yummy candy for v-day, thrift store finds, and some pillows.

I've been keeping my v-day crafts in my back pocket so as not to spoil any surprises but I've been wanting to share something valentine-ish with you so I made something special just for you. Strawberry Cheesecake Truffles, they are way easy to do, take just 3 ingredients and are sure to make someone happy this Valentine's Day.

1 small tub of strawberry cream cheese
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
white or regular chocolate for dipping (or candy melts)

In the bowl of your mixer whip the cream cheese until fluffy, add the graham cracker crumbs and stir until blended. Use a small ice cream scoop to form them into balls, or just a teaspoon and your hands. Pop them in the freezer for an hour and then dip in your melted chocolate. Keep refrigerated.

I think that you could come up with a lot of different variations on this, some of the ones I have thought of are using vanilla wafers instead of the graham crackers, or how about regular cream cheese and chocolate chip cookies?

Today I managed to drag the kids out for a bit to check out some of my favorite thrift stores, I'm in search of a waffle maker, the old really heavy kind, not the plastic versions that are everywhere. I have had some pretty good finds recently and have actually discovered a new interest in Pfalztgraff china. I have seen this stuff before but it was always floral and never caught my interest. Recently however I came across a set of 8 white mugs that I love, they are perfect for coffee or tea and remind me of my favorite coffee shop. Today I added to my budding collection with a pistachio chop plate, which is just fancy talk for a really big plate perfect for a cake or cupcakes. I now have to keep my eyes open for some more of this fabulous stuff, it's really heavy stoneware that goes into the dishwasher beautifully. I love getting stuff from a thrift store, I feel like I am rescuing it and I love to imagine the person that it previously belonged to (who in my mind is always a little white haired lady with a cardigan on).

I'm also posting some pillows that I made two weeks ago and am just now feeling inspired to write about. We have this very nice brick fireplace that is unfortunately non-functioning, but has a nice wide ledge that is perfect for sitting on, just slightly uncomfortable. So I thought making some pillows to sit across it would hopefully make it more comfortable and less bare looking. I found these awesome decorator weight fabrics one day at Wal-mart for like 3 bucks a yard, so I got 1.5 yards of each and this is what I came up with. The bird and oak leaves pillows are done with appilique and feature my original designs. They are all stuffed with fiberfill and very cushy. They measure about 20 inches on each side.










And just because, a picture of tonight's dinner, beef stew.


-Kim