DIY: Scented Sugar

Ever had scented sugar? It's lovely. It's not flavored, per se, but since we pick up most "flavors" via scent anyhow...it might as well be. I discovered this recipe for lavender-vanilla scented sugar a few years back when I went on a hot tea + lavender kick. It changed the way I drink tea.

Plus, you can put it on SO MANY OTHER THINGS - cookies, pancakes, cupcakes, pies, coffee, iced tea (new discovery thanks to Mom). It's good in pretty much anything.

The magic comes from the light, oh-so-subtle scent. You get the kick of sweet from the sugar that you would normally...but then there's this extra little happy with it.

This blog (Joy the Baker) has a FABULOUS tutorial on how to put it together, but I also threw in a few of my own images below (in case you're into sub-par photography and snowman blankets).

I made these recently to give as hostess gifts for the lovely ladies who threw my shower. I like that they have a personal touch to them...plus who doesn't love sugar?

Enough of that, let's get to the good stuff!

Lavender-Vanilla Scented Sugar: How-To

What You'll Need:

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean

1 tsp lavender

What You'll Do:

1. Pour your sugar into a medium sized bowl (easy enough).

2. Split the vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the teeny, sticky little beans. I like to use a spoon for this because the tip of the spoon helps open the bean (without accidentally poking yourself with a knife). Reserve the empty pod.

3. Add the vanilla beans to the sugar. Slowly integrate the vanilla into the sugar by pressing it into the bowl with the back of your spoon. My photos below don't depict this well...but it works best if you use the side of the bowl to press against and slowly incorporate more and more sugar into the seeds. Then, once you have a fairly uniform mixture, stir well to distribute.

4. Add in the lavender, pressing the petals to release the oil. Combine well.

At this point it should smell pretty darn awesome. Avoid the impulse to immediately go make tea. We're almost done!

5. Pour into a pretty glass jar, adding the reserved vanilla bean pods half way through and covering with remaining sugar. The jars pictured hold about 1.5 batches each. 

6. Top with a couple sprigs of lavender (optional...just makes it look all fancy-pants), then tie with a ribbon or twine and you’re done!

See how easy? And this recipe is super versatile. You could use lemon zest instead of vanilla...or mint leaves...or rose petals...or violets...or just about anything. Mix to your hearts content then just use as you would regular sugar. 

Enjoy!

Easter Weekend Recap!

Gotta love a four-day wekend, right? It's such a blessing that my office gives us both Good Friday AND Easter Monday off. It's a nice time to stop, breathe, and catch up a little. Especially after the weekend I had - not that I'm complaining. It was only busy because we have so many sweet people to share our time with. So, I'll give you a recap - day-by-day to make it easier.

THURSDAY
We started our weekend with a Ben Rector concert at George's. Ben was awesome, as always, and even sang a couple new songs that I can't wait to get, particularly his "I Like You" song. Heard it yet? It's lovely.

Sidenote PSA for all Fayetteville concert goers:

• If you decide to get so tipsy at a concert that you bump into me while Instagramming the twelfth selfie of you and your friends of the night, I will push you back. If you fall over, it's not my fault. And I will laugh while not helping you up. 
• If your date is so tipsy that she cannot hold herself up, it is not my job to help you with her. If she leans against me, I will move out of the way slightly. If she falls over, it's not my fault. 
• If you consistently block my view with your smartphone because you're trying to Vine the whole damn concert, I will slowly increase the volume of my passive aggressive comments made in your direction until they can be heard over the music. Vine that. 
• It is not my job to forfeit my hard earned spot on the jam packed floor so that you can "dance" with your date. Take it elsewhere or don't bump into me. And don't you DARE give me a dirty look when I don't move for you. Unless you want me to kick you, that is.

Ok, off my soapbox now. Keep it classy, Fayetteville.

FRIDAY
I spent the afternoon crafting an Easter basket for The Boy. I found a tie that matched my dress so preciously that I couldn't help but get it for him. I added a few hidden-message eggs to keep it festive.

