Pages

Sunday, August 31, 2014

ART PRINT :: Oh The Places You'll GO

dr. seuss quote, hand lettered art print, hand lettering, word art, multi colored print



So I have been working on creating a TON of new hand lettered art prints and will be adding them more often now. My goal is to try and add ONE new art print a week going forward, so we'll see how I do.;)
I am having a blast doing these as some have been for my shop to sell and others are for clients who have emailed me asking if I can do a custom one for them. Either way, I am loving doing some real organic art again. It so feeds my soul and that is a beautiful thing. ;)






This one I am sharing with you today was inspired by all of the kids going back to school over the last few weeks and what paths they will be taking, the things that will be created and the places they will go . . .

  So head on over to the shop to get your "Oh the Places You'll GO" hand lettered art print today. It's just perfect to frame or gift to a friend, hang in a kids room or give as a teacher gift, as everyone is on a path to somewhere and we all are just enjoying the journey of getting there right? I know I am!


colorful art print, dr seuss, art print, hand lettered, bright colors
word art, hand lettering, typography, dr seuss quote, oh the places you'll go




colored pencils, dr seuss quote, bright colors, teacher classroom decor




AND as a reminder, I am offering to do CUSTOM hand lettering prints as well. So if you think you have a FAB idea shoot me an email . . . at laura@eyecandycs.com and we'll chat!
So tell me what you think???



hand lettered print, artwork, hand lettering, dr seuss, colored pencils





 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!




Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop!





Monday, August 25, 2014

FREEBIE :: Daily Homework Planner



free download to help with homework, homework planner, freebie



Hi friends!  It’s Wendy here from Scrappy Bags today.  This post is completely different from any other posts that I have shared.  Since the first day of school is on the horizon (and some of you may have already started), I thought this would be the perfect time to share with you a homework planner that has come in quite handy at our house.

assignments, school work, homework, planner for assignments, school




The middle school years have been quite an adjustment for our son.  He is now going in to 8th grade, but 6th and 7th grades were difficult.  He has been diagnosed with ADD and it adds a whole new level to navigating the world of homework.  A lot of nights started out with him not knowing what was expected of him, or he didn’t bring the right items home to complete his work.   Needless to say, this was very stressful for both him and us.  Imagine trying to figure out what the homework assignments are when you’re not at school with him and he forgets to write down his assignment.  Not fun!


homework assignments, school days, planner for homework, free download




With the help of his wonderful teachers, we put together a homework planner that he completes at the end of each school day before he comes home.  The planner helps him make sure that he has his assignments written down and brings home the items that he needs to complete his assignment.  This has helped tremendously!  It’s not 100% foolproof, but it has helped relieve a lot of the stress at homework time in our house.

assigments, school days, planner for homework, teacher assignments




I am sharing this planner for download here.  Have your kiddos give it a try if they’re struggling with organization skills at school.  It’s a great tool, even if you don’t have ADD!   Here’s to a great school year!





     
Guest Contributor: Wendy Diem



Wendy is a stay at home mom living in Hershey, Pennsylvania, also know as the sweetest place on earth!  


She loves creating memory books and cards and would spend my whole day scrapbooking, but I do need to make time to take care of my family.  You know, those fun things like laundry, cleaning the house, etc.    



Back in March, 2012, she had the privilege of going to NYC as part of Martha Stewart’s Dreamers into Doers to attend some workshops and the live taping of her show.  She enjoyed meeting lots of wonderful entrepreneurial women.  What a great experience it was!



You can follow Wendy



Friday, August 22, 2014

RECIPE :: Mini Glazed Baked Donuts



coffeemate creamer, homemade baked donuts, blue sprinkles, donut recipe

Donuts. Who doesn't love donuts? I LOVE donuts. Good donuts though. I mean c'mon they are sooooo good! Have you ever tried your hand at homemade donuts? You can now, as I have a recipe to share with you that not only makes one heck-of-a donut but they are also baked. Which means more you can eat. Baked = healthier, right? Right! Pair it up with a nice mug of coffee and oh my yum. 










