a homemade holiday

have you flipped through the adorable holiday magazine from ruche yet?

in addition to a few of their pretty dresses, this online magazine is full of beautiful decorating ideas, delicious recipes, and other cute DIY projects perfect for the upcoming holidays.  check it out:  

                             Open publication - Free publishing - More arts

free recipe cards

well we have officially entered into the holiday season, and you know what that means? it's time to dust off your kitchen appliances, pull on those aprons, and get to cooking, baking, and mixing those drinks!  and what's a great way to make the process more fun? having a box full of cute recipe cards of course!  

if i'm going to be completely honest here, i have to admit that up until now, i've jotted recipes down on everything from scraps of printer paper, to the backs of receipts, to old worn out napkins.  historically, i tend to grab the closest thing resembling any form of paper product, which doesn't always fit nicely into a little wooden box, but i think i've finally come to an age where i'm ready for all that to change.  

so i took to the interweb on a search for sweet recipe cards and found these 

clean, modern, free printables {yay, i love free!} from a place for twiggs:

{download: cover}

{download: cards}

if those aren't quite your style, check out these links for a couple other free recipe card printables:

cute and whimsical owl cards on my owl barn, and fun flag buntings with divider cards on heartmade.

and if you have the spare pennies, might i suggest checking out some that aren't free? 

like these gorgeous wooden recipe cards from in haus press,

these cross stitch cards from mink letterpress,

or any of the recipe cards by rifle paper co.

recipe cards full of favorite recipes also make pretty incredible gifts!  i've seen stacks of recipes given as housewarming gifts, wedding gifts, and i'm thinking they'd make fabulous holiday gifts as well.
it's easy on your budget but has all the warmth necessary for a perfect heartfelt gift
{just go ahead and file that away for the upcoming months}.  

so how about you?  

have any favorite recipe cards to share?

{all photos from a place for twiggs}

so sweet

i've had a real sweet tooth all week.

it started with discovering this sweet shop, upper metal class, at the renegade craft fair. 

it's full of the most amazing, delicate, and feminine jewelry.  

i'm so in love! 

 {dear husband, if you're reading this, might i suggest something here as a 1 year anniversary gift?  these are all far cheaper than the last piece of jewelry you gave me to symbolize our love.}

****

then last night i watched the super sweet movie "ceremony."  

it's so well done and really shows the beauty that comes with growing up.

i absolutely loved it.

****

i've also been filling the house with the sweet tunes of this playlist
{some lovely favorite songs of the moment}:

what sweet things have you been loving this week?

too awesome not to share

okay you guys, i'm about to dish out some ridiculous amounts of awesome.  

it's vital that you take this very seriously.  

i'm not messing around here.

{left, right}

{left, right}

how absolutely, adorably, awesome are these kids' costumes?!

i didn't intend to choose all animal-themed costumes either, it just happened that way.

i fully intend to steal one of these ideas come halloween, or maybe my anniversary? 

after all, we do have a history of celebrating in silly costumes.

***

and while we're on the topic of awesome, i discovered the most awesomest band last week!  they're called socks and chimes and both play the ukulele and live in LA and are totally adorable and make the most fun music!  

they're also a brand new band so their music is kind of hard to find, but i've borrowed a couple songs from their website for your listening pleasure:

New Mexico by socksandchimes

Hope You Come Around by socksandchimes

i hope all of you are having great thursdays!

sharing is nice

a couple weeks ago i received the liebster award from ana of the world through my eyes.  the rules are to share four lesser-known blogs {under 300 followers} that i think should be discovered and read.  it just so happens that i have found a handful of new blogs lately, so here are four that i'm happy to share with you all:

1. for a life inspired

2. the space between the notes

3. the little toil of love

4. mirror of my world

all fun and beautiful, so go check them out.

****

speaking of fun and beautiful, here are some other great things i have discovered recently.
how cool are these?...

* what's the perfect gift for that designer/woodworker husband? how about a gorgeous wooden tie from wood thumb?  these guys are from {where else?} the great city of san francisco, and have created a pretty brilliant union of style and design if you ask me {they're quite affordable too!}.

