Peeps Popcorn

I think we've established by now that I love Peeps.

So when I was challenged with making something other than S'Mores with them, I happily accepted.

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Here's what you need to make the popcorn:

*Makes about 2-3 servings

2 tsp butter

2-3 cups popped popcorn

1, 5-piece package of Peeps

1. Cook your popcorn. (I actually prefer to make stovetop popcorn - tastes so much better!). Remove any unpopped kernels. If you prefer the microwave kind, be sure to get the crispy white or tender white, NOT the buttered flavors, which just get soggy.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Swirl the pan to coat.

3. Add the Peeps and turn heat to medium, stirring until the marshmallows are melted and the mixture is nice and smooth. Keep stirring while they are melting, or the sugar will scorch. (I have to tell you, if you love Peeps, this part might make you a little sad. It's kind of like watching the witch in the wizard of Oz - "I'm melllttting!")

4. Pour the melted mixtures over your popcorn and gently stir with a silicone spoon.

5. Dump the sticky popcorn out on waxed paper to cool. Be careful - the marshmallow gets very hot and can result in burned fingers! Not that I would know anything about that.

6. At this point you can spread the popcorn out to cool and then break into chunks, or form popcorn balls.

Peeps come in so many pretty spring colors. I made several small batches for a colorful assortment. If you don't pop on the stove, like me, one bag of microwave popcorn yields around 12-14 cups of popped popcorn, and therefore five to seven batches of sticky, yummy, gooeyness.

Break up into small chunks and mix up the colors for an adorable spring or Easter party snack!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container. If you actually have any leftover.

*The Peeps were provided from the Just Born company with the hopes that I would make something awesome and share it with you. And I just did! All content and opinions are 100% mine.

If you enjoyed this post, I'd love for you to follow along:

        

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Simple Aqua & Yellow Spring Mantel

I threw together the easiest spring mantel over the weekend. I mean, seriously, if you have a mason jar/vintage jar fettish like I do, you can whip this up in about five minutes.

Those are my favorite kinds of DIYs!

I love the look of a bunch of glass vases and jars displayed together. It makes me all giddy and happy inside!

Add a few fresh flowers in, and you're done!

Beautiful, springy, and simple!

Gerber daisies are my favorite, and the bright yellow is so cheerful.

You can't help but smile.

Happy almost spring everyone!

Linking up:
Lil Luna
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Easy DIY Washi Tape Mason Jar Vase & A Spring Linky Party Announcement

I'm not usually one to jump on the latest trend, which is probably have I haven't jumped on the washi tape bandwagon until now. So, forgive me if I'm a little late to the party.

I happened upon some craft tape in the clearance bin at Michael's the other day and figured I could shell out a buck fifty to try something new. I had no idea what I would do with it, but figured I'd come up with something. 

I was working on another mason jar project (coming soon!) and thought I'd pull out the tape and try it out. It's crazy simple to work with and wrapping it around the vase took all of five minutes from start to finish.

I washed and dried the vase really well before I started. The tape is strong, and thankfully re-positionable, so I just tugged and wrapped one section above the other, cutting each length as I went.

The best part is that it doesn't take that jar out of commission, I can use it again by just peeling off the tape! I thought it would be perfect for a pretty spring centerpiece!

I promise you I am not being paid to say any of this, I just thought it was really, really cool. I'm still a DIYer at heart, but Melissa is pulling me over to the crafting dark side!

I have a few other little projects that I finished this week and I'll share those throughout the next few days. But first I have an exciting collaboration coming up that I have to share with you!

I'm throwing a party (well, me and a dozen of my favorite bloggers)!!

It's a Spring Thing will be a fun blog hop that will begin March 4 and will be "hoppening" through March 17. We will be sharing some fabulous decor, crafts, and recipes to help you welcome spring and get ready for Easter! Each day you'll visit a different host, and we'll close out the party by inviting you to join in on the fun with a linky party! We'll be pinning and sharing your projects like crazy, so start getting those spring and Easter posts ready!

Who's joining in??
Cupcakes and Crinoline
Dear Lillie
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Thistlewood Farms
Fox Hollow Cottage
Debbiedoo's
Setting for Four
JoJo & Eloise
At the Picket Fence
Domestically Speaking
At the Picket Fence
French Country Cottage
Jennifer Rizzo

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!!

