Friday, October 28, 2011

Tiny Houses?!?


Recently, I saw the production of tiny houses on the 
reality show "Design Star" on HGTV.  

As I do my daily reading and search for interesting things to 
talk about in my blog, 
I bumped into this site...


They are the premier tiny house company!
They build 3 different styles:
Box Bungalows
Houses to Go 
&
Cottages
&
They range from 99 sq ft to 885 sq ft.


It has become quite a trend for people with little interest to live in 
a large home, with a large mortgage,
to buy these custom made itty bitty homes.

The luxury about them are they are trendy, small enough to have 
built to your specifications and can you own them for a fraction of the cost of a real home!!!

With the last three to four years of the real estate collapse it seems a lot of people are 
starting to realize and live by the less is more attitude!

What do you think?  

Could you be happy with this little house as your home???

******

These are a few of my favorite Box Bungalos:




These are the Houses to Go:



 & these are the Cottages:



It really is amazing how they can build them to fit your needs &
they seem to be pretty spacious inside to boot!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011



How Beautiful is it 
that we as humans have free will 
to create ourselves 
into what and who we want to be. 

The fact 
that we get many chances in life
&
 always have the ability to change something 
if we do not LOVE it 
is astounding!

Make your perfect life your reality today!

The only thing holding you back is you...

Love who you are.
 Be who you want.
&
Live your dreams.




Tuesday, October 25, 2011

BOO! Great Halloween party food/drinks!

Yes, it is that time of the year again... 

The summer weather has been winding down into a nice subtle coolness that reminds us that it is time to start preparing for the coming holidays.  
I love that they all start off with Halloween... 
the fun but scary holiday in which we all can be kids again and dress up to our hearts content.

The question on my mind....
What will I be this year???

I always love throwing a party.  
I threw a party 3 Halloweens ago...  
Dressed up the house, made some good eats/spirits and had a bunch of friends over!  
It was a great night!

(here are some of the gang)


In my search for the perfect costume today,
I found some great 
food/drink ideas to share.
If you are having a Halloween bash you may want to add a few to your menu.

******

Let's start with the kids parties...

I loved these mummy juice boxes!
Soooo easy and soooo cute!
Choose your drink box and all you need from there is google eyes and some white tape.


This is a great easy way to make a 
simple but spooky sandwich the for kids... 
(it can be as easy as peanut butter and jelly)


Skeleton cupcake!
All you need is vanilla cupcakes, some pretzels 
*dip them yourself or buy them pre-made.
a marshmallow, lollypop stick and some chocolate icing to draw the details.


If you like to get artsy/crafty this one is really nice.
You can stick them around the house in the cobweb netting 
or you can set them all up on a table 
making it look like attack of the spiders!
All you need is blow pops, google eyes and pipe cleaners in black.


GHOST POOP!
Enough said! Kids will LOVE this one!
(so easy to make your own to look like you bought it)
You will need small marshmallows, clear party bags and 
a handy computer graphic that you can print out and staple on!



****** 

Now, for the adults... 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Frankenstein display!
He can be made from any cream cheese style dip you want.
Add veggies for his ears & nose & around the base for dipping. 
His eyes are potato slices with a black olive slice in the middle.
His hair is chopped up black olives and skin is avocado.
For his arms add 2 pretzel rods with black olives for hands.
&
Black frosting for the mouth and eyebrow details.

He is going to be the party favorite!


This is another easy but effective spooky party food!
A shrimp ring with cocktail sauce is all it takes... 
Don't forget the spooky dead finger!


Next, I loved this spooky martini!
All you need is:
A dirty Martini mix (Skinny Girl) with hard boiled eggs dyed 
with red blood streaks 
& green olive slices.
(use larger margarita glasses or only put one egg eyeball in each glass.
Also, be sure to make the eyeballs stick out above the liquid for full effect)


Finger foods... Literally!
This one is a little more detailed to make but the effect is 
totally there!
You have to buy a mold for this one which you can get at any craft store.
You will need: white chocolate, almonds and chocolate.
(make sure to get a paint brush to brush the chocolate over the detail that the mold creates)


Bloody Cosmo!
Yum!
All you need is to fill rubber gloves with water and freeze 
them to make the ice hand 
(when you take it out of the freezer just peel off the glove)
& Cosmopolitan Drink mix!



Popcorn hand... nice touch to a simple treat!
You will need:
popcorn, candy corn, ribbon & kitchen gloves.


And.... 
Last but not Least!

SPOOKY CIDER!
This can be for the adults (or) for the kids...
The best part are the apples with carved faces!
Have fun with it!




I hope you try them out.

Have a safe and fun Halloween Everyone!


Silhouette Portraits



I have been following artist Karl Johnson for quite some time...
I thought today I would share.

He has been featured in Instyle, O &
Martha Stewart Weddings magazines.

His is considered to be one of the best artists
of Silhouette Portraiture.

I have always wanted to have a
silhouette portrait done of myself.

I am not completely sure why but, I have been drawn to these
haunting black silhouettes my whole life.

It may be because of my french background...

Or, that they portray romanticism.

I just know, that I consider it to be one of the
most amazing things to watch.
The artist creates them with tiny scissors.

Take a look:



some of my favorites of his are: