Bohemian Bridal Shoot Published

We recently had the pleasure of working with Angie Candella at   La Candella Weddings and designed for her bohemian bridal shoot one of our cake toppers and our lanterns.  Her photo shoot looks fabulous and was published today on this wonderful site Aisle Perfect.  Stop by and see
Thanks to everyone!!


Bohemian Bridal Shoot

 Hello Everyone, 

We have been so lucky to have been involved in this fabulous photo shoot.  I can't thank Andrea Harrison the owner of Tantalizing Tablescapes & Décor for choosing our bouquets. 

Stop by the link below to view the complete photo shoot.

http://4realequalityweddings.com/2014/10/06/a-vintage-inspired-wedding-shoot/

DIY Projects- Heart Page Marker and Shoe Hangers

Welcome back to our weekly Recipe/ DIY Blog! This week I chose two easy DIY projects that I just adore. The first is for my fellow book lovers and is also a wonderful project you can do with your kids. This cute Origami Heart Page Marker is a quick, fun activity that will give them a little something they can use for school and give you something easy to do together. The second is a wonderful organizing idea for storing all of your sandals and flip flops- I know I own an embarrassing amount at this point, how about you? XP These simple shoe hangers are fashionable and space saving and I look forward to making more in the future.

Origami Heart Page Marker

Step One

Use a square piece of paper, I would suggest no bigger than 6x6. You can use any kind of paper you have laying around. In my case, I found some leftover scrapbook paper and cut it down to size.

Because my paper doesn't have the design above on both sides I have to keep track of how I'm folding. A fail safe is to consider this design side, Side A and the white side, Side B.

Step Two

Fold your piece of paper in half. Crease.

Step Three

Fold your paper in half again. Crease.

 Step Four

Open up your paper and have Side B facing up.

 Step Five

Fold the bottom portion to the middle crease line.

 Step Six

Turn your paper over to Side A. Now fold up the bottom corners into triangular edges.

 After both sides have been folded, it should look like below.

 Step Seven

Turn over to Side B.

 Step Eight

 Now bring the point that's been created at the bottom to the top.

 Step Nine

 Turn over to Side A.

 Step Ten

 Use your finger to make an opening in one of the flaps in the bottom center.

Step Eleven

Flatten this little flap to form a triangle.

 Now Repeat this step for the other side.

Step Twelve

Now fold a triangle from the edge for both sides.

 Step Thirteen

 Fold a tiny triangle from each peak.

 

Step Fourteen

Turn over to Side B. Fold the areas behind the dotted lines shown below.

 And ta-da! You now have a uber cute little book mark :]

Shoe Hanger

What you'll need:

• Wire Hangers
• Ribbon
• Buttons
• Fabric glue or Super glue or Hot glue
• Ruler
• Scissors

Step One

Take one of your wire hangers and placing your hands on each side of the hanger pull it's "arms" downward.

 

 

Step Two

 One side at a time, pull the wire upward creating a scoop effect.

 Once complete, the hanger should take on a similar shape to the one below. Don't worry if it's not perfect, just do your best to get the sides as even as possible.

Step Three

Cut the ribbon of your choice into a 16in strip. Place your ribbon very close by. Now apply your glue to the sides and middle of the upper portion of your hanger like below, this helps secure your ribbon.

Step Four

As soon as you lay down your glue, quickly grab your ribbon and place roughly it's middle onto this upper portion of the hanger like below.

Step Five

Now take one side of your ribbon and pull it behind the front of your hanger and upwards.

 

Step Six

Just like in Step Three, we're now going to apply some glue on the hanger frame to add more support and make the ribbon easier to maneuver. This application goes right above where your ribbon that has been glued already rests- this is where the ribbon will fold again.

 

Step Seven

As soon as you apply the glue, fold your piece of ribbon over to the front. You may want to apply a dab of glue in the subsequent crease in the corner as well as the center to add support and keep your ribbon from slipping. 

Step Eight 

Repeat Steps Six and Seven for the other side of your ribbon. The outcome should look like the photo below. 

Step Nine

Now it's time to trim any extra ribbon. As you can see in the photo above, my excess ribbon falls almost an inch past the end of the part of ribbon covering the middle of the hanger frame. It may help to flip your hanger over to trim it more exact.

Step Ten

Cut a small, roughly 2in strip of ribbon and round the edges like below. This will go on the back to cover some unattractive hanger frame showing.

Step Eleven

 Flipping your hanger over, apply your glue to the center portion of the hanger frame that's showing.

Step Twelve

Before the glue can dry, place your rounded piece of ribbon onto it from Step Ten.

 

 Step Thirteen

At this point, the basic hanger is complete and should look similar to the one below. However, for aesthetic reasons I chose to follow the extra steps after this to add a cute button.

 Step Fourteen

After choosing your button, apply glue to the back.

 

Step Fifteen 

Glue your button to the center of the front of your hanger. When complete your hanger should look like the ones I made below.

Hang these up in your closet when your done, and there you have it, a simple space saver for your shoes that can be made using old wire hangers. I don't even know how or when I got my hands on so many wire hangers since I never use them... but at least I've found a good use for them now :] Wish me luck on getting my closet organized XP

I hope you enjoyed today's activities. Check back next week for another wicked recipe!

