Puffy Paint Holiday Gift Wrap

I save brown paper bags every year so that I can reuse them to wrap Christmas presents. This year I decided to use puffy paint to decorate them. It was fun, it was like decorating sugar cookies! 

Need more ideas?

Click here to check out my potato stamp wrapping from last year 

and

Click here to check out my washi tape gift wrap from the year before!

xo Lizzie

World Maker Faire New York 2014

JT & I checked out the World Maker Fair at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, NY. It's a festival with a show-and-tell vibe that focuses on technology, invention and creativity. It's a place where participation is encouraged and it is a really great event for both kids and adults!

We made rocket ship badges at the RadioShack "Learn to Solder" tent.

Meet KitRex... a 3D paper velociraptor kit you build at home. They offer smaller kits in a variety of colors.

This was one of the larger 3D printers I saw at the event... but there was a full size car at the event that was made entirely by a 3D printer.

Life size Mouse Trap!

This was a fun one... you make your badge with your initials and then you have to answer questions correctly in order to activate different colors in the led light.

There is really so much more to see and do at Maker Faire, these are just some of the highlights of this great event!

xo Lizzie

Smorgasburg

One of my favorite pieces of architecture in NYC is the Brooklyn Bridge (it might be my most favorite if it weren't for the fact that I would fall asleep looking at the Empire State building from my Hoboken bedroom). I love the vibe in Brooklyn and they have one of the best views.

My husband and I decided to go check out their Smorgasburg - a "Flea Food Market" at Brooklyn Bridge Park. They had an overwhelming number of vendors... and all of the food looked AMAZING!

Since it was hot out we decided to start with a coconut drink from Excell's Kingston Eatery... they hacked the top off of it with a machete!

Trying a Ramen burger was a must for us. We split it so that we would have room to try some of the other things that were tempting us.

Spicy Shrimp taco (left and the Short rib taco (right) from Takumi Taco.

I had heard about the doughnuts from Dough and had to have one... it was wonderful!

Dolce de leche doughnut with slivered almonds from Dough... yum!

We will have to visit Smorgasburg again in the fall so that we can try some of the food from the other vendors!

xo Lizzie

I Love You A Latte

My husband and I are big fans of Jerry Seinfeld's show, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. The show has awoken the coffee connoisseur inside of my husband. I blame the B-roll footage of the coffee being made. It's all artsy and the coffee looks so enticing... it's like coffee porn.

My husband mentioned that he was thinking about getting rid of our pod machine and getting an espresso machine. So that is what I got him for his birthday... a super fancy espresso machine! It has a cup warmer and it makes great foam... those were the selling points for me :)

To keep in with the coffee theme I made him a cake shaped like cup of coffee. It was a simple enough shape to take on. It didn't look perfect but the flavor was terrific! The mocha buttercream was really good... I highly recommend this recipe! I wrapped the whole cake in white fondant and then topped it with chocolate ganache to make it look like it had black coffee in it. I used swirly candles because I thought it would look like the steam coming out of a hot cup of coffee.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

xo Lizzie

Day Tripping; Grounds For Sculpture Hamilton, NJ

A handful of places make my list of all time favorite locations. And any place that can make me feel like I am visiting one of those far away places, without the time or expense of having to fly across an ocean... well, I think any place that can accomplish that is just plain awesome!

One of my favorite places to visit is Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, France. It's an amazing & wonderful place.... and Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ made me feel like I was there this weekend. Yes, a place in NJ did that for me and it only costs $15!!! 

Lunch or dinner at Rat's is a must when you visit. If you don't have time, at least enjoy a cocktail here and let yourself be transported to France (sit outside) or Morocco (sit by the bar).

These are all sculptures- Not paintings! Seward Johnson wanted to pay homage to the classics and bring famous works of art to life.

This is a really fun place... lots of hidden gardens, covered pathways, twists and turns.

Through September 21st 2014 you can see the Seward Johnson Exhibition. Which includes his Forever Marilyn!

The yellow wall in this photo is about 10 feet tall!

Peacocks roam the property and mingle with the sculptures and guests.

This place is worth taking a full day to visit. I highly recommend eating on the property at Rat's Restaurant or bring a blanket and The Peacock Cafe will pack you a picnic that you can pick up upon arrival!

Grounds for Sculpture well exceeded my expectations... I can't believe a place like this exists in New Jersey!

xo Lizzie

Nine

My Samardzija puppy turned 9 and we celebrated with puppycakes!

Trying to hold herself back... she later inhaled it!

My sweet birthday girl :)

I used Brown Eyed Baker's puppycakes recipe. They turned out perfectly and puppy really loved the peanut butter yogurt frosting! I liked that the recipe used whole wheat flour and applesauce.

Happy Birthday Samardzija!

xo xo xo xo