Cooking: Pupcakes

{ via Google }

Today is my dog's 3rd birthday! We're celebrating with a simple banana and peanut butter cake for her. She certainly enjoyed the treat, licked her whole plate clean!



The recipe I used is from Dog Treat Recipes and it's fairly simple. I added peanut butter to the mix since that's my dog's favorite treat. There's even a recipe for icing here if you really want to spoil your pooch.



And speaking of puppies, my Uncle and cousins just got a new puppy over the weekend! His name is Riley and he is a 3 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (that's a mouthful!). I went to visit and play with the new puppy yesterday.

DIY: Mini Bouquet

Mums, or chrysanthemums, are the flowers that come to mind when you think of the late summer as it leads into Fall. They're beautiful and come in many different colors. Because they're so readily available they are the perfect in-season flower for your Fall wedding. These are also flowers that won't break your bank and are easy peasy to arrange yourself.



It took me about five or ten minutes to put this little bouquet together this morning.

Materials:

• Flowers
  
• Scissors
  
• Floral Tape
  
• Ribbon, Burlap, Fabric, or Twine to decorate
  

Directions:
Step 1: Trim your flowers and separate them by length.
Step 2: Begin arranging your flowers starting from the center and adding more, creating a larger and larger bouquet.
Step 3: When you have a large enough bouquet tape stems together using floral tape. Trim stem ends. You can leave the stem ends sticking out for a more country, fresh-cut look or you can trim them evenly and continue to wrap the floral tape around the bottom.
Step 4: Wrap your decorations around the stems to hide the floral tape. I used twine. If you are using fabric or thick ribbon you may need hot glue to secure it.

These bouquets have tons of uses. I don't have any special events coming up, so I'll be using mine as a decoration to brighten up my room. I've hung my little bouquet upside-down to dry it out. The small bouquets make great flower girl bouquets, and larger ones could be made for the rest of the bridal party. This even works as boutonnieres for the groomsmen.

Friday Etsy Picks: Pumpkins

{ via Vintage Green Limited }

Friday's Etsy picks are coming one day early since I will be out of town in Salem, Massachusetts for the weekend. With Fall in full swing pumpkins are always on my mind. This adorable felt pumpkin decoration is perfect if you have a small apartment or if you want something to put on the mantle by your fireplace. You can pull it out year after year to charm your holiday spirit.


{ via Timeless Paper }

I usually throw at least one get together or party during the Fall, and these darling place cards are great for place settings or keeping track of your wine glass. They'd look great at a Fall-inspired wedding!


{ via Sun Basil Gardens }

Ok, if you haven't caught the hint yet I am a fiend for pumpkins. And this soap actually sounds delicious. Like, you would have to shackle me to keep me from putting it in my mouth. Who wouldn't want to smell like Pumpkin Pie Sugar all day? Right? Impress your guests with this soap in your bathroom, or hoard it away for yourself. Get clean and smell good!

Have a happy weekend!

Photography: 1010 Project

{ via 2010 Project, Hilda Grahnat }

Ok, this is awesome. The idea behind this project is that 10 photographers from around the world all took 10 photos on 10/10/10. How cool is that? It's called the 2010 Project (discovered via A Cup of Jo). These are some of my favorites:


{ via 2010 Project, Kris Atomic }


{ via 2010 Project, Pia Jane Bijerk }


{ via 2010 Project, Michelle Gow }


{ via 2010 Project, Anabela Carneiro }

Cooking: Sweet Potato Banana Bread Recipe

{ via Domestifluff }

Fall means baking to me, and I do an awful lot of it until January rolls around. During the fall I put pumpkin in just about everything - I love it. Another thing I love is sweet potatoes, they're delicious and nutritious :)

The above image is a recipe for Sweet Potato muffins (gluten free) from Domestifluff.

My boyfriend's aunt is also always sending me recipes via email. Here's a yummy sounding recipe for banana/sweet potato bread that I can't wait to make!

4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup oil ( I only use ¾ cup)
1 box yellow cake mix ( I use the one with the pudding in it)
1 box instant vanilla pudding (I use French vanilla)
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (or 1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes)
½ cup nuts, optional

Beat eggs. Add milk and oil, beat to mix. Add cake mix. pudding, bananas (or sweet potatoes) , and nuts if you choose to use them, beat for 2 mins. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 mins. Cool in pan for 10 mins the turn out onto place. Cool completely before adding glaze.

For the glaze use powdered sugar and enough milk so you can drizzle it on the cake.

NOTE: for the sweet potato cake I put two teaspoons of cinnamon sugar in the cake mix and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar in the
powdered sugar glaze.

If you make bread instead of the bundt cake, divide batter into two loaf pans.

You can also spice things up a bit (no pun intended) with nutmeg, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and pretty much anything you want. I'm a total mad scientist in the kitchen, so I like to experiment and change things up when I cook.