baked donut recipe, blue stripes, coffee, cake stand, breakfast donuts



These happen to be french vanilla flavored donuts. That also happens to be a french vanilla glaze on top of them as well. And yes, that happens to be blue sugar sprinkled on top because well . . . I thought it looked pretty. Sound good? Oh and did I mention they are mini too, so I am pretty sure that means you could eat even more! ;)


french vanilla donuts, vanilla glaze, baked donut recipe, blue icing drizzle


Know what else I LOVE? Target. I was there the other day, needed some coffee creamer, and I spotted these bottles and I decided to take a look. The design drew me in as it's very modern and well, I AM a designer so these things do catch my eye. Come to find out that design star David Bromstad has partnered with Coffee-mate and Target, with limited edition bottle designs inspired by coffee and Coffee-mate. David Bromstad's designed bottles (French Vanilla and Hazelnut) will be available exclusively at Target stores nationwide.

As I placed them in my cart, I had a thought. I was going to make some flavored donuts with them. AND make them to match the bottles.

 
 

Two different recipes. One BIG taste!



Glazed French Vanilla Baked Donuts

~Ingredients ~ For Donuts-

  • 2 cups AP flour - sifted
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • ¾ cup Coffee-mate French Vanilla coffee creamer creamer
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract


For French Vanilla Glaze-

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp. Coffee-mate French Vanilla coffee creamer creamer 



Glazed Hazelnut Baked Donuts

~Ingredients ~ For Donuts- same as above

 

For Hazelnut Glaze-
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tbsp. Coffee-mate Hazelnut coffee creamer creamer


glazed hazelnut baked donut recipe, ingredients for hazelnut donuts
hazelnut donuts, hazelnut icing on donute, cake stand, baked hazelnut donuts
baked hazelnut donuts, recipe on how to make hazelnut donuts, drizzle



Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray
  2. In medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in coffee creamer, eggs, vanilla extract (for vanilla donuts) and butter - beat until combined.
  3. Place batter into piping bag and fill doughnut pans, fill about ½ the way.
  4. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until top springs back when touched. (truth: I baked these in my oven for ONLY 4 minutes - just check them & plan on low end depending on your oven)
  5. Let donuts cool at least 5 minutes before glazing.
  6. To make glaze- In small bowl, whisk together creamer and powdered sugar. Add vanilla extract (for vanilla donuts) and whisk until smooth. TIP: Mix in more creamer if glaze is too thick, if it gets too watery add additional powdered sugar. Use immediately.
  7. Dip donuts in glaze and place on a wired rack. Let glaze dry.
  8. For additional 'color' glaze, just make an extra batch of glaze but add in food color to achieve the color you wish & drizzle over glazed donuts!
  9. ENJOY the delicious-ness!

coffeemate french vanilla creamer, french vanilla baked donuts, recipe
baked donut recipes using Coffeemate creamers, french vanilla, hazelnut
Coffeemate hazelnut creamer, recipe to make hazelnut baked donuts

Which flavor are you going to try? Just imagine, your favorite cup of coffee with Coffee-mate French Vanilla or Hazelnut coffee creamer in it plus these mini donuts! Breakfast is served!




mini glazed hazelnut baked donuts, recipe for hazelnut donuts, Coffeemate


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.




Are you loving the "eye candy" here?



Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

DIY CRAFT :: Magnetic Chalkboard Frame

    school locker craft, DIY school decor, chalkboard craft, magentic locker craft



It's that time again! Sharing another easy project for back to school! This project is super easy & quick plus it is very functional!

As you know, my daughter was all excited about having LOCKER DECORATIONS this year in school, so we came up with a few and this is the other one I wanted to share with you all.


finished chalkboard frame, school locker decor, back to school DIY





 

So this one is a "
magnetic chalkboard frame" that is functional, cute & super easy to make! Grab your supplies and make one with me!


You just need to grab a few supplies to get started: a paintable photo frame of your choice (I picked this one up at JoAnns), chalkboard paint, the colors of paint you like - I chose a Valspar color and the current Pantone color of the year, paintbrushes, ribbon and a magnet.




supplies needed for magnetic chalkboard frame, JoAnns unfinished frame




The first thing I did was take the frame apart to work on it. Plus I disgarded the glass as we will not need it.