Ever made hidden-message eggs? It's not as simple as you'd think, but after the first one, it gets a whole bunch easier. If you wanna try it next year, here's what you'll need: eggs, something sharp (like a knife or needle), several toothpicks, and a bowl (or sink).

You'll poke a hole in both sides of the egg, making one hole larger than the other. Then blow air through the egg on the side with the smallest opening. It helps if you shake the egg up a little to loosen the insides a bit. I then ran water through mine and let them dry overnight.

Once dry, I wrote tiny notes for each egg, rolled them up, and slipped them into the egg. He had to crack them to get to the message - which I think is WAY more fun than opening the plastic eggs.

That night, we went to the Good Friday service at TGC, during which The Boy played a beautiful solo, and wrapped up the evening over milkshakes and games at our friends' new house.

SATURDAY
I started the morning out with a manicure - love having fresh nails - then met The Boy in Bentonville for lunch. His sweet cousin Emma has recently decided to attend the U of A for college and we wanted to get together with her for a quick chat about what to expect, where to live (or not to live), where to eat (or not to eat), etc.

We had lunch at the Station Cafe - a cute little restaurant on the square - and I put together a fun little "happy" (with a few of my favorite Fayetteville things) to welcome her to this sweet little town I love so much.

She got:

• A Bliss cupcake (Razorback red velvet, of course)
• A Riffraff AR Love koozie
• An Arsaga's coffee gift card
• Razorback cheek tattoos and earrings

If you're local and unfamiliar with any of the spots linked above, you haven't truly experienced the best this town has to offer. Go check 'em out.

After lunch, we stopped by Gran's to deliver a birthday gift and steal some hugs, stopped at Bentonville's new fancy Harps for cupcake supplies, then swung by his parents' to borrow a cupcake tin and mixer. 

The rest of the evening was a blur of flour and powdered sugar that resulted in these:

Cadbury Egg Cupcakes. Recipe to follow tomorrow.

SUNDAY

He is risen! 

I love Easter Sunday. I love all the kiddos dressed up in pressed shirts and frilly dresses. I love the buzz in the air. I love how everyone smiles and hugs and just seems happy.

This was one of those happy days. I ended up working in the nursery during the service (unplanned but a blessing just the same), meaning I missed the message. However, I've found that my mornings spent surrounded by two year-olds proclaiming that "Jesus is alive" are sometimes even more of a message than one delivered from the pulpit. Those sweet faces made my morning. 

After church, we met my family in Rogers for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. We had a great time finding the eggs the kids missed and re-hiding them...in places they'd already checked. Josh kept finding eggs in the same place and exclaiming "wait...I already found this one! What's going on?!?"

After time with my family, we headed over to The Boy's parents' for coffee and cake...and croquet it turned out. It was such a lovely day that we couldn't stand to be inside. And, since croquet is pretty much the one game you can play in a dress and heels and without the threat of something flying at your face, it won. Watching the adults explain the game to the kiddos was about as much fun as the game itself. 

Oh, that and chasing down dogs that were chasing down croquet balls as they rolled across the lawn. Don't try to play croquet with two dogs that are obsessed with fetch. People will laugh at you as they ride by on their bikes because you're shouting "No, Gigi. Drop it. Give it back. Okay, now where was this one again?"

Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, though. Even if The Boy did beat me on purpose (I was totally beating him, by like A LOT, and after I pointed it out, he made this stupid comeback and beat my by about four turns...tell me that wasn't deliberate).

After the game, we spent the afternoon on the porch, watching the girls play with dolls and trying to keep the dogs from fighting over EVERY TOY THEY COULD FIND. At one point I ended up with three bones in my lap to stop the arguing. 

All in all it was a good weekend. A sweet, restful time with family and friends and beautiful weather to boot. Hope y'all's was equally enjoyable.

Happy Easter, friends!

