Shop Small

Holiday Events, etc

It's crazy that the holiday season is already here and moving so fast. Next week is Thanksgiving and before I know it, December will be here....and gone. Time needs to slow down.

I am doing several holiday markets this year. If you are around the San Diego or Los Angeles area, stop by and say hello!

This Saturday is the Makers Arcade show in downtown San Diego. There will be amazing local vendors, food, AND a bar. It's going to be a lot of fun. Cocktails always make shows more enjoyable.

healthy-ish shamrock shake

I love a shamrock shake. Every year I get myself at least one. A few weeks ago, I was craving a milkshake (I have a milkshake problem) and headed out for one. I started towards Jack in the Box (like I said, I have a problem) but then I realized it was shamrock shake season and beelined towards McDonalds.

As I drove home and sipped my favorite seasonal shake, I was so disappointed! It was soupy, so sweet it burned the back of my throat, and they forgot the cherry. Major let down, but maybe I have outgrown these shakes? Probably not. I just think the McDonald's by my house is the worst. I will try again in the future but for now, I made my own version. The McDs version is good but so bad. They are full of chemicals, the opposite of natural in all ways, and not at all good for you.

Despite my disappointment, I love the shamrock shake idea. They are minty and green and so cute for St. Patrick's Day. I looked around on Pinterest for a healthier option and almost all the recipes I found have spinach in them. I get that spinach is an all natural way to make the shake green but personally, I don't want spinach in my milkshake. I am fine with it in a smoothie, but a milkshake should be just a little bit indulgent, don't you think?

I whipped up this version that is healthy-ish. Much healthier than any McD's shake and not full of crazy chemicals and green dye. I used two scoops of vanilla ice cream, a handful of fresh chopped mint leaves, a frozen banana, and unsweetened coconut milk. I topped the shake off with a raspberry, a tiny bit of real (not cool whip) whipped cream, and dark chocolate shavings.

This version is really good. It isn't super green, but it's delicious and has a great minty flavor. If you add more ice cream, it would probably be even better....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

by minted

One of these years I am going to skip Christmas cards and send New Year's cards.  Or better yet, Valentine's. 

I love all the Christmas cards I receive but the past few years, I have had absolutely no time to put together a quality Christmas card. November and December are my busy months...but January is a little bit slow.  I should just admit defeat on the Christmas card front and start sending cards in January or February.

One of these years, I might plan ahead and order New Year's cards from Minted.  They have such pretty designs.

Any of the cards and prints at Minted can be personalized with photos, text, color, or shape.

The Valentine's designs on Minted make me want to send Valentine's.  SO CUTE.

On top of holiday cards, they also carry Save the Date Cards, Custom Art Prints, and Business Cards. They have so many pretty and inspiring designs. 

LOVE.

diy advent calendar

When I was a child, we had a felt Christmas tree advent calendar that my grandma had made for us. Every day in December, I would race down to the tree (had to beat my brother and sister :)) and hang a new ornament on the felt tree.  By December 25th the tree was full.  I have such fond memories of this simple advent calendar and decide to make something similar this year.

A felt tree is a great idea, but I wanted to make something that was more my style.  Plus, I will never be able to sew like my grandma, so I chose a super simple wood diy.

Supplies ~
-One 36" x 24" piece of wood.  I chose the most inexpensive option Lowe's.  It was about $8. You can easily choose something larger or smaller to fit your space.
-Paint.  Use any color you love! I used the emerald Pantone color from Lowe's for the tree and gold for the trunk.
-Small nails (to hang the ornaments) and thumb tacks or glue to secure the paper bags.
-25 small ornaments.  I chose to create ornaments in Photoshop (free printable below!) but tiny ornaments from the craft store or Target would also work.
-A few small paper bags to hold the ornaments.  I got mine at the craft store. You could easily use small envelopes or any other light weight bag that can easily be tacked or glued to the wood.
-brushes and painter's tape

Steps ~

This diy is super simple.  Almost too easy.  First, create a triangle tree and a rectangle trunk with painter's tape.  Paint the tree and the trunk and let dry.

Once the paint has dried, remove the tape and hammer 25 small nails to the tree.

If you wish to create your own ornaments, you can use these that I created.  Just right click on the photo, open it in a new tab, and print.  I printed my ornaments on card stock and used spray glue to glue the sheets down to thick cardboard.  Finally, I cut the ornaments out and punched a hole in the top of each one for hanging.

Finally, tack a few small paper bags or envelopes on the board below the tree.  Fill each bag with ornaments and hang one each day in December.  By the 25th your tree will be full :).

Happy December everyone!

diy doggie bowtie

Dogs look cuter in accessories and a holiday is the perfect time to dress them up.  I love little more than an animal in clothing so I created a few super easy St. Patrick's Day bowties for my dogs.  We are heading to Cincinnati for the weekend and I need to remember to pack these bowties for their stay at doggie daycare.  They need to wear their green on Sunday!

What you will need - green felt, gold sequined trim, craft or fabric glue, elastic, scissors, and clothespins.

~Cut the felt into a rectangle.  I cut a 6"x5" rectangle for Finn's bowtie and a smaller 5"x4" rectangle for Gordita's bowtie.

~Fold the rectangle in half and cinch the felt together in the middle.  

~Add a dab of glue and secure with a clothespin while the glue dries.

