Sarah Hearts

Hello again! I wanted to provide you with a little update as I still have been “away” from here for sometime. I’m working about 35 hours a week at my “day job” and I’m working with about 10 different clients right now so unfortunately my blog has taken a back seat. I will try my best to post a much as possible over the next month.

With that said, I wanted to share a super cute and easy diy invitation I made this week. My friend Janna is getting married next Saturday (I made the invitations and cannot wait to show everyone!). In lieu of a typical bachelorette party, a few of us are getting together for a delicious dinner and perhaps wine tonight at her favorite restaurant.

I made these invitations with supplies I had on hand. They only took a few minutes and I absolutely love the way that turned out. If you would like to make them too, here’s how:

Supplies:
• 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock (I used a cream color)
• patterned or colored paper (scrap booking paper works great for this) cut into 4.25″ x 5.5″ rectangles. You will need one per invitation
• washi tape (I told you I love it!)
• A2 envelopes
• Download the invitation template for Word.
• Download the fonts I used here and here.

Open the template in Word and edit the info. If you would like to use the fonts I used, download and install them (links are above) before you start editing the template. You could use this for a bridal shower or luncheon, a birthday party, anniversary dinner, or anything else! Once you’re done save and print on card stock. Cut it into 4 rectangles, each 3.25″ x 4.5″. Then adhere the smaller, printed invitation to the patterned card stock with a small piece of washi tape. I cut mine with scissors so it looked clean. And thats it! Please let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!

-Sarah

I’ve been on yet another blogging hiatus. I’ve been a busy bee trying to balance two jobs and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult each week.  I plan on working on some great DIYs that I will share next week. Until then, here’s a lovely color palette inspired by Elephant Ceramics beautiful work. Don’t you just love the combinations of colors and textures?

{Color palette by me. Photo by The Maker Project}

I love fall. The leaves change color and the air gets cooler… ok… maybe not in Florida. A girl can dream right? One thing I do love about fall is the season foods. You know, things with lots of spices and pumpkin (one of my favorites!). My friend Jaclyn is sharing one of her favorite fall-inspired recipes.

Happy September, friends!

It’s hard to believe that fall is upon us already…hasn’t this year just flown by? Perhaps here in Florida it doesn’t quite feel like autumn, but I think the weather might be starting to come around just a little. It’s not quite as humid, the afternoons have been lovely and windy, and dare I say that the evening air has the slightest hint of a chill.

Even if fall isn’t quite in full-swing, I’m going to do my best to will the weather to cool down even more. Baking autumn-inspired desserts is my way of getting into the spirit of the season, even if it’s still pretty warm outside!

When I think of the onset of autumn, the first thing that comes to mind is apple cider. What could be a more perfect beverage for this time of year? From September right on through the end of November, there’s nothing better than apple cider in my book.

Right now, we love enjoying it ice cold, preferably in a frosty mug. When the weather finally decides to cool down, I love setting a pot of cider on the stove and letting it mull with spices for hours.

Know what else I love doing with apple cider? Baking with it!

This apple cider crumb cake is everything I could ever want in a fall dessert. The cake is deeply flavored throughout with the crisp tartness of apple cider, and the crumb layer on top is, in a word, gigantic. I’ve always felt that the crumb topping is the best part of a crumb cake, but most recipes leave you with a disappointing crumb to cake ratio. Well, I decided to remedy that by making a crumb layer that’s the exact thickness of the cake layer. Trust me, you’ll find that there’s plenty of crumb topping in this cake!

I topped this crumb cake off with a simple apple cider glaze, and kicked it up a bit by adding some applejack to the glaze. The resulting dessert is simple, rustic and incredibly satisfying!

It goes without saying that this apple cider crumb cake is best enjoyed with a tall glass of–what else? apple cider!

I hope you have a lovely September, friends!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
food + words.

{Click the image above for the delicious recipe. Photos and recipe by Jaclyn}

I’m super excited about today’s DIY! It comes from my sweet friend, Kristine. Let me just say that Kristine is one crafty-woman! She sewed her wedding gown and reception dress! She also has an Etsy shop where she sells her handmade creations. This weekend she sent over the photo above and I loved it so much I asked her to share it here. So here’s Kristine:

Here’s the “before” of the suitcase.

