Stacey's Smiles

I'd never seen these Sour Patch Jelly Beans before my I am now obsessed with them! 

Pink Peonies. 

Life is a bowl of cherries.

Dying to wear these pink jeans but it's been too hot. Shop my outfit here.

Mid Week Treats.

I guess it's Friday again, YAY! I am taking Monday off work so I can enjoy this weekend for a little longer, my plans involve sleeping in and cooking some homemade pizza! 

DIY Marble Frame

Marble is everywhere at the moment and I have had serious crush on it this year. I had been searching for a large marble frame all year and could only find smaller ones, so I decided to take matters in to my own hands and make my own! This DIY is super simple and will leave you with lots of extra marble paper to craft more things with. 

You will need:

A Frame (I love the Ikea Ribba Frames, this size is only £6)

Marble Sticky Back Paper

Scissors/Craft Knife

Cloth

Start by laying you frame out and drawing out the size you need, how much extra you need to leave around the edge will depend on the depth of your frame. 

Remove the glass from your frame and repeat with the middle section, not forgetting to leave extra for folding round your frame.

Using scissors or a craft knife cut out you inner section. (Don't throw this away it'll be more than big enough for another project, like marble candle holders).

Lay your frame back down and cut the inner and out corners into the frame, this will make it easier to get a cleaner finish. 

Now here comes the fun part, peel up the backing and carefully place you frame down in the right place. Gently smooth down the marble against the frame edge by edge, I did the outer edges first and then the inner. 

When it comes to the corners to get the cleanest finish use a craft knife to cut the excess marble paper  and then you should get clean joins on the corners. Use a cloth to rub all around your frame to make sure the marble is stuck down well and to smooth out any air bubbles.

Make sure your plastic doesn't cover the clips on the frame. Place you glass back in the frame, grab your favourite print, or make one of your own and voila! 

Prints from left to right - Ashton Wears Things Custom Illustration // SS Print Shop Je T'aime Card // 

Anna with Love Shop // SS Print Shop

Ferrero Rocher Nutella Cupcakes

These Ferrero Rocher Nutella Cupcakes have been on my 'To Bake' list since December and of course I finally get around to baking them during the hottest week of the year so far! They are certainly an indulgent treat and I wouldn't recommend baking them during warm weather but I will be making them again for Christmas!

Recipe found here:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (180g)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (~75g)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (~8mL)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda (~3mL)

3/4 teaspoon salt (~3mL)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (45mL)

3/4 cup buttermilk (180mL)

3/4 cup warm water (180mL)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5mL)

24 Ferraro Rochers 

Preheat oven to 350F/170C.  Combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and mix.  Turn mixer to low and add eggs, vanilla, oil, water and buttermilk.  Mix until combined.  Line muffin/cupcake pan with liners and place a tablespoon of batter in the bottom of the well.  Place a Ferraro Rocher in the centre, and top with another tablespoon of batter.  Repeat until all wells are filled and bake for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before frosting. 

Nutella Buttercream Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (240g)

2 cups icing sugar (200g)

3/4 cup Nutella (180mL)

3-4 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk (45mL)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10mL)

chopped hazelnuts for decorating

Cream butter until light and fluffy.  Add icing sugar and combine.  Add vanilla, Nutella and cream one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.  

 

Once cupcakes are cool, pipe buttercream onto cupcake and coat sides with hazelnuts. 

 

Pipe additional Nutella on top of buttercream to add colour.

Place an extra Ferrero Rocher on top for extra indulgence! 

I hate to think how many calories are in these things, so I'm not going to worry about that for now, I'm just going to enjoy them! 

An Indoor Garden

Even though our garden is in full bloom right now and I always try and have some fresh flowers inside I decided it would nice to have some plans that would stick around after summer has faded and the nights start drawing in. On a recent Ikea trip I picked up this glass dish to plant some of the cacti in I already had and I picked up a few more succulents to make my mini indoor garden.  Make sure to place a layer of gravel at the bottom to provide drainage for your plants and then I also add some stones to the top layer of soil to make it look pretty! I also added in a pretty rock I found in our garden. 

Stacey's Smiles

Summer Blooms.

When your peonies come wrapped in brown polka dot paper!!!

Summer Days by the River.

Matching Macarons & Peonies.

I love getting to wear this skirt {last seen on the blog here}.

I'm pretty impressed I managed to blog all week, I can't promise that for next week though! Summer is in full swing here(minus the downpours and thunder storms that seem to show up every now and again) and I am hoping it sticks around for this weekend so I can enjoy some more time outdoors! Happy Weekend Everyone! 

Afternoon Tea Delights

Forever 21 Dress // Madewell Sandals // Old Navy Tote // My Little Box Sunglasses //

Gorjana Bracelet & Ring

It was my birthday last week, so I took a week off from work and luckily had the most amazing week of weather, which meant I could live in summer dresses all week long! One day we took a drive out to the cutest little tearoom in North Norfolk called Folly Tearooms. Their outdoor courtyard is the perfect setting to enjoy the most delicious tea and treats on a summer day.

SHOP THE POST