Recipe time! Leela's favorite scramble

I am back! Adios writer's block (I hope). Anyhoo, I was pretty hungry today and my fridge needed a little cleaning. So I used whatever I had on hand and made a scrumptious scramble. It was super easy to make.  Give it a try!

Leela's favorite scramble

Ingredients: feel free to use whatever you have on hand. No measurements provided, because this is a pretty forgiving recipe. This is what I used:

3 eggs

ham

cherry tomatoes
zucchini
hearts of palm (Costco offers amazing deals)
parmesan cheese
garlic
salt and pepper
parsley flakes
olive oil

Cut the ham into small pieces. Sautee it in olive oil until golden brown.

 

Dice zucchini. Add it to the pan along with minced garlic and cook it, in medium heat, for 2 minutes.

In a bowl, add eggs, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, parsley, hearts of palm and salt and pepper. Beat it.

Add egg mixture to the pan. Cook without stirring, until eggs begin to set. 

At that point, stir the eggs until roughly scrambled. Keep doing this until eggs are fully cooked, about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm. 

Enjoy!

 PS: It tastes even better if you somehow manage to get your significant other to do the dishes and clean your mess afterwards. Just sayin'....

Let me know what you think. Speaking of which, do you guys like seeing recipes here on the blog? Or do you prefer to hear about projects I am currently working on? I would very much appreciate some feedback :)

Enjoy!

Sunday chuckle

This video is shared in honor of our bulldog (and son) Melvyn. Melvyn was with us for a little over a year before he disappeared. He was an 8-week old puppy when we got him in Southern California. Although he did not surf, skateboard or snowboard, he was a mean soccer player. Melvyn wherever you are I hope that you know your Mommy, Daddy and sister miss you tremendously. It was an honor to have had you in our lives (even if it was for such a short period of time, and even though it still hurts that you are no longer with us). We love you.

Sorry I have been absent over this past week. I just had a bad case of writer's block and a whole lot of stuff on my plate.

Hope you have a great Sunday! Thanks for stopping by xoxo

Sunday chuckle

Source

Really? Really? Oh well, me too. Have a happy Sunday everyone!

More baby shower goodness

The outside of Mrs. H.'s uncle's house is so gorgeous, we only added a few extra touches. I made some pink and beige tissue paper pom poms. They were so easy (and inexpensive) to make and I think they looked adorable. We had lots and lots of chairs and a few small tables next to some of the chairs (covered in plastic table covers we got from the Dollar Store) so as to give people a place to put their drinks and plates.

We also added a gift table by the entryway and 2 large rectangular tables (found at Costco, also covered in plastic table covers) which we used to serve the food. We opted to keep all the food and drinks outside and the sweet stuff inside.

I put a bowl (that I got at Michaels, for 40% off), with pink rocks, water and a few pink daisies right where both tables met.

I wish I had more pictures of all the food we made, but we were running a bit late... We served pigs in a blanket (made by yours truly), clam dip & potato chips (made by hubby), veggie platters, chicken salad sammies, ham and cheese croissants, chicken tenders with ranch and bbq sauce, semi-homemade potato salad, cheese & crackers, fruit salad and tequenos.

And do you see the two tier trays we used to serve the cheese and crackers and chicken salad sammies? They used to be ugly Dollar Store silver trays! Tutorial coming soon.

We also served water, soda, sun tea, tropical punch and strawberry lemonade with fresh raspberries. 

We played so many fun games: guess how big momma is, feed the baby, baby raffle... Feed the baby was the best game and it was Mrs. H.'s idea! We bought baby bottles at the Dollar Store, filled them with milk, picked 3 couples, had the "boys" wear a diaper (depends), and the "girls" had to bottle feed the boys. It was hilarious to say the least!

We had lots of prizes, neatly stored in pink and white bags with a bow and a tag (that said Mrs. H.'s baby shower - 08/06/11)...

Let's not forget the party favors: Hershey's kisses (silver and pink) in beautiful organza bags. Who doesn't like Hershey's kisses?!?

Although we did not reinvent the wheel (you can see where most of my inspiration came from, if you visit me on Pinterest), I truly think everything came out really nice. What do you think?

Mrs. H., thank you so much for allowing me to help you plan & be a part of your special day! It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to meet Camila!!!

Are you planning any parties? If so, share the details, in the comment section below! 

Xoxos!