PS: Aren't our matching outfits cute? ;)

A Tiffany & Co Bridal Shower

This weekend Mom and I had the pleasure of throwing my Sister-In-Love-To-Be a bridal shower. She loves all things sparkly and pretty, so I decided on a Tiffany & Co. theme - 'cause what says "sparkly, elegant, and bridal" better than diamonds and that infamous blue color?

As is our norm, I did most of the planning and was in charge of look-tone-feel while Momma (and a few other incredibly sweet ladies) handled food and prep.

Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, especially the bride-to-be (seen here in her makeshift veil made from a bit of wrapping).

It was so much fun to see all of these ladies again (I grew up knowing most of them from church or school), and I loved watching them love on this sweet girl that I get to call my sister in just a few short months. We all felt very blessed. Thanks to everyone who came!

Now, how 'bout some party details?

The Invites 
I wanted to embody the concept of a "Tiffany box" in the invite. I found some lovely Tiffany blue cardstock online as well as some shimmery pearl-white envelopes. I cut and folded the 12x12 pieces of cardstock into 6x6 square fold-over cards and added a white insert with all the party details. Then I tied a strand of white ribbon around each of the cards, in a Tiffany bow, naturally, and sealed them in the shimmery envelopes.

 

In case you're curious, a "Tiffany bow" is basically a criss-cross bow that lies flat in the back. It's tied in a very specific way. Wanna know how?

The Decor

We stuck to a basic black-white-Tiffany color scheme for the decor. Mom found some great Tiffany blue table overlays online, so they were my accents on the tables and throughout the house. We also added sparkle wherever we could - with diamonds, pearls, and acrylic scatter. 

The Flowers

Mom and I fell in love with a photo of a centerpiece on Pinterest and HAD to recreate it for the shower. Now, the tutorial that it links to is no longer live, but it's actually quite simple to create. You need: wet floral foam (the kind you soak in water so it keeps flowers fresh longer. We got ours from Amazon), a whole mess of carnations (we used about 150 for two centerpieces), and a candlestick of your choice. 

You soak the floral foam in water overnight, trim your flowers super short, start at the top, and just work your way around the foam. I went ahead and perched my foam on top of my candlestick so that I knew how big of a base to leave (and, since it's slightly maleable, it sunk onto the candlestick well, providing a sturdy workspace on which to decorate).

The Food

We served tea-time, finger-food items (since it was a late afternoon shower). Our menu included:

• cucumber sandwiches
• pimiento cheese sandwiches
• sausage balls
• veggies with dip
• fruit salsa and cinnamon-sugar pita chips
• spinach tarts
• cheese and crackers
• Rick's Bakery petit fours
• "Girlie Tea" (tea with orange juice and lemonade)
• Tiffany Punch (blue Hawaiian punch and lemonade)

Are the petit fours not incredible? The lovely ladies at Rick's Bakery were able to customize the glaze to match the Tiffany blue color and added sweet little buttercream bows to the top of each one. How precious are they?!?

The Games

We played several shower games to keep the energy up.

First: Ring Robber

Each lady started the party with three rings. If she heard another guest say the words "wedding," "bride," or "groom," she could take one of their rings (and could lose rings the same way). The guest who ended the party got a prize (a small Tiffany blue clutch and pearl bracelets).

Second: How well do you know the Groom?

Since the shower was in Little Brother's home town, most of the ladies knew him while he was growing up. I drew up a list of trivia questions about the groom and let all the ladies try their hand at proving they knew him best. We even let the bride play! Once the guests had finished, we invited the groom into the room and had him provide the answers. Some prompted fun childhood stories and it was great fun hearing what everyone thought the answers were. The bride and Mom ended up tying for highest score (even though Mom DID get his birthday wrong...). 

