This is an idea that my foodie friend Alexa Clark’s did for her birthday party. It is easy to do, it repurposes something that we do not use anymore and it is affordable. Alexa decorated used wine bottles by etching H20 on each bottle.

As you can see, she even recycled her cut stencils and the cut letters which produced two patterns. I am not sure if it is due to the color of the glass but the green wine bottles are prettier. You could also try it on a clear glass bottle.

Many Purposes

You could do your own glass etching projects to write the table numbers on bottles or votive holders. Or you can create your own etched glass storage jars, like those on Martha Stewart.

March 16th, 2010 Update: A fun idea that @jennifersquires shared with me on Twitter is to etch drink glasses with your kid name and day of the week. Then you can drink out of the same glass all day.

Glass Etching Tips

A few things to know if you are new to glass etching:

• Make sure to clean very well the surface.
• You may want to put painter tapes (they are easily to get off than the regular tapes) on close-by areas to make sure no etching cream touched them.
• Remove all the bubbles from your vinyl stencil and that the edges are stuck tight to the glass before applying an even thick coat of etching cream.
• Wear rubber gloves and uses a brush or a popsicle stick to apply the cream. Make sure to cover completely the area that you want to etch.
• Work in a well ventilated area.

MORE:
+ photos: Etched glass storage jars on Martha Stewart

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You have less than a week to prepare for the Academy Awards 2010. I scoured the Web to integrate the best party ideas into a cohesive party theme. You could easily merge the do it yourself candy bags from Twig & Thistle with Bakerella’s oscar statuette cookies.

Print Your Own Candy Bags, Invites and Ballots

For a theatrical effect, make your own tray held by a neck strap. You can use it to serve candy or popcorn. Kathleen of Twig and Thistle made invites, ballots, popcorn bags, and party favors all available as downloadable PDF’s.

Invite your friends one to two hours before the Awards show starts. It will give you the chances to chat, eat the canapes, discuss the dresses on the red carpet and will leave enough time to fill the ballots. Ask people to dress up so they can pose at a movie star photo booth.

Oscar Night Cupcakes and Cookies

Since everyone will want to watch the show, including you, forget the formal dinner and serve tapas instead. Ideally, opt for recipes that can be eaten at room temperature.  For dessert, get inspired by the star cupcakes from Sprinkles cupcakes.

Leave the Oscar statuette cookies to be the star of the night.  I like how Bakerella displayed the cookies on the red carpet with cute small signs. This baker is amazing. If you plan to serve the cupcakes for dessert, everyone could get back home with their tasty Oscar statuette.

SOURCING:
+ Awards Night Sugar Cookies by Bakerella
+ Statue Cookie Cutter $12.95
+ Ballot template, DIY candy bags and print your own invites by Twig & Thistle
+ kid picture from J. Crew
+ Gold star decorated cupcakes by Sprinkles cupcakes

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My friend Harry Wakefield of MoCo Loco featured the brand new Moleskine’s wine journal and the recipe journal on his blog. Until the moment I began to examine how practical the page templates were built, I thought I could resist. But the guys at Moleskine did a too good job that I could not resist and ordered both journals on Amazon.

I watched earlier the session where Jamie Oliver announced his wish as the recipient of the 2010 TED prize. This convinced even more than I need a book to write down my recipes. I own a book right now that I rarely used because it is too basic. And although I love my computer, it remains that nothing beats the ease of use of a recipe journal when it comes to cooking. I will welcome it in my kitchen.

You can download and test the page layouts before you buy the journal, if you like. There is a template  for food and another one for cocktail recipe. The recipe journal is made of 6 themed sections to be filled, 6 blank sections, food calendars, food facts, measures and conversions, blank pages for additional notes and 202 adhesive labels to put your stamp on your recipes.

Wine Journal by Moleskine

I suspect the Wine journal will become a must-give hostess gift. It covers all aspects, including wine and food pairing and the best occasions to serve the wine. I bought it for my husband since he is in charge of the wine most of the time.

You could use any of the journals as a scrapbook. Therefore, do not be afraid to draw and glue content. Besides recipes and wine, the new Moleskine collection covers books, music, films and wellness.

