chocolate and flowers

While going through Easter pictures on Pinterest a few weeks back, I saw many beautiful Easter eggs and thought that since the egg represents birth (as written in my post here), it would naturally be pretty dessert for Mother's Day. 

When my children opened up their Kinder chocolate eggs, I liked how the eggs were the "wrapping" for the gift inside. 

Inspired by the egg cups as mini flower vases (as seen in my last post), I thought it would be perfect to create the flower vase that's both pretty...and edible. (I love to eat!).

Below is a really simple way to make chocolate eggs as "vases".  Fill with whatever you would like...I thought I'd just fill mine with ice cream (use ice cream that doesn't melt so fast...I used a mango sherbet that melted faster than I can place them!) and heart shaped candies that, when you put four of them together (like a clover), with another on top, they look like flowers.  Chocolate?  Check.  Ice Cream?  Check.  Candy? Check.  So simple!  

Happy Mother's Day!

Easy Chocolate Egg Vases.

These eggs can be made 2-3 days in advance, keep eggs in the fridge in an airtight container.


Ingredients
1 cup of chocolate chips
2 tbsp. of butter.


Melt the chocolate chips and butter slowly in a saucepan.  Remove from heat.  The chocolate should be thick, not watery. Let cool and stir so it has the consistency of icing.


Grease the egg cups with butter.

Using an icing spreader (or the back of a small spoon), coat the inside of the egg cups, making a thick "wall".

Chill overnight, then using a sharp knife gently push out the chocolate.  

Remove eggs from the fridge about 10 minutes before serving. Fill with desired contents.  


Enjoy!

may flowers

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Mother's Day is synonymous with flowers.  The giving and receiving of them.  Here are some beautiful flower arrangements using every day household items as vases.  They make the flowers seem so much more personal...and easy to create for Mother's Day.

Here's a floral arrangement using a 3 tiered serving tray (with floral foam).

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Simple votive candles hold little flower tops, or single roses with the stems removed.

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Here's a simple candlestick holder, topped with floral foam and carnations.

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Here's a very very easy arrangement I used one year for Mother's Day...just use pretty colour coordinated gift bags.

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April showers definitely brought May flowers.  Enjoy!

serving thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for.  Bounty of food.  Gathering of family and loved ones.  It's a beautiful time of year where we celebrate being grateful.

It's a special time of year where I like to appreciate the simple things, and it's evident in the table settings and decor used in our home for Thanksgiving. The beauty of something simple like an apple. A pumpkin.  Or even squash. To revel in it's colour, it's texture, it's taste.

We are all very blessed to have such abundance of beauty surrounding us this season.  A season of appreciation of all things simple, beautiful and now.


To all my Canadian friends, enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!

{This post is linked to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia}

Simply Good(will) Table-Reveal !

This has been quite a fun DIY project, mostly because this is my test...if I can paint this table, I can attempt at a larger table for our kitchen.

Here's what I did with my $5 table.

Using sandpaper, lightly sanded all paintable surfaces.

A medium grit sandpaper worked.

Then, using a damp cloth, I wiped the table clean from debris.

I was temped to use TSP, but plain water worked fine.

I primed the table with this great oil based primer  
I only used about 1/20th of the can.

Zinsser Cover Stain is amazing, found at Lowes for about $12.
It works well on all kinds of wood, including damaged, varnished or veneered.

Spray (yes spray) painted the table using satin black paint.  

Almost suffocated myself with the fumes...
don't forget to wear a mask!  This Krylon spray in Satin
Black can be found at Michaels or Canadian Tire for about $7

I waited for about 24 hours before doing another coat, 

and paint odd places I missed (like underneath).

If you get drips or streaks,
use a small foam brush (from Michaels for $1),
and lightly brush the drips, then continue spraying.

Remember my inspiration?

Crate and Barrel Esme Bruno Pedestal Table

Here's how my version looks in our sitting room. 

The sofa is supposed to be in our living room...
this is just a temporary spot.  It will be replaced with two sitting
chairs, with this table in between.

Similar to the Crate and Barrel table in style, but definitely not $600 (or even half that).  Total cost...about $20!!! (with primer and paint to spare for another project!)

Beautiful savings.

{This post is linked to Coastal Charm, Miss Mustard Seed, My Repurposed Life, House of Grace, The Shabby Nest}

Simply Pretty Mother's Day Table

First came love, then came marriage…now let's honour the ones who push the baby carriage.

Usually men don’t organize parties (although I have a friend who’s husband loves to organize parties, so he’s a rare breed...but I digress)…so when Mother’s Day comes up, my husband usually takes care of details like what we're going to eat (usually BBQ if the weather is nice), but decorating the house “pretty” isn’t usually top of mind (and no, vacuuming and re-arranging chairs does not constitute decorating for a party).

When we hosted a Mother's Day get together at our house last year…the night before everyone was to arrive, I was in search for a quick table centerpiece.  As I was putting together little gifts for the Moms, I thought, why not put flowers in a gift bag like it's a vase?

I like that it’s easy to coordinate the colour to a party theme, table cloth or the flowers.  And it costs almost nothing.  And it looks cute on the table, with not a lot of effort.

Pretty simple.  Simply pretty.