the glittered nest

Childhood and Roses

I love looking at old black and white childhood photos.  I don't scrapbook that often but I wanted to do something special for my mother-n-law, Micki.  She has the most beautiful picture of she and her sister when the were little girls.  What makes this photo so special is knowing how incredibly close they are today and how much they love each other.  When you listen to them on the phone, they sound like two little girls giggling about everyday silly things.  I made this painting for Micki on her birthday.

 

Micki and Bambi's mother, Marilyn, died a year ago and they were very close to her.  She loved roses and lived in the rose capitol, Tyler.  I thought roses were perfect for this picture.  We all wear a rose charm from James Avery in memory of her.  

 

   This was a very dear project for me, thank you for sharing it with me.

Baby it's cold outside!

 

There's nothing better than hot cocoa on a cold day...better yet with some cream and sprinkles.

I had some girlfriends over today for lunch and wanted to share a dessert(of course) recipe with you!  It is dessert pizza. The salsa shown is a lavender peach salsa which I will share with you on another day!

This is a great Valentine's Day dessert because of the vibrant red color.  You can also cut strawberries to look like hearts:

The recipe is so easy: Take 1 refrigerated sugar cookie dough log and roll it out to fit in any shape pan you have.  Cook the cookie.  Let cool.  Spread a layer of lemon curd.  Next, spread a layer of strawberry jam.  Top with fruit.  I used fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries/blackberries/raspberries.  Walla!  Yummy dessert for everyone.

   Just take your knife and cut a v shape in the top of the strawberry.  My kids love to have heart shaped strawberries on their pancakes in the morning.

For a nice red spritzy drink for Valentines day, try equal parts of cranberry juice, sprite and slices of lime. (Drink shown above)

Comfort in a Spoon

 It is rainy and chilly here in Texas.  Perfect weather for my all-time favorite comfort food: Bread Pudding.

This bread pudding is definitely worthy of my mom' s 1950 Oneida China!

  

The sauce is divine: butter,sugar,corn syrup and Bourbon!  My kids ate it without the sauce and loved it. Involve your children!  Let them tear the french bread apart and add the raisins.  My daughter loves to stir anything on the stove(with adult supervision of course).

This recipe is in

Download New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

 

Painting is my mommy therapy!

 

It doesn't matter if you are not an "ARTIST"(like me!)...just paint...create...just seeing the colors on a canvas together is beautiful!  I must have an outlet other than cooking/cleaning/groceries.  I could shop as my outlet...but then my children wouldn't have money for college.  Get online and look up what you are interested in...you are bound to find a free tutorial on it!  Be happy and Create.

This book is such an inspiration and just wonderful to look at:

Little Tea Party

I have so many great memories of my little girls' birthday parties.  One of my favorites was their 4 year old tea party.

Here is the invitation I used:

 

The company that makes this is Odd Balls.

I rented a small round table and chairs from a local vendor.  The tea cups and saucers were ones I purchased at Marshalls.  They have a great selection of china at very affordable prices(especially if you need a lot of them!)  

 

The tea party menu was: peanut butter sandwiches with strawberry jam cut into flowers/cheese chunks and grapes. The tea was pink lemonade.  The best part about the tea is displaying all sorts of tea sets around the party that the girls can play with.  They loved the little bears on the tables too.

My little tea pot cake...first time to make this!  The little butterflies were purchased at Michaels.

 

These were little party favors I found in the dollar bin at Target!  I haven't seen them there in years, but you can find something similar by the North American Bear company.

We had a friend dress up as a princess and read a princess story to the girls.  I also enlisted some teenage neighbor friends to put makeup on the girls and make hats with silk flowers on them.

 
 

I hope my girls never get tired of tea parties! We have at least one a month...just the three of us. Maybe this will be a tradition we carry on throughout our lives together! 

Fruity Raspberry Martini

Yeah!  It's Friday....Martini time!  I like to experiment with different fruits to make martinis...here's tonight's concoction:

   

Frozen Raspberries, Absolut Vodka, Cointreau, Limeade and a slice of lime yippee!

I like to blend it in the magic bullet and stash it in the freezer. My little tip:  put your martini glasses in the freezer to keep them chilled.  The martini stays nice and cold while you are enjoying it.

Nothing Bundt Cakes

I cannot drive past a bakery without wanting to stop!  I am finding myself to be a major sweet lover and there's something about walking in and being surrounded by beautiful desserts.  I don't know if I like the desserts as much as I do the decor of bakeries.  They're always so fanciful and yummy looking.

When I started taking photos with my phone, the young woman behind the counter looked at me as if I were nuts.  I told her how much I love to put places I find on my blog...she still didn't get it!

I was out shopping this morning and came across NOTHING BUNDT CAKES in the new shopping center located on 1431 in Cedar Park, Tx. These little cakes are so pretty and moist!  And best of all, a little bundt cake was cheaper than a frappucino at Starbucks!(higher in calories obviously!)

Can you imagine having these little cakes in different flavors at your next party? I could! 

I love the tissue paper flower on this one..

 

If you don't live in Austin, you can go to their website to order or find one near you: Nothing Bundt Cakes

I heart Creme Brulee

  

I made this for the first time with my girls and it was soooo easy. 

 

The recipe is as follows:  Download Crème brulee (Mary Engelbreit's Sweet Treat Cookbook)

What a great dessert to make for your little or big loved ones for Valentine's Day!

Coastal Sisters beautiful new studio

Isn't this a gorgeous studio!  LuLu Kellogg is an artist from North Carolina.  We linked up through etsy/coastal sisters .  She bought a few of my boxes last year.  I must show you some more of her beautiful studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My little black eiffel tower box!!! I love it LuLu!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love how simple yet girly everything is in her studio!

Just a little inspiration

 

Just some girly little sussies to look at!

  

I'm starting to make a little fun space for myself in our new house. I made this paris box in Franklin and just can't part with it!

 Here's a little picture I made a friend to cheer her up.