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Linking this post to:
Tip Junkie
Lil Luna
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How to Download and Install Fonts to Your PC

I have always been a fonts hoarder. I have over 1000 fonts on my computer, and I add more each week! I love the way that choosing just the right font can completely change the feeling of the text, and really drive your point across.

I work on computers all day; between my "day job" and my graphic design business, I spend hours upon hours looking at fonts, downloading and installing them each week. I love sharing my favorites with you, but I realized that you probably don't spend your life at a computer like I do, and maybe you don't know how to download those fonts once I share them with you!

I promise, it's not hard to do!

First you need to choose your fonts. My favorite site for free fonts is dafont.com. There are so many fonts to choose from, it can get overwhelming, but they have lots of categories to help you narrow it down.

Once you've selected your font, click the DOWNLOAD button.

Depending on your computer (I have Windows 7), you will need to find the folder the font downloaded to, whatever your default download folder is. Mine will automatically pop up once the file has been downloaded.

Because the files are large, they are downloaded in "zipped" (or compressed) files, and the font file needs to be extracted. (Sounds painful but I assure you it is not!)

In Windows 7, you will see a button at the top of the folder that says "Extract all files." Alternately, you can right click on the file and select "Extract all."

Once extracted, another file folder will pop up. At this point, you're almost finished!

Right click on the font and select "Install."

And you're done! You can now use your free fonts to pretty up your pictures, flyers, and more.

Another method would be to "drag and drop" once the files are extracted. You would need to find your fonts folder, by opening up the control panel (start menu > control panel > fonts). Once both folders are open you can drag the font file to the font folder.

Have a MAC? Beth from home Stories A2Z showed us how to install fonts on your MAC here.

If you have any questions, or have trouble, feel free to leave a comment or email me.

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Dreaming of Spring - Cheerful Kitchen Inspiration {and a giveaway from Method!}

Spring is only a few weeks away and I am so excited to start brightening up my home for spring. As I was searching for inspiration, I couldn't help but drool over these colorful and eclectic kitchens. The bright colors have me dreaming of blooming flowers and warmer days.

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: vi.sualize.us via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: allthepretties.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: aluaces.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: am.newuvision.us via Kristin on Pinterest

Source: thekitchn.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Ok, just for fun, I had to include the photo below. Because that is REALLY a DREAM kitchen (bonus points if you can tell me why! No, the points don't count for anything, other than my deepest admiration).

Source: thedecorista.tumblr.com via Kristin on Pinterest

The funny thing is, I have never been much of a "color" person, but when I was given some products from the new Orla Kiely from Method, I was inspired and went in search of color everywhere! 

But while these kitchens are drop-dead, to-die-for gorgeous and bright and colorful and springy, what they aren't is in my budget. In other words, a new kitchen isn't even on the radar, like, ever.

Orla Kiely is an amazing fashion designer and her prints can now be found on Method products at Target. What better way to add a little color than with some accessories you use every day? They smell delicious and look so bright and cheery. I got to try the white nectarine and it was so yummy! Bonus - like all Method products, they are non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

Double bonus - Enter to win an your own set of the new limited edition Orla Kiely designed Method products and a fabulous Orla Kiely tote, valued at $230!!! Method is giving 5 lucky winners a gorgeous Orla Kiely hand bag stuffed with the entire limited edition collection of products.

There are five of these totes being given away, so you're chances are even better. The giveaway ends March 5 so go enter today! Or if you can't wait that long, head to your nearest Target and add a little color to your life today!

Enter the contest here.

Mobile users enter here.

Thanks to Method for sponsoring this post - all opinions are completely and 100% mine. Read my full disclosure here.

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Top Five Font Combinations {Five on Friday}

It's time for another addition of FIVE on FRIDAY! In case you missed it last week, I shared my Top 5 Beauty Product must-haves.

This week is about beauty of another kind - the graphic design kind! There are so many different kinds of free fonts to choose from, but how do you match them up?

