Top 5 Pins: Spring Fashion

I've been a pinning fiend lately, and have been browsing Pinterest almost daily to help me pick out my daily outfits.  Here's my top 5 favorite fashion pins for Spring looks right now.  Enjoy!

Preppy Pink Dress:

Aqua, Grey & Gold Chain:

Sperrys! (I desperately need new gold ones):

Pastel Pleated Skirt:

White Tassel Loafers:

Chevron Baby Quilt - Pinterest Success!

Months ago, I pinned this quilt to my "Crafts to Try" board on Pinterest:

This is the quilt from Pinterest; not mine!

Now that my close friend Jamie is expecting her first baby mid-May, I had a good reason to try and make it!  This baby girl will be my first "niece," and I couldn't be more excited to welcome her into the world.  Excited to make something extra special,  I dug out the ol' sewing machine, took a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and found an easy tutorial online for making a super cute, not-too-girly chevron baby quilt.  I chose a neutral gold-coated muslin and a pretty darker khaki and white flower patterned fabric for the top, and a cute pink polka dot fabric for the back. 

After some serious cutting and pressing, I pieced together the quilt top.

Trimmed off the edges...

Quilted the top to the pretty light pink polka dot backing piece, with a thin batting between them, and then bound the edges...

And voila!  My first quilt in four years was complete, and didn't come out half bad!  I was proud of the sharp corners on the chevron pattern, less proud of the not-even-close-to-perfect binding job.  I hope that my little niece loves it and has lots of cozy naps cuddled up in it!

My finished product!

Annnnnd on a related note, Jamie had the most amazing baby shower.  Here are a few snaps!  All of the amazing food was prepared by her sister who works in the restaurant business in Los Angeles, and the theme of 'peas in a pod' was carried throughout the whole party beautifully by her husband's family.  She's a very lucky girl!

In the bottom right, those are little shooters of homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches - my favorite!

The adorable cake!

Not the best shot, but this is Jamie opening up the pretty afghan that my mom crocheted for her. 

Centerpiece; I was crazy about this flower!

Raspberry Margarita Rosette Cake

Happy Saturday, Sweets!  I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of National Cake Day, I wanted to share one of my latest cakes with you.  I was inspired by someone else's cake I found on Pinterest, covered in buttercream rosettes, and decided to recreate the masterpiece for myself with leftover raspberry frosting from my Baby Shower Cupcakes.

I had two frozen lime margarita cakes (I had baked these with batter leftover from my mini margarita cupcakes) that paired perfectly with the buttercream to make a Raspberry Margarita cake- YUM!

So how does one achieve such a pretty floral look?  All it takes is one of my favorite icing tips- the Wilton 1M. (You can buy it here or check your local craft store's cake section).

I didn't take enough pictures to give you a full tutorial, but if you are interested in learning how to do this let me know and I will put a step-by-step post together.  It is actually quite easy to take your cake from this...

To this...!

Happy Cake Day, Sweets!

My To-Bake List

Is anyone else as addicted to Pinterest as I am?  Talk about inspiration!  To pass on the love, I'm sharing the beautiful photos and ideas that make up my current "To-Bake" list.  Let me know if you've made any of these items, and how they came out!


Inside-out carrot cake cupcakes


Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Cookie dough cupcake

Oreo-stuffed brownies

My "To Bake" List

Have you guys checked out Pinterest at all?  It's my new favorite thing to do while waiting...waiting at a red light, in line for Dunkin's, waiting to get somewhere on the T, waiting to get somewhere in the car, you get it.

I'm amassing quite the list of "To Bakes" and wanted to share a few with you, and also see if you have anything to add?  What is your favorite treat to bake?  Let me know in the comments below!

*DISCLAIMER - the pictures that follow are NOT mine!  Please click through to Pinterest to see the creative sweetie that deserves all the credit!


Beautiful icing technique; LOVE this.

Source: objetivocupcake.com via Stacey on Pinterest

No-bake cheesecake with tons of chocolate chips? YES PLEASE.

 

Source: inkatrinaskitchen.blogspot.com via Stacey on Pinterest

I adore layer cakes, cream cheese frosting and anything carrot/spice flavor. So, I adore this:

Source: beantownbaker.com via Stacey on Pinterest

FIVE MINUTE Nutella cake?!?!?! I think I need to try this right now. If only I had Nutella on hand...probably a good thing I don't!!!

Source: blogs.babble.com via Stacey on Pinterest

What's on your to-bake list?!