Cooking With Flowers {pretty cooking book from Anthropologie}

I have a soft spot for food with flowers. I do not know why! I just love them. Yesterday I went to Anthropologie just to look what they have in the store. And found a book titled 'Cooking With Flowers'. Immediately I put back the two items {a plate and a bowl} I had in my hand in  exchange to this book. 

I am in love with all the recipes using flowers in this books. Take a look at these pictures; orchid pineapple upside down cake, pansies petal pancakes, popcorn chive blossom cupcakes, violet teacakes and many more recipes using flowers. There are geraniums, lilacs, hibiscus, elderflower {I am not sure what this is}, daylilies and more.

I am not quite sure if I can use flower petals from regular flowers store. I think I have to find organic flowers so that it is edible and safe to eat.

If you have your own flower garden and you love cooking and baking; this book is perfect for you. The title is 'Cooking with Flowers' - Sweet and Savory Recipes with Rose Petals, Lilacs, Lavender, and Other Edible Flowers by Miche Bacher of Mali B Sweets

 

I hope you had a great week so far. And wishing you a wonderful week end!

Thank you so much for reading.


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Linked to;
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Savvy Southern Style 

Winner announcement of 2 20" Decorative Pillow Cases + Glam Rock Chain Bracelet {GIVEAWAY}

I want to say 'thank you so much' to all of You who participated this giveaway. To those of you who are not so lucky this time; I will have another giveaway in the future. Usually curiositaellya giveaway is something that she creates herself that is worthy for you to have. I want you to cherish the prize and hopefully can be something useful in your household. 

Well without further a do here is the announcement of this giveaway winner.

"Thank you so much Everyone!"

Congratulations to Lisa Ehrman! 

Thank you All and have a nice day!

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Thank you........!

Hello.

I want to say 'thank you' to You All for giving me such a sweet comments on my blog posts lately. I have been joining blog parties for the past 2-1/2 months and I must say that  I have been having a wonderful time so far. It is such a joy  to have met you from  across the globe and I wanted you to know that there is nothing like receiving a sweet and lovely comment from you over a hard working project. And from the bottom of my heart 'thank you so much!' I can honestly say that I am happy to be your friend and my  wish is to continue to support you as well.

Last Sunday I  watched my husband 'Steven' playing a tennis match. And he won! He was so thrilled about this. And as we drove out from the tennis complex to go home I asked Steven to stop the car and take  a bunch of these flowers that grows a long side of the street. I know very well the fact that people does not like you pick flowers anywhere. I have been begging Steven to stop and just pick a stem or two. And so he did this time. These shrub/trees are all over the side of the street in Long Island New York right now. I am sure they are also growing around your area. I love these shrubs spring flowers very much. They are a tree with hard branches and tiny little white or pink petals sometime yellow color too. I wish I had a garden where I could plant these shrubs. And just grab some to decor our home.

I was  worry in the car when saw the flowers were starting to get soft and droopy.  So I immediately put them in a bulbous vase and put some  food flower powder in it. Oh I was so happy to see them starting to get fresh again. Then I took these pictures for you. And in fact they are still fresh in my living room right now.

This is a short post to say 'Thank you' to You All {I am sorry it turned out to be a long one}. And I am thinking about you  and wishing you a 'happy spring time!'

This afternoon I went out around our home  and took a few pictures of trees that are blooming right now. This is the happiest time of the year. The weather is starting to get warmer; cool nice spring weather. Flowers are blooming; I hear birds chirping. People are smiling. Steven and I starting to make plan about what to do for the next 3 months like sports, traveling, party, etc. And what most happiest for me is that my son is here in Seattle right now. And will be coming here and spend some time with us.  I miss him very much! Can't wait to hug him again.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

And happy spring time Everyone!

Mother's Day Chalk Board Card {DIY}

What is the best present to give to a mother for a mother who lives far a way on the other side of the globe like my mother?

I know this would be a perfect gift for her because it would reminds her of when she thought me on how to do embroidery stitches when I was a little girl. My mother was a good seamstress and very good in sewing and in embroidery. In fact she is very good in anything; cooking, gardening, crafting, anything that has to do of creating things  with her two hands. And I think I got these traits from her. I knew she would be thrilled opening the envelope to find this pretty card from her daughter tucked inside upon arriving.

I am going to send this card away tomorrow. So here are the images of this lovely mother's day chalk board card.

 

I am so in love with this skeleton key tied with a pink velvet ribbon. Got it from Ebay.  I styled and put this key on my inspiration board too. Last seen here.

I also love this sugar bowl I got at Goodwill in Delray Florida for USD 1.50. I am crazy for a small pretty thing like this one. Although it is the only one and missing the lid and  the creamer; it is always useful to put flower on and display it somewhere in your living room.  And also pretty as  a background for photo styling like these images.

If you are interested in making this card {of course you can make it for any other occasions too} you will find the step by step tutorial here.

I do hope You had a fantastic week end.

And thank you so much for stopping by!

Linked to;

Lolly Jane
Green Willow Pond 
Savvy Southern Style 

How to Make Mother's Day Chalk Board Card {DIY}

What you need;

~ A piece of fabric; paper or trimming or ribbon

~ One color of embroidery skein.

~ Embroidery sewing needle with an eye large enough for embroidery threads to pass through.

~  Fabric Glue {Fabri-Tac}

~ Craft black acrylic paint.

~ Brush.

~ Smallest embroidery hoop.

~ Strathmore {or other brand} Water color paper. Available at Michaels or any art store.

~ A piece of muslin fabric. 

~ Pencil marking for fabric.

