Please Note in Better Homes and Gardens!

I'm so excited! My cards and gift tags are in the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens! Next time you're at the store and you see this issue, flip to pages 78 and 79 and you'll see my Christmas tree gift tags and retro ornament cards.

Recently

Naked Cake: My First Attempt

Over the weekend I attempted my first naked cake. I'm pleased with the results and wanted to share how I did it! I found some really helpful YouTube videos that explained how to stack and frost the cake. 

The video I found the most helpful was this one below. I even used Yolanda's vanilla cake recipe and it was delicious! It was nice and dense to make stacking and frosting the cake easy. You can find the vanilla cake recipe here.

The inside of my cake was filled with chocolate buttercream. I used this recipe. I just piped a little bit of vanilla buttercream on the outside because I thought it looked nicer.
I used straws as dowels and got that idea from the video below. This video is also extremely helpful.

Here is a list of the tools I used that made the whole process way easier:
Cake Pans - I used an 6" x 3" pan and an 8" x 3" pan. I made two cakes in each then cut the cakes into 2 layers. That gave me 4 6" wide layers and 4 8" wide layers. I only used 3 of each though. Icing Spatula - This makes frosting in between the layers easy. Revolving Stand - I don't know how I would have made this cake without this stand. It's a must. Floral Wire - I used this to attach a lot of the flowers and especially the grapes. Piping Bag - I used these to pipe the vanilla buttercream around the outside. When the cake was cut, it was actually chocolate inside. Straws - These Ikea straws are thick and sturdy so I used them as dowels. The second video shows how to do this. Cardboard Cake Round - I bought this size and cut one down to be a 6" circle. It was hidden under the 6" cake on top. Cake Base - I used this sturdy silver cake base instead of a cardboard cake round because the cake was really heavy.
Now that I have all of the tools, I can't wait to try it again!

DIY: Dollar Store Spider Headband

It's that time of the year again! I love Halloween crafts especially when they're cheap. I got everything I needed to make this headband at Dollar Tree, aka my all time favorite store. This headband cost me just $4 to make and took less than 5 minutes. Read on to learn how to make your own!

What you'll need:

• plastic headband (any color)
• black ribbon
• spiderwebs (you'll only use a little bit)
• plastic spider (I got a sparkly one)
• hot glue
• scissors

Start by wrapping the headband with the black ribbon and securing the ends with hot glue.

Now glue the spider to the top (at a slight angle).

c Add a few spider webs and you're done!

How easy is that?

Through the Years

I did some digging around today and found what the blog used to look like using the WayBackMachine. I had forgotten about a lot of my old layouts. It's fun to step into the past for a bit. If you have a website, you should give it a try!

Save 29%!

I'm turning 29 tomorrow, and to celebrate, I'm offering 29% off of everything in my shop until Saturday! Just enter the coupon code "BIRTHDAY" at checkout!

Football Food

Football season is officially underway which means it's going to be on TV at my house constantly for the next 6 months. I'm not too interested in it but what I am interested in is the food! If you're like me and look for any excuse to make something delicious, you'll appreciate these recipes, and so will the football fans in your home.

Starting in the top left corner and moving across:

1.) Slow-Cooked Spicy Chicken and Beans

2.) Hush Puppies

3.) Mini Pepperoni Pizza Loaves

4.) Goldfish Cracker Chicken Strips

5.) Baked Jalapeno Poppers

6.) Pretzel Dogs

7.) Easy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

8.) Bloomin' Onion Bread

9.) Purple Pickled Eggs

10.) Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

11.) County Fair Chili

12.) Spinach Artichoke Dip

New York!

Last month I went to New York for the first time ever and had a blast. I worked every day but had an itinerary for what I wanted to do at night. I hardly slept but I got to see everything I wanted to! I didn't bring my camera but thought I would at least share some of my favorite phone photos with you guys.

1.) The scariest cab ride of my life.

2.) Central Park in the morning.

3.) My first meal. I'll be dreaming about that burger until the day I go back.

4.) 30 Rock.

5.) The view from my room.

6.) Probably the best meal I've ever eaten.

7.) A bejeweled burger that I just had to take a photo of.

8.) My favorite work outfit.

9.) A photo from the top of the Empire State Building.

10.) Another awesome meal at Katz's Deli.

11.) Grand Central Station.

2015 Chili Contest!

Saturday was the OC Fair Ultimate Tailgate Contest. I entered my chili three years ago and decided to go for it again this year. According to the judges, it was stiff competition this year, but I managed to place and got a ribbon again so I was pretty excited. I made my chili the night before and didn't change much about my original recipe. If you'd like to try it, you can find my recipe here.

We were at the fair for a total of 13 hours on Saturday so we managed to play some games, see the exhibits and the animals, and of course, eat a lot. My feet are sore and my wallet is empty but I still love the fair. Until next year!

Living Room Tour

We moved in to this place about 5 months ago and I finally feel like the living room is complete so I decided to share some photos. I included links to some of my favorite things in this room. I'll be sharing our kitchen next!

Yarn wall hanging DIY via I Spy DIY.
Bigfoot pillow found here.
Ice cream sandwich pillow found here.

Ice cream print - Boopsiedaisy.
Pyrex print - Pocono Modern.
Little Bulbasaur - Nan Lawson.

Starburst vinyl stickers - PM Vinyls.

Rose's Hawaiian Bread French Toast

We went camping last month with our friends John and Rose and we did a lot of cooking over the campfire. One of the best meals we had was Rose's Hawaiian bread french toast. It's so perfectly sweet and soft. It tastes like something you'd get at the fair.

You can use the Hawaiian bread rolls or the loaf of bread. Rose used the rolls and cooked them in pairs (as you can see above). I also used the rolls, I just sliced them up. Both ways are really good.

Ingredients (for two):

• 8 Hawaiian rolls 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of cinnamon
• butter for frying
• powdered sugar
• syrup

Either slice your Hawaiian rolls or just split them up. If you don't slice them, it helps to smush them down a little to flatten them. Mix the eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl. Dip the toast in the egg and fry them until golden brown.

Top with powdered sugar and a side of syrup for dipping.