* raise your hand if you ride a bike. and are all of you safety mcsafe-a-lot by wearing a helmet, or would you rather preserve your cute hairdo than your noodle?  well, i have some good news for you - a couple of awesome swedes came up with a way to help you do both {hooray sweden}!  see this stylish black collar?  in the event of an accident, it releases an airbag that forms around your neck and head in the shape of a helmet.  you can see the crash tests here.  mind-blowing!

{discovered thanks to gloria of little white whale}

* and this print is just way too adorable!
a friend emailed it to me the other day and i fell in love.

{you can buy this and other adorable prints in ilovedoodle's etsy shop}

here's hoping you all get lots of hugs this week!

morse code jewelry

a few weeks ago, when we stopped in at unique LA, i discovered an incredible new shop: coatt jewelry.  

coatt necklaces are based on morse code, using a series of dots and dashes to create a word or short phrase on each piece.  you can customize the type of metal {gold or silver}, the color of silk thread, and the overall length.  you can even customize your own word/phrase {with a 30 character limit} if you don't like the ones which are already in the shop.  here are a few of my favorites:

"coeur"

"love me do"

"dandy"

gorgeous, no?

i love how delicate, feminine, and delightfully geeky these all are.  

what would you say on your necklace?

easter surprise!

over the weekend i discovered an awesome easter tutorial over on just.lovely.things, which i simply had to share with you guys.  by the way, can you believe easter is in two weeks?!

this exciting project is brought to you by not martha {don't you love those gals?}.  

sure, these look like your typical unassuming easter eggs,...

...but when you crack them open, all sorts of goodies await!

this actually looks like a simple project if you have a wee bit of time to spare.  the basic steps are draining the egg yolks/whites {which you can then use for all your easter baking, right?}, dying the shells, filling
them with candy surprises, then glueing the open part to a cute mini cupcake wrapper.
oh and don't forget your "crack me" signs!

click on the link for step-by-step instructions,

and have a blast planning your easter extravaganza!

be still my heart!

i love everything about this sweet patisserie and delicatessen, tell tale society, from {where else?} my

 dear san francisco.  

if you join, each month you'll receive a package full of delectable, seasonal goodies, both savory & and sweet, all wrapped up in a burlap bag and hand-stamped boxes created by a local design company.  you can either pick it up in person if you live nearby, or have it shipped to you if you live in the US {i think they ship internationally as well, but you have to contact them for special instructions}.  

plus, they have one of my favorite quotes ever on their website:

"those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night."

 - edgar allan poe

maybe i can convince them to partner with me for my happiness truck?...

big life ideas

one of my many life ideas is to start my own fun business.  the ideas are ever changing - a bookstore, an arts & crafts collective, and most recently an ice cream parlor.  in these ideas, the store itself is always a fun creative experience, unlike your typical four-walled shops.  

that's why i love the latest trend of pop-up shops, and of course, i'm a huge fan of the food truck movement.  in fact, it was just last week that i began thinking, what else could you buy from a truck?  i went through all my previous ideas of a bookstore, arts & crafts collective, and ice cream parlor {some of which already exist}. 

but then it hit me - what about a happiness truck?

my happiness truck would be filled with all sorts of fun things:

+ cupcakes,

+ magicians,

+ cute, handmade trinkets and gifts,

+ edible and biodegradable confetti {with giant confetti guns},

+ a sweet song written and sung specifically for you,

+ an empathetic, non-judging, kind listening ear,
+ a dance party,

+ free hugs,

+ jokes,

+ genuine compliments,

+ puppies, kittens, & bunnies,

+ yoga classes,

+ flowers,

+ passion tea lemonade,

+ workshops for all sorts of fun things,

+ a crowd of smiling people applauding and high-fiving you,

+ a surprise guest appearance by your best friend.

now it couldn't be entirely free {wouldn't it be wonderful if it could?!}, but i would be happy to take
donations, or trades.  for instance, hypothetically, if someone came to me and said "i just got fired
from my job and i really need to play with a puppy. how about i build you a treehouse for
3 weeks of puppy sessions?" i would for sure say "yes!"
and that's how it would work.

now if only i could get a business loan...

what is one of your big life ideas?

{photos from enjoy cupcakes, the cutest cupcake shop in the world!}