~Let the glue dry for about 10 minutes, then wrap the gold sequin trim around the center, gluing as you go.  Secure again with a clothespin and let dry for about 10 minutes.

~Once the sequins are secure around the felt bow, glue a piece of elastic on the back.  Once again, allow the glue to dry and then tie the lose ends of the elastic {after measuring the elastic around your dog's neck} in a knot.

That's it!  SO simple and cute.  

I think Gordita and Finn love their bowties :).

guinness ice cream float

You guys.  I think I found my new "thing."  Boozy ice cream drinks.  I had a root beer float the other night with whipped cream vodka in it and I was SOLD.  My mind starting churning with possibilities.  

In honor of St. Patrick's Day this weekend, I decided to sacrifice one bottle of Guinness and a few scoops of vanilla ice cream in the off chance that a Guinness ice cream float might be the best thing ever.  Well guess what??  It is.

Not too sweet, not too strong, just right.  The smooth Guinness is made even creamier when the ice cream melts and the chocolate on top is the perfect little addition to the float.

Before your mind goes "this looks gross....." try it!  

Two scoops vanilla ice cream, one bottle of Guinness, and a drizzle of chocolate syrup.  If you want to get crazy, throw in a little Baileys.

This was my attempt at making a shamrock out of chocolate syrup.  No, I am not three years old, I am really just that bad at drawing shamrocks.

What do you think?  Will you try it?

diy - valentine's day dog scarves

I love little more than a dog in an outfit or accessorized and I am always putting scarves {and costumes} on my pups. Gordita hates anything beyond a scarf but Finn is game for whole outfits.  It's awesome.  He always looks so proud in his Halloween costumes.  I love having a dog that appreciates clothing :).

Last week I made my dogs cute little scarves for Valentine's Day.  This project is super easy and inexpensive.

What you will need ~

-lightweight fabric {Finn got dark red and Gordita gray}, about 12"x 18" 

-felt {I used two shades of pink and white}

-scissors/pinking shears

-fabric glue {if you want to sew instead of glue, the hearts will definitely hold better}

Step One ~

Fold the lightweight fabric in half and use the pinking shears to cut out a triangle, leaving two long-ish pieces at the top to serve as the ties.

Finn is pretty big so I made his 12" {from the flat edge to the tip of the triangle}.  Gordita is medium sized, so her scarf measured 10" from the flat part to the tip of the triangle.

Step Two ~

Cut a few hearts out of the felt and glue them onto the front of the scarves.  If you want the hearts to really adhere to the cotton, I would add a few stitches.  Fabric glue holds fairly well but a few stitches will ensure that the hearts stay in place.

Could they be any cuter??  

heart shaped snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are my husband's favorite cookie.  He always asks me to make them and I really don't mind because, well, buttery + cinnamon sugary = SO frickin good.  What is it about cinnamon and sugar that is so perfect?  It reminds me of my childhood and lots of loaves of my favorite Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread.  

For this batch of snickerdoodles, I decided to switch it up and make them heart shaped.  Snickdoodle dough is a lot stickier than the average sugar cookie dough, so you will need to heavily flour your work surface or roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper.

I like to use a mix of flour and mostly powdered sugar when rolling out dough - the powdered sugar prevents sticking but it won't dry out the dough as much as flour.

Snickerdoodle Cookies {recipe from the Food Network Favorites cookbook}
-2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup shortening
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups sugar {plus 3 tablespoons for dusting the cookies}
-2 large eggs
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon {I like to add a little cinnamon to the dough} plus 1 tablespoon for dusting
-extra flour and some powdered sugar for the work surface {less than a cup of each}

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Using an electric hand or stand mixer, beat together the shortening and butter until well combined.  Add the 1 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy, this will take about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each is added.  Finally, mix in the dry ingredients and blend until smooth.  Right towards the end of the blending, add in the 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

4. Flour/powder sugar the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands.  Working with about one fourth of the dough at a time, roll out until about 1/4" thick and cut with a heart shape cookie cutter.  Transfer the heart cookies to a baking sheet.  

5. Mix together the extra 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and just before baking, sprinkle with the mixture over each cookie.  Press down gently so that the cinnamon-sugar mixture sinks into the dough.

6. Bake for about 10 minutes, remove from oven, and pull the parchment off the hot baking sheet and set on the counter so the cookies can cool.  

This recipe will make about 20 or 22 cookies....I guess it depends on how much dough you eat.  I always tend to eat way too much dough, so I only got about 20 heart shaped cookies out of this recipe :).  

Enjoy!

12 days of merry {day 2} ~ brown bag advent calendar

When I was a kid, we had an advent calendar that my grandma made.  There was a large felt tree and beneath it were 24 little pockets with felt ornaments in them.  I loved this advent calendar.   The countdown to Christmas was the most exciting part.  

This year I made an advent calendar for my niece.  I had a lot of grand ideas but when I remembered I had to ship the thing, I decided to go simple.  

To make the calendar, I used items I already hand on hand - brown paper bags, clothespins, and twine. I created the numbers in photoshop and printed them on sticker paper and I filled each bag with trinkets I got at Target, Michael's, and The Queen Bee Market.

This is pretty much a three year old's dream.  I think I might win the award for aunt of the year....not that I was trying or anything ;). 

Do you have an advent calendar tradition at your house?