Monday, February 8, 2010

*Bloomingville

It's been so long since I've posted something 'real' on here, and I've finally figured out why. It all really comes down to the storage bins in our apartment. Before the creation of *Snickety Snacks* I would go through all of the storage boxes and bins in our home at least 4 times a year, reorganizing things to keep, purging what we don't need, and finding happy homes for the things we love but never use. I've learned that the best way for me to stay up on the deep clean is by keeping it in a rotation. I usually start with the Kitchen, move to the Bathroom, then the Dude's room, random closets, and I leave the best/worst for last. Our bedroom is a constant thorn, and the closet is the worst, but the end result is always beautiful and leaves me happy and ready to focus on new tasks. As grateful as I've been for the constant stream of orders and the increasing popularity, it's left me no extra time to get back to my purging routine, which has been totally depressing for me. The last few weeks have been horrible on a personal level because no matter what I do, I visualize going through everything and can't shake the need to get to it. It's the o.c.d. Brittanie inside screaming at me to FOCUS & CLEAN!
Thankfully, our corner of the world was hit with about 2 1/2 feet of snow this past weekend, keeping my husband at home and leaving me with plenty of uninterrupted time to hit the main problems. I'll be posting the huge changes once I can get my camera hooked up to my pc, but for now I'll just say that it's incredible how much better I feel. I guess getting rid of 3 bags of trash/junk, 5 bags of donation items and two 30 gallon bins of baby clothes will definitely change a mood. Now I'm able to see the creative ideas and inspirational images again without feeling lost. I love it!
Decor8 has perfect timing! On the day when I'm ready and open for happy thoughts, she posts all about *Bloomingville, a Danish brand that can be found in Germany(of course, all the good ones involve crossing an ocean). The colors are bright and comfy, and the flowers everywhere just make me want to hug my computer screen. See what I mean?
That last image hit pretty hard in a great way. I can't see all of what's written on it, but I'm pretty sure it's "The great thing about working from home is that you can fashion your surrounding to suit your way of life." I never really looked at all my various jobs as working from home. I'm trying now to keep better control over my surroundings and to appreciate how flexible I've made things(wow, that was a total contradiction. yikes). I love that I can rearrange furniture at a moment's notice without things being too weird. I love that our couches aren't off limits for our little dude, which leads to pillow fights, forts, and homemade slides. I'm trying to let the little things slide, like the brown, pink, white, orange and yellow colored chocolate melts that have been smeared across our couches(just smile if you come over and see them). I'm doing what I can to not let outside things affect me too much, even though 2 1/2/ feet of snow knocked out some things I was looking forward too. I'm still in a mental place where I'm starting 3 or 4 sentences at once, but I think that with my surroundings better taken care of, I'm really taking care of myself. I'm back!
kinda

Saturday, February 6, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

Now I'm the kind of person who hates having to take a Cupcake out of it's wrapper in order to eat it, and the idea of putting one more layer in front of that first bite just sounds ridiculous.....unless it looks like this!

Paper Orchid claims to be the first to come up with the Cupcake Wrapper, and they certainly did it right! These laser-cut beauties are made for all kinds of events, from year-round Holidays to Girl's Night Out. The colors are perfect and the details are jaw-dropping. A bit pricey at $13.00 or more per dozen, but they defintiely have the 'Wow' factor!

Now another company doing an incredible job with these is Cupcake Wrapture. With a focus more on color and design and less on the suer-fancy, these Cupcake Wraps are less expensive and can be used for any occasion. Lisa's colors are totally cute, and I love the little polka dot addition to these...

She also has a blog with some incredible pictures. You've got to check it out. I love the Cupcakes with a Sock Monkey Theme!

I recently ordered a bunch of Jumbo and Regular Brown Baking Cups from Bake It Pretty(which were fantastic by the way), and while looking around I found their Cupcake Wrappers too! They're following more of a Carousel color theme, and I love it! You'll have to take some time to check them out. Hopefully you'll get inspired to start baking!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

Today's post is dedicated to the snow. We're getting gobs of it, and after seeing this little creation, I'm ready to head outside and make my own!

{Robinson300 via DeviantArt}

Saturday, January 23, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

Every Saturday it's the same thing. I'm a total slacker, but I'm sticking with this blog anyway! While it's still hanging with the rest of the magazines at your local bookstore, go and grab this magazine.....

My Mom was awesome enough to get this for me a bunch of months ago and I keep going back to it. These Cupcakes are tiny and cute and I love, love, love em. The recipes are awesome, the baking tips are fantastic and the decorating ideas are absolutely inspiring. I've used a couple in the last little bit and they're super easy. Just another fun thing to add to your collection of cookbooks!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

I've officially coughed my brain out. There's nothing left. This has resulted in a delirious Brittanie, which made my Mom laugh constantly during our outing today. Bring Cake Bites to Chartreuse was a total success! 8 dozen Bites gone in less than an hour. The best part? My business cards went too! Yea! Now, onto the Cupcake goodness. I went searching through the Target website for Cupcakes and I found something cute I'd love to have. You know the book, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"? This is even better!

The next time I'm out and about, I'm looking this up! It looks to cute to resist!

Have a wonderful weekend! With any luck, I'll get some much needed sleep and be fresh and shiny for the new week :o)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

Hello All! Instead of focusing on Cupcakes today I'm talking all about my awesome connection with the Antique Boutique/Barn setup that is 'On A Whim'. I strolled in there a few weeks ago and met up with the owner Donna who is all behind my bigger launch of *Snickety Snacks*. Now her Saturday shoppers have something yummy to snack on!
I love how the tier turned out! It was a wonderful Christmas gift from my Dad, and after some late night painting and paper cutting, Voila!, pink & white striped cuteness! It definitely fits in perfectly with the overall look of the place. Than you Donna!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

Man I'm way behind. At least I've managed to keep up with the Cupcake posts! Today was the delivery day for the January Cupcake and despite almost being knocked over by the crazy freezing wind, things went really well. I grabbed another idea out of the Hello! Cupcake book that only worked because Target still had the perfect containers. Yea for Popcorn!
Vanilla Cupcakes, Vanilla Frosting and Marshmallows! Does it get any better? This was the easiest thing to put together. All you need are marshmallows, clean scissors, frosting and a tiny bit of patience. Definitely a successful 'recipe'! Have a fun weekend!