JoAnns wood frame, chalkboard frame, school locker decor craft



  Next I painted the wood backing piece with the chalkboard paint with a couple thick coats and let dry.


painting with chalkboard paint, school locker decor, back to school craft




While the chalkboard paint was drying, I went ahead and painted the frame with my two different paint colors. 

painting with Pantone paint, school locker frame, chalkboard locker decor
painting the school locker frame, Valspar paint, paintbrush, craft DIY




Then before you add the chalkboard back in and put the frame back together, don't forget to season the chalkboard before using it!

seasoning the chalkboard frame, school locker decor, back to school craft





If you want to add any embellishments to your frame, like flowers or something else, do it on this step. I added a blue flower with a peace sign button in the center - just used my glue gun to adhere to the frame.




adding embellishments to chalkboard frame for locker, school locker decor




The last thing you will want to do is add your ribbon by hot gluing it to the back of the frame. At this point, I also added a large magnet (with hot glue) at the point where the ribbon criss-crossed so you would not see the magnet when it was hanging from the front.

gluing magnet on frame, school locker decor, magnetic frame for locker




You now have a brand new 'Magnetic Chalkboard Frame' to write down reminders and messages! Enjoy!

school locker magnetic chalkboard frame, school locker decor, school




Super cute right? Anyone inspired to try and make one? Raise your hand . . . please let me know below if you think you will try this project as I would love to know if anyone was inspired. Or maybe you have already done a craft similar to this . . . let me know what you did below . . . ;)





Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 
Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)




Monday, August 18, 2014

HOME | MADE :: Small Space Patio Makeover

      condo patio makeover, small balcony makeover, condo balcony, patio


Guess what is finally back? That's right, the HOME|MADE series! I am sorry for the little hiatus but sometimes that happens. But luckily I have a few projects to get you all caught up on! Everyone say YAY! ;)
 



graphic of Home | Made series on eye candy creative studio

As a reminder: HOME | MADE is a bi-monthly series on home renovations MADE into nicer living spaces and the things used to get it there, the supplies used and all the DIY details. ALL to make my house feel like a HOME. ;)
So . . . 

welcome flag, condo living, condo patio maleover, small outdoor space

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 



Today I am sharing my outdoor living space. It's small but I'm gonna make it mighty! ;) When you live in a condo, you get what you get. I am fortunate that I have THREE patios - the other two are patio/balconies. But this is the main one I wanted to do a major overhaul on, as the front door is just to the left of this photo above. (but that's getting a complete makeover too and will be in another blog post.)

chevron rug, outdoor patio, patio table, patio chairs, patio stool, balcony


small space landscape, flower bed, patio makeover, condo balcony


chevron rug, Target finds, patio makeover, patio chairs, aqua patio stool


We had neglected this area of the house for some time, meaning we never used it, so why "liven it up"? Well that all changed when we got our puppy last fall. WHY it took getting a dog to actually want to start using our patio again baffles me too but let's just go with it. Sometimes my reasoning makes absolutely NO sense, except to me. ;) All I can say is we never really exited our house through the front door since we have a walk-out basement/garage so that could have something to do with it.




Here is my 'official' list to accomplish JUST with this space:
 
- power wash the deck
- remove mildew from deck
- paint the deck
- plant some new flowers
- spray paint old patio chairs
- spray paint old patio table
- spray paint star decor
- freshen up space with some new decor

- purchase patio rug
- plant some perennials 
- make a sign to hang by patio door 
- paint the fabric part of the chairs 


**so far I have been able to cross most things off . . . YAY! 


 

So here we go, the reason you are here . . .my progress on Project: Patio Makeover!

Step 1: 


I only have a few "before" pics as I was so excited to get started that I totally forgot to take some really good before pics (sorry) so we will start from here & go with it!

before photo of patio makeover, condo living, outdoor living space


And here's the thing about this pic too, we had already cut the bushes down to where they hit below the balcony level, added some new flags, painted the star up by the door AND spray painted the old patio table, at this point!