SOURCING:
+ For Americans: Moleskine Passions Recipe Journal $13.57 USD at Amazon.com
+ For Americans: Moleskine Passions Wine Journal $13.57 USD
+ For Canadians: Moleskine Passions Recipe Journal $22.43 CAD at Amazon.ca
+ For Canadians: Moleskine Passions Wine Journal $21.89 CAD
+ via MoCo Loco

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I applauded this initiative by Sharilyn of Lovely Design, a mother, a designer and craft maker. She designed a neat way to organize her young daughter dinnerware. This is the advantage of the new kitchen that relies on big drawers. Beside being beautiful, her idea teaches her daughter that she must participate in household chores. You can custom made the dividing drawers to fit anything you need to store.

+ photos and instructions at Lovely Design
+ via The Kitchn

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Bring the cottage feel to your dinner table with a winter centerpiece.  I imagine this look for a romantic dinner this Valentine if you plan a weekend near ski cottage.

To reproduce this look, cut all the branches the same height. Then, plant the cut branches on floral foam bricks for fresh flowers.  You can place the floral foam inside aluminum pans, if your decorative container is not waterproof. The every day aluminum pans work well since you can adjust them to fit inside your container. Plus, they are easy to cut if you need to reduce their height. Do you worry about the inside look since the branches will hide any imperfections.

Make sure to use a tall votive candle holder for safety. I captured these at the Interior Design Show this weekend. Sadly, I can not recall at which booth.

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I missed this well-put together, cheerful real-life baby shower designed by three women. It was featured on Hostess with the Mostess a few days before Christmas. Pinwheels are easy to make. They fit well within a baby shower theme or a kids’ birthday party. Pay attention to how they packaged the pinwheel invitations. When you invite a smaller group, you can take the time to create an invitation that will really stand out.

+ DIY pinwheel tutorial on Style Me Pretty
+ More photos on Hostess with the Mostess

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If you do not like your pancakes, you will only have you to blame at Slappy Cakes. Each table features a built-in griddle. They bring you the batter, fruits and other accompaniments. They offer a variety of batter options, including buttermilk, buckwheat, vegan and gluten-free. Some of the berries and fruits are grown on their own courtyard garden. Slappy Cakes is located in Portland, Oregon.

If you live too far, you can borrow the concept for your next brunch. Make sure to have access to several crepe makers. The best crepe model is a large round griddle. I use two crepe pans but a stove pan is not practical for a cook-it-yourself party. This one, the CucinaPro 1448 12 Inch Griddle & Crepe Maker, has excellent reviews on Amazon and it is $42.

+ Slappy Cakes
+ via Springwise

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Look at the beautiful execution of the holiday bake gifts done by Amber of Daisy Chain. I like her attention to details. She assembled her own s’more kits that fit into a canning jar. The kit  includes the ingredients and twigs for roasting. The biggest task is to design and print nice custom labels. It is a great idea that will please everyone. Who can resist s’mores?

+ photos: Daisy Chain

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How you wrapped your gifts makes a statement. People are exploring new ways than the predictable paper gift bags. For small items, I really like what Maya Made did with her rustic gift bags. Maya Donenfeld likes to recycle materials for gift wrapping, whenever it is possible. Her gift bags take literally 2 minutes to make with a sewing machine. She continued with the natural look by printing her own gift tags on kraft paper. Get the instructions on Maya Made. Lovely!

+ photo: Maya Made
+ via Julie_adore on Twitter

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A felt bow definitively feels like winter. They are the results of two creative girls. Kathleen of Twig and Thistle was inspired by the magazine gift bow tutorial done by Jessica of How about Orange. I love how she reinterpret it with felt. I just need to find premium felt to make my own gift wrapping bowls.

+ photo: Twig and Thistle

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The sight of the jewel tone Christmas tree ornaments at CB2 is awesome. Their DIY ornament wreath reminds me of the front door decorations I made two years ago. The CB2 stylists made a big wreath. As you know, modern big ornaments are trendy. One advantage with CB2’s holiday ornament wreath is that you do not need to be crafty to make your own.

I wish CB2 had a store in Canada. I really love the non-traditional colors and the classic shapes of these Christmas tree ornaments.

+ photos and tutorial: In the loop by CB2
+ via YourHome.ca

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I like the idea of a hot pink Christmas tree. Since I want our tree to reflect my taste and the taste of my husband, I went for a modern cottage vibe this year. One thing that I have in common with The Purl Bee is that the inspiration point for my design was handmade ornaments. In our case, they were an owl, a deer and a bird.

If you wish to sew your own bird ornaments, in any color of your choice, get the pattern and step by step instructions here.

photos: The Purl Bee

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