PS: tutorials and tips coming soon!

Baby shower: the evidence!

Hello friends! I have missed you so!

The past 3 weeks have been somewhat of a blur... But they have been the most wonderful 3 weeks of my life. As many of you may already know, I threw (along with another friend) a baby shower for Mrs. H. and baby Camila last Saturday.

Because other people were relying on me, I forced myself to craft and create every single night, after working for 8-10 hrs. and commuting for 1-2 hrs. I kind of knew I worked well under pressure before this whole baby shower planning thingy, but I am 100% sure now.

Totally worth it though. Everything came out so nice and Mr. and Mrs. H (and their families) were extremely appreciative.

Now, without further ado, here are some pics!

A little background: the party was held at Mrs. H.'s uncle's house. We set up the dessert/cake table in the dining room, and the appetizers/drinks/chairs/etc. outside, in the front yard. It was a beautiful summer day, and I think all in all, 30 people showed up.

From left to right: homemade creamy jell-o (recipe coming soon), cake pops (I succeeded friends! It turns out I CAN bake), an unconventional diaper cake (on a cupcake stand - quick how to coming soon), decorative mini vases (quick how to coming soon as well).

I made a fabric bunting for baby Camila, which is something Mrs. H. can use in her nursery... I will be sharing some of my sewing tips soon.

 

A close-up:

I also dyed some paper doilies... That was so much fun!!! Cut them in half, glued them to some beautiful ribbon and voila... instant cuteness.

Tomorrow I will share more pictures, so you can see what the front yard looked like (as well as all the food!).  As promised, I will share a few quick tutorials, how-to's and tips later this week.

How was your weekend?

Thank you so much for stopping by. Xoxo's!

Busy bee

Sorry I have been AWOL. Things have been and will continue to be a bit crazy this week. I have been working non-stop getting everything ready for the baby shower I am hosting this Saturday.

The bad news is I won't be around much this week.

The great news is that I am preparing lots of tutorials as I make things for the shower. HOORAY! More on that next week....

I do want to remind you that The Etsy Angels and I are still raising money for Love for Malacia Babies. If you have a couple of minutes, please take a look at some of our shops. We have so many cool things!

Some cool finds:

Applique alphabet by Nana Company

Tutorial: Fabric flower headbands by Crafty Nest

Quickie coasters by the Split Stitch

I hope you have a great week!

Sunday chuckle

Beautiful handmade finds

I have been meaning to post this for a while now. What else is new right?!? :)

I found these when I was in South America (namely Brazil and Argentina) in April and May.

I just love how intricate and perfect everything is in these Latin countries. Life happens at a much slower pace which allows people to be more passionate and crafty in life (more time for hobbies & other fun stuff). I don't know if it has anything to do with how low the US Dollar has been, but I found handmade goodies to be quite pricey down there.... Totally worth it though.

I bought this table runner for my mother-in-law. It is beige in color and made of twine. Boy! I wish I could crochet like this. It totally reminds me of my grandma, who was the go-to crochet lady in town.

Look at all the detail.....

I must say though, that when I first saw it I thought it was a rug. My husband, very politely corrected me: "it is a table runner, you moron!" Just kidding... But no... really. 

The next super awesome thing I found (which I know I will never ever use because we don't have too many flies and mosquitoes in the Bay Area, but it looks cool and unique nevertheless) is this jar cover, made out of tulle and beads, that form charming palm trees....

Ok... Maybe I could use it after all. We do have some trees in our backyard and next time we have an outdoor party I can keep leaves and things from falling into our water, right?!? Totally ;)

I am a sucker when it comes to cross stitch and tropical stuff. This was a big splurge (HUBBY: if you are reading this don't worry, this is just something I say to impress my blog friends - LOVE YA), but I could not help myself. Look at all those fishies.

Now look a wittle bit closer....

It looks pretty sweet in my bathroom, don't you think?

Some knickknacks. Because a girl can never have enough knickknacks....

And finally, a completely different (at least to me) fruit basket...

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I ended up giving it to my mom.... I will however try to explain its magnificent mechanism: it is made out of wood, cut in the shape of an apple. Then they insert another piece of wood in the same apple shape that is cut like in a spiral towards the center.... So when you add weight to this piece of wood, it has a spring effect and opens in the shape of a basket. I hope this makes sense :)

What kind of treasures have you come across lately? I'd love to hear from my dearest friends!

