30 Gifts Under $25: No. 29

Pecan & Raspberry Kringles from O&H Bakery

These things are fabulous. I first tried the O&H Kringle in law school, when a classmate brought one in for an ealry morning Mediation Class. Her mom had sent it to her. The bakery is in Wisconsin and it must be a magical place to produce such sweet delight! The Kringle is moist, flaky and delicious. Anyone on your list with a sweet tooth would surely like to receive one or two of these!

30 Gifts Under $25: No. 30

I have been inspired by some old posts of Jordan Ferney at Oh Happy Day to do a "30 Gifts Under $25" post. I'm starting now since I know a lot of friends and family have already started their shopping. So here goes ...

From Lollyphile - Lollipops in three neat flavors: maple-bacon, absinthe, and wasabi-ginger! Not your average Christmas candy! You can buy 12 for $24.

Wordless Wednesday

Living Room Do-Over

I have taken on the living room this week. We started painting on Sunday and I finished most of the work today (since it was a holiday from work.) I used Valspar in Martha Stewart Signature Colors. I really liked this paint, great coverage. I was painting ove a dark brown, and it worked really well. The walls are "bamboo mat" and the trim is "bakery box." Don't you just love that? I also bought quarts of "wading pool," "vintage map," and "boathouse blue." I plan on painting various pieces of furniture and frames and such. There are quite a few other projects to do still: 1) patchwork pillows 2) framed embroidery 3) painting to hang above the sofa 4) family trees 5) paint lamps & buy new shades. Wish me luck!

Wordless Wednesday

It's heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere.

I apologize for posting this late, but I have had massive computer problems as of late (resulting in the loss of all our drivers - yes, this means the camera too!) However, I'm back up and running and happy to report that I received my Blogging By Mail package! I received lots of treats sent to me all the way from Canada! The lovely owner of the blog "It's the Little Things" sent a fabulous box of goodness. The package contained the following items:

* pumpkin-shaped candy & cookie confection in a cookie cutter
*"Life Is Good" luggage tag
*cute little vase
*lemon-scented candles
*weekly magnetic calendar
*shiny lip gloss
*recipe cards
*flour sack dishtowels
*scrapping materials
*good-smelling shower stuff

Thank you for the delightful package. And thanks to the organizer of this swap-by-mail, Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness.

Pawlitics.

Bunny-rific Birthday.

My niece is now 2 (which is hard to believe!) I made her birthday cake again this year. Her "security blanket" is her bunny. So I decided to go with a bunny theme. I thought it turned out very well. The cake was vanilla bean with swiss meringue buttercream frosting. I made the bunny and the carrots from fondant and the fence pickets from gumpaste. The dirt is crushed Oreos. She was delighted with it, which totally made it worth the time and effort. I made carrot cake cupcakes for the adults with a little fondant carrot on top of each one. Another successful bbirthday I think!

Yummy stuff.

I want this! This book is from a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I have baked up a few of their recipes before. The Sweet & Salty Cake was featured on Martha 2 Christmases ago. It is sooooooo good. I can't wait to get my hands on this!

I'm alive.

I'm still here. Just had some technological difficulties. I have all sorts of photos to share, but our computer hard drive was fried recently. It has taken a while to get everything back to normal. I will be posting some neat things soon, I promise.