Have you ever tried putting two pretty fonts together and wondered why it just didn't work? I mean, you love each font individually, but together, it's just not right. First rule (in my opinion) of font selection and matching, is that opposites attract. In other words, you don't want fonts that are similar to be together. You want to take fonts that have opposite qualities, like serif and sans-serif (ex. Times New Roman and Arial), decorative and simple, or thick and thin.

I'm going to show you five of my favorite combos.You'll also notice that a lot of times I'll have one font in all caps and the other in all lowercase to add to the contrast between styles.

These are some of my favorite fonts, and if you'd like to download them, you'll find the links below. Hopefully this gives you an idea of how to combine fonts for beautiful graphics!

Bebas Neue
Pea Jenny Script
Janda Stylish Script
Tall N Bubbly
Adine Kirnberg
Phosphorus Selenide
Orniste
Simplicity
Adele
Jenna Sue

Love the fonts but not sure how to download them to your computer? Learn how to download and install the fonts in this post.
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DIY Headboard from a Closet Door

I promised to show you how I made my painted arrow headboard, and today I'm doing just that!

(In case you missed it: master bedroom updates)

The steps were pretty basic, but I did take some pictures along the way.

The headboard itself it actually a wood closet door, circa 1960ish. I have five more of them sitting in storage, if ya want one! (I use curtains over each of my closets to make them seem bigger).

Here's the previous headboard:

I did love it, but was ready for a fresh update.

The background is one large piece of dropcloth stapled to the door, and the Union Jack stripes were adhered in the same fashion. I simply removed the stripes and kept the background in tact.

Using a tape measure and a pencil, I marked the center of the door for the arrow points and placed a strip of painter's tape right down the middle.

I then measured and marked down opposite edges of the door where I wanted the stripes to start. I knew I wanted thinner painted stripes and wider stripes for the dropcloth. The gray painted stripes are about 2 1/2 inches wide, while the space between is 4 1/2 inches, or two strips of wide painter's tape.

Using the wide painter's tape (it's 2 1/4" wide) I taped off the design.

To paint the stripes, I used a wadded up paper towel, dabbed it in the paint, blotted on a paper plate to avoid any extra thick spots, and used a combination of blotting and rubbing the paint onto the canvas. A rag would have worked just as well, but I didn't have any. I was going for an uneven "aged" kind of look.

In some place, I rubbed it in close to the tape to give the lines more definition.

I intended to cut the tape at an angle in the center so the stripes were continuous, but got distracted and just started painting. Instead, I made a template for the center point and just blended the paint in and it worked out perfectly.

I pulled off all the tape, and had my perfectly imperfect arrows!

Now, this board is HEAVY. Since I was doing this all myself, I opted not to hang it on the wall. Instead it sits propped up on the box spring. It's a bit "wackadoodle" as my friend would say, but it works and it stays put, so that's good enough to me.

It's exactly as I envisioned and that makes it perfect!

Linking up:
House of Hepworths
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Painted Arrow Headboard & Master Bedroom Updates

You know how I love to do impromtu projects? 

I mean, that's when I do my best work generally, when I come up with an idea, grab the supplies and finish said DIY in the shortest, amount of time possible. 

In this case, from 9-11 pm. 

This idea has actually been swirling around in my head since reading Beth's post on the latest trend in home decor: Arrows.

It was like music to my ears! I'm a sucker for clean, straight lines, and I never really got into the whole chevron thing (sorry, y'all, just wasn't a fan!). But the arrows, see I could get into that one.

Since I've been wanting to redo my headboard for a while now (you know, a few months after I finished it), I somehow wanted to incorporate this trend.

So the other night, after much thought (about three minutes worth), I grabbed some supplies and set up shop right there in the bedroom.

Yes, I painted right there in my bedroom. I didn't even put a dropcloth down. I'm a rebel like that.

Here's the original headboard that I replaced:

(Original post here.)

I loved it for a long time, and it was pretty popular here on the blog, but I was ready for a change.

I took some time to freshen up the master bedroom a little bit, but I didn't buy anything for this little mini makeover, other than the cute little feather pillow, which was on clearance at Target for $7.

I'm working on the DIY headboard post, but in the meantime, how about a few pretty pictures? You'll have to forgive the photos, this room gets zero natural light so it makes photographing a challenge.

You can check out the tutorial on the headboard here.




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