millefleurs

Ok, so has this silently become a food blog here? I don't really know. But I must say, I really love how this cake turned out. I used this recipe in a cake form, made some buttercream frosting and spread it all over the cake and finally covered it in a thin layer of white fondant. Then I cut out the pink blossoms from pink fondant to decorate the cake (and hide the not-so-pretty bottom part of the cake).

By the way: sorry for the bad pictures. I was in a rush... all those blossoms took longer than I expected...

very berry

You can add your favourite vanilla cream cheese frosting, if you like, or leave them as they are.

strawberry fields forever

can't wait for spring

hearty heart

 Because it's Valentines... obviously

a better place

Things that make the world a better place
This is the theme of the Couch Blog Star Award. When I heard this, I immediately thought about: baking!

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm in a bad mood or I need some cheering up, I head straight to my kitchen and start baking. Cookies, cupcakes, muffins, or even a rainbow cake you name it. It feels so rewarding to create something so pretty and tasty.
So on one grey and cold January sunday I tried tiny little tartes au citròn. They were incredibly delicious! 

It may not be the fastest treat you can make, but so worth it!

By the way: I hear so many people have problems with meringue. I somehow never had. In my experience the most  important part is that the egg whites are really cool (refrigerated for at least 1 day). 

 

DIY 2013 agenda

 So, I know January is almost over and probably most of you have your agendas for 2013 all set up since December. But me, I'm late. Probably because I couldn't find one that I really liked. So I decided to make one myself, and I must say I love it in all its pastel starry beauty!
And for those of you that are late like me, I'm providing this calendar for you to download in english (here) or german (here).  Get the cover (here).

Simply print out all pages except first page in booklet duplex on regular printer paper. If you don't have duplex, use booklet front pages only first, then put the paper in the printer again and print booklet back pages on the backside.  Instruction here
Print the cover on cardboard.
For the spiral binding, first cut all pages in the middle and assemble in the right order. Then take them to a copy shop, they can do the spiral binding for you. Or maybe you have a machine for that, like I do.  
Or you can also just use the sewed version that I also used for the Paris Journal here. In that case, do not cut the pages, but instead fold them in half and sew together. 

blueberry meringue

I got some tartelette forms for christmas that I wanted to try out yesterday. I can't believe how delicious these turned out to be! Make sure to try them when they're still warm. 

30 before 30

So, no new years resolutions to share this year. However, ever since my 29th birthday I have been collecting a number of things I would like to have done before turning 30 this year. Some things are really trivial, some are quite a challenge for me, and some were already accomplished (like the trip to Paris and buying a skateboard). But after finally completing the list yesterday, I thought why not share it here at the start of the new year.

Let's hope it's a good one

Happy new year everyone!

I hope you had wonderful holidays and a great party (or a quiet celebration) yesterday.

I celebrated the beginning of 2013 with some friends and made little wish jars for everyone, where the wishes and resolutions for the new year can be kept.

I used little spice-jars that I filled with silver stars, little pigs or clover and finished off with a label.

I'm going to write my wishes down right now!

2013 - let's hope it's a good one

words

sweet moments

I really love chai tea latte. Last year I made homemade chai syrup for the first time, and last week it was time to make some again. Here's my recipe. I read over at nicest things and here that you could also add some pepper. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Once you have your syrup, just take a cup of steamed milk and add about 2-3 teaspoons of syrup. 



words

last year

stars and sequins

on my wall

I found this idea to repurpose old videocassette cases as picture frames via cool outfit, and thought this is a great idea. Now I have these two pretty cases hanging above my bed, and they can even store little secrets.



Travel Journal: Paris

Back in late September a girls weekend was spent in beautiful Paris. Remember? I thought it would be cute to have little journals for us girls to plan our days and also as a diary to write down what we did. And because I was so happy about the notebooks, I decided to make one myself. I thought I'd share the journal with all of you. Maybe you're going to Paris sometime in the future and could use a cute little journal like this. You can download the journal here. Of couse it's free.

How to do it:  

Print the first page of the journal on thicker paper with borderless print: this will be your cover. Now print pages 3-22 as a brochure (this is a setting in your printer) with 2 pages per paper and duplex (which means you print front and backside) on normal paper. The little french guide is translated to german only, if you want to skip this, do not print those sides. Lastly, put your cover in your printer again. Now you print the backside of your cover (check how your printer works to find out how you have to put the paper into the printer). Print pages 2 and 23 of the journal on the backside of the cover with the 2 pages per paper setting. Make sure the page 2 will be printed on the backside exactly where the Eiffel tower is on the front. When you're done printing, fold all pages and sew together. If you have questions about the procedure don't hesitate to drop me a line!

All the graphics I used in the journal are from the graphics fairy. The city map is a print from google maps. And the metro map is from here. Please only use the journal for personal purposes.

And there is one more thing I have to tell you about this journal. Do you remember I said I did only one thing fashion-related during Paris Fashion Week? Well, we went to the book signing of Scott Schuman (the Sartorialist) and got his book 'Closer' signed as a birthday gift for A (which is why I couldn't tell you about it). He was really nice and also signed our little girly journals, which makes mine even more special to me. But let me tell you, after getting up at 3 am, a 4 hour trainride and hours of sightseeing in Paris the three of us really looked like crap. I felt horribly underdressed ;-)

one man's trash - another man's treasure

        before (cleaned already)                                           after

Sometimes I'm amazed at what some people throw away. And while I feel a little awkward digging through other people's trash, I've been rewarded with so many pretty things during the years that I don't really mind.

Here's my newest find. Good to see what some hot water and paint can do. The working surface is painted with black chalkboard paint. Somehow I've been painting everything I could get my hands on with chalkboard paint recently. 

one

star lantern and slate plate: das depot; numbers: shabby style; silver hearts:gift

simple advent decoration this year