Kahlua Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

That's a mouthful isn't it? But a very delicious one.

The cupcakes are really simple, just a basic chocolate cake recipe-- or a box, if you were in a bind like myself-- with a few tweaks. Instead of water, I substituted some room temperature coffee. I also added a splash, or two or three, of Kahlua!

The icing is a recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor. She calls for six Tablespoons of boiling water, but I also substituted coffee-- this time hot-- here too.

The icing was a bit too melty, perhaps from the gorgeous weather--finally!! I couldn't pipe it very well, but I think it looks just fine. I might go back and add a few chocolate twirls or sprinkles, just for fun!

Today is a friend's birthday, and these are for her party tomorrow! Also, notice the lovely Liberty of London for Target serving tray!!

I had been waiting for weeks for these to come out, and I am so glad I got this piece! I'm almost surprised at how quickly these have sold out, but seeing how cute they are explains it all.

I just can't help myself...

Design*Sponge


I HAD to share this lovely post from Design*Sponge.

I'm so enthralled with this idea. The purpose is to display your "stock" so you know what you have and don't have to hunt around, or buy extras. But I think it's just a lovely way to liven up a craft room.

And I'm a total fabric hoadrer. I picked it up from my grandmother, who had boxes upon boxes of fabric stored away. I just don't want to throw away-- or use up!!!-- anything so gorgeous as my materials!

Perhaps with these I can just keep a small piece of each, display it, and use the rest. Do you think it's possible?

Whoo Hoo!

found myself with a bit of free time today-- during which I probably should have been doing the dishes-- but I got more accomplished in those few hours than I feel like I have in the past few days.

I now have a super cute lunch bag, and I am halfway finished with a friend's birthday present!

Pictures will be coming soon, but I though I'd let you know that I hadn't dropped off the face of the earth!

word of the week: nifty

So... I was blogging yesterday, and the site had a spaz on me, and then... CRASH!! All of yesterday's post went missing in one fell swoop.

After a small fit of rage, I decided to quit, but here I am again to recreate what was lost.

Recovering from a lazy weekend-- and the time change-- is making me a little bleh. So, I've been flipping through my google reader in hope of finding a few things to perk me up. Nearly 700 items!! I didn't know I had been MIA for so long. The weather is again crap, but I found a few nifty things to brighten my-- and your-- day.

Pictured above is a project I'd love to do from Design*Sponge. And I'm loving this three-tiered serving tray video tutorial from Decorityourself.

The wonderful LollyChops is also hosting a craft-a-long week next week and has posted the materials for everyone to get started collecting. I'm super curious to see what she'll be doing!

{thrifted, found and made}

This is going to be a pretty big post to make up for my recent absence. Hopefully, I can get back into a routine soon, but don't fear: the crafting never stops.

I went thrifting today, which was fun for me. I'm using my purchases to display a few new things that I've made. The cake stand is something that I've had for a while, but I bought the bottle this morning and found the mini stand plate in my grandmother's attic.

The rosettes-- oh, how many I've made!-- are a newer, better, I think, version of my older ones. I think the beading is a lot more delicate than the vintage buttons, and, of course, I love the coral.

I wore one to my mother's birthday party this weekend, and I got a lot of compliments-- and it perfectly matched my sweater!

I'm thinking of pulling a page from doe-c-doe's blog and using pin backs to make it into a necklace-- and also a pin! I love things that can work two ways. It's so convenient.

P.S. exciting!!-- let me know what you think of the card designs! I've gotten an Etsy shop, but just haven't set it up. I'm thinking that will be my logo-- and name.