short and sweet

i'm having/had another open house today (and tomorrow). even thought it's a bit early, our town turns on all their holiday lights tonight (it's called light up night) and local business offer special, snacks, holiday cheer, etc. so my post is a little short, but i had to share my new little creation.

remember i showed you the hot chocolate mix i made? well, i found these little plastic vials (i got the 50 ml) online.  they hold exactly enough mix for one cup of hot chocolate! genius. so i made about fifty of these single serve vials for the shoppe and my baskets.

aren't they great!? i had to share because i think they'd make super sweet gifts for people that you want to wish a happy holiday ... but don't really want or need to by them a gift.

you could get some vials and fill with hot chocolate mix, candy, coffee creamer, dip mixes, anything really... even homemade bath salts or lotions. they make great gifts to past out to people like the post man, co-workers, ups and fed-ex people (mine defiantly deserve a treat [maybe all 50 of these vials] for the amount of stuff they deliver here) or even an extra treat for a special waitress/waiter... lots of ideas!

cute, right? whataya think? have a great weekend everyone!

peacock tree

i thought i'd share some photos of one of my favorite trees in the gift shoppe this year. it's a ten foot tall tree, but the top three feet is made of a bendable rod allowing it to 'lean'. sorta looks like a whoville tree. you can call me michael-loo-who!

i was inspired by the colors of a peacock and these beautiful sequin peacock ornaments below.

90% of the time i wrap my tree with ribbon. i didn't have anything in the shop to match, so i used a glittery green ribbon i found at wal-mart. i love ribbon on a tree. it fills that empty space so nicely. it also helps to hide cords from lights.

and of course i had to have real peacock feathers. found these guys on ebay for a steal!

 an elves view of the tree. magical, right?

even sequin butterflies!

and any good tree needs a little glitter! i love the colors of glitter used on these teal glass ornaments.

some jewels for added sparkle!

the most amazing glittery green ferns i've ever seen. these really make the tree extra special.

and a disco ball inspired ornament. i love how they reflect the lights.

what do you think of my tree? i will share pictures of MY actually tree sometime next week. have you put your tree up yet?

december

someone pinch me. seriously. really hard.

is it really december 21st? december is usually a somewhat steady month for me but this year it was pure craziness. most of my christmas decorations are still sitting in their respective tupperware containers still packed up from last year.

i wanted to make some pillows. that didn't happen. i wanted to make some christmas trees out of funnels, (which i have been collecting since the summer). that didn't happen. i wanted to make ornaments for my pink christmas tree. also didn't happen. and most of all, i wanted to share it all with you. and, as i'm sure you can tell as my last post was exactly a month ago today, that didn't happen either.

i hate to complain because i'm really thankful to be busy here, really thankful. but i just love this time of year. i wanted a minute to suck it all in, to enjoy it. you know what i mean? i didn't even get to play along with kim and her dare to diy party. (even after i bugged her about it months before it started.)

as the holiday nears i'm thankful that i penciled in at least a couple days of nothingness. some time to create. some time for family. time for giving. and lots of time to stuff my face with cookies, appetizers, wine and everything in between.

i've been planning at lot in my head on how to have a better year next year. so i anxiously await 2012 with open arms and an open mind. how about you? are you ready for 2012?

i hope to post again before this weekend but in case life pulls me away, i wanted to wish all of you a very merry christmas. thank you for all your wonderfulness and support this past year.

probably the easiest cookies ever .. and a question

things have been pretty busy around here. busier than last year at this time. busier than expected.  and don't get me wrong, busy is good, but certain adjustments need to be made.

i offered to help bake holiday cookies for my mom this year and trying to squeeze cooking making into my schedule hasn't been necessarily easy. so when i saw this recipe for 'candy cookie cups' i felt like i hit the jackpot.

you only need three ingredients:

1. one package (18oz) individually portioned refrigerated white chip macadamia nut cookie dough (i know it's pre-made cookie dough, but you can't tell, trust me)

2. twenty-four miniature peannut butter cups (reeses of course!)

3. and 1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts.

got your ingredients? here's what to do...

sprinkle macadamia nuts into 24 greased miniature muffin cups, 1 teaspoon in each.

cut each portion of cookie dough in half (or just tear it like i did), place each half in a muffin cup.

bake at 325 for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.

(and don't forget to unwrap your peanut butter cups in advance)

immediately (after taking pictures for you blog) place a peanut butter cup in each cookie; press down gently.

cool completely before removing from pans to wire racks. (this step is actually important. can't rush this one!)

ta-da!

and they really are delicious. honest. and no one will ever know, expect for me of course, that you used refrigerated cookie dough. and i promise not to tell. so if you need a quick super yummy cookie, give them a try.

ok, and now for the question. i'm in the need of a new computer. last year i got a virus on my current computer (a laptop from dell) and it's just never been the same. then this past summer i dropped my laptop. i know. shame on me. so now the screen is literally hanging on by the wires on the one side. and the cd-rom is slightly dysfunctional.

i've been a lifetime pc user, but have interest in switch over to mac. so please take a second to complete the poll below. and if you have more detail advice or a very strong opinion, please leave a comment below or shoot me an email. thank you! thank you!

