Friday, December 21, 2012

4 Favorites

Holy cow. Where did this week go... and I have only posted once... That is what I thought about last night when I was trying to fall asleep. Which seems to be the usual these days, full-on sugar plums dancing in my head and stuff and no sleep. But, a great, busy week all round.

 
1. Pretty, wrapped Christmas presents for my niece and nephew.
2. My darling hubby being extremely helpful while wrapping Christmas presents last night... Uncle bob is going to be rattled that Dave was wearing his new sweater...
3. A new, and very exciting adventure for me that I hope to share more about with you in the new year. Hint... you can buy things designed by me...
4. Some festive rice krispy treats I made for a holiday celebration.
 
Have a fantastic Friday all- 4 more sleeps until the jolly man visits!
xo
C

 
 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

I'm Loving: Wrapping Essentials

Hi All!
I hope you had a great weekend. Did you finish your Christmas shopping? I am super close... only a few more deadly things to get at Ikea- which will be terrifying right now. I have a table full of exciting presents to wrap and I have to be honest, I think I almost get more excited about wrapping than I do about what is actually in the wrapping paper. I used to watch Martha Stewart when I was little (yes, when I got home after school I would watch TLC's Trading Spaces and Martha Stewart- which probably explains a lot....) and I will never forget the episode when she pulled out her bone folder (basically a plastic tongue depressor) to make her wrapping paper corners crisp... I was hooked. Now I don't use a bone folder (seriously, who has the time?) but I do take my wrapping seriously. A few tips- Use only one or two different papers, bonus marks if they coordinate with each other and one or two types of embellishments. This year I am using white and silver striped paper, and grey and white twine- totes chic. I will take pics this afternoon when I hopefully finish!

A few essentials to make your gifts look awesome regardless of your skill level... (Seriously, even if you wrapped your presents in news paper and topped them off with glittery pom poms, you would impress!)



Divine Twine. This is really a life essential, you can use it to package anything and it will look professional and cute. I used a bunch of the gold and white twine to package my wedding invites and it looked awesome!
Kraft and Red Paper- total go-to not only for Christmas, but for everyday use as well. It's neutral background allows you to do everything from draw on it, to wrap a wedding gift.
Kraft Shipping Tags- perfect for writing a personalized note with your Metallic Sharpies!
Heirloom Scissors... Okay... they don't have to look like this- but I just REALLY want these to have on my desk to look gorgeous and legit. They would obviously be a huge help to cut anything.... Ha...
Amazingly cheap and cheerful string from Ikea. Love you.
Glittery Pom Poms to top presents and make the wrapping look more exciting than the actual present its self... check!
Merry Christmas Washi tape. Make your crappy taping job look like it has purpose with washi tape.

Happy Christmas-is-a-week-today Day!
xo

Friday, December 14, 2012

Four Favorites

What a kick ass week! Anyone? Yes? No? I have to say, this week was beyond productive- but man I am glad its Friday. It has been a long one as well.
Oh- and its official, my new Lumia 920 and I are great friends- I just have to remember that I have it so I take more pictures when I am out and about- the camera is incredible on it!!!

This is a slightly different edition of 4 favorites... it should be called "here are some random things I would like to share with you".

The first:

I have been doing a bunch of work this week in coffee shops with Christmas'y drinks in hand. It's been a nice change from my home office and of course there is nothing wrong with Christmas carols playing in the background...

The Second:

The Wacom Bamboo Create Tablet is at the top of my Christmas wish list this year. It allows you to sketch and design right onto your computer. Find it here, this would be a great last minute gift idea for anyone that loves design.

The Third:

After seeing Emily's DIY Gift Wrapping Station this week on Cupcakes and Cashmere I cant stop thinking about where I could immediately implement this in my own home. I also cant stop thanking about all of the pretty things I want to buy and display in my gift wrapping area... I am pretty sure it supposed to work the other way around (this is supposed to corral all of your stuff.... not make an excuse to buy more of it), but whatever makes you happy! Right?!

The Fourth:

I saw this Peppermint Meringue Cookie recipe in Chatelaine last weekend and fully had the intention of trying it out, but of course the week got away from me and now it is Friday and I have no pretty cookies to show for it. So, I hope to pump these beauties out this weekend and have a full report for you next week!

Have a HAPPY WEEKEND team!
xo
C

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Loving: Heath Ceramics

Heath.






Gorgeous right? I agree with your good taste, I think they are stunning too.
Second Question of the day: How is it December 11th?
I am not asking because I'm mad; it makes me giddy to even say it. I am quite excited about this, except that I feel like the festive season is slipping away SO quickly and I am missing it! You heard it here first: I am going to make a better effort to bake and do holiday activities starting now! Speaking of which... if you aren't done your Christmas shopping (I haven't started...AGH, and I LOVE shopping- it is basically my job for crying out loud!), maybe something from Heath Ceramics will fit the bill? I am crazy-in-love with their designs. They have the warmth of country charm with the lines of something clean and modern- totally my style these days.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Amazing. Just love them all.
Have a great Tuesday.
xo
C



Monday, December 10, 2012

Weekend Screening

A few quick snippets from this weekend today! I had my highly anticipated silk screening workshop yesterday and it was SO SO SO fun. Fun and great. And exciting... I am totally pumped about exciting things happening over here at Design + Doughnuts, and I can't wait to share them with you in the next week or so!

