Birthday Parties: Super Mario Theme

My little cousin turns 6 next month (he is growing up too fast!) and he loves him some Super Mario Bros. Who wouldn't want a Super Mario themed birthday party?? I think Mario was part of everyone's childhood and continues to be a part of everyone's lives today! So it's only right that we throw him an awesome b-day party with everything Mario! I'm really excited about this because me and his mom have come up with some awesome idea's and my cousin is just as excited about it as we are. So first up, the invitations. Here are some pretty simple and fun invitations that I made. I think they turned out cute! I especially love that I was able to find the Super Mario font on one of my favorite sites, dafont. Next we are concentrating on some yummy food and goodies for the kids. I will be in the kitchen very soon testing some fun recipes! Stay tuned! :)

Things I Love: Nail Polish

I have an obsession with painting my nails. I paint my nails a different color every week, sometimes twice a week... I find it very therapeutic...I know...weird huh? But it's mostly because I love color and my favorite nail polish brand OPI comes out with new colors every other day it seems like. At the moment I am LOVING the latest colors from the Nicki Minaj collection. These are my kind of colors! So if you want a fun pop of color and a little bit of sparkle to get you through the rest of this chilly winter, pick yourself up some of this polish (preferably from the fantastic Public Beauty Supply & Salon)!! :)

Things I Love: Ikat

I am OBSESSED with ikat (pronounced ee-kaht, not eye-cat like most of us in my textiles class back at USU thought!) Ikat is a method of printing woven fabric by tie-dyeing the warp yarns, the weft yarns, or both before weaving. And let me tell you... the outcome is beautiful! I will probably find a way to incorporate ikat patterns in every room when I have my own house!

Yes, I do own these shoes! :)

Monster Room

I am so excited that I have the opportunity to help my brother create an awesome living space for himself! I have some really great ideas for his house and can't wait to get started. My brother has been open to my vision and is open to some really cool design concepts. His house is basically a blank canvas so that's a major plus! The first room we are concentrating on is the family/ tv room. I think it always helps to have some sort of inspiration when designing a room. Whether it's a fabric you really like or a wallpaper or a painting, it's always good to have something that you can base the room around and have a good jumping off point. In my brothers case it's his vintage monster movie posters. He has them in some nice black frames and they are a great inspiration for this room. What I'm most ecstatic about for this space is this absolutely beautiful and absolutely AMAZING wallpaper by Barbara Hulanicki (pictured below). Who knew that skull wallpaper could look this classy and stunning?? I am in love with it. It is a pricey paper so I'm going to use it on an accent wall but it will add a lot of impact. I'm so excited to get started so stay tuned for updates!!

The fabulous  Barbara Hulanicki wallpaper! 

A couple of the posters my brother has that will be displayed and have become the inspiration for the whole concept of the room.

Jewelry Organizer

I have been searching and searching trying to find the perfect thing to organize all of my jewelry and I finally found it!! I haven't been this excited about something in a really long time (it's the simple things, right?!) My jewelry was starting to become a mess on top of my dresser and I was forgetting about some of the beautiful pieces that I had cause they were all over the place. Yes, there are some very pretty and very fancy jewelry armoires out there and although I love them, it's not what I want right at this moment. I need something that doesn't take up a lot of space yet is still practical and holds a lot of jewelry. So my solution? This over the door jewelry organizer from The Company Store. I just got it the other day and it's amazing in my opinion! It holds the jewelry that I have and there is still plenty of room for more. You can never have too much jewelry! :)

Message Board

 I finally got around to finishing this project. It started out as me wanting to make something to hang my jewelry on but I soon realized that I have waaaay too much jewelry for this 18x24 inch frame. (I also found something completely amazing for all my jewelry which I will share in a later post!) So my next idea was to make a message board and it turned out better than I thought and was way easy to make! Here's how I made it:

I found this picture frame and painted it a fun bright yellow.

Next I cut some foam core board to fit inside the frame and spray glued some thin batting to it.

I laid out my fabric (cutest fabric ever!) and positioned my frame on it so that I knew what part of the fabric I wanted to use and where to cut.

I used thumb tacks to attach the fabric and batting to the foam core board.

When I got to the corners I pulled the corner up tightly and pinned it...

and pulled the sides up tightly and pinned them. I did that all the way around the board and cut off the extra fabric so that there wasn't so much bulkiness. After that I fastened the board into the frame like a normal picture and...

ta da!!!! A custom message board!!

Seriously... how cute is this??! I love it! Perfect to add to any room in your home.

Pin to-do lists, photos, messages, and whatever else you can think of! It might be too cute to cover up with anything though! :)

Melt Aways

So I have a major sweet tooth. I would choose dessert over an actual meal any day! I love all baked goods and there are plenty to enjoy around the holidays. This is one of my favorite cookies that my mom has been making for as long as I can remember. These cookies are amazing. Not only are they cute and so rich but they are sooooo easy to make! They are perfect to give to family, friends, and co workers for Christmas or to make for big holiday parties. Enjoy!

Melt aways
1 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter until fluffy. Add dry ingredients. Mix well and add vanilla. Take about 1/2 tsp of dough and roll into ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Frosting
3 oz cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat well together.