Pepper Design Blog

A Little of This & That... Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

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Good Eats: White Chocolate Pretzel Stir Sticks

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Update: Hmmmm, something is definitely up with the buttons not showing on the left side of the blog. Hopefully that little glitch will be fixed soon!

Sweet and salty is an amazing combination. And white chocolate dipped pretzels? Trader Joe’s was on to something when they started selling those mini coated pretzels by the bag full.

I have always thought that the shape of pretzel rods would make for an excellent party something… and then it occurred to me that they would make deliciously tasting stir sticks to serve with tea or coffee!

Liv and I whipped up a dozen or so before a book club meeting to serve with tea.

One double boiler full of white chocolate chips, a half of a container of silver sugar (found in my pantry but originally from Michaels) and a canister of pretzel rods later and we had a super yummy snack (and probably ate half of the finished stir sticks before the ladies even arrived).

The toughest part was figuring out how to let them cool after being freshly coated in warm chocolate. I tried standing them upright in a cup (but as predicted they dripped downward), and the best solution ended up being a cookie rack sprayed with a non stick cooking spray and lined with wax paper underneath. The pretzel sticks did have little indentations along the bottom after the chocolate had hardened, but it wasn’t terribly noticeable.

 

These would be great for a shower (cover them in blue or pink sugar/sprinkles), a coffee bar (with swirled milk chocolate on top), packaged as thank you gifts for teachers or friends, or even perhaps made as favors with a little bow for a wedding or party.

We covered a few in rainbow sprinkles just for Liv. I know… not the healthiest snack, but I can think of worse :).

Happy, happy weekend!! 

PS more good eats recipes sorted right here.

 

Large Abstract Art on a Budget

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I’ve been on a pink kick. You’ve seen my diyed pink heart art, glimpses of the pink throw pillows for the living room (with a new coral glass vase for good measure) and my favorite addition – a big piece of pink dining room art. Pink is infiltrating the house.

In my dining room art post I mentioned just how tough it is to find oversized art on a budget. It’s really very tough! I continually find myself drawn to stunning pieces like this aboriginal painting over at Ish & Chi, an oil on canvas like this one by Jesse Mackay, and I hope that one day I can get my hands on an original Katherine Sable. One day I will choose art because it moves my heart and spirit and makes a room sing. But today price plays a big role.

As previously promised, today’s post is a round-up of favorite large pink art pieces that will rock a wall without totally killing the wallet (some of these are even originals):

1. Bethany Oliver Oberly, $189 2. Ora Birenbaum, $345 3. Sixth and Main Photography, $90 4. Annie Clark 5. Unknown landscape from Art.com, $24.99-199.99 6. Sarah Leslie, $34.99-69.99

Until that day comes when price is not a major factor in choosing wall art, there are plenty of creative ways to fill a large space on a budget:

*there are the do-it-yourself abstract options that involve a few tubes of paint and an oversized craft store canvas (purchased with a 40% off coupon, of course)
*the semi-DIY options (I turned this piece of fabric into a big piece of stretched canvas art, and had this botanical chart printed on fabric and then hung it with dowels. Other creative ideas include transforming a map into art or stretching an old flag over a frame – I actually have one ready to go and waiting for its stretch at the moment)
*the framed fabric or wallpaper look for a blast of pattern
*the thrift store, eBay or garage sale finds (I have a few of those hanging around)
*the small town artist (love art shows or even Etsy for these finds)
*or the print route (settling for a print is no big deal! There are plenty of creative ways to frame a print to even make it look like a canvas)

7. Tchmo, $17-57 8. Michelle Armas, $350 (my favorite) 9. So Very Happy, $45 10. Kelli Hall, $38-375 11. Unknown abstract landscape from Art.com, $24.99-199.99 12. Xilvar, $38-375

Some of these guys featured in the round-up are in the hundreds of dollars range, but many are in the double digits and with framing (see a great solution here if you don’t find a store bought frame that fits) might even come in below $100. Which is a total steal.

Happy art hunting!

PS A big thank you to SheKnows.com for featuring our dining room bookshelves in their favorite storage finds!

Ombre Scalloped Tissue Paper Lantern

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Liv and I worked on this little project back when we were planning for her 2nd birthday. But then we didn’t get a chance to make more than one and we forgot to hang it at the party! So it’s been in our garage ever since.

We pulled it out for a little piñata fun, even though it was really meant to hang over one of the string lights in our backyard (you can see the undecorated paper lanterns on the string lights in the party pics here).

 

A standard paper lantern, ombre layers of scalloped tissue paper and a long pink ribbon to hang it with – an easy and fun pom project.

I turned to Etsy to find the perfect ombre tissue paper (every color of tissue paper known to man is available in various stores!) and bought four pretty shades of pink from PomLove.

Rather than cut out circles, I cut out 3″ scalloped strands of half circles, and then slowly wrapped them around the lantern using double sided tape to adhere.

I’ve seen versions of this idea that are sealed off at the bottom and filled with candy, seems like an easy non-paper-mache way to make a fun piñata.

I had planned on hanging it in Liv’s big girl room, but the tissue paper may have seen its day by the end of today. Too fragile to keep!

Far too fun to play with. 

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