Thursday, July 30, 2009

Choosing colours to paint your home

It's great to see that many paint companies supply a great web site full of ideas and tools to help you decide. Have a look at Dulux one!
Here's my combination of Pink, White and pink again!


Check out these cute details... and the bedroom...




Sunday, July 26, 2009

Free save the planet gift box


I've found this cute little gift box from Jinjerup blog. Lynn is very talented and like me she's green!
so have fun and use it for your little presents. Download here.

Colorful Home Interior - Pink!!!






I've been shopping for a bedroom all week end and when I've saw on www.momoy.com the bedroom of this house on Portland Road London. I thought it was a similar style of what I wanted, except that mine was white furniture.
Decorate a room with multiple colors isn’t easy, you need to knowing about the color scheme to create beautiful combination. I hope to post a picture of mine soon. Please contribute send me more ideas, you must know what i like by now :-)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Chocolate Eclair Hearts





Why not bake some sweet hearts for your sweetheart? In a twist on traditional oblong eclairs, the light French pastry known as pate a choux is piped into heart shapes and filled with milk-chocolate whipped cream. Topped with a glossy layer of dark chocolate glaze, these treats are perfect after a dinner party or dining a deux. Unfilled, uncut hearts can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to three days; reheat in a 350-degree oven until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes, then let cool before using. The filling can be made through step 7 and refrigerated overnight.

Ingredients

Makes about 2 dozen

  • Vegetable-oil cooking spray
  • 1 1/4 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon best-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • For the Pate a Choux:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • For the Filling:
  • 4 ounces best-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • For the Glaze:
  • 9 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate (at least 61 percent cacao), coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a 2 1/2-inch heart cookie cutter and a pencil, trace 12 hearts on a piece of parchment paper, spacing 1 inch apart. Repeat with another piece of parchment. Lightly coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray; line with prepared parchment, traced side down. Set aside.
  2. Make the pate a choux: Sift flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Put milk, butter, sugar, and salt into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, and add flour mixture all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until flour has been incorporated.
  3. Set pan over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, stirring, until dough pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until just warm to the touch.
  4. Raise speed to medium. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #802). Pipe onto prepared parchment, tracing outlines of hearts and then filling centers. Pipe another heart on top of first layer.
  1. Place hearts in oven. Reduce temperature to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then rotate sheets. Reduce to 350 degrees; bake 7 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool slightly. Turn off oven.
  2. Using a serrated knife, halve hearts horizontally. Arrange, cut sides down, on wire rack. Place rack on baking sheet; transfer to oven. Prop open door slightly, and let hearts cool completely, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside.
  3. Make the filling: Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Pulse chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped. Put 1 cup cream and the sugar into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add hot cream mixture to the food processor. Carefully pulse until completely smooth. Transfer to a large bowl set in the ice-water bath. Let cool completely, whisking occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve into a medium bowl.
  4. Put chocolate cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add remaining cup cream. Beat on low speed until medium peaks form (do not overbeat).
  5. Make the glaze: Pulse chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped. Put cream and corn syrup into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until syrup has dissolved. Add hot cream mixture to the food processor. Carefully pulse until completely smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl; use a rubber spatula to eliminate air bubbles.
  6. To assemble: Spoon glaze over tops of hearts. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, spread filling onto cut sides of bottoms of hearts. Sandwich tops and bottoms. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, uncovered, up to 4 hours.
Find this recipe and more on Martha Stewarts' Living

Free Labels...print, personalize & stick


I've found this great gift from Heirloom Paperie I wanted to share. They are fantastic! You can download them in Pdf here. I'm also so happy with these finds. Let me know what you do with it. Personally I've used them for my home files. Enjoy, xxx

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Jane Austen Test


Everybody knows how much I hated Jane Austen at University but now is on of my favourite author...so I decided to take this test: Which Austen Heroine are You? click here and let me know!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

DIY MODERN PAPERS ORNAMENTS


Holidays make you spend an enormous amount of money!!! But I feel crafty. Here's a great idea from Design Sponge to make a cost free ornament. My suggestion is also to use shades of the same colors for each ornament, it's a pleasant effect.

Here’s what you’ll need:

-Various colors of paper or cardstock, cut into 1″ x 11″ strips. We used 5 colors of cardstock plus silver and gold gift wrap.
-X-acto blade
-Metal ruler
-Cutting Mat
-Stapler
-Thread or monofilament for hanging

Using your X-acto blade and straight edge, cut a few sheets of each color paper into strips that measure 1″ wide by 11″ long.

Lay out your color combinations. We used 3 colors per ornament, repeating the middle color on the outside of each one.

Cut the center strip down to 6″ long. The following concentric layers will consist of 2 pieces, each measuring 7″, 9″ and 11″, respectively.

Make sure the tops of all the strips are flush, and then staple them together. Then line up the bottom edges on the opposite side, so that they are flush, and place a staple on that end. We kept it nice and simple, but there are a bunch of different configurations you can do by playing around with the lengths of the strips and different placement of staples. Now just find a favorite spot to hang them. Ours are clustered above the dining room table.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Back from holiday... I've discovered Mikael Dubois




Hello, my beautiful holiday has just finished, so not to be too depressed I decided to inspire myself. These photos from Mikael Dubois are simply perfect for my ideal place.

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