On the Menu: Breakfast Pizza

This past Sunday we had Christoph’s parents over for Easter Brunch. I’m compelled to share the recipe for the main dish because it’s really easy to make and people are often impressed with the final result. It’s also quite delicious!Ingredients Needed:
- Pizza Dough (Make your own or buy it premade)
- Ketchup
- Whole grain mustard
- 4-6 Small Breakfast Sausage links
- 6 Slices of Bacon
- 12-15 Cherry Tomatoes
- 2-3 Large Mushrooms
- ½ cup of shredded cheese (or 3 slices)
- Egg
- Parsley flakesYields 4 Mini Pizzas

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Wash and dry your tomatoes and mushrooms. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and thinly slice the mushrooms.

3. Brown your sausage in a skillet and cook your bacon (I like to cook my bacon in the microwave). Let it cool then cut into smaller pieces for pizza topping.

4. Flour your baking pan and roll your dough into four mini pizzas then place them on the baking pan.

5. Mix 4 tablespoons of ketchup with three tablespoons of wholegrain mustard and then spread a little on each of the mini pizzas.

6. Start placing your toppings on the pizza: Cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, meats and then sprinkle with parsley. Try to keep your toppings towards the crust, leaving room for an egg in the middle.7. Cook in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven; turn the oven temperature up to 425 degrees.9. Press a spoon into the middle of each pizza (to create a small divot in the center to avoid egg white run off).

10. Crack one egg in the middle of each pizza. Return the pizzas back to the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes depending on how runny you like your eggs.

Plate with a mixed green salad and enjoy it with a mimosa!

Fashionably Made: Chevron Clutch

Most of the time when I take a trip to the fabric store I go with a specific project in mind.I bought the fabric used to make my clutch for this week’s Fashionably MADE on two different fabric store trips.They gray, with yellow chevron pattern was initially bought with the intention to fame and then use as a whiteboard in our kitchen. The yellow liner was bought for my bridesmaid sash trials.Blouse: French Connection, Jeans: Hudson, Clutch: Stacy, Shoes: Nine West, Bracelet: David Yurman, Necklace: Windsor

Obviously, I decided to go a different direction with the fabric and for this week’s Fashionably MADE, I made a little clutch!I love the print! The chevron print was extremely subtle until I put the yellow fabric behind it. It really made it pop!The clutch was a really simple project that took me about 30 minutes to make (total!!!!) and it uses very little fabric. I’m considering making another one so that I can put together a “How To”….and then giving it away to one of my readers. Are you interested?

Keeping it light and loose

It’s about that time for me to book my wedding hair trial. I’m planning to have the lady who regularly cuts my hair give it a go. She seems really confident in her ability to pull off an up-do and I figured, I have no problem trusting her with my hair and a pair of sharp scissors so why not let her style my hair for the wedding?

I know for sure that I want to wear my hair up. I want something loose, not overly hair sprayed, prom like or anything with overly tight curls.

If your looking for some nice up-do inspiration that is similar to the look I’m trying to achieve google: “Mila Kunas up do”, “Lauren Conrad up do” or “Eva Longoria up do”.

Images (Left to Right): 1, 2,3,4,5,6

How To: Tea Candle

One of my resolutions for 2011 was to give gifts that I made myself. So far I’ve done pretty well with this one.

As the take home gift for my bridal shower a few weeks ago I made candles out of mismatched tea cups for guests to take home. Everyone loved them! Material Needed
- Tea Cups (I got most of mine from Good Will)
- Wax
- Wick
- Scent
- Glass Jar
- Plastic ForkThe tea cup candles are really easy to make! Start by washing and drying the cups. Make sure you use the correct size wick for the correct diameter of the cup. The wick packaging specifies the correct size.Melt your wax. Start with 30 second increments in the microwave, mix as the wax starts to melt. I used a recycled glass jar to melt the wax and a plastic fork to stir so that I could throw it away when I was done.Once the wax is completely melted, add the scent. I used perfume oil that Christoph had brought me from a trip to Egypt. Crafts stores also sell candle scent.Place the wick in the cup and pour the wax so that it is half way full. Move the wick around a little to release any bubbles.Once the wax has hardened, repeat the steps above and fill the remaining space on the teacup, leaving a few centimeters at the top.Let the wax harden, trim the wick and you’re finished! You’ve got yourself a fun and simple project that makes a great gift!!!!

My Huge Footprint

This Friday is Earth Day!Hopefully you all do your part every day of the year. Each one of us leaves a measurable footprint on the planet. You’ve heard of “eco-footprint” right? Your eco-footprint takes into account where you live, number of people you live with, size of home, forms of energy used, miles you travel, how you eat, what you eat, where you shop for food and more.

You can measure your eco-footprint: HERE

It’s really fun and only takes a few minutes.I did mine and was really surprised by the results. If everyone lived like me we’d need 4.6 planet earths to provide enough resources!!!!! Whaaaaaa! I thought I was doing ok. I guess not. I’m going to have to give this some thought.In any case, to help you celebrate Earth Day, I made a quick list of Earth Day freebies and goodies that you can use to help kick start your new greener way of living.

Starbucks: On Friday, April 22 bring in a reusable mug or tumbler and get a free brewed coffee or tea. Your choice of brew, hot or iced!

