The colour and shape possiblities are endless once you’ve mastered this simple technique – you can even infuse the sugar with vanilla or lavender beforehand!

Requirements:

½ Cup Caster Sugar

Blue Food Colouring

Small metal cookie cutter (I used a 2 cm heart shape)

Baking Sheet & Non-Stick Baking Paper

Method:

Line a flat baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.

Divide the sugar into two bowls.

Tint one bowl blue using the tiniest drop of blue food colouring. Leave the other bowl of sugar uncoloured.

Add just enough water to each bowl to make the sugar damp.

Press the sugar firmly into your cutter, smooth the surface with your fingertips or the back of a teaspoon. Carefully lift the cutter off, leaving the sugar to dry in form on the baking paper. Repeat until you have plenty of each colour.

Once the sugar cubes (or hearts!) have set, store in a sealed container in a cool dry area until needed.

HOW DO BABIES GET HERE? AS A SPECIAL DELIVERY FROM THE GUSSY POSTAL SERVICE OF COURSE!

Celebrate the expected arrival of the most precious package of all with gussy’s Special Delivery-themed baby shower ideas.

We have put together these quirky, yet stylish designs for decorating and catering a gorgeous baby shower that you can easily create.

Our inspiration: The red and blue of airmail stamps (and hopes for a well-travelled life filled with adventure for this new little person), folded envelopes, handwritten postcards, parcels tied up with string, natural fibres, crisp white linnen and of course that Good Things Come in Small Packages!

GET THE LOOK! We’re giving you Free Printables so that you can create your own stationery and paper décor. Download here. A big thanks to the talented Peta from Urban Weddings for helping us pull together the printables!

Download the free printable here……. Special Delivery Baby Shower by Gussy Striped Paper in Royal Mail Colours

POSTCARD & PENCIL PLACESETTINGS: Again, printed on heavy natural paper and cut to size, the idea being that each guest writes a special message for the mother and baby. The postcards are “posted” in the envolope backdrop.

ENVELOPE BACKDROP:

Attach envelopes to large art boards using double-sided tape and place on a wall as a backdrop. Try lining some of the envelopes with patterned papers that complement the theme. Guest’s postcard wishes can be “posted” here as a keepsake.

Special Delivery Baby Shower by Gussy Postacard PrintablesSpecial Delivery Baby Shower by Gussy Striped Paper in Royal Mail Colours

We printed onto heavy natural paper, cut to size and then used timber clothes pegs to attach the bunting to twine. Display near the dessert table or at the entrance to the party venue.

biscuit lips & mo's edible photobooth props

I don’t claim to have invented these, but how fantastic are they?!

So much fun in photographs, great for conversation and delicious too!

In minutes make fresh mango into a decadent dessert with a soft spoonable centre and crisp caramelised crust! YUM!

RECIPE (Serves 6)

ingredients:
- 3 ripe mangoes
- ½ Cup Raw Sugar
- Lime wedges to serve

method:
Heat the grill of your oven to high, with a rack placed around 15cm from the grill.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Slice two even cheeks from each mango, just avoiding the seed.
Place these with cut side up on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar.
Place mangoes on baking sheet under pre-heated grill for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly.
Your Bruleed Mangoes are ready when the sugar has bubbled and browned to a light caramel and the centres are soft.
Serve warm with lime wedges and icecream.

Follow Jade Lipton's (Cake Star) simple recipe to create a colourful and on-trend layer citrus cake with soft butter cream!

RECIPE

CAKE

ingredients:

- 250 g Butter

- 1 ½ cups Caster Sugar

- Zest from 1 lemon

- 3 tbs lemon juice

- 4 Eggs

- 3 cups SR Flour (sifted)

- 1 cup Milk

- Queen Food colourings: Yellow, Orange, Red

method:

For this recipe you will need to bake each of the four coloured layers separately. I used two tins, washing and re-lining before re-using them to do the next two colours.

Preheat oven to moderate (180°C or 170° for fan forced).  Grease and line 8” Round cake tins with non-stick baking paper.

In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid or electric mixer, combine butter, sugar, zest and juice. Beat using the paddle attachment until smooth, light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time. Do not over-beat.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and milk alternately in 2 parts.

Divide the mixture equally into four smaller bowls and colour to your liking. Add the food colouring a little at a time so that you don’t over-colour. You can blend colours to get beautiful shades, for example I used a little of the red and orange to achieve a coral colour.

Spoon the batter into prepared cake pans, smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake, testing after 30 minutes. Cakes are baked when a skewer inserted into the centre of each comes out clean.

Allow cakes to cool in tins for 10 minutes before turning them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

ICING

ingredients:

- 250 g Butter (soft)

- 500 g Icing Sugar (sifted)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

method:

Put the butter and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until light in colour.

Turn the mixer off to add the icing sugar and then beat until pale and fluffy.