This super awesome workshop was at Model Citizen in Kensington Market. It was taught by the owner, Julian, who is a total rock star and very talented to boot. That's him in number 3. I would highly recommend this workshop to anyone remotely interested in printing and/or textile design. It was totally user friendly and you will leave knowing how to create just about anything your heart desires.




























 
  1. That's Kirsten- she's a gem, showing off her stapling skills. We first had to stretch the screen across a wooden frame- you can buy these premade- but clearly it is WAY cooler to say you know how to make your own!
  2. I am concentrating very hard here... cutting off excess screen after the stapling extravaganza.
  3. I just realized these are out of order... this was Julian showing us how to make our images see-through with his secret ingredient... Before this step we covered the screens in a light sensitive glaze and had to put them in a dark room to dry for 20 minutes. That was when we went to...
  4. The Grilled Cheese which might possibly be one of my favorite lunch spots in the city. I had the Hamlet, which was as good as it looks.  
 

5. When we returned from lunch we "shot" the screens on a light table, rinsed them off and...
6. Started printing!!!
 
An amazing course with endless possibilities...
And guys, so sorry for the late post today... 1/4 was written in my office this morning, 1/4 in a Starbucks in Barrie, 1/4 in a parking lot in Barrie and now the last 1/4 at home. Cray Cray day.
xo
C

Friday, December 07, 2012

4 Favorites

We made it. I am still alive. I can't believe it. What a week of highs and lows. I am really looking forward to my silk screening workshop on Sunday, a little bit of chill time and getting a head start on next weeks work load (in that order...). A few favorites from this week:


  1. Our Christmas tree is up, compete with the tack-o-riphic star on top that Dave refuses to let me switch out... Pick your battles right... like a new couch... that would be a better battle. And secretly I kind of like the touch of tacky...
  2. I have created a Christmas Card Wall of Honor this year. I was getting a little overwhelmed with cards covering every surface of our house last year, so I decided the front entry hall with some tacks, string and clothespins would do the trick. TAADAA.
  3. My new, beautiful phone (Lumia 920)... that I still can't get activated (got it last night... so it's not like I have aggressively tried). We aren't besties yet... but I think it will happen.
  4. An awesome "Partay" print by Laura Ruth. I am feeling very strongly about needing it somewhere in my house to make me smile. I would feel like someone was blowing sparkles in my face every time I looked at it- and I am into that.
Happy FRIDAY. WOOP
xo
C

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Our Kitchen Was Smitten

Two weeks ago Dave and I went up to Collingwood to visit with my mom and spend a little time getting ready for ski season. It was beyond festive with a crazy snow storm and tons of baking. My mom had just bought the new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and was obsessed, not only with the recipes, but the writing as well. Deb has a knack for making anyone feel like they can cook out of her book and laugh along with her, just as if you were standing beside her. So obviously I felt we needed to take this book for a serious test drive and make a whole dinner from it, complete with Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies for dessert (SO good).

We made a few substitutions here and there based on what we had in the fridge, but everything worked out perfectly. We made the Fig Challah, and substituted the fig filling for a spicy asiago cheese filling... what could be bad about that right!? I loved that the switch-up worked, and the bread was buttery and light. The Leek Fritters were just as crispy and tasty as they look- we added some zucchini as well, to stretch the recipe for 6 of us and it worked perfectly- the lemon dipping sauce was a must with it too.






















The Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies are a must-make (I did cut the cookies a little thick, but they were still totally decedent). Hungry yet? We also made the Wild Rice and Kale Gratin, which was cheesy and delish- its behind the multiple bottles of wine in the picture, and a little Pork Tendy for the non-veggies in the group. On the right is my super cute mom, brushing egg wash on our crazy-beautiful challah. She will hate this picture, because she is in the kitchen- every photo I have of her she is in the kitchen, minus my wedding. Seriously though, I hope I am that cute when I am her age!
 
Cooking by the fire is always fun!
 
So Deb, well done. The Smitten Kitchen cookbook is awesome and I would highly recommend it for everyone on your Christmas List this year!
 
Happy Hump Day Team!
xo
C

Monday, December 03, 2012

A 90th Reminder



Yesterday was my Nana's 90th Birthday party. I know. N-I-N-E-T-Y. Pretty incredible. Not only is sweet Edith ninety, she looks like she is 75, still drives around in her burgundy beast and is the sweetest person I know. Some amazing things were said at her party last night that made me reflect on how incredibly lucky I am to have such an amazing family. She had 30 of her closest friends (yes, 30, they must all have a secret well in their building), her 2 children, 7 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren all in one room last night. With the holiday season upon us, I think it is always important to step back and remember how lucky we all are to have such amazing supportive people around us. I am already looking forward to her chocolate covered noodle cookies in a couple of weeks and possibly one of her favorites- a holiday G&T!
Here's to another 10 Nana!
xo