{Fall Tablescape Ideas}

There's nothing like the change in season to put you in the mood for redecorating.  With all of the fun fall events that are upon us, it's imperative that you have a welcoming yet stylish table for your guests to enjoy.  Fall is a great time to make use of nature's rustic charm and wonderful decor assets.  Use pine cones, leaves, apples or acorns to bring autumn to your table without breaking the bank.  And if you turn it into a fun game, you can use the kids as your free labor for gathering decor items from the yard.  (Did I say that???)

Here are a few things I found while perusing the net that I loved for my fall table.  So many options...how will I ever decide?



{branches!  who'da thunk it?? and spraypainted metallic pumpkins add a modern flare}
photo credit: ivillage



{the simplicity with a pop of nature...very chic!}
photo credit: ivillage



{a unique color palette made seasonable with the tiny pumpkins}
photo credit: ivillage



{hurricane candles with pieces of nature...smart and budget friendly}
photo credit: ivillage



{the white makes it modern, the brown makes it rustic, the green just pops}
photo credit: the happier homemaker



                             {bright leaves on branches...very unexpected}

                                   photo credit: the heart of the sea home



                                {intimate table setting for two...classy and romantic}

                                                  photo credit: a holiday haven

 

{Recycle and Reuse Old Sweaters}

I just LOVE this idea!  What a great craft for this time of year!

We all have those sweaters that sit in the bottom of the drawer that you've convinced yourself for the last two winters that you'll wear again one day.  That day has never come and here you are on your third winter of deciding what to do with that same sweater.  Well here you go!  No need to feel guilty any longer about not wanting to wear that sweater that you once upon a time HAD to have.

As you're going through your old sweaters this fall, don't just throw or give away the ones that don't fit, that no longer are on trend, or that you haven't worn and can't justify keeping.

This is an excellent way to repurpose something unused into something adorable!  See how to do it at makeit-loveit.com.

{ DIY Sweater Hats: makeit-loveit.com }

{October Specials!!}

Mini Pumpkin Bundts

{ $20 for 2 cakes }

Pumpkin Bread

{ $24 for 2 loaves }

{Sometimes Stuff is Just Funny}

This made me chuckle on the inside this morning.

 

{Buffalo Chicken Rolls...Mmmm Mmmm}

I've always wanted to be one of those people that has a signature recipe.  You know...like when you go to a cookout or holiday dinner and you just simply cannot wait for Auntie Dee Dee's world famous, and always raved about, macaroni and cheese to make its grand entrance.  The dish that people discuss beforehand, wondering and hoping..."I hope Aunt Dee Dee makes her mac n' cheese this year..."  And once they arrive and get word that it's almost done, guests sit around waiting for it to be brought out of the oven and people grin and get giddy when that aluminum foil reveals the yellow, cheesy, bread crumb-topped goodness that lies beneath it. 

I want to be that person and I want to have that dish. 

While I still think I'm on the hunt for that must-be-present food item, I do think I've found one that, for the time being, has at least been requested once or twice since making its debut.

{Photo credit: Can You Stay For Dinner}

I found these awesome buffalo chicken rolls on Can You Stay For Dinner and I made them with great apprehension, since cooking is not my personal strong suit.  While the recipe seemed simple...I'd never dealt with egg roll wrappers (which I actually couldn't find in my grocery store) or any other dough for that matter.  I substituted the wrappers with Athens Fillo Dough, and used mozzerella cheese instead of blue cheese crumbles, and got to baking. 

The chicken prep was super easy, and the dough was a cinch to work with.  Another simple substitution was vegetable oil instead of spray and vice versa.  And even though it felt like I was totally over-oiling, the key is to not let the dough dry out, and everything else will work itself out just fine.  Though...mine came out in all sorts of fun, miscellanous shapes and sizes...but...lol...they tasted just great.  And everybody just chalked it up to my quirkiness...if they even noticed at all.

{Sweet Hearts Tied the Knot!!}

We at DC Sweet Treats are overjoyed and full of marital bliss!  On May 18th, Samantha married her sweet heart and we could not be more happy for them!  The ceremony was held on a beautiful day and the reception was a total blast!  In the spirit of sweets, here are a few pics of the ladies and the sweet treats that were at her wedding.

{Unique Easter Egg Ideas}

I tell you...every year I'm amazed at what the Easter Egg Companies have come up with by way of new, creative ways to decorate eggs.  You no longer just blindly use the wax candle, dunk your eggs in dye and wait to see what the heck your drawing ends up looking like.  Now-days every egg is a fabulous masterpiece to be adored and coveted and, in my house, judged, awarded, and celebrated. 

It may be hard to compete with some of those boxed egg decorating kits, but here are a few creative (some simple and some not) ways to decorate your eggs this year.

{...the natural way...}

http://twomenandalittlefarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/dyeing-easter-eggs-natural-way.html

{...with Kook-Aid...} 

http://www.heyjenrenee.com/2011/04/kool-eggs.html

{...with leaves...} 

http://www.tipjunkie.com/easter-egg/

{...marbled...} 

www.themetapicture.com

{...with monograms...} 

http://lilluna.com/monogram-easter-eggs/

{...with edible glitter...} 

http://www.recipe.com/sparkling-easter-eggs/

{...with stencils...} 

http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-us/crafts/pages/not-your-average-eggs.aspx

{...with yarn...} 

http://sublimeonadime.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-eggs.html

{April Specials!!}

Vanilla Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes with your choice of icing flavor and color
{ $15 per Dozen }

Lemon Cupcakes
Lemon cupcakes with buttercream icing
{ $15 per Dozen }

{Mason Jar Memories}

Let me preface this by saying...I LOOOOOOVE mason jars!  LOVE them!  I cannot think of anything cute on earth that doesn't look even more super awesome in a mason jar.  Nothing...name something...I'll wait...tap, tap, tap... see...you can't think of anything either. 

I have used them for everything from vases at a wedding to beverage containers for a glass of lemonade,  to tip jars when I bartend, to cake in a jar that I served at a baby shower, to something to hold random buttons, safety pins, bobby pins, etc. 

But this idea from ohcrafts.net is so cute and useful and adorable!  You go to a concert, you have the tickets, do you throw them away?  Do you stash them in the junk drawer until you "figure out what to do with them?"  (Yeah...been there, done that...you never figure it out).  Do you just trash them and risk the chance of forever losing the memory of the night you and your bff from elementary school danced like a rock star for two hours straight?  Do you push the night that you and 7 of your girlfriends and your MOM sat third row at the New Edition concert wearing home made Candy Girls tee shirts and finangled your way past a HUGE security guard named Phil and made your way back stage and met the men that have had you swooning since age 7 into the back of your mental photo album, only to bring it out when "Cool it Now" happens to come on the radio??? HECK to the NO!  (OK that one got a little personal...)

Not when you have mason jars!!  Take a pic (and actually PRINT IT, don't just post it on Facebook or Shutterfly), type up a cute note about the event, and stash it along with the tickets and any other memorabilia in a mason jar and put it on display!  SO CUTE!!

{ Random }

We at DC Sweet Treats scour the internet daily to see what adorable, quirky, fun, useful, non-useful things we can discover.  This just falls into the quirky category. 

And on that note...stay tuned for April's specials!

{S'More Love}

I spent the weekend at a nice resort on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  Upon arrival, I was given a voucher for a free S'mores kit to roast at the evening camp fire.  I'm far removed from being a kid but...that pretty much excited me like it would an 8 year old girl scout.  S'MORESSSSSSSSSS!!!

This brings me to today's post.  I've seen S'mores kits as wedding favors, baby shower favors, and tokens of thanks after various events.  Such an inexpensive gift can bring total delight and giddiness to the recipient...especially if it's ME...without breaking the bank.  Here are a few cute ideas I've seen around the web for gifting a fabulous S'mores kit.

{...individually...}

http://www.stylishgiving.com/2009/04/smores-kits.html

{...for the group...}

http://www.blog.tealbirdconcepts.com/post/6910530674/fourth-of-july-smores-favors

{...on a stick...}

http://southernbellejm.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-about-this.html

{...in a box...}

http://athome.kimvallee.com/2010/11/diy-hot-cacao-chocolate-favors-and-smores-kits/

{...in a jar...}

http://daisychainae.blogspot.com/2009/12/smore-kits-sealed-delivered.html

{...with a label...}

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82660936/smores-party-favor-bag-topper-backyard

{...s'mores a-plenty...}

http://www.oh-lovely-day.com/2010/01/diy-friday-smores-kits.html

{...in a bag...}

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Smores-Wedding-Favors-Yum/

{March Specials!!}

We at Sweet Treats are green this month...and no it's not from envy.  We are excited about a month of shamrocks and Bailey's, and we are also thrilled to announce our March specials!