TIP: By beating the butter until very light in colour before adding the icing sugar this will result in very light, almost white, coloured buttercream.

Decorating:

Cakes must be completely cool before decorating. Slice the domed top from each cake to give a flat surface.

Use buttercream to sandwich the layers together. Then coat top and sides using a palette knife.

Gussy is giving away four, count ‘em, FOUR of her fabulous ruffly headbands. I own one of these, and let me tell you, they are probably my favorite headbands, and I’ve tried a lot. I typically have issues with the bands hurting my head or falling down, and these do neither. I can wear mine all day and totally forget about it. They’re great!

What I recommend doing right now is heading over to Gussy’s blog and enter to win these headbands! They’re in new colors and patterns perfect for the fall. I think I may have to pick up one or two for myself. ;)

Enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

Let me back up and explain something. When I first saw this item, I instantly fell in love with it. I loved the pattern, the colors, everything! I also loved everything else on the site, which made it quite difficult to decide, but I eventually did. After I did, I wanted to know more about the person behind these adorable products. I started reading through their blog, and I can honestly say I connected with her. The more I read, the more I felt like I knew her personally, even though we have never spoken. And I promise, I say that in the least creepiest way possible. haha But honestly, I loved her writing, her humor, and her ethics. She creates the most beautiful bags, and has such a following! That is something I can only dream about having. But honestly, she truly kick started me. Reading through her blog gave me a positive outlook, and for that I thank her immensely.

I could go on and on, but she’d probably think I was weird. haha

But some of you may know her, or at least have heard me talk about her product before, but this is Maggie{aka Gussy}! I encourage you to take a look at her blog, take a look at her shop, follow her on Twitter, whatever you’d like to do, but you won’t be sorry. She’s a bundle of sunshine and will certainly lift anyone’s spirits. I *wish* I had her positivity all the time.

Keep up the great work Maggie!!! You deserve it! :)

I’ve included a photo of the wristlet that I got and I absolutely love it! I wish I had the money to buy more things from her, maybe in the near future. :)

I also took a photo of her business card, which I ADORE! Its so cute! Mine look lame next to her’s. haha

xoxo

With our pending trip to Walt Disney World with Ella and my parents (Ella’s first trip, and the first time in about 20  years that my parents have been),  Jon and I decided that it was time to upgrade our camera.  Jon gave me the little Olympus point-and-shoot we’d been using about 2 or 3 years ago, and the quality of the pictures just wasn’t where we wanted it to be…especially when trying to shoot a 2.5 year old who’s constantly on the move.

So after much — MUCH — research, mostly on Jon’s part, and visiting several local stores to try out the options in person, we finally decided on this bad boy:

The Sony Alpha 290a.

My very first DSLR — be still, my itchy shutter finger.


I’ve only had it about a week, so clearly, I’ve got lots and lots and lots to learn.  But boy, I like this camera.  I like it a lot.

Here are a few shots I’ve taken in the past week.

She’s not drugged, she just can’t NOT blink.

     

There so many wonderful blogs out there!  So many inspiring, creative blogs!

So I have put together a few blogs that I love to read!  Some I’ve followed for a long time and some I’ve just discovered.

Like I said, there are so many that I read, so it would be impossible to put them all up in one post, so here are a few.

Oh, and they are not in no particular order….

(All the pictures are from their individual blogs)

1.   Jen from Tatertots and Jello has so many phenomenal tutorials, giveaways, and great pictures (we all love pictures, right)

2 . Gussy!  of course!  She is inpiring to me and she has really just dove in to her business and is persuing her dream.

She has an adorable pup, Bauer, who makes appearances often!

3.  Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  You will get lost in this blog.  She home schools, cooks, writes, tours, and soooo much more

Oh, and she has FOUR beautiful children and a handsome husband, the Malboro Man.

I have met her twice and she is the most humble woman in the midst of all her success.

4 … Farrah, my dear friend!  This girl is smart, creative, and a phenomenal photographer!  When you look at her site, you will have a hard time

believing she doesn`t take pictures full time!  She holds a full time (PhD) position, has two adorable kiddos, and takes pics on the side!

5.  Allison from the House of Hepworths!  She looks like so much fun!  She has a wonderful blog with tutorials, features, and so many projects!

6. Miss Mustard Seed is a blog full of great furniture make overs!  This never gets old for me, the amazing talent to take and ugly piece and make GORGEOUS!

7.   Tiffany at Making the World Cuter is so creative!  She has weekly link parties that bring so many of us creative peeps together!

I could spend hours on her site!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little compilation of some of my favorite blogs!

xo Tara

 Today I want to introduce you to Gussy (aka Maggie Whitley), she’s the girl behind Gussy Sews. Last week while I getting my daily dose of blog reading I came across her work and let me tell you it was love at first sight. She makes BEAUTIFUL things and I just want one of each!She makes make up bags, wristlets, diaper bags, totes, headbands and so much more.All unique and “ruffly” ( can i just say I LOVE RUFFLES!!!)

