DIY: Felt Garland

Here's a cool DIY I found on Poppytalk the other day. This was made with a Thanksgiving theme but you can easily change it to fit any occasion! Click here to get your personal message written out in the same font! This is a great DIY and only took about twenty minutes for me to put together!

Here's what you'll need:

 Step 1: Print out your letters.

Step 2: Roughly trim around them and pin them onto your felt and cut each letter out.

This font is so easy to use as it requires no precision cutting to look great. 

When you've finished cutting you will have all of these beautiful, colourful letters ready to sew.

Step 3:  Pin your letters onto your bias binding.

You could use a ruler here to make sure they are the same distance apart. I freestyled it and the garland turned out fine.

 Step 4: Sew your letters onto your binding and you're done!

Celebrate: Kids Halloween Party Games

With Halloween just around the corner it's the perfect time to start planning a party for your children. This is also a great idea for Party Moms this month, if you're having trouble thinking of activities for your child's class this is a great place to get some inspiration! Here are some great games that I found on the Martha Stewart website!

This activity is probably my favorite, click here for more details!

If you're planning on doing this activity I'd recommend the cinnamon doughnuts at your local farmer's market, they're always the best!

For more instructions to create these bowling pins click here!

Food: Baked Fontina

This summer I vowed to explore all those cookbooks that have been collecting dust on my shelf. It's an addiction of mine that I completely admit to. No matter how many months (err years...) go by without me trying one of them out, it inevitably grows larger each year. So this season I put a stop to such nonsense and have been doing quite well! This weekend I tried a recipe for Baked Fontina from the Barefoot Contessa's How Easy Is That? cookbook. I've had this book for two years now and am only just now finding out just how easy her recipes really are. This took all of about seven minutes to mince, slice and cube the four main ingredients, take a look at my results below!

I was lucky enough to have all the herbs required in my garden, saving me a few bucks!

After cubing the cheese put it in an oven safe dish (I used an iron skillet) and sprinkle the cheese with the herb garlic mix.

And a few minutes later it was done! This is a great recipe to use if hosting a party, little effort on your part and because of how rich it is, it goes a long way!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Italian Fontina Val d’Aosta cheese, rind removed and 1-inch-diced

1/4 cup good olive oil

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used half and was thankful!)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 crusty French baguette

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Directions

1. Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat.

2. Distribute the cubes of Fontina evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.

3. Serve the baked Fontina family-style right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread for everyone to dip.

Celebrate: Mother's Day

In case you've forgotten, this upcoming Sunday is Mother's Day! Christoffers' fridges are packed with the freshest flowers for the holiday, but they're going fast so be sure to call and order as soon as you can! To see some of the Mother's Day Specials click here! If you want to take a different route and forgo the flowers, or be an extra appreciative child we also have a great selection of giftware to choose from! Another way to make this Sunday extra special is by making mum breakfast in bed, here's a great link for the Heart Shaped Egg-in-Toast recipe I found on Martha Stewart's blog! Click here for full directions! 

Hope to see all of you this week at the store!

-M

 

Seasonal Bedecking: Easter Tiered Floral Arrangement

Having trouble deciding on a centerpiece this Easter? Here is a great idea that I picked up at Martha Stewart's website. Instead of having one large arrangement in the center have lots of little tiny ones, either put them on a tiered platter like in the photo below or have them scattered down the middle!

Happy Holidays Mr. Boddington!

Here are some truly beautiful Christmas Cards (all available only in Box Sets) that you can purchase now at Mr. Boddington's! I love all the intricate detail on the envelopes! I find all of these to be very refreshing from the usual holiday cards, their halloween and thanksgiving cards are pretty neat too!

Thanksgiving Closure

Yesterday, as my family began to depart after many delicious hours, a particular song came on over the speakers. At the time it just seemed so perfect as we all hugged and kissed our loved ones farewell, and it seemed the perfect send off from one holiday to the next so here you go, a gift of music from me to you! Enjoy!

Food: Canapes

Here are some great recipes from Everyday Occasions. It really is becoming my most referenced blog isn't it? Anyways, these canapes looked so tasty I just had to reblog them to you folks! I hope you enjoy!

Roasted Beef & Horseradish Cream Canapes

25 canapes

2 baguettes, sliced into 1/2 inch toasts
1 packages of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons of horseradish
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
salt & pepper
1 pound of Roast Beef, sliced
flat leaf parsley

Mix together cream cheese, horseradish, dijon, salt & pepper.  Spread the mixture onto each slice of bread.  Top with a thin slice of beef and sprinkling of parsley, salt & pepper. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Blue Cheese Canapes

24 canapes

2 baguettes, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large jar of roasted red peppers, sliced
8 ounces of blue cheese, crumbled
pepper
parsley

On a baking sheet, spread out the slices of bread.  Pile the peppers and blue cheese on each piece.  Put them in the oven under the low broiler for 2-3 minutes just until the blue cheese melts.  Sprinkle with parsley and fresh black pepper.

Decorating Ideas Part Trois

Today this DIY is a little trickier and a little pricier than the previous two, but I promise it will pay off in the end! Go to your local farmers market and purchase gourds, heirloom pumpkins, and anything else that catches your eye. Then you can begin! Click here for full directions from Jenny Steffens Blog, Everyday Occasions.

Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas Part Deux

The decorations I showed you last time were a little on the untamed and unpolished side and a tad pricey too depending how much you were looking to spend. Today I'll be showing you a refined and cheaper route. Everything today was found at Jenny Steffens Blog, Everyday Occasions.


Here is a simple way to dress up any table setting, and it's free! Just go outside, to your backyard, the woods or a local park and clip off a few branches. Remember in this case less is more, you will only need a few branches depending on the size of your table.

Here's another variation to what you see above, instead of using tree branches, you could use bittersweet that you can purchase at Christoffers Florist. I prefer the simplicity of the bittersweet personally, I also get a few extra branches and wrap some around the chandelier over the dining room table! It really brings the whole room together.

Click here to download Thanksgiving Place Cards!

Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas!

Over the next few posts I'll be showing you different ways to style your home for the Holidays, hopefully some of you will be able to get inspired! Today all examples are from Design*Sponge. 

Here's a great way to display what this season has to offer, go to your local farmer's market and buy some of the colorful produce, either put it on display or make it part of the meal!

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets

This is one of my favorite appetizers, well really anything with goat cheese is going to be my favorite! Here is a great recipe from Jenny Steffens Blog, I have made a few of her recipe's and none of them have turned out less than absolutely delectable! I can't wait to try this out, perhaps I will have to do a test run before Thanksgiving? Try and be local with your Thanksgiving food and purchase your produce from a local Farmer's Market, like the one in Summit on Sunday mornings!