~ Non sanded grout. (picture is not here!) Non sanded grout is a powder like and can be purchased at Home Depot. It comes in a small plastic jar and cost about USD 5.00. Do not buy the big bag of this; it is way too much for this project unless you are using if for your home. The smallest size is the one that cost about USD 5.00. (Still it is way too much for this project but I have no choice)

~ Chalks.

(note; I saw a chalk board spray paint at Michaels. I never tried this so I can't say much about this.)

How to make the 'heart embellishment.'

1. Using pencil marking, draw a small heart  1-3/4" x 2-1/4" in  size.

Start stitch french knot all the way on top of the  line first. To learn on how to do the french knot stitch; please check it out here.

2. Then stitch all of the inside as well. When finished and with pink color embroidery threads stitch a back stitch or basting on the outer heart shape. 

3. Cut the fabric giving a 1/4" from the edge of the heart shape.

4. Cut 1/4" embellishment paper or fabric (preferably with patters) of your choice.

How to prepare the background {card}

1. In a small plastic cup; using a brush mix 2 or 3 tablespoon black acrylic paint and 1/2 teaspoon non sanded grout. {I looked for the smallest jar of the non sanded grout in Home Depot but they did not have any. I told her that I only need the smallest size because I only need 2 or 4 tablespoon the most for my project. She was kind enough to open a big bag of non sanded grout and pour some on a plastic wrap for me for free as shown on below image.}

2. Brush the entire paper and let it dry for about 15 minutes.  To speed up the drying process you can put it in the oven for the lowest temp. Then cut to the size you want. Mine is 12 width and 7 height. You want to fold it in the middle. So it will becoming a  6" x 7" size card. I drew a dot line in the middle where the card to be folded; you can paint only the front side only and not the back side. It is up to you.

3. Take a chalk and rub the side of the chalk lightly and randomly onto the surface of the card on the front side. Then wipe it off with soft cotton cloth. This is to give a used chalk board look. Tie a ribbon on the folded part of the card.

 Glue the embroidered heart onto the paper heart or onto the fabric heart. Then glue it onto the card. Using chalk; write any words wishes you like to put on the card. Voila, you are done!

Another example on how to embellish the card. You can use what ever material and any shape of object you want. If any of you knows on how to seal the chalk in place so it is not easily rubbed off; please let me know. I tried hair spray but it did not work.

More images of this card {here}.

All materials are available at Michaels or Jo Ann Fabrics.

~~~oo00oo~~~

Good luck Everyone! And have a nice Monday!

How to make Beaded Push Pins/Pin Board - Inspired by Anthropologie {DIY}

What you need;

~ Cotton fabrics. The thin one is better. Mine are fabric quilts bought at Jo Ann Fabrics.

~ Sewing needle and thread

~ Scissor

~ Various color of seed beads

~ Various sizes of flat buttons

~ Thumbtacks

~ Loctite glue

{more pictures of the actual board with it's beaded push pins; here}

1. Cut a square shape of fabric larger than the button.

2. Cut fabrics on the four angles and cut it into a circular shape.

3. Fold approx. 2/8" and do the basting stitches around it. End where you started.

4. Put button in the middle and slowly pull the thread to create  scrunch wrap around the button. 

(Continued below)

5. Do not cut the thread.

6. Insert three beads and sewn in to secure. 

7. Repeat process no. 6 until beads sewn in all around.

(Note; you can sew some beads in the middle as well if you want.)

8. To get variety of push pins repeat the entire process with different pattern and different color of beads. After all, you need many push pins for your board.

Do you see how pretty they are with different color of fabrics, beads and sizes?

Last, take the beaded piece and squirt a generous amount of Loctite glue on the back and put one thumbtack on the glue and in the middle. It will dry fast for about 3 minutes.

I love how these 'home made beaded push pins' inspired by Anthropologie looks. They are pretty on the inspiration board too! {here}

~~~oo00oo~~~

Have a nice week-end Everyone!

Home Made BEADED PUSH PINS Inspired by Anthropologie {DIY}

A while a go I spotted these cutest pin boards I ever seen on the internet at Anthropologie {here}. I immediately drawn to it and inspired by it. Right away when saw it on my computer monitor for the first time; I just knew  the step by step on how to create them in my head. 

I never really thought much about it until a few days a go. I had all the materials with me so why not give it a try. And I went back to Anthropologie website {here} I could not find  the pin boards anymore. I think they were sold out. I was thrilled on how fast and easy creating these little pretty things were. And they are very pretty too.

At the same time I brought over to New York an antique frame I bought in Delray Florida. I took the old picture out {because I wanted only the frame for my inspiration board}. I covered a foam board with muslin fabric and inserted onto the frame. Now I have a beautiful inspiration board! 

I knew exactly what to pin on the board and with these little pretty beaded pin boards I made; my inspiration board will looks stunning.

Inspired by the new Great Gatsby movie; I gathered these tear sheets pictures from Vogue magazine to create 'a mix of vintage and modern flapper fashion.' And I love the look of this board so much that I display it in my living room.

Here they are and please tell me what do you think! Tutorial of these beaded pin boards {here}

Do you see how pretty those beaded push pins are? I think so. I think they are much better to display for a pretty board like this one rather than using regular office push pins.

I love flapper fashion. Particularly these dresses and  the accessories. The color is muted greyish, silvery pink and purple. I love these color very much. The kind that aged and dusty over period of time. I think I would love to have an interior color based on this inspiration board and all colors on it. Right now I can only imagine and dream until whenever it is we are moving into our new home.

This is the board final resting. I really do not have  space or wall for this board. So I put it on top of our 'hope chest' with other vignettes. Although I do not like the painting I did { a long time a go}  behind it {well not together with this pretty board} I think she is okay sitting pretty over there for now.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and

have a lovely week-end Everyone!

Linked to;
Lolly Jane
Green Willow Pond 
Savvy Southern Style