Irish Cupcakes 
Guinness chocolate cake with a Baileys butter cream icing
{ $18 per Dozen }

Bailey's Irish Cream Bundt Cake
Irish Cream bundt cake with a rich & delicious Irish Cream glaze
{ $20 }

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Icing

Double layer vanilla cake with chocolate butter cream icing

{ $20 }

{Local Girl Makes It to the Oscars}

Leigh Lambert, a local baker in Takoma Park, Maryland will have a new claim to fame on her resume.  On February 26th, she will become a baker to the stars! 

Sorta. 

Non-winners at this year's Oscars will get a delicious sweet treat in their goody bag...Ms. Lambert's Starlet Brownie.

What makes the Starlet such a coveted treat for the people of Hollywood?  Chocolate Pop Rocks!  Yep...you read right.  The candy we loved so much as a child in chocolate fashion sits atop a delicious brownie to create what Ms. Lambert describes as an "effervescent personality" that's like "eating chocolate champagne."  WOW! 

The good news is that this amazing treat is not limited to celebs...you can place an order for The Starlet, in addition to her other sweets offerings from the Naughty Bits Brownies website.

To hear more about Leigh Lambert's story, see her interview on WJLA's Wesbite.

{Picture Perfect Organization Ideas}

If you’re like me…you’ve thumbed through an edition of pretty much any Martha Stewart Living Magazine and enviously eyed the perfectly organized closets, pantries, workspaces, or bedrooms as if they're some high-achieving goal you’ll never attain.  You’ve looked at it and said “yeah right, who really lives like that??”  Or…as I say all the time…“ok…now where’s all their stuff?” as if it’s been placed somewhere right outside of the camera’s view and will be immediately put back in its place as soon as the picture has been taken.



Photo:
http://www.kimberlyreuther.com/2011/06/29/office-makeover-part-1-ideas-and-organization/



With our hectic lives and schedules, keeping things in their rightful place is often a challenge at best, but more often, an impossibility...or so it seems.  Even the best-intentioned people get overcome by their lack of time, leaving that sweater on the bed to find its own rightful place while you're at work or out running errands.  Organization is a mindset.  Organization is a habit.  And organization, so "The Martha" and other organization experts would have you believe, is something completely attainable. 

I read this little article on The Stylist with 10 tips for staying organized.  The tips are completely practical and make total sense.  Read them and see what you think.  Worst case scenario…nothing changes.  But…there is a chance that one or two of these may make sense, and you can apply them to your life today!  That’s where it all starts, right?

The tips mentioned in the article are bulleted below, but please read the actual article for more detail and motivation!

1. Focus on the bigger picture.
2. Visualize your desired result.
3. Choose an area of focus.
4. Clear the space.
5. Sort into four piles:  keep, toss, donate, fix.
6. Revisit the Keep pile.
7. Give everything a home.
8. Choose containers.
9. Maintain.
10. Tune and tweak as needed. 

Here are some other organization ideas that I spotted around the web:

 {...2012 Declutter Calendar...}

Don't know where to start with your organization strategy?  This 2012 Declutter Calendar from My Simpler Life will lead the way.  Download the free pdf calendar or, to show your true commitment to the de-cluttering cause, order a cute wall calendar for $24.99.

{...office inspiration...} 

 

Office organization ideas…almost all of these are found in your local Ikea.  I mean really…Ikea knows how to make every space look simple and chicly Scandinavian. 

{..."easy as tea" jewelry organization...} 

Need some jewelry organization ideas?  Well here’s a cutie!  From blogs.babble.com…antique saucers and teacups make the perfect little jewelry holders. 

{...brilliant idea for organizing pots and pans...}

Pan organizers can keep your kitchen cabinets amazingly organized, as demonstrated by iheartorganizing.blogspot.com. 
(Rubbermaid pan organizers: $11.99 at Target or shop around...I found some in Marshall's for $3.99)

{...ladder shelf for the bathroom...}

When trying to organize your bathroom, consider a ladder shelf like this one from Ana White.  Use baskets to separate towels from toilet paper.  This lets you have everything handy without sacrificing style.

{Valentine's Day Cupcake Toppers--FREE PRINTABLE}

How cute is this free printable from Creative Party Place!  As if cupcakes are awesome enough, cute them up with these easy (FREE) printable cupcake toppers! 

Go to Creative Party Place's Website and download the printable pdf.  Use a circle punch tool from your local craft store, stick atop a toothpick (tape two back to back with the toothpick in the middle) and...tadaaaa!  SUPER CUTENESS!  If you only have a black and white printer, don't worry!  Print on a textured white or colored paper and/or and mount it on paper with a design.  Trust me...it will be fabulous!