Supplies:

1. Mod Podge
2. An X-Acto Knife
3. Fabric -about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 yards should be plenty, depending on how big suitcase is. I used just under 1 yard total on this.
4. A paintbrush
5. Tape measurer
6. That darn ugly suitcase!

Playlist:
Stars -esp The Five Ghosts album

Cost:
$1.50  -$5.99 for Mod Podge. I only used 1/4 of that.
$1.00 -Garage sale suitcase
$4.00 -Fabric. $7.99 a yard plus a 50% off coupon. I only used a yard
$6.50 -Total cost of project!!! Not to shabby! I’m VERY proud of that actually

To start, I found this treasure of a suitcase at a garage sale. It’s old and ugly and a perfect for this type of project

The insides are still in tact and the handle is a little worn, but definitely not unusable.

Before I did anything, I cleaned it up (focusing on the parts that will not be covered with fabric) with a little magical help from a Magic Eraser. The suitcase had tons of scuff marks and wear on it but this helped clean that right up!

The next step is to measure the fabric that you’ll need. Section the project out (front, back, side panels) and figure out how much fabric it will take to cover each. Don’t stress about getting this exact. As a matter of fact, I added an extra inch to the dimensions to make sure that it was more than enough fabric to cover it. Example: There are two panels on each side of my suitcase that are 16” x 3” so I added an inch and cut out a rectangle to fit it. Easy.

You’re probably covering details like a handle and latches. I’ve seen people just cut big ugly squares around this and it looks terrible.. I left these details to deal with later and really only cut X’s around them at this point to make sure that I can glue the fabric around them. Remember, that X-Acto Knife will help you make it look perfect later.

Take your paintbrush and brush the area you’re covering with fabric with Mod Podge.

Don’t put too much or it’ll get messy! I started with a full 16 oz container of Mod Podge and used about 1/4 of it total on this project, even after putting a final coat on top!

As soon as this dries, which shouldn’t take too long at all, grab that X-Acto Knife and have at it! Remember to be careful when using sharp tools

As soon as you’re done detailing and trimming that extra fabric, you’ll have a fancy, like-new suitcase! Add an extra layer of Mod Podge to make sure that the fabric is nice and secure on there, let it dry for a bit, and you’re done!

It’s a simple as that!

As you may have noticed by now, I’m a huge fan of washi tape. The thin, Japanese crape paper tape is so pretty and has so many uses. Several months ago, I purchased several small canvas at the local art store. I finally got around to using them this weekend.

I used several shades and patterns of washi tape to great simple geometric patterns on the canvases. In a few minutes I had art ready to be hung in our guest room.

If you’re addicted to washi tape too, here’s what you’ll need to make this: a few canvas (I prefer the gallery ones, meaning those without the staples on the edges), washi tape, and an X-acto knife.

Then create whatever pattern you wish! I just eyed it, I prefer when things are just quite perfect. If you rather use a pencil to mark the canvas, remember that the pencil lines will show through the lighter colored tape.

When you layer the washi tape it creates beautiful variations in value.

In the one above and below I used the X-acto blade to round the edges to the tape. I trimmed the tape after I adhered it to the canvas.

I hung the collection of canvases in the corner of our guest room, perpendicular to the wall that has our lovely Amy Ruppel tree Blik wall decal.

My amazing mom got me tons of washi tape last Christmas, when they were selling it at her West Elm. You can also find it on-line here and here.

If you decide to make a few washi covered canvases, I would love to see your results!

I hope you had a great Labor Day! I spent the day working at the “fruit stand” then grilled out with our good friends, Jared and Eileen, in the evening. Since I working all day yesterday, today is my holiday and I will spend it cooking, cleaning, designing, and running errands.

Today’s color palette is inspired by delicious produce that’s in its seasons peak. I love peaches with raspberries, it’s such a perfect combination! This color palette is a perfect way to add color to a room with a neutral wall color. And because it uses rich warm colors, it’s perfect for fall and spring.

Color palette by my. Photo by Cannelle et Vanille.

It’s a new month and that means it’s time to change your wallpaper! Here’s a fall-inspired wallpaper containing some fall produce. You can download it in the following sizes:

2560 x 1440
2560 x 1440 (without calendar)
1920 x 1280
1920 x 1280 (without calendar)
1280 x 800
1280 x 800 (without calendar)
iPad (without calendar)
iPhone (without calendar)

Wallpaper by me.