Sort-of Samoa Cupcakes

I think everyone has a Girl Scout cookie that they're passionate about.  For me, it's Samoas- I love them so, so much.  I bought a box a few weeks back and it was gone in 24 hours.  I'm not even embarrassed to tell you that, because I love them so much.

Anyway, I found this recipe for samoa cupcakes and have been meaning to bake them for a while.  I finally made them today, and they're delicious.  I followed the cupcake recipe exactly, but I didn't have enough powdered sugar to make the frosting.  I improvised by making a quick caramel sauce and mixing it with some leftover chocolate frosting from the fridge. (What, you don't always have leftover frosting in your fridge?  Because you should.)  I used this recipe for the caramel, and mixed it in with good ole' Betty Crocker frosting.  Perfection.   Happy Wednesday!  xx ellen

Spring Refresh- Pillow Covers

Hi friends!  We've been busy busy these past few weeks looking at new apartments. We finally signed a lease on a place last week, and I'm obsessed with thinking about how I'm going to decorate it.  We move at the end of May, so I have plenty of time for planning (I'm a severe over-planner).

All of the furniture and decor in our current apartment is hand-me-down, so we're planning on refreshing our old stuff with paint and building a lot of new furniture ourselves.  Stay tuned in a few months for tons of painting and woodworking!  I was able to get a jump on the process yesterday by sewing some new pillow covers for our sofa, and am really happy with the results.  I'm by no means an expert seamstress, and only learned to use my sewing machine a year ago- so if you're a beginner, this is a great project.

Back in December, I used some fabric scraps to sew a table runner to brighten up our dining space.  You can see it below- I used the tutorial here to sew it in a few hours.  

It's reversible, and had another floral pattern on the other side.

The problem is that we sold our dining table last week, because our new apartment won't have space for it (I'm planning to build a bar height table).  So I had this table runner laying around the house, and wanted to use it rather than wasting the fabric.  In a moment of genius, I realized that our couch pillows are the same width as the runner- and with some basic tweaks, I could get 2 pillow covers out of the runner.  Sidenote: If you want to make pillow cases instead of the runner, you can still use the table runner sewing tutorial- just adjust the length and width of the pattern according to your pillow size (my pillows are 18").

First, I cut the table runner to the right length, and slipped one of the pillows inside.

I decided to sew the pillow right into the cover, rather than adding a zipper- because it was much easier, and because the pillows don't get very dirty on the sofa.  I sewed it in by hand using a hidden/blind stitch.  

I used the same process for both pillows, and still have some leftover fabric for a few smaller pillows down the road.  Here's what they look like- I love how the patterns add some color to our neutral sofa.

Thanks for checking them out!  Lots more fun projects to come after we move... xx ellen

Valentine's Day Card- free printables!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Whether you love this holiday or prefer to ignore it, it's always nice to give a pretty card to the loved ones in your life.  I designed 3 different cards, and you can download and print them using the links below.  Once you fold and cut them out, they make a 4x6 card.  Enjoy- and spread the love! xx ellen

Download "Crazy for You" card here

Download "You are my Happy" card here

Download "Better Together" card here

Blizzard 2013

As you may have heard (due to all the hype!), Boston got hit pretty hard with a blizzard last night.  In our area, we got over 2 feet of snow in less than 24 hours- the most we've seen in a long time.  Husband and I headed out in the morning to dig out our car, and it was quite the process.  We had fun though, with sore arms to prove it.  Stay warm! xx ellen