Sending out lots of Xs and Os to everyone. Enjoy your day, whatever you have planned!
Happy Valentine’s Day,
-Susie & Heidi
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February 14th, 2011
February 8th, 2011
Who doesn’t love to play with colorful bits of paper and glue? Something about it just brings the kid out in all of us. Crafting cards for Valentine’s Day is just the kind of fun we’re thinking about right now. We love the idea that Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers. When you think about it there are plenty of people in our lives that we should share a little love with!
This coming Saturday, we’re hosting an afternoon of card making just in time for Valentine’s Day. If you live in the Los Angeles area, please stop by and join us for some crafting fun and sweet treats! Saturday, February 12, 2011 Open House 12-5pm - Workshop is free 8415 W. Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048 for additional info: (323) 951-0610 Hope to see you there! -Susie & Heidi February 7th, 2011
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after being with my sweetie for 19 years, it’s that pie is the way to a man’s heart! I’ve made lots of pies for him, including mini-pies and hand pies and even pie-topped pancakes, but these teeny tiny pies seemed like a really sweet way to say “I *heart* you”. I came across this recipe on the King Arthur Flour site, where they refer to them as toaster pastries, and decided to put my own valentine’s day spin on it. To me, they are definitely more pie-like than a store bought toaster pastry, but maybe it’s just that they are so much better than a Pop Tart could ever hope to be! They are bite sized and delicious; in fact the perfect size to have with a mid-morning cup of coffee. The brown sugar and cinnamon filling is irresistible. Sweethearts For filling: 1/2 cup brown sugar For dough: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour For assembly: 1 large egg 1/4 cup chunky decorating sugar For filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour. For dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, or your hands, work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with small pea-sized lumps of butter still visible. Mix the egg and milk, and add it to the dough, mixing just until everything comes together.
Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove it from the refrigerator and place one piece on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to about a 1/8″ thickness. Using a cookie cutter (I used a 2 1/2-inch heart shaped cutter) cut out 16 hearts. Lay the hearts on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Using a pastry brush, brush each heart with a light coating of the mixture. Top each heart with approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar filling, leaving a 1/4-inch edge exposed. Roll out the second half of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 16 more hearts. Brush one side with the egg-milk mixture and carefully place on top of the other hearts, lining the shapes up. Use the tines of a fork to gently press the two hearts together, sealing in the brown sugar mixture. Use the fork to poke a few vent holes in the top of each heart.
Refrigerate the hearts, uncovered for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops of hearts with the egg-milk mixture. Sprinkle each heart with any remaining cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, then sprinkle each with some chunky sugar.
Bake the hearts for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.
Makes 16 sweethearts. -Heidi January 5th, 2011
2010 has been a very, very busy year…it just flew by in a blink of an eye. Like many people, we have been working very hard and working long hours. It has been difficult to make time for things outside of the daily routine. We really want 2011 to be different. So five days into this brand new year, we are sending out some plans, some wishes for ourselves, out into the universe. Saying them out loud so that we can be accountable for making the time and making them happen! 1) More parties & get-togethers! Small, big, informal, fancy, impromptu, whatever! Looking at the calendar for this year and planning potential days & occasions NOW. Otherwise, November will be here in a heartbeat! Hoping our circle of friends might do the same. 2) Take time to teach and share. We’re thinking about some informal ways to share our skills and enthusiasm for making things. 3) Stealing more time to dream. Seems as we get older there is less and less time to explore and dream about ideas. Maybe it is just how our society is nowadays; everything is so immediate. We want to take more time just to think. And maybe, just maybe, the time to try something out without the worry of getting good at it. Let’s explore the possibilities! It’s a small and simple list. Just the way we like it. Here’s to an awesome and HAPPY year ahead! -Susie & Heidi December 31st, 2010
December 22nd, 2010
In the midst of holiday madness, we took a break from it all to spend the afternoon making holiday crafts. Our good friend Carol is the creator of Craft in America, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the exploration, preservation and celebration of craft. Through the Craft in America organization, Carol has produced a Peabody Award-winning television series chronicling craft throughout the United States.
