DIY Peppermint Serving Tray

diy peppermint serving tray

I am officially obsessed with these candy serving trays…and guess who I got the idea from?!

Hosea Rosenberg, founder and chef of BlackBelly Catering.
Yes, he’s also the Top Chef Season 5 winner 🙂
Jenna and I met him at Anne Be’s Five party a few weeks ago, and he was kind enough to share this creative idea with me!
{Thanks, Hosea!}

This DIY serving tray is adorable to serve your holiday cookies, apps or drinks! It’s an easy {and cheap} way to add a little something extra to your holiday treats.

 Hosea’s beautiful creation at Five:

Mint Serving Tray

You’ll need:
Brach’s Starbright Mints {we bought mints from Candy Crate}
a cookie sheet
parchment or wax paper {I used wax paper, but heard parchment paper works better!}
your oven

How To:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place wax paper on cookie sheet
3. Arrange mints in any design you wish on top of wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet {allowing extra room on the sides}
4. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes
5. Take out and allow to cool on cookie sheet {cools in approximately 5 minutes}
6. Remove wax paper from bottom {be careful, tray is fragile and breaks easily}

Voila!  A beautiful serving tray!

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{Don’t forget your wax paper underneath the mints!
… lesson learned on this tray because it never made it off the cookie sheet in one piece!}

diy starlight mints

candy-cane-peppermint-serving-tray

melted peppermint serving tray

melted-peppermint-serving-tray

diy-peppermint-serving-tray

sending love…

love-melted-peppermint-serving-tray

{images via Tutto Bella & Jenna Walker Photographers}

holiday treats

My mouth is drooling over these yummy and festive holiday treats!
Great ideas to bring to your holiday parties over the weekend 🙂

Snowman Soup, found at Celebrations at Home
original source and FREE printables at Paper & Pigtails

North Pole Cupcakes, Pinterest

Santa Hat Brownies at Daisy’s World

Reindeer Food and FREE printables at TomKat Studio

Cheese Tree from Cabot Vermont

Rootbeer {or beer} Reindeer seen at Life of a Modern Mom
 

{images via Celebrations at HomeTomKat Studio, Cabot Vermont, Life of a Modern Mom, Daisy’s World & Pinterest}

{giveaway} suspended moments bridal hanger

A personalized bridal hanger from Suspended Moments is one of my absolute favorite gifts {for the bride}. It’s personal, lasts forever and is the perfect prop for a bridal dress photo opp on a bride’s wedding day.

Believe me, if you bring this as a gift to your next bridal shower you will get so many ooh’s and ahh’s, and the bride will always have it to remember the special day she became a Mrs.

If you’re already married, or not getting married anytime soon, this is still a great gift idea at your next bridal shower {or holiday} for a friend, a sister, aunt or cousin. And if you don’t know anyone getting married this year, personalize one for your own closet to hang your already-worn bridal gown or another special garment.

Dawn, owner and creator of Suspended Moments, is fantastic to work with and makes Suspended Moments THE place to purchase personalized bridal hangers. She is so responsive, sweet, talented and will work with you to find the color you’re looking for {if you choose a custom color instead of a wood hanger}.

I worked with Dawn this past summer to purchase hangers for one of my BFF’s and my sister. They LOVED their hangers {and so did their photographers}.

Dawn offers a wide range of gifts at Suspended Moments you are sure to love. Personalized hangers for the entire bridal party, personalized baptism/christening hangers, custom child’s hanger, cake toppers, ornaments and place cards. She crafts each personalized hanger and gift with wire, wood and as much tlc {tender loving care} as if it were for her own child or wedding.


Today is a really good day for all you Tutto Bella readers because…Dawn is offering one lucky Tutto Bella reader a FREE personalized wedding hanger {$25 value plus shipping}.

To enter the giveaway, you must:
{1.} “Like” Suspended Moments on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment telling us you did {you have to leave a comment so we can enter your name in the drawing}.

For additional entries:
{which means you can enter the giveaway up to three times}
{2.} Visit Suspended Moments, then come back here and leave a comment telling what your favorite Suspended Moments product us.
{3.}Leave a comment telling us who you would order a hanger for {even if it’s for your own upcoming nuptials}.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For those of you who don’t win, Dawn is graciously offering a discount code to everyone. The code will be announced on Monday, December 19, 2011 when we announce the winner.

Winner will be chosen via random.org. Must enter by Sunday, December 18, 2011. 

{images via Jacey at Damsel in Dior, Tutto Bella and Suspended Moments}

our favorite things {for the bride}

Between the many brides that come into Fleur de Lis, all of us having been brides within the past 4 years and the many weddings we’ve attended {or planned} throughout the years – we’ve seen our fair share of showers gifts and bridal gifts for the soon-to-be Mrs. We’ve compiled a collection of our favorite things {for the bride} that she is guaranteed to LOVE.

1. One-year subscription to Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, $12: With DIY ideas, etiquette and beautiful wedding inspiration from Martha herself {and her panel of amazing experts} – this gift will keep on giving every time it arrives in the mail box. If you want a more frequent magazine subscription, TheKnot and BRIDES are good options too.