Thank you so much for stopping by!!!

Giveway!!!

How would you like to win these beautiful hand embroidered coasters? 

Today is share day over at Wild Olive! And when Mollie told us the theme for this month's sponsor giveaway was "an imitation of something else", I would these would be perfect! One lucky winner will win a set of 2 hand embroidered coasters! Perfect for these hot summer days, don't cha think?

To enter to win, go to Mollie's blog, leave your name and a way to contact you (it's really important if you want to win!). And I would LOVE it if you were to leave a comment here as well! And if you were to become a blog follower, a Facebook fan or a Twitter follower I would seriously do my happy dance!

The giveaway will remain open until 11PM CST on July 31. One winner will be randomly chosen, and announced on Monday, August 1. Good luck!

Oh, and before I forget, I belong to the Etsy Angels team on Etsy. We work together to raise money for awesome charities 4-6 times a year. This month we are raising funds for Love for Malacia Babies and I am donating 25% of all sales proceeds to this worthy non-profit organization.

Have a great day!!!

Baby shower inspiration

Gotta love pinterest! You can find me here.

                                                       Source: bakerella.com via Ooh on Pinterest

I am going to try to make cake pops for the very first time. I am so worried because I am not a baker! Baking is too precise for me, and I ALWAYS end up changing the recipe here and there and thus ruining everything..... But these are just too cute and I may have to behave myself and FOLLOW. THE. DIRECTIONS. TO. A. T.

 

                                                                         Source: marthastewart.com via Ooh on Pinterest

I just love the simplicity and elegance... You can never go wrong with pink and white... But wait! I am going to throw some brown into the mix! I hope it turns out just as beautiful.

                                                  Source: thecottagehome.blogspot.com via Ooh on Pinterest

I love how she used mason jars instead of regular glasses. I love mason jars!

                                                         Source: charlottesfancy.com via Ooh on Pinterest

How awesome is this? Once again, doilies add a touch of nostalgia and the right amount of elegance. I heart doilies!

The baby shower I am organizing for baby Camila is only 2 weeks away. I'd better get moving!

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by.

Sunday chuckle

Disclaimer: this was sent to me by my husband (who happens to think this is one the funniest videos ever - bad hubby).... I don't, in any way shape or form, think us gals are bad drivers (although I must say that this is a funny video indeed). I think we rock! Have a great weekend!

Handmade gift exchange - the gifts I made

 

Seriously, I think this was the funnest part! I just loved getting to know Tammy, and then thinking about what I was going to make for her. The possibilities were endless!

At first I wanted to make something I had never made before, but when she mentioned that she had visited my shop and that she really liked my needlework, I thought, why not stick to what I do best? That is when I decided to make a dish towel, and add a bit of cross stitch to it.

I think I may have been drinking a glass of wine when I thought about this, so grapes seemed like a great idea!

I choose a light pink waffle weave towel that came with an aida cloth insert. Then I stitched and stitched and stitched: red and green grapes. I also added a purple and green trim above and below the grapes to frame my work, if you will.

But I could not stop there. I wanted more more more! And I happened to see this on Etsy one day . And this is how these coasters came to be:

The dandelions are hand embroidered, using regular as well as satin embroidery floss (I learned about satin floss in All in the Details, the embroidery project). I. HAD. SO. MUCH. FUN. drawing the dandelions and then stitching them up.

Because I wanted to keep them simple and sweet, I used some super cute yellow fabric I had in my stash for the back of the coasters. Unlike the coasters I saw on Etsy, I ended up top stitching the borders. 

And although Tammy said she did not want to use them because they were way too cute, I do hope she enjoys them.

And last but certainly not least, I have really been into purses lately! I have recently purchased some patterns from Keyka Lou, and this is what I came up with the night before I mailed Tammy's package off (apologies for the photo quality - it was quite late at night by the time I was done).

This way she can store all her loose coins in one stylish little coin purse.

I think the orange and yellow fabrics scream summer, don't you agree? I just love how the pearl snaps and the little bow give this little lady so much personality.

A few finishing touches later...

And it was ready to be mailed!

I had so much fun participating in this handmade gift exchange. And I was so lucky to have such an awesome partner to work with!

What about you? What kind of fun projects have you been working on this summer?

So glad you stopped by! Have a wonderful Wednesday!