Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day - 6 Best-Ever Recipes

 
Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and I thought it would be fun to share not one but six Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes with you.  If you are a chocolate lover like me, you are sure to want to try these recipes.














Cookie Tips

Mix Chocolates:  Try combining types of chips or chunks (such as milk chocolate, semisweet or bittersweet) for contrast, such as mixing milk chocolate with bittersweet.  They all bake up the same way.

It's in the pan:  Dark-colored cookie sheets bake cookies browner than shiny ones.

Don't get stuck:  Keep cookies from sticking by baking on cookie sheets lines with parchment paper.  A parchment paper bonus = easy cleanup

Cookies on demand:  All of the above cookie dough recipes above are fine for freezing.  Shape into balls before freezing.  Place frozen balls on cookie sheet; bake a little longer than regular dough until done.

Creative serving:  Sandwich chocolate chip cookies around vanilla or chocolate ice cream.

Tips via Midwest Living

What is your favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe? 
 Leave your recipe in the comments below.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

DIY Tutorial: How to Make Lavender Sachets


You may recognize these adorable Lavender Sachets from the Butterfly Party that I shared with you yesterday.  I created a DIY Tutorial for Hostess with the Mostess which you can view HERE.  Today I am sharing my easy sew Lavender bags which make for a fun party activity as well as a great party favor.  And don't forget that Mother's Day is this weekend so the sachets would be a wonderful Mother's Day gift as well.


Supplies:
Tray
Dried Lavender
Pinking Shears
Scissors
Fabric
Embroidery Thread
Needle
Spoon
Ribbon


1.  Using pinking shears, cut 2 rectangles of fabric measuring 4 x 8 inches to prevent the fabric from fraying.


2. With wrong sides of fabric facing, stitch together the sides and base of fabric using the needle and embroidery thread.  The stitch should be small enough so that the lavender cannot leak out.



 3. When the bag is complete, use a spoon to carefully fill it with dried lavender.  Fill the bag approximately halfway up, and make sure it is quite full and plump.


 4. Tie ribbon around the bag, just above the lavender.  Trim ends of ribbon using scissors.


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

{New to the Shop} Butterfly Party Collection + Hostess with the Mostess Blog Contributor


Today is such an exciting day.  Not only am I sharing our newest party collection but I am also thrilled to announce that I am the newest contributor for one of my favorite blogs, Hostess with the Mostess.  You can view my very first post HERE.  Without further ado, I look forward to sharing all of the details of our new collection which is a butterfly themed party that is sure to delight with its creative details.  With butterfly silhouettes and a soft color palette that includes beautiful ikat patterns, this playful purple party is perfect for birthday parties, baby showers and bridal showers too!



The cake was a vanilla buttercream that was embellished with white gumballs.








Tin canisters were wrapped with paper matching the party's color palette and topped with tissue paper poms.  You can view the diy tutorial for making the tissue paper poms HERE.



Click HERE for our easy sew diy lavender sachet tutorial.




The "Flutterby Butterfly" collection includes:

1. Double Sided Invitation
2. Happy Birthday Pennant Banner
3. Ikat Pattern Pennant Banner
4. Wrappers
5. Blank Gift Tags/Labels
6. Blank tents/placecards
7. 2. Inch Party Decor
8. 2 inch favor tags
9. Cake toppers/table decor
10. Welcome sign
11. Straw flags

The "Flutterby Butterfly" printable party collection is currently on sale for 50% off in my etsy shop HERE through May 15, 2013.

Vendor Credits & Resources

Butterfly Cookies - Charlie's Cakes and Cookies
Buttefly Soap Favos - Favor Boutique by Angelique
Paper Straws - InTheClear
White Gumballs - Party City
Meringue Cookies - World Market
Ruffled Cake Plates: Pier One
Paper Butterfly Silhouettes - Silhouette Portrait

Thursday, April 25, 2013

diy Tutorial: Giant Paper Rose Flower



I received an email this morning from a sweet fan asking if I had made the large flowers that I used for the Aloha Summer themed dessert table.  They were actually given to me by a local boutique that had used them for a springtime window display.  I emailed back that you could find lots of great diy tutorials for giant flowers online.  I started to look myself and came across this Giant Paper Rose Flower via Green Wedding Shoes and fell in love.  I just knew that I had to share the tutorial with you.
 

What You Need:
1 Roll of floral tape
6 18-gauge floral stem wire
4 sheets of Doublette crepe paper for petals
1 sheet of Doublette crepe paper in green for leaves, calyx, stem
1 round pencil
Craft Glue
Crepe paper templates (download from Martha Stewart)
3 copies of the teardrop template
8 copies of the heart-shaped template
2 copies of the leaf template
1 copy of the calyx template

Step 1: Cut the petals


Cut 5-6 teardrop petalss and 15-16 heart-shaped petals from the petal colored paper.
VERY IMPORTANT: Crepe paper is directional so it matters which way you're cutting the paper.  Make sure the grain is vertical when you're cutting the flower pieces.


 Stack 2 pieces of crepe paper on top of each other and then place 1 copy of the template over the crepe paper and staple.  It is not recommended to cut more than 2 layers of crepe paper at a time since the edges won't cut as cleanly.


Repeat until all of your petals are cut out.

Step 2: Cut the leaves + calyx 

 Cut 3 leaves and 1 calyx from the green crepe paper.

Step 3: Make the rose stem.


Take 3 pieces of stem wire and wrap in floral tape.

Step 4: Shape the petals


With both hands, pull from the center of the petal outward.  This will create a cupping of the paper (which is what gives it the petal-like) quality.


Turn petal over and use the round pencil to curl the top of the petal.

Step 5: Create the rose bud - the inner part of the rose
 

Take one teardrop shaped petal and wrap around the taped floral wire from Step 3.  Use more floral tape to secure.  Repeat working your way around the floral wire until all of the teardrop shaped petals are used.

Step 6: Make the rose bloom - the out part of the rose


Take one heart-shaped petal and wrap around the rose bud, secure with floral tape.  Repeat until all of the petals have been used.

Step 7: Make the leaf-stems


Take 3 loose pieces of floral wire and using craft glue, wrap each one with crepe paper. Take one leaf and 1 crepe paper wrapped floral wire and glue together.  Repeat 2 more times.

Step 8: Add calyx to rose


Wrap the calyx around the base of the rose bloom and secure with floral tape.


Cover the floral tape area with more crepe paper.

Step 9: Add leaf-stems to rose


Using craft glue, secure each of the 3 leaf-stems to the rose stem.  It is helpful to use binder clips to hold the stems together while the glue dries.


Voila!  What a great alternative to real flowers and one that will last for a lifetime!

Photos courtesy Studio Castillero

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

{Giveaway} Lil and Lou Designs Shop Credit!

We have a winner!
 Comment #481 - Ashley Outland
CONGRATULATIONS! Please email stefanie@annaandblue.com for info to claim your prize. 


You are going to absolutely LOVE this week's featured store and SURPRISE giveaway from Lil and Lou Designs!  My sweet friend Elizabeth opened her adorable shop a while back and I am thrilled to share her store with you.  Lil and Lou Designs is a stylish online boutique which carries sophisticated and chic accessories, items for children, monogrammed designs and more!  Their products are unique, colorful, fashionable and incredibly versatile.

 Hand Painted Monogrammed Picture Frames

Custom Cell Phone Cases
Lil and Lou Designs is giving a $40 gift certificate to one lucky anna and blue paperie reader.

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