Kristy Kay - Soup to Nuts & Bolts Back by popular demand! 1 stick of margarine, creamed with 16 oz powdered sugar, then add 16 oz creamy peanut butter and 3 cups of rice krispies. Mix until combined then roll into balls and chill. Melt 14 oz of your choice of chocolate. For me, it’s white or dark. I love Baker’s baking chocolate but even the melting chocolate from the craft store tastes great. Enjoy! (Makes 100 small or 50 large)
March 2012
40 posts
Need to add character and looking for more than paint but maybe you’re not into wallpaper? Try floating “boxes” of trim moulding. Leave white or paint same as the walls. Adds drama and character easily.
Painting tips? Don’t be afraid of a dark color in a room filled with light and lots of white trim. Here I’m using Ben Moore Taos Taupe. It actually helps a room feel bigger and cozy all at the same time. Also, do all the “cutting in” (painting around the trim) first, rolling the walls is the quick and easy part and it’s just painting in the lines at that point.
Here’s a fun springtime centerpiece. Just take a pretty, shallow (watertight) container or serving dish, some potting soil and grass seed and you can grow a small patch of your own indoors. Create an indoor garden with individual gerber daises (in florist spikes) or, great for a tabletop Easter Egg garden!
Make an impressive dessert tonight - here a simple boxed cake mix gets a red carpet look. I stacked two round cakes of different sizes for height and dimension. Next, I used a basic frosting but I put it in a ziploc bag with a pastry tip and pipped a fun top. Fancy and easy!
Designer trick….Ever think of using drapes as shower curtains? It’s true. With an adjustable rod, adjust to the appropriate height of the drape so it’s around 1 inch off the floor. There’s more width to drapes (100 inches versus 72”) so it creates a lot of drama by the sheer volume. Often times, there’s more of a selection in all price points as well!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Instead of traditional chocolates, try my favorite French Macarons. Crisp meringue outside but yet gooey inside and a whole variety of fillings. Too fancy to make (trust me, I’ve tried over and over), so enjoy them as a gift! Pistachio is heavenly!
Often times furniture stores sell great accessories and rugs - take notice next time you’re furniture hunting. I found this great mirror for a client in a furniture gallery!
Paint and new window treatments - the transformation never gets old. It’s the easiest renovation you can do. Today was my favorite kind of Saturday, a beautiful client install. She got it all, paint/windows/furniture/accents..I even swapped rooms around (the dining room is now the family room…much better flow). A great day! Stay tuned for before and after pics
At this time of year, we really look forward to those warm sunny days and vacation time by the water. What better colors to use than red, white and blue! See how by just adding new throw pillows to your existing decor, you can get a whole new, fresh springtime look!
Need decor ideas for your wedding or another special event? Visit your local thrift store and buy glass bottles. Get them clean in the dishwasher and try one of these design suggestions - group a bunch of them in the center of a round table and put one flower in each (all the same colored flowers), vary the height of the flowers for more interest.
A fabulous find outlet shopping. A piece like this can work anywhere - foot of your bed, front entryway….even as a dining bench. Just beware, look outlet finds over really well for marks or tears as they’re ofen final sale items.
This mild winter is giving me the spring bug…except I realized retailers haven’t caught up with me yet! Stay tuned for what came out of my quick trip to my local home improvement store. My front door is going to get a zap of spring!
I know it’s early February, but why not give your dining table a taste of spring?! Fashion trends tell us it’s all about bold colors for 2012. See how well this teal and red work together, how fresh! The placemats and napkins are the new “Chirp” collection by Lenox and you can find it Macy’s!
In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution (to save silver from yard sales and tag sales everywhere), my rescue mission continued today with a fabulous find at a local thrift shop. Look at these pitchers, a steal for a total cost of $12. And the money goes to a great cause. I’ll have to make chocolate molten cakes so everyone can have their own pitcher of creme anglais! Time to polish.
Stay tuned for more details and lots of great ideas, but very excited to be designing an event with Saks Fifth Ave and the Yerwood Center for NYC and Fairfield County. Will have some great “springtime” decor and food ideas that you can recreate! A little sunshine to look forward to during this gray January.
Okay, I really didn’t believe homemade versus freezer section would matter here but I stand corrected. This was only four ingredients and tasted SO much better - super light and flaky! Also, if you’re anything like me, it’s far too dangerous to have cookie dough around but keep this in your fridge for 6 minute, amazing Palmiers! You won’t be tempted to take a spoonful but yet can create amazing and impressive cookies at a moments notice!
Puff Pastry
How a quick recipe and a little paint can make gorgeous, modern baby shower favors. Here, with some simple acrylic paint, I painted a clementine box from my grocery store and filled it with a five ingredient and decadent treat. Mix 16oz creamy peanut butter, 16 oz powdered sugar, 1 stick of margarine and 3 cups of crispy rice cereal. Roll into balls, chill for 30 mins, and then dip in melted chocolate (here I used white chocolate). Let stand at room temp until chocolate has hardened and then wrap in “treat bags” from your local craft store. Add a preprinted tag (I love tinyprints.com) to make it really special and personal.
It’s all about mix and match…Here a dining chair from the Boston Design Center in a beautiful Robert Allen fabric works perfectly with an elegant writing desk from the budget retailer West Elm. Notice how the lines on each each piece compliment each other.