An Amazing Breakfast Recipe

I'm really excited to be writing the first blog of a new weekly series discussing easy, awesome recipes for yourself and loved ones as well as some creative DIY projects. This week- an ultra yummy and easy breakfast recipe that tastes so good you'll be wondering where it's been your whole life.

As the days progress more and more I'm rushing out the door and eating more fast food than I'd like to admit. It's easy to forget, or simply not care about maintaining a healthy diet with as crazy and stressed out you can get with day to day activities. However, our diet can effect more than our waistlines but also our moods/ mental state and our skin and hair. With today's recipe I would like to introduce a simple, quick and delicious breakfast option that is packed with protein to keep you plenty full, and productive until lunch time. The star ingredient for this dish is avocado- an extremely healthy fruit that can make a big difference in your cholesterol, hair growth, as well as your skin's complexion. In fact, whether your a bride, married, or single- we all want that glowing, flawless complexion we secretly hate models for and by adding avocado and other healthy, skin clearing foods to your diet you can make great strides in achieving it.

Although I'm not sure of the “real” name for this recipe, in my house, I prefer to refer to it as the Super Protein Messy Ultra Breakfast... when I'm feeling dramatic :P

Ingredients and items you'll need:

• Your favorite bread or bagel ( 1 slice or ½ a bagel)
• 1 avocado
• lettuce
• 2-3 pieces of bacon
• 1 egg
• ½ a tsp of butter or your favorite non-stick cooking spray
• Parchment paper (optional- used to make extra crispy bacon in the oven)
• Skillet/ frying pan and spatula
• Baking pan (optional- also used to make extra crispy bacon in the oven
• Toaster

Step One

Due to the time it takes to cook bacon compared to everything else involved in this recipe, I'd suggest cooking the bacon first. Everyone is a little different on how that prefer their bacon to be cooked, a lot of people cook their bacon on the stove ( place your desired amount of slices onto your skillet or frying pan, set your stove to “medium” and allow it a few minutes to cook on one side before flipping it over and repeating the process until it's as cooked as you like) but I prefer extra crispy bacon with very little fat so I'll be cooking my bacon in the oven. To achieve the crispier bacon in the oven, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and cover your baking pan with parchment paper (found in the same isle as foil at your grocery store). While you're waiting for your oven to heat up, place your desired amount of bacon onto your baking sheet. Once in the oven, you cook the bacon as though you were cooking it on the stove- flipping it a few times to ensure even cooking. Once it's at your desired crispiness remove the bacon from the stove or oven and place it on a plate on your counter and cover it with paper towels.

*Please Note: If you're in a hurry, cooking your bacon, especially if it's thick, on the stove is a little faster than in the oven. If you have no time to spare, already fully cooked bacon is a nice option and is sold in most grocery stores.

Step Two

Now is the time to take your piece of bread or half of a bagel and put it into your toaster. Once toasted to your liking, place aside onto a plate.

Step Three

Before we cook the egg (which shouldn't take long), lets prepare your avocado/ the star of this recipe :P Begin by washing your avocado, then dry it off and place it on top of a paper towel or hand towel (this way it doesn't slide around while you cut it). Careful not cut yourself, use your knife to slowly slice your avocado lengthwise starting at the narrow end. You should be able to easily glide your knife through the avocado and around the large seed in the center. Holding the avocado in the palm of your hand, use your other hand to twist and rotate the two halves apart. Remove the seed (or leave it in if you plan to store one half) by slipping a spoon between the seed and fruit. Gently work the seed out of the fruit.

The outer skin or peel is easy to remove. Simply slice the avocado into wedges, then grasp the outer dark layer or skin and pull it away from the inner green flesh of the fruit. If some of the darker almost black portions of the skin remain on the green flesh of the fruit, simply cut them away. The yellow to green portions of the avocado are what you want. Do not consume the peel.

*Note: The skin may be more difficult to peel away on fruit that is not fully ripe. 

Step Four

Once you have some wedges of avocado sliced, place your lettuce on top of your bread/ bagel then add your desired amount of avocado (2-4 wedges depending on their size and how much you like avocado). Then place your bacon on top of your avocado. 

Note: If you have extra avocado, cover with plastic wrap or place into a small container and use the rest for another breakfast or make avocado spread for your sandwiches. There are an assortment of avocado spread recipes online but below is a link to one of my favorites for your convenience.

http://www.organicauthority.com/sauces-condiments-dressings/avocado-sandwich-spread-recipe.html

Step Five

For this recipe we'll be making our egg “sunny side up”. Grab your frying pan, throw in your butter, and place your temperature at “Medium Low- Medium” and get ready, these cook up fast. Once the butter has melted, crack your egg into the frying pan, be careful as to not to drop any of the shell into the pan. Do not flip, or scramble your egg, you want the yolk to remain together and runny. As soon as your egg is mostly white with a runny yolk in the center as shown below, remove your egg from the stove with a spatula and place it on top of the bacon on your bread.

Step Six

Savor the delicious looking breakfast in front of you and devour it before anyone else does XP

Warning: This meal is extremely tasty but extremely messy, have plenty of napkins at your disposal and eat over your plate or prepare to spill amazing flavor all over yourself!

Thank you for reading the first post of our new weekly blog on tasty recipes and DIY activities. I hope you enjoyed the above recipe and I hope you'll check back again next week for a fun DIY activity! For more healthy, skin clearing foods you can add to your diet check out the link below.

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/features/health-fitness/2011/02/top-20-skin-clearing-foods#!image-number=1