So my first step was clearing the patio and cleaning it and removing all of the mildew from it. AND as you can see from the photo below after cleaning, how damaged some parts of the patio are from the weather and just aging, so we are going to fix all of that in our next phase (when the weather cools) and repair the splits and repaint it all.



condo living before shot of outdoor space, balcony of condo, makeover




Step 2:  
Painting! 
Buying all new furniture for our patio was out of the question, so this is an easy alternative to buying all new. Just breathe new life into what you have already! Spray paint & then spray paint some more! ;)

I knew I wanted to use the color scheme of navy, turquoise, light blues and white for the patio area as it matched some FAB clearance items I found in the Target patio area about a month or so ago.
The first thing I spray painted was the old patio table. This thing was 10 years old, black and had started to rust in spots. So I took some steel wool and buffed out the rust spots, clean it off and spray painted it a nice turquoise color.

patio table makeover, Valspar spray paint, aqua patio table, condo
aqua patio table, small space outdoor makeover, tray, candle lantern






Step 3: 
Painting the chairs!
I had never spray painted patio chairs, so I taped off the fabric from getting sprayed (even though I would love to paint that too) and away we sprayed. Indigo blue from Valspar was the color of choice for this and it was amazing for these chairs.   


Valpsar spray paint, blue spray paint, painting patio chairs, chair makeover
patio chair makeover, blue patio chair, spray paint patio furniturefinished patio chair, spray paint patio chair, outdoot chair makeover 






 

Step 4: 
Decorating the patio! 


Like I mentioned already, I had grabbed some patio items on clearance at Target which inspired the whole color scheme into action, so this part of decorating was the part I was looking forward to the most!

A new chevron rug, chair cushions, pillows and of course a stool! Loved it all.

chevron outdoor rug, Target outdoor pillows, aqua stool, patio table & chairs
Target outdoor pillows, aqua stool, patio table & chairs, outdoor living space
small space for outdoors, space to relax outside, balcony getaway




I hated to decorate without having painted the deck / patio area yet but we will do that when the humidity breaks and we know the paint has a chance to cure properly. I went ahead and added a few things out here so we could start enjoying it but will really tweak it in the next phase of this project! ;)

But here it is and it's definitely NOT finished but it's a HUGE improvement and we're off to a pretty good start. At least we can actually enjoy sitting out here and using this space now! 


navy chevron rug, Target stool, patio chairs & table makeover, outdoors
patio chair cushions from Target, Target outdoor pillows, navy & aqua
outdoor living space, Target outdoor pillow & stool, condo balcony space



Step 5
Enjoy! 

Our little pup, Chili, is loving being outside and looking for squirrels from the woods! ;) AND as you can see from the photo on the left, when he's NOT out here with me, he is peeking out and letting me know he needs to be! lol


  chevron outdoor rug, Chili the pup, aqua stool, Target, outdoor living
lantern, patio table makeover, candle, aqua & navy, outdoor living space







So what do YOU think? It's a start. But a pretty good one as I have more projects done with this space, than not. The thing I have found when working with a small space is make it cozy. Buy a FAB rug, make your old chairs comfy with the addition of awesome pillows, get a new candle to burn, plant some fresh flowers and get some color out in the mix! You can transform even a small space, such as mine, into a place that you will LOVE! 

We all are loving our "new" space . . . lots of early morning coffee drinkin, magazine reading and down right chill-axin is happening out here now! ;)


A few more details for you . . . 
This is a shot of the tiny area, in front of the patio, that we have to plant in. I added some flowers in pots for now, until I decide on what perennials I want to plant out here as it only gets a little bit of light in the mornings.

Just so you can get an idea of what else is out here in front of my place, that's a sidewalk shown on the bottom right of this photo below and just to the right is woods. So this pathway-sidewalk has six condo units total in this building but there is one other building across from us, that only has four units. So it's very private and if you like living in the woods, you'd love it.

patio area makeover, flower bed of condo living, flowers, potted flowers

 
I really hope this post helped motivate you, if you are planning on tackling a small outdoor space to make into a little cozy haven to relax & just hang out! I can't wait to share some more updates with you soon as I already am working on them.

 
I would LOVE to hear if you have ever transformed an outdoor space recently or are planning one? What color scheme are you planning to use?

Please comment below with your thoughts as I would love to hear from you! 





Are you loving the "eye candy" here?



Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!



Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop