12 Days of "Kiss-Much" Wreath and Rose Petals

As I walked into Michael's craft store I saw the most magnificent wreath hanging in the entrance. My eyes glazed over...."ooooh how muuuuuuuuch....?

$80.00

No.
Maybe?
No.
Please?
No.
Sigh.

I walked away.
I walked back.
I walked away.
I walked back.

I noticed something, a big sign I'd somehow missed before "All wreaths 60% off".

Yes!

I took it to the checkout counter. "It's military Wednesday, if you are military you can have an additional 10% off your purchase, including sale items!" The clerk says to me.

YES! I proudly procure my military ID.

"Hmmmm, this wreath is not ringing up at the right price...Just wait a minute I'll try this again." He apologizes.

I stand there blissfully day dreaming of hanging the wreath on our bedroom door. How beautiful it will look, how romantic. I'll hang notes from it. I'll tuck love birds into the branches. He'll slowly open the door and peek past the greenery, and golden ribbon, and see....

Our beautifully made bed!
With rose petals...
OH, YES! ROSE PETALS!
Glorious, heavenly, rose petals.
Oh my goodness, how perfect.
Sheer perfection!
Tra, la-la, la-la! My heart is singing!

Hmm? What's that?

"You have been so patient with our delay in getting this wreath wrung up,
you can have an additional 10% off!" The clerk smiles.

That eighty dollar wreath, is now 80% off!

Merry Kiss-Much to me!

-Domestic Diva

More romantic ideas:

-Cover his dashboard with compliments written on sticky notes
-Decorate the mantel and light a fire, sip your favorite drink in your best glasses
-Drink hot chocolate by candle-light
-Bubble baths....

12 Days of "Kiss-Much"

Today as I was vacuuming in occurred to me that today is 12-12-12, what a once in a lifetime date! I thought it would be really fun if I came up with something clever to commemorate this date when an idea popped into my head..."What if I do something clever and romantic for Mr. Nickerson for the next 12 days! Leading up right up to the night before Christmas Eve! The Twelve Days of 'Kiss-Much!'"

The more I thought about it, the giddier I got, indicating that this is a winning idea! As fate would have it, last night around midnight I felt inspired to write Josh a love note and leave it by his car keys to find this morning on his way out the door to work. So day one was covered, before even getting the idea! Yet another indication that this is a truly inspired idea! 

So, day one of my "Merry Kiss-Much" was a love letter.

If you'd like to join me in my 12 days of Kiss Much with your sweetie, please join in the fun and let me know in the comments what romantic idea you came up with for your Love! I need all the ideas I can get, I'm sort of singing this one by ear, which actually makes it pretty fun!

Ideas for day two:

Hang a wreath on our bedroom door

Make Josh white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies (The ones that one his heart back in highschool)

Dance to Christmas music

Make a paper stocking with a love coupon inside

-The Domestic Diva

Sock Cupcakes

Need a fun and unique gift idea, that is inexpensive? Try making a sock cupcake! They are quick and  easy to make, and SO much fun!

You will need the following materials:

One pair of fuzzy socks, (I bought mine at Walmart, they came in a pack of two for $1.97)

rubber bands

glue gun

One 12x12 piece of scrapbooking paper

1 straight pin

ruler

scissors or paper trimmer

Paper crimper (optional)

ribbons, flowers, pom poms, candle or a leaf for decorating the top.

Instructions:

To begin, simply lay out your socks one staggered slightly over the other.

Now, roll the socks into a roll, begin at the toes, and try to keep the stagger, working from the toe up to the top of the sock. The stagger creates an extra layer of "icing" the toe of the sock is going to be the heap of icing at the top of the cupcake so this is the part that needs to look pretty.

Continue rolling till you get to the end. Then secure with a rubber band. Keep the bottom (the top of the sock) the tightest, and give the toe a little more give. You can squish and mold the sock to look perfect later on.

I like to use at least two rubber bands.

The tighter you can keep the base, the better. Having a smaller base, and fuller icing gives the proportion a more romanticized feel. 

Now, cut a 2 inch strip of paper from off your 12x12 sheet. I have found most tutorials recommend a 4 inch strip, but 2 inches allows for a more classic, romanticized looking cupcake. It's all about proportion. If you want you can run the paper through a crimper, to really give it the cupcake feel!

I found my paper crimper at Joanne's for 20 dollars, I splurged since I planned to make a cupcake for all my friend's birthday gifts this year, and I made a big batch to sell at a local gift shop. But this is certainly a preference, not a necessity.

Now, roll the paper around the base of the cupcake and tape at the seam. This is your adorable cupcake liner! If you want you can cut the excess paper off, or just roll it all around, but you want it tight. The base needs to be smaller than the top. I keep stressing this, because like all good design, proportion is so IMPORTANT or it just looks "off" and you don't know why. 

Note, as you can see, this cupcake needs a little tucking, once your paper is secure, tuck whatever sock might be spilling out the bottom, and smoosh the top to shape it with the cup of your hand to round it out a bit. Tuck in little corners, or unroll a little as you need to, in order to make it look more like a fluffy frosting.

Okay, now that you have your cupcake all tucked into the perfect shape, you get to do the fun part! Decorating! There are so many ways to top a cupcake, I really suggest you just sift through your craft stash and pick out a few of those odds and ends to throw together and turn into a topper. Here are a few of the ideas I came up with from some things I had on hand.

You can just browse through the pictures if you want, or read through my little "how to's" for toppers but remember, this TRICK- glue a pin to the bottom of your topper to stick on the top of the cupcake, that way you don't have to tape, or glue or ruin the sock. Okay, so here we go, a few pictures of my favorite toppings!!!!

CANDLE TOPPERS

CHERRY TOPPER

SPRINKLES! (I used fake snow for decorating little Christmas villages, displays, or window sills!)

This one, I topped with rhinestones and placed the flower on the base of the cupcake with ribbon. It was my first cupcake however, and the proportions were still in the works so this has a 4 inch liner, and I really prefer the 2 inch, but you can experiment and find what works best for you!

Now, for some topper ideas and instructions!

layer a few flowers together, with a drop of hot glue between each flower. I like to buy flowers on sale at Michaels and pull them apart then mix and match different hues to create greater visual interest.

I used a rose petal as a back drop to the piece here. Just add a drop of glue to attach.

Next, I added a candle and a leaf.

Then comes the rosette-oh this is so fun! And SO cute! I love making these, writing this tutorial makes me want to go make more of these!

Finally, glue the straight pin at the bottom of the entire piece, note that if you want to include ribbons, curly or fabric it works best to glue this to the underside of the flower piece as well, I add it before the straight pin.

While I LOVE the flower toppers, nothing say "cucake" like a cherry on top! For this, all you need are your flowers a leaf and a red pom pom.

Here I layered a rose petal and white flower, then layered the pom pom on top. Don't forget the leaf! That pop of green just makes it perfect!

WARNING! Once you get the hang of making these, it's very hard to stop....

Have fun!

-DD

The Bubble Bath Book.

I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. Sad, every time I think of the fact that in just a few days I would have had an appointment to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time, devastated that this July will roll around and I will not be welcoming a baby into the world as I was so eagerly anticipating. I dreamed last night that the miscarriage was a big misunderstanding, something I'd dreamed up, and in my arms was a beautiful cherub faced blue eyed baby that looked suspiciously like Scotty when he was a newborn :) I was overjoyed, and crying to my husband, "Look, look, the baby is here it was all a dream that we'd lost him!" Almost as if in direct response to my deep sorrow I've had a sore throat for the last three days, which I find remarkably symbolic, because I am a singer and sing my joy into every day! But my heart is sad, and I have not felt the urge to sing lately. And so, my throat got sick. As I'm looking for ways to cope with my sadness I've found one thing to be truly distracting, and healing, bubble baths.

I once found a magazine advertisement when I was in middle school of this beautiful black and white image of a woman standing in front of a free standing bath tub, wearing a beautiful gown, and a hand full of bubbles. The caption read : "take a hot bath with bubbles, forget all your troubles." In my youthful excitement over the ad that seemed to speak the truth of my soul I cut up the perfectly designed, wonderfully photographed, ad and turned it into the collage you see above. I still have an affinity for making collages I'm afraid, and butcher many a graphic artist's master pieces. Here is a close up of the image that so profoundly struck me in my youth.

Oh how my little awkward tweeny self wanted to be that beautiful, tall, elegant woman. How I wanted my world to be that free standing (no doubt copper) bath tub, with claw feet, glowing candles in the back ground, the scent of  my perfume hanging in the air, a bottle of sparkling cider and grapes for a snack, a fabulous floor to ceiling window flanked on either side by two grand columns, whose view, once those blinds were drawn, would surely be a breathtaking display of a velvet night sky speckled with stars and illuminated by a full moon. Ah, bliss, and do I even need to mention the fact that Prince Charming would quietly slip into the scene after I'm ensconced in bubbles, kiss my neck, stroke my hair and be every definition of romantic there is? Angels would probably hover over us and play Puccini on their harps of gold, and in a most timely manner sprinkle rose petals over us as if to shower us in the physical manifestation of passion, which to an eleven year old is, of course, roses. Lots, and lots of roses.

When my young eyes fell upon this picture and read those words for the first time "Take a hot bath with bubbles, forget all your troubles" it seemed to ingrain itself into my soul as the answer to everything. At that moment I officially converted to the wonders of the bubble bath, and it has been a tried and true solution to any and all sorts of stress in my life. I have had the experience of the indulgent bliss of a magnificent bath tub on many occasions, there's no going back for me, bath tubs will always be the number one solution to any problem or sadness I face.

As you can imagine I've taken many baths as of late. Today while my sweet Prince Charming held our rambunctious three year old at bay (Just as romantic as my eleven year old version if you ask this mommy) I hid out in our not so copper, not so claw footed, very builder grade bath tub, turned on my music, opened a book and ahhhhhhh, bliss. Amazing how hot water and bubbles can transform even the most un-extraordinary place into a haven.

As I was lounging and reading, a sudden thought began to dance around in my head. "If I could write any book in the world, I would write a book about the wonders of a bubble bath...." The idea seemed intriguing, and suddenly I saw pages filled with my own favorite bath recipes, pictures of grand bathrooms, a history of the bath, home spa treatments, a section on creating ambiance, the health benefits of baths, different uses for essential oils in baths, and because I'm a touch OCD, how to clean a bathtub, naturally. Because who wants to bathe in bleach? Really. Suddenly, I felt like my life had a focus and purpose, a thrilling challenge to conquer, and joyous journey to explore, and an expression of a passion I've held since my youth.

And so, we shall see where this takes me. Perhaps the idea was nothing more than a moment of joyful anticipation and bliss over a new creative expression for myself. But if more is to come of it, I will surely share it here.

In the meantime, take a hot bath with bubbles, and forget all your troubles!

-Heidi

Saturday July 2, Golden moment #34

On Saturday, I helped my mom host a baby shower for my younger sister. We created more of a little social get together with good food and time to talk. We invited husband's as well, and chose to opt out of games. The decorations were requested by the new mom to be blue and orange, and I have to admit, it was a pretty cute event! Here are a few pictures!

I have another sister studying culinary arts, her contributions to the event were the cupcakes!

We really lucked out with all the blue and orange we were able to find. Must be the season.

Each flower arrangement had a dinosaur sticker on the vase, this was totally my mom, and I thought it was absolutely ingenious!

All in all, it was a fabulous and fun gathering, I had a wonderful time putting it all together with my mom. If you missed the invitations I made for this event, you can check them out here.

-DD

Golden Moment #29 Look what I made!

Sooooo, my mom and I are throwing a baby shower for my sister, who just had her first baby, and I volunteered to make the invitations, the cuteness factor on these measure gold! Our theme is blue and orange (With a splash of lime green) and dinosaurs. I know, ADORABLE! After receiving one of these invites in the mail all you have to do is slide the ribbon off....

And ooooohhh, the peek through window is just so intriguing...look at that adorable dinosaur just sitting there looking so happy on that pretty little piece of vellum which adds just another spark of intrigue as you pull it back to reveal the "Dinosaur Fact Sheet" or actual party information! So it reads like the pages of a book, cover, front page, and information. I'm pretty happy with it myself!

Just 17 more to go...yeah, it's all good. Only 1:00 in the morning, there's still plenty of time left before I go crazy right? He he he-Yeah, this post will count for June 27, even though technically the clock says it's the 28th, but it's been a crazy busy day and I've still got quite a few of these to throw together if I'm going to mail them off  by tomorrow morning! Wish me luck!

Any projects keeping you up lately?

-DD