2. Wedding Organizer, Russell + Hazel, $37.50 {originally $75}: This organizing set will help brides stay organized and on top of all the details for her wedding day. Set includes a signature binder, planning notebook, organized adhesive note set, sheet protectors, 2 business card pages, 10 81/2×11 pages and 5 multi-format pages. Free Downloadable templates, such as wedding timelines, budget worksheets, checklists, music worksheets, floor plans, day-of wedding checklists, etc, available here.

3. Engagement Bracelet, Kathryn Giarratano, $50: Give a lovely bride a beautiful reminder of her wedding and engagement with her “something blue” and sparkly wrapped around her wrist. Kathryn creates one-of-a-kind jewelry for all occasions, but we are gaga for her sweet engagement bracelet. You can order through Kathryn’s retailers {including Fleur de Lis}, or e-mail Kathryn directly at kathryngiarratano@gmail.com for special orders.

4. Customized Bridal Hanger, Suspended Moments, $25-$27: We are in LOVE with this personal gift that will be the picture perfect shot on her wedding day {as the hanger holds THE wedding dress}, but also a reminder of her wedding day and her new journey as a Mrs. {hanging in the closet every day after she says, “I do”}. Match the wedding colors, or stick with a wooden hanger – either way – this gift will have a bride feeling very special. A bonus – Dawn, the shop’s owner and creator, is SO wonderful to work with.

5. The Bridessentials Kit by Ms. and Mrs., sold online and at Fleur de Lis, $28: A survival kit for the big day is essential for any bride. Kit includes brush with mirror, hairspray, safety and bobby pins, earring backs, blotting tissues, emery board, clear nail polish and remover, mending kit, scissors, double-sided tape, stain and static remover, pain reliever, antacid, breath freshener, floss, deodorant towelette, bandages, tampon, super glue, extra wedding bands, and a “something blue” heart-shaped crystal.

For our Holiday List 2011 Finale, we are going out with a bang. This week, we have TWO giveaways from our {for the bride} list that are fabulous!  Check back here Tuesday and Wednesday this week to enter your name in the giveaway drawings! 

{images via Tutto Bella, Suspended MomentsMartha Stewart Weddings, Ms. and Mrs. and Russell + Hazel}

’tis wreath season

My holiday DIY projects are ongoing here at my house. I think it’s beginning to drive my husband crazy when he comes home to craft projects every night, but the kids and I have had fun inside making gingerbread houses, wreaths and cookies during the freezing, arctic cold temperatures outside.

Yesterday we completed two wreaths ~ one for my son’s teacher, appropriately a crayon wreath and the other one for me, an ornament wreath. Both were enjoyable, affordable and quite easy.

Crayon Wreath


You’ll Need:
Styrofoam wreath {I bought a 12-inch from Hobby Lobby}
Box of 96 crayons {I used Crayola}
Hot glue gun and hot glue
Ribbon {to hang it}
Fabric {a little less than 1 yard} to cover the wreath {I found adorable and teacher-friendly fabric for less than $5 at Hobby Lobby with ABC’s and 123’s printed all over it}

How To: 
Cut the fabric into 6 inch strips.
Glue the end of the first strip of fabric to the back of the wreath, and begin to wrap it. Glue the end of the strip onto the wreath before you begin your next one. Repeat until wreath is covered.
Find a wide ribbon, cut to the length desired and glue the ‘base’ of it to the wreath so you can glue crayons over it.
Place a bowl in the middle of the wreath that is small enough to fit in the hole, but large enough to leave room for only the tips of the crayons to fit into the center of the wreath {this will ensure a perfect circle with your crayon tips in the center of the wreath}.
Begin to glue the crayons one by one.
{Tip: The tips of the crayons will be really close to one another, if not touching. However the rest of the crayon needs to be spaced appropriately to ’round the corners’ evenly}.

Ornament Wreath
I saw a version of an ornament wreath on Pinterest several weeks ago and was inspired to make one for my front door, or for the inside of my home during the holidays. I decided to go with a green and gold color scheme.

You’ll Need: 
Styrofoam wreath {I bought an 18-inch wreath from Hobby Lobby}
Spray paint {I used gold}
150 ornaments of all different sizes {I probably used 25 large, 75 medium and 50 small}.
A glue gun and A LOT of hot glue
Ribbon {to hang it}

How To:
Spray paint the wreath your desired color. Because my ornaments were green and gold, I spray painted the styrofoam wreath gold.
Find a wide ribbon, cut to the length desired and glue the ‘base’ of it to the wreath so you can glue ornaments over it.
Begin to glue the ornaments. Start with the large ornaments and work your way to the small ornaments. It’s like a puzzle ~ just fill in and add on top of and next to one another to cover all the gaps.
Voila ~ you have a new, festive decor piece to hang in your home for the holidays.

Here’s more holiday wreath inspiration I’m swooning over {and tutorials for all you DIYers}
This burlap wreath from P is for Party is lovely and would be a fantastic holiday card display with push pins.

A vintage music lover would adore this beautiful sheet music DIY wreath with a full tutorial at Double Take Event Styling.

Bring the ring of sleigh bells into your living room or front door with this jingle bell wreath from Martha Stewart.

A delicate-looking wreath made of paper doilies that creates the magical effect of candles flickering in the snow would delight all.

Stun your guests with this gorgeous pearl wreath. I’m in love…

{images via Tutto Bella}