How adorable is this one!

 And how perfect are these for Christmas

You can check more of her creations here

Let me just say she made my Christmas gift list so much easier.

Gussy and I

Just was looking at this picture from TCC and wanted to share with everyone.  Gussy is an amazing person, and her eye lashes are killer!!!!  She’s very talented and is very humble when it comes to her success (I think anyway).  She is truly living ‘my’ dream of sewing full time and making a living at it.  I sew wish her continued success and I love following her to see where her journey will take her.

Congratulations, Sara!

I know…two posts in one day??  Two give-aways within 24 hours of each other?  WHAT IS THE WORLD OF BLAIR COMING TO?!  But y’all, I feel like a kid in the candy store & I’m just SO EXCITED that I can’t NOT share.  It’s like how Tiger just COULDN’T keep it in his pants, but at least this is a far more healthy expression of spreading my love.

Oh, Gussy.  Gussy has a lot to say.  & sew.

Her story is incredible.  Her ruffles are becoming legendary.  & her cheekbones are swoon-worthy.  Needless to say, I have a girl crush on Gussy & I’m willing to put money on it that you will to, once you click those links.  I also highly recommend that you follow her on Twitter to allow your girl-crush to really manifest itself properly.

In honor of Gussy, I’m stealing inspiration from a previous post of hers labeled Lists of Five.  & feel free to share your own!

5 Most Recent Purchases

• pink iTouch case
• 6 Hallmark cards
• flowers for a girlfriend, dropped off on her front stoop ninja-style
• The Pregnancy & Postpartum Anxiety Workbook (okay, that’s not so fun)
• grande caramel macchiato with whip

5 (current) Etsy Favorites

• art by Lucky Bluebird Art
• baby books by EdnaMae
  
• pear bookends by pillowhappy
• monogrammed seersucker jon jon’s by BudsnBranches
• the Carrie Necklace in robin’s egg blue by erinkeys

5 Links on My Toolbar

• Twitter
• Facebook
• my blog dashboard
• Gmail
• Yahoo
  

5 Thoughts Running Through My Head Right Now

• Where the hell does Lala (one of my girlfriends?) get this shit? (play Words with Friends)
• I really have to pee.
• My kid looks super-cute in the picture on my desk.
• If anyone ever saw my planner, they’d think I was bonkers OCD.
• I need to drink more water.  Which conflicts with Random Thought #2.

So here’s the good stuff:

One of you will win a $30 Gussy Store Credit!!

Amazing, right?  Just head on over to her shop & tell me what you love best, especially which color ruffle you’d pick if you had your choice.

That’s it!  Easy, right?  I will announce the winner on Sunday, March 21!

Good luck!

I am so excited to share with you this post; it’s another one of those stories that just makes my heart happy!

I discovered Maggie’s blog and store last week, and spent a good portion of my time reading her previous posts.  Part of her story is all too familiar in this day and age…unemployment (and living in Michigan, doubly hard…you know all about that Dan and Cais, don’t ya?!)  God led she and her hubby to Minnesota for a job in a whirlwind move, but in the meantime she took it upon herself to learn how to sew and has come up with the most *fabulous* products.  You hit bottom, and just get creative!  What a lesson!

I’d be embarrassed to tell you how long I could just sit here and stare at that picture, completely content….

Maggie can tell her God story better than I can, so scoot on over to her blog, and then check out her store.  Amazing!

]]> http://psilovethis.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/gussy-2/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:41:27 +0000 psilovethis http://psilovethis.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/gussy-2/ I came across Gussy the other day and had to share.  Maggie, sews adorable zipped pouches, accessory cases, clutches, wallets, coin purses, and laptop/work bags.  She even added some note card sets to her collection.   I have my eye on one of these laptop bags.

Short form of AUGUSTUS or ANGUS

Diminutive of CONSTANTINE, used primarily by Greek expatriates(behindthename.com)

(nameberry.com)

Gender: M
Origin: Diminutive of AUGUSTUS, ANGUS, GUSTAVE,AUGUSTIN, AUGUSTEN, AUGUSTINE, AUGUST

Homey grandpa nickname name — which can work as a short form for any of the above or stand on its own — is a cutting-edge replacement for Max and Jake, chosen for her son by one of the Dixie Chicks.

Nicknames & Variations:
Gussie, Gus, Gussy

babynamewizard.com

Known siblings for Gus:

Andrew Cormac EllaEstella Eva Evan FlorenceGillen Henry IsabellaJazlyn Jerry Jesse JohnKylie Leo Lina Luke MaxMorton Roslyn RuthSusanna Sylvie Theodore

Look what Maggie posted today…aww! ♥ ♥ ♥

Now, go…get you some Gussy. You’ll lurves it.