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we!).  I added little pastel royal icing sugar flowers to mine...

I love these fairy cakes so much!

Next time, I think I am going to make mini ones (petit four size)...wouldn't that be pretty for an Easter or Mother's Day treat?

XOXO

Jessica

 

 

 

Artful Blogging, Spring 2011

I wanted to share some exciting news with you...my blog is currently featured in the new Spring issue of Artful Blogging Magazine!

I love (LOVE!) this publication and have been reading it for years, so it is such a thrill to be included on it's glossy pages.  Thank you so much to the lovely Jennifer Jackson for finding me and for deeming my blog worthy of such a stunningly beautiful magazine! And thank you, my wonderful readers, for making it possible.  Your constant support, comments, encouragement, and loyal readership add so much to my daily life and continually inspire me to be creative. You are truly the best!

If you are interested, I will be putting up the link to a PDF version of my article soon.  In the meantime, if you'd like a copy of your very own, I happen to have an extra one.  Just leave a comment and I'll randomly pick a winner on Tuesday.

*comments are now closed.  Thank you!

Have a fabulous weekend! Oh, and the beautiful (and fragrant) Hyacinth are from Trader Joe's. Only $4.99 a bunch!

XOXO

Jessica

Target Tuesday: Valentine Heart Favors

I found these cute little plastic heart boxes in the Dollar Spot bins at Target this week.  A package of eight of them for only a dollar!  You can't beat that!

I immediately decided that they would make the perfect little Valentine's day favor boxes for the girls and their friends.  They just needed a little embellishment! If you want to make some, here's what you'll need:

-Heart-shaped favor boxes

-White craft glue and foam brush

-Glitter (the more sparkly, the better)

-Ribbon

-Paper flower embellishments

-Double-sided tape

-Candy

To begin, open the heart boxes and coat all exterior surfaces (except the bottom) with a thin layer of glue. Sprinkle on your glitter until well coated and shake off any excess.  I used three shades of Martha's pink and lavender for variety. Allow to dry completely.

Fill the boxes with little candies or other treats.  I used the classic conversation hearts (I just selected the colors from the bag that I wanted to use).

Reassemble your boxes and wrap a small length of ribbon around the entire box, securing it on the bottom with some double-sided tape or a dab of hot glue. Attach some paper flowers to the top...mine are from Martha, but most craft stores will carry a variety of brands.

Now, you have some very pretty (and inexpensive!) little favors to give to your favorite valentines...

Happy Tuesday!

:-)

Jessica