Stripes Are Everywhere!

Well, when I was supposed to be working on my report cards on the March Break, I ended up surfing some of my favourite decorating blogs for inspiration (more like procrastination).

I discovered that my top three favourite decorating blogs each featured a room with horizontal stripes. See pictures:

It's The Little Things That Make a House a Home

They have stripes in their boys' room as well as their main floor hallway.

Just Beachy

They have stripes in their dining room, hallway, and landing.

The Lettered Cottage

They have stripes in their cozy reading room.

My conclusion: Horizontal stripes were a good choice. Yeah!

Crafty Plans

I haven't put any posts up in awhile... but that doesn't mean I haven't been being crafty or planning crafty projects. I have, I swear!

Project 1: Secret Sewing Project

I've been working on a secret sewing project. I know, how mysterious! Pictures coming soon.

Project 2: Sewing a Boy Doll

I'm ready to try sewing my first boy doll and I'm just waiting on the fabric that I ordered from Etsy. I've been waiting for two weeks and it's killing me! I have my little pattern all cut out and ready to go. Come on postal workers, come on!

Project 3: More Window Boxes

Last spring I ordered a custom window box from my husband Alex the carpenter (he's not really a carpenter but he probably could be one). It was white, 12 feet long, with dentil moulding. Yes, 12 feet long, big enough to run underneath our three, large, side-by-side windows of the sun room at the front of our house. It looks so good that I am about to order two more slightly smaller ones for the side of the house. I just need to "submit" my diagram and measurements.

Window box inspiration (so pretty):

Project 4: Closet Doors

When we moved into our house we had rotten, beige, bi-fold, shutter doors on some of the narrow closets. We replaced the one in our entrance way with a crisp, white, 5-panel, bi-fold door which looks soooooo much nicer.

Actual before-and-after picture of our new closet door:

P.S. Do you like the beige carpet, beige curtains, beige walls, beige trim, and beige closet door in the before picture?

We're trying to find similar doors that will fit our bedroom closets so that the closet doors are all consistent. My dream is to replace all the doors in the whole house with white, 5-panel doors like this:

Project 5: Cinnamon Buns

I have a craving for cinnamon buns, um, every day. I would love to bake them myself but have never even tried before. I think I looked at the recipe once and read about greasing and punching dough and then I chickened out. I found this recipe and can't wait to try it. I was thiiiiiiiis close to making them last weekend but my darn report cards completely got in the way.

Don't these look delicious? Yum!

Boyish Fabric Has Been Found (and Ordered)

I've been on a boyish-fabric hunt for the last little while so that I can attempt my first Ethiopian boy doll.

I finally found a fabric bundle that meets both criteria (boyish but still cute). I ordered a half-yard bundle of 8 fabrics by My Minds Eye for Riley Blake Designs. Here is the pic:

I ordered the fabric from The Sproutz Store on http://www.etsy.com/.

So excited to get this package in the mail next week! I'm about to get all stalkerish on my post office box again.

Craft Batting

On Saturday I told Alex that I needed to go to Fabricland to get another bag of craft batting. For my next doll. He dropped me off at the door and when I walked out, he saw this:


I don't think he was expecting the 5-lb bag. He asked me how many dolls I'm making.

A lot, hello!

Recipe: Hazelnut Fudge Torte

I found this recipe in one of my Hershey's cookbooks and made it for the first time on Christmas Eve. It was so scrumptious that I've been dreaming about it ever since. When we got invited over to our friend's for dinner last weekend, I had the perfect excuse to make it again. Sooooo yummy. My friend commented that it tasted like Nutella. Nutella = wicked.

I bought a huge bag of raw hazelnuts from Costco and roasted them in a single layer on a baking sheet for 30 minutes at 250 degrees. Then I rubbed all the skins off (and accidentally dumped them in the sink and clogged the drain. Whoops. Don't tell Alex.)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup dairy sour cream
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
FUDGE NUT GLAZE (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch round baking pan; line bottom with wax paper. Grease paper; flour paper and pan.

2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, instant coffee, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add butter, sour cream, egg and vanilla; beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium; beat 3 minutes. Spread batter in prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack; gently peel off wax paper. Cool completely.

4. Prepare FUDGE NUT GLAZE.

5. Place torte on serving plate; pour glaze evenly over top, allowing some to run down sides. Refrigerate until glaze is firm, about 1 hour. Cover; refrigerate leftover torte. 8 to 10 servings.

FUDGE NUT GLAZE

1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Semi- Sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup hazelnuts, macadamia nuts or pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except nuts and vanilla in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes; stir in nuts and vanilla.

My Little Notes:

I used a 9-inch springform pan since it's easier to get the cake out. The glaze got way too thick when I followed the recipe's instructions the first time so I tweaked them a bit. I cooked the glaze for about 2-3 minutes and only let it cool for 2-3 minutes before adding the vanilla and nuts and pouring it over the torte.

Roasted Hazelnut Fudge Torte

Here's some really good advice. When your pants are starting to feel a bit tight, don't make desserts that are full of sugar, butter, chocolate, and nuts.