so why not you?

so, i'm trying to watch my color intake this time of year. i stumbled across this recipe for a low-cal pumpkin and cream cheese bread.

low cal pumpkin and cream cheese bread via Sunday Baker  <--- click here for the recipe

i can't wait to try it! i adore pumpkin. and at 46 calories per slice, this could become my new go to dessert! 

and i just adore this message...

beautiful, right?

a dream

owning my own business, a bed and breakfast no less, has been a dream come true. yes, there are days when i want to run down the street screaming or sit in a dark corner and cry like a baby (i guess that comes with any job), but all and all it is amazing and i feel very lucky and fortunate to do what i do.

 nate berkus

i have a 'plan' and unofficial goals as to how long i want to do what i'm doing. i also have ideas for what i want to do next. no, i'm not going to be an innkeeper forever. and yes, eventually i'd like to live somewhere where the nearest mall isn't an hour and a half away (a good restaurant is also a must).

eddie ross

for as long as i can remember i've always loved designing things. creating things. i often wish i would have went to school for design rather than hospitality management. certain thoughts kept me from going that direction, but that's neither here nor there. everything happens for a reason and i'm happy with my journey thus far. no regrets.

matthew mead

thankfully, i'm surrounded by a few inspiring men that have created a career, business or empire from their passion for design and beautiful things. the crafting and 'design blogging' world seems to be heavily dominated by women (who, without saying, are amazingly talented beyond any doubt), so it's refreshing to find a couple men out their doing their thing.

david bromstad

these men, nate berkus ... matthew mead ... eddie ross ... the barnhouse boys ... david bromstad (and probably many more i had yet to truly discover) constantly inspired me to pursue this passion i have for styling, design, creation. if they can do it, so can i. i'm not one to pat myself of the back ... and i'm sure that my 'talent' doesn't hold a candle to the work that these men have created, but given the chance i think i could hold my own.

http://www.barnhousebh.com/

so while i continue to live my dream of being the best and most amazing innkeeper i can be, i want to start looking towards a future dream too. how i'm going to achieve this dream ... or if i'm going to be any good at it is yet to be determined. but i do think that if we all followed our dreams and did what we loved, this world would be a different place.

if you have any advice ... if you do what you love ... if you are a designer/stylist/creator/artist by trade i would love to hear from you. comment below. email me. all advice is good advice.

if not, what is your dream job? what is stopping you from achieving that dream? or what plans/goals to you have in place to achieve your dream(s)?

and thanks for listening to me ramble for a bit.

embroidery hoop art

even though this is soooo 2010... or 2009... maybe even 2008 (who knows) i'm going to share it with you anyway cause i just love how it looks. (i'm getting off to a good start.)

my mom recently claimed one of the bedrooms in my old house as her sewing room. we both loved the look and simplicity of embroidery hoops filled with coordinating fabrics and hung on the wall. so as part of her christmas gift this year. i bought several different sizes of embroidery hoops from here and filled them with some beautiful fabrics from here. and while i was putting together her gift ... i also ordered enough supplies and fabric for myself. and this isn't being selfish. just efficient. or at least i tell myself that.

the 'artwork' is in my hall which can been seen from the kitchen, so i tried to match everything up with both my kitchen (which has reds and pinks and grays) and my hall (which will soon have these curtains [and sadly my sewing machine is still in the box ... but i'm getting it out this week ... i needed thread ... and i got some practice fabric. encouragement welcome.])

i really like how it turned out. it's cozy and warm ... modern and fun ... a bit vintage, perhaps?

i love the fact that it can be easily changed when i get bored of certain fabrics.

the investment was minimal (even less expensive if you have a bunch of extra fabric laying around). and i used the smallest 3M removable hooks i could find so there are not an excessive amount of holes in the wall.

not to shabby if i do say so myself. what do YOU think!?

taking it easy

after one of the longest weeks i can remember, i'm taking a breather and listening to some new music from tony bennett. his new album is fantastic. here are two of my favorites.







enjoy your sunday! see you tomorrow!

antiquing with charm

over the past week or so i hit up some nearby antique shops and have found several really cool finds with pretty amazing price tags. so i thought i'd share two of them (both currently hung in my kitchen) with you today and i'll share the rest when they find a more permanent home.

first, i found these red shutters at this really odd shop that's only open during the holidays. this woman and/or man collects the most uniquely odd, yet beautiful, things all year and then sells them at christmas time.

the store is seriously magic. i missed the first weekend this year, but you can bet next year i'll be the first in line! the store is called chris moose. more info here.

the color is just amazing. and i love the little topiary detail. but the best part ... both shutters ... 12 bucks. for two shutters! amazing! i think i looked at the price tag like twenty times to make sure i was reading it right.

then, to add some holiday cheer, i found this vintage red and green santa apron. 

it was sorta odd to photograph ... my camera wasn't being nice with all the light coming in from the window. but the details are beautiful and it's in great shape. when christmas is over i found another apron (which is the fabric my fudge is setting on) to replace this one.

both aprons, only $5 each! i'm usually try to work them down in price a little bit (even though i'm not very good at it), but when things like this are more than reasonable, i'm happy to pay.

what do you think? have you purchase any unique antiques lately?