Gilded in Gold Easter Eggs

Dying Easter eggs has always been an important family tradition in the Meyer house and as the children who used to guard their mugs of eggs soaking until they couldn’t get any more color got older, the tradition has evolved with each of us celebrating the holiday with our own new traditions.  This year I decided to try a new take on the annual craft and was so excited to come across this super DIY tutorial for foiling eggs.  The process is actually pretty simple – especially if you’ve worked with gold gilding sheets in the past.  I found the eggs took the size (the glue for foil sheets) much better at room temperature.  Pics of my project after the jump.  Happy Easter!

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Easy & Healthy Homemade Granola

This is the busiest time of year for me in my real job.  In all the craziness that is the weeks leading up to the National Stationery Show, I feel like I barely get out the door in the morning, let alone grabbing a Greek yogurt (my fave!) from the fridge.  This weekend, I took a step back and prepared some food for the week… Healthy lunches, bags of vegetables for snacks and homemade granola to top that yogurt for breakfast.  Give it a go – it just might give you that boost that I find myself needing in the morning!

Homemade Maple Granola

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp almond extract
4 cups oatmeal (not the quick stuff… you want the old fashioned oats!)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries

Get your GREEN THUMB on!

If you’re like me and sad to have it still be winter (darn groundhog), here’s a great gardening gift that you can make inside for the green-thumb in your life.

Begonias are one of the easiest plants to propagate; most varieties only need a little water to start new roots. They come in infinite varieties (I love the leaves as much as the flowers) and stand up incredibly well as city house plants (requiring relatively low light, rather infrequent waterings (a once-a-week soaking will suffice in a pot with good drainage), and they are undeniably gorgeous.  Click below for the how-to.

How to: Propagate Begonias

Prepare a small container by washing thoroughly, making sure to leave no residue of suds.  The smaller the container, the better since the cutting will release growth hormones into the water to help the new roots develop.  Fill with tepid water.

Snip a large healthy leaf and place it in the water.  Leave in a sunny window.

When significant roots show up (2-3 weeks), gently remove the cutting and plant in potting soil in a well-draining pot.  Enjoy!

Here’s a great link for more information
Pics from here

DIY Homemade Sushi

We had a ton of fun yesterday making one of my favorite foods… homemade sushi!  It’s really not that hard and fun to do in a group – everyone fills their rolls with their favorite Japanese morsels and then you have bites of all different combos!  The key is buying fresh fish and good nori.  Here in Washington, DC, I love to get the seafood at BlackSalt and you can get fresh roasted nori at the H Mart groceries.  More photos and steps after the jump…

Breakfast Delight!

We were in Buffalo for the weekend and were delighted when our friend, Doug, made these for breakfast one morning.  We thought he’d been up for hours fussing in my mom’s kitchen… kneading and waiting and rolling… little did we know!  He did spill the secret, which you’re just not going to believe!  I’ve made homemade doughnuts a few times and they’re always delish, the problem is just that if you’re serving them for breakfast, that means you’re up hours before everyone else… Not anymore… Keep reading for the secret 🙂

Homemade Croissants

We’re embarking on a journey back to my favorite adventure from my winter break from work.  I’ve always wanted to tackle homemade croissants from start to finish entirely by hand and I did just that.  I’m going to warn you – it’s quite a laborious task, but I think it was SO worth the efforts for the end prize (and my husband’s family did too – though they didn’t have to do the rolling!) Bon Appetit!

Recipe after the break…This recipe is from a 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine…

Bring Fall Inside

Even though it’s Make-It Monday, I don’t think you need the how to on this one… Go outside and bring the last little bit of Fall inside with you to enjoy for just a little bit longer!  These branches were huge, making such an impact in a room.  Easy, inexpensive, stunning!

DIY – Leaf Garland!

I’ve been waiting all week to share this sewing project that I put together last weekend!!!  Hurry out and pick up some colored leaves before they all brown to put together this garland for your door.  It didn’t take long at all and lasted for a whole week before a big gust of wind pulled it down.

Here’s how I made it 🙂  First, I gathered a ton of maple leaves and since it was early in the morning and they were slightly damp, I “oven dried” them!  Yes, I put the oven on as low as it would go and gave them about 2 minutes in there so I didn’t get my sewing machine totally wet when stitching them up. 

Then I simply ran them through the sewing machine (with white thread) being careful to make sure there were always two leaves going through at the same time so the garland had a full look to it. I just kept going until I thought it was long enough and then went outside and tried and it worked out to be the perfect length!

Happy Crafting!

Guess Whoo I am for Halloween!

I love owls! I’ve actually wanted to be an owl for Halloween since I was a Chi Omega in college and finally got around to sewing a costume, so nicely modeled by Haute Papier‘s very own Kate here!  Since it’s Make-It Monday, click below for the how to!

Not-Your-College-Jello-Shot

I’m obsessed with the newest thing in the cocktail industry – homemade “jello shots” !!!!  Yes, similar to those ones you had in college, but not disgusting!  While on vacation, I took the opportunity to whip up a bunch of different versions, including these grapefruit margarita ones – give them a whirl – I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup grapefruit soda (I used Izzy’s sparkling juice)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tsp sugar
2 envelopes Knox gelatin
2/3 cup tequila
Fresh grapefruit segments for garnish, if desired

Instructions:

Pour soda, lime juice and sugar into a small saucepan and sprinkle with the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to soak for a minute or two. Heat over very low heat until gelatin is dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes.

Mixture may be foamy initially, but this will disapate. Remove from heat.

Stir in the tequila. Pour mixture into loaf pan.

Place in refrigerator to set (several hours or overnight).

To serve, cut into desired shapes.  Garnish each jelly shot with a small grapefruit segment, if desired.  CHEERS!

Makes 18 to 24 grapefruit margarita shots!