Craft in America has a study center located in the heart of Los Angeles, where they host lectures and demonstrations from visiting artists, We were honored that Carol asked us to host an afternoon of holiday ornament making using paper craft.
It was an unusually rainy day in Los Angeles. The skies were completely gray and rain poured down all day long. Perfect crafting weather! Craft in America is located on 3rd street, a popular shopping street with great stores, so it was wonderful to look out and see people walking by all bundled up.
Our ornament craft projects focused on turning items destined for the recycling bin into beautiful holiday ornaments. We created ornaments out of holiday catalogs
And also paper bag holiday stockings that we featured on our blog last year:
There were ideas for incorporating these crafting techniques into your gift wrapping:
And of course there were treats…
And even a prize for the most creative crafter!
- Susie and Heidi December 21st, 2010
It’s been a busy year. I think I am not alone in saying that this year has been all about juggling a lot of balls. As December approached, I started my usual daydreaming about all the handmade gifts I would make, all the treats I would cook and bake and the multitude of holiday decorating projects that I would undertake. It’s my favorite time of the year but this year I had to cut myself some slack. As much as I love doing all those things, the truth is I’m a little overworked and overtired. So instead of making grand plans, I decided I would just let the holidays happen and not do so much planning. If some impromptu cookie baking breaks out, great. If some craft inspiration strikes and I have a spare afternoon, fantastic. If I find myself on the couch with a Christmas movie on the telly, even better.
I had some unexpected free time this past Sunday and cookie baking did in fact happen! I baked up a batch of Rosemary Butter Cookies using some fresh rosemary from my garden and they were heavenly. The recipe is quick and easy to make, with only a few ingredients, yet they pack a lot of flavor. The rosemary and the bits of coarse salt are a welcome contrast to the buttery richness of these cookies. I wanted a nice way to package them up to give to a few people, and in keeping with my attempt to simplify the holidays, I found a way to use a few items I already had laying around the house. Lay the cookies out on some waxed paper:
Tape the wax paper up to form a cookie packet that then gets slipped inside a paper bag:
Punch two holes through the bag, thread a length of ribbon through the holes and tie it in a knot:
Add a piece of fresh rosemary beneath the knot and a label with cookie name or the recipients name on it. I printed these from my color printer, but you could easily write it with a colored pen as well:
Simple just feels right this holiday season. In fact, it feels good! - Heidi December 16th, 2010
Snapped today in the studio. Look around, we bet there’s one around you somewhere! -Susie & Heidi December 15th, 2010
My talented husband, Will, recently designed some really cool display trees for a store in Los Angeles called Freehand. The trees are made from plywood and have wood pegs to display ornaments. Will is no stranger to creating unique holiday decorations. Last year he made me this amazing wreath. Pretty awesome for someone who says he isn’t into decorating for the holidays! The wood tree display has been getting a lot of attention in the store as something out of the ordinary for the holidays. I guess there must be something in the air, because since he installed these trees in November, I’ve been seeing other plywood display trees popping up around town and on the web. This past weekend at Unique LA, they had a display with plywood trees and big old-fashioned strings of lights. Really cute and perfect with the mountain range backdrop made from crumbled brown kraft paper.
I came across this plywood display tree for sale on etsy. How great that it folds flat for storage!
And today on Design*Sponge, a DIY project to make a balsa wood mini display tree!
I really loving this aesthetic for the holidays. Even though this isn’t a new idea, it seems really fresh to me. I love the combination of the raw wood with small touches of sparkle and lights. Will, I think you need to whip up a tree for our house! Please? -Susie October 19th, 2010
Since things are so incredibly busy right now I haven’t had a second to indulge in baking, so instead, when I have a moment or two I click over to foodgawker.com and daydream of treats! Here’s some sweet treats I can’t wait to make. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake by Sprinkles Bakes:
Cinnamon Apple Macarons by Breakfast for Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts by Joy the Baker:
Inside-Out Apple Crisp by My Baking Addiction:
S’Mores Cupcakes by 6 Bittersweets:
Ok, now I’ve really got a major craving for something sweet! And craving a day off so that I can bake something! What are your favorite fall desserts? - Heidi |
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