Lowes: On Saturday, April 23 Lowes will be giving away one million trees. Visit a store to receive your free tree.

Anthropologie: Throughout the week, various stores will be holding workshops including Crafting With Cork and a Children’s Potting Workshop.

San Francisco Earth Day Celebration: If you live in SF, get your Earth Day celebration on this Saturday at Civic Center Plaza. There will be performances, vendors and activities

Fashionably Made: Bow Belt (but not really)

Last week I was so busy preparing for the bridal shower that I didn’t have a chance to make something for Fashionably MADE. I know. Bad crafter! However, I had bookmarked this DIY Tutorial on how to make a Fabric Bow Belt because I wanted to give it a whirl when I realized that I already have this bow belt in black!Only, I didn’t make this belt. It came with a dress I purchased. Nevertheless, if you would like to make one yourself there is a great tutorial HEREI do however love this outfit and get lots of complements when I wear it.Blouse: Urban Outfitters, Slacks: Bloomingdales, Shoes: Calvin Klein, Jewelry: David Yurman

The blouse has a beautiful key hole cut out in the back. It lends itself very well to high wasted skirts and pants. I just love it. I also got it on sale. I love it even more.Next week I’ll have to make up with my lack of craftiness with something great. I don’t know what it is yet, but I look forward to coming up with it!

Feeling Loved

As you may know, last weekend was my bridal shower! It was held at a small restaurant in my hometown in Southern California. I couldn’t have asked for a lovelier time. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and the shower was a perfect size gathering of my closest friends and family.

We kept the décor relatively simple. The restaurant where the shower was held has a lot of natural beauty with overgrown trees that are hundreds of years old and provide the perfect amount of shade. In the weeks leading up to the shower I collected mismatched tea cups to turn in to candles to be given as gifts for each of the guests. These were such a hit! I’ll be posting a tutorial on the blog on how to make these. I’ve also been collecting milk glass for the wedding so we used a few pieces for the shower. With daffodils in perfect bloom, I didn’t have to think twice about what type of flowers I wanted to use.After everyone finished their meal, we played a few games. My Mom and Christoph’s Mom were competitive with the “How well do you know Stacy and Christoph” game. It was cute. My friend Francie also did really well!After the game I opened gifts while the guests ate fresh backed apple crisp. Have you ever opened gifts in front of others? It made me nervous and a little uncomfortable, but never the less, people enjoyed it.I received incredibly thoughtful and generous gifts. The cards were so special and personal. I look forward to rereading them.After the gifts I chatted with the guests and took a few pictures. This is my Mom, me and my sister in law Candice.This is my mom, me and Christoph’s mom.I also got one group shot of all of us. Aren’t we cute!?!All in all, a very special day. I feel really loved.

My Office

Last month I introduced you to my 8 to 5 working space aka “my cube” and today, I’m happy to share my home office. My place of all things crafty and Hello Cupcake!

My home office is pretty small. I have a small desk that has a few jars to store my things and my sewing machine. The shoes were potential bridesmaid shoes that I decided against.On top of my sewing machine, I have a screen printed pillow of Ginger that I made and a pencil holder that I got when I was in elementary school. It has stood the test of time and I still love it. I have a chalkboard that I sometimes use to write out my blog posting order. I’ll admit, I’m not the best at keeping this up to date. I have a word document on my desktop that I update more frequently with posting plans. I keep most of my craft supplies in glass jars: Thread, ribbon, paper cutters, glue, scissors etc. Keeping it in a container I can see through has been really helpful. My desk is a little cluttered with things I like. I have a mirror which is great for opening the space and keeping me from going cross eyed when I sew. I can also watch Ginger playing on the bed while I work. I have an old picture of my parents when they were in a friends wedding in the 70’s and a tiny little plaque that says “Love Make’s Your Tummy Tickle”. I've had this in my room from the time I was a little baby. I have a dress form….well, a mannequin actually. I bought it for $20 at a store that was going out of business. It’s actually incredibly close to my actual measurements which is awesome. My best buy of 2009. Hands down. There is a small closet that I use to hold fabric and other supplies. I put the final touches on my orders together at the desk. All stationery sets are boxed and affixed with a Hello Cupcake sticker before they are sent out. This is what the room looks like standing from the doorway. As you can see, it’s pretty small. It barely fits a full size bed and my tiny desk but it’s just perfect. It’s my office!
All pictures were taken by the uber talented Christine Chang!

Let It Rain

This weekend I am off to Southern California for my first bridal shower! I’m so excited! The shower is being thrown in the town where I grew up: Upland, CA. I lived there from the time I was born until I was 16. I would definitely consider this my hometown.

The restaurant that we picked for the shower is also really sentimental to me. As a family, we went there all the time. When I was in Junior High, my Mom would check me out of school during lunch every so often and we would go there. Just the two of us. When I was 13, my Dad took me there on my “first date”. My Dad was my date. He told me what time he would pick me up, he brought me a corsage and that’s where we went for dinner.So, you can see why this restaurant is so special to me. My Mom is throwing me the shower but being the control freak that I am, I insisted on doing my own invitations. I look at it as an opportunity to expand my designs for Hello Cupcake!I kept it simple, circles and colors that are consistent with our wedding theme. I also put together a menu and two games for guests to play at the shower: “How well do you know Stacy & Christoph” and a wedding theme word scramble. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the shower!