Third: "Why do we do that?" Bridal Trivia

I found a fun list of bridal/wedding traditions and explanations and let everyone try and match them up. Some of them were interesting things I'd never thought about. For instance: 

Q: Why does the groom throw the garter?
A: To distract the guests so they keep their hands off the bride

Finally: Pass the Presents
With this game, I had all the ladies sit in a circle and I handed out six small gifts to random guests. Then, I told them I was going to read them a story. Every time they heard the word "right," they were to pass the gift in their hands (if they had one) to the right. When they heard the word "left," they passed it left. I started out reading the story slowly so that everyone got the idea, then sped up til some of the ladies were practically throwing gifts at each other to try and keep up. I think this one was my favorite. I'll post the story at the bottom for those of you that are interested.

Not a "game," but we also had each of the guests sign a black river-rock and leave a warm wish, blessing, or piece of advice on one side of the stone. The stones will go home with the bride and groom in a hurricane vase for them to keep and enjoy for years to come. 

The Favors

Keeping with the Tiffany theme, everyone got to take home their own "little blue box," filled with a handful of chocolate pearls and a diamond ring keychain. I got the boxes online and ordered the keychains from Oriental Trading. It made for a fun little extra at the end of the party to tie the theme together. 

Now, how 'bout some party pics?

They got a whole slew of goodies...see the hanger there in the middle? That's from me! It's a custom "mrs. hale" hanger for her dress. I've seen 'em all over the wedding blogs and found the original designer on etsy - Lila Frances. Her stuff is beautiful. Go check it out if you need a fun wedding gift!

When all the gifts were opened, the bride came away with a fantastic rehearsal bouquet (thanks to Tutu and her mad bouquet skills), but she only broke ONE ribbon the entire time. Someone needs to buy that girl more presents and tie the ribbons on a bit tighter. I want multiple red-headed nieces and nephews! Get on that, people!

 

I'm glad I have someone as sweet at the bride-to-be to dote on - it makes doing something I already enjoy just that much better. Now, I'm gonna spend what's left of my weekend relaxing 'cause, fun or not, this girl (and her pup) are tired. Y'all have a great Sunday! Thanks for reading!

PS: Pass the Presents "script"

       “[Insert bride’s name] knew RIGHT away that she had found Mr. RIGHT and the RIGHT date was set. Now seemed to be the RIGHT time to start so she LEFT RIGHT after lunch and went RIGHT to her mother’s house. She LEFT in such a hurry that she LEFT her to do list RIGHT on the living room table. But there was no time to turn back. She knew she needed to get started RIGHT away to make sure nothing was LEFT undone.

       With only 24 days until the wedding day, there seemed to be little time LEFT to spare and so much LEFT to do. She asked her mother to WRITE down a guest list because she knew mom would make sure no one was LEFT out. [Insert bride’s name] LEFT to find the RIGHT invitations. On her way, she LEFT a message at the florist and then RIGHT into the bridal shop she ran.

       RIGHT in the window was the perfect dress. “Oh no, I LEFT my checkbook RIGHT in the car.” “Hold that dress, I’ll be RIGHT back.” With that accomplished, she called Mr. RIGHT and LEFT him a message to call her RIGHT back. She LEFT to meet the florist who had LEFT her a message that they had the RIGHT flowers for her.

       Mr. RIGHT called her RIGHT back and said he LEFT a message for the preacher RIGHT down the road to call them RIGHT back and that he had just LEFT work and would be RIGHT over. She LEFT the florist and ran RIGHT over to meet Mr. RIGHT. RIGHT away they discussed what was LEFT to do. “Who will be the RIGHT best man?” She LEFT that up to Mr. RIGHT. “I’ll get the RIGHT maid of Honor.”

       RIGHT away they started shopping for the RIGHT rings. With that done, the next stop was to order the RIGHT cake. Mr. RIGHT could clearly see his future Mrs. RIGHT was on the RIGHT track.

       After a long day, they were both LEFT exhausted. All that was LEFT to do was get RIGHT home to see if any messages were LEFT while they were out. Sure enough, Mom had LEFT a message that the church RIGHT down the road was available so she requested it RIGHT away. Now that was not LEFT to worry about. “Lets call it a day.” “Whatever is LEFT to do, can be LEFT until tomorrow.” They agreed and with a kiss, he LEFT and she went RIGHT to bed.”