Valentines Day Sale @ California Jane!

come celebrate the grand opening of California Jane this weekend!

all weekend long from Feb.1st to the 4th you can take 20% off everything in the shoppe as well as free shipping on all domestic orders $25 or more!

stop by and check out new wrap bracelet designs as well as new stationary items!

get your valentine something special & handmade!

20% off coupon: BEMINE13
Free Shipping{$25 or more}: CALILUV13

there is still time to place a custom order for valentines delivery!

blueberry moofins... or waffles in this case.

here in the daily icing house we have an obsession with waffles.

seriously.

we have waffles at least 3 times twice a week. i make whole wheat waffles with peanut butter and bananas for snacks for the littles {and the bigs} there are waffles with maple syrup for breakfast, savory waffles of cheese and chives for dinner.... chocolate chip toffee waffles for dessert topped with ice cream... i really could go on & on. but that might get embarrassing.

one of the other obsessions in the house right now... blueberries. we are anxiously awaiting fresh summer berries at the farmers markets, yum!
    thankfully we have some that were put up last season and frozen! so each morning we can have that yummy berry burst in our smoothies, scones, and of course, waffles!

Ingredients:

♥ 1 3/4 C flour
♥ 1 tbsp baking powder
♥ 1/2 tsp sea salt
♥ 1/2 tsp nutmeg
♥ 1 tsp cinnamon
♥ 3 tbsp meyer lemon zest
♥ 1 3/4 C milk
♥ 1/2 C oil
♥ 2 eggs {separated}
♥ 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

  ... and blueberries, of course!

Directions:

mix together dry ingredients in bowl and set aside. separate eggs in another bowl, whisk whites to stiff peaks {magic!} and set aside, add wet ingredients to dry mixture and mix till combined. fold in egg whites and then fold in blueberries!

voila! yumminess.

 

does your family have any yummy recipes on repeat?

outside the box, framed chalkboard, awesomeness

this weeks diy was super fun!

it not only kept the diva and i figuring out new ideas for our outside the box project, but we also got to practice some awesome typography art & finally test that magical chalk/paint recipe i have been seeing all over pinterest. 2 birds one stone! ;)

here's what you'll need:

 

after you sketch out your design of course! 

 that powder is tile grout, we will get to that part later.

 

 

 



sketch out your design, cut it out, and paint. it really is that simple.

here is the recipe for the chalkboard paint:

 

Pour 1 cup of paint into a container.

Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout.

Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

 

martha says to sand it and wipe clean. since this is cardboard i didnt want to risk the sanding, and it does not seem to matter. it works really great! but make sure you condition your chalkboard by rubbing it down with chalk and wipe off with a dry paper towel.

 

we decided after we added the quote to the oval cut out of our chalkboard to place it back in the frame. {we were going to give it a bit more depth by adding a pop dot or 2, but liked this look better}

 

we are the music makers & we are the dreamers of dreams

{please excuse my reeeeally bad typography. i need lots more practice.}

 

this project was lots of fun! the diva even came up with the idea of adding sweet little painted cardboard box picture frames to your little ones cardboard box house! how sweet!

 

 

 

have you made anything fun lately?



10 Feet off of Beale...

we have had a roller coaster week.  the emotional kind.

i have felt like poop physically, which means my normal forced joy is better than genuine depression attitude has been on hold, add to that, the complex problems that always come with a big blended family, stubbornness abounding, and to top it all off  knowing my hubby is leaving in a week for california, and i will be alone with the kiddos for 2 weeks in a strange place has my anxiety level at def con 3.

yesterday the mister decided it was time to add a little sunshine to our cloudy outlook... so we headed out for adventures!

our first stop was Beale St... we had the blues, it was the logical place to go.

the gibson guitar factory always puts a smile on my little familias faces, and of course they each found something they don't think they can live without. well, most of them. the drummer in the family seemed unimpressed.

 

 

 

a.schwab is one of my favorite places in memphis. it took all i had to not purchase every sweet tablecloth, apron, napkin, and hankie in the place. and who doesn't love a little voodoo magic!

 {we could really use some of that peaceful vibe oil up in hur!}

 

 



have you ever been to tater reds? its like someone peeked into my misters brain and put it all in a store.  a little something for the whole voodoo familia.

 



 



we even stopped by a sweet little farmers market in cooper young later in the afternoon, the mister knows what will bring me sunshine! it looked like everyone was packing up for the day, but i did have a quick chat with lovely pastry chef, erica thewis of pistache pastry... i cant wait to go check it out next week when the market is in full swing. guess that means no sleeping in. ;)

 

 

so that about does it, sunshine inserted into a cloudy week, and today we are making cream puffs. thats the best way to spend a sunday!

 

how are yall doin? anything good in your world this weekend?

california jane... the girl who inspired something new.

meet california jane...

{she is the lovely lady without the hat... if this photo was labeled correctly}

a few years ago my granny gave me the honor of becoming the keeper of the family history, she handed me a shoe box, few envelopes and a couple of barely held together black tar paper photo albums, filled with magic.
 i get lost in old photos, pictures of smiling faces trapped in time at a wedding reception, or those strange baby photos from the 1800's, with little chubby scowls, cheeks tinted pink.  i love them.
  one of the envelopes contained a copy of a family portrait taken in the very early 1900's. my grannys brother had painstakingly gone through records and wrinkles in time to try and name each face in that large 20 to 30 person gathering, and wrote them in chronological order on the back.
  {i really wish i could show you that photo, but it didn't get scanned into my computer before we moved, so its tucked away in storage. insert sad face here.}
 one of those faces in that photo simply jumped out at me, this awkward, smirky smiled girl, maybe 18, maybe 20... standin all sassy in the back row sporting her straw hat and pants and blouse.  i turned the picture over to officially meet my alter ego, {who clearly i got my attitude and fashion sense from ;) } and to my udder joy her name, was California Jane.
  no one can tell me much about "jane" {as she was labeled in the photo above, that was taken with "jenny"}.
 my great uncle john passed away long before i was given these photos, and i think he took the secrets with him, my granny may have known a few years ago, but lately she spends most of her time sorting through her sparkly ear rings and forgetting who i am.
 so i am left with just her face. this california jane.

as i have mentioned before {& im sure you are all getting tired of hearing it} i'm at a strange new adventure in my life, i have been given this amazing gift of time, to rest my mind and recharge myself. and my creative brain is taking advantage of it to the fullest! it began slowly at first, a soft tickle in my finger tips, and has finally come into reality.

i may never get to meet california jane, in so many words, but i feel like she has given me a new idea as to who i am, and want to be. its like that hundred year old smirk is telling me, who cares what they say! just do it! be genuine! be california jane!

so here it is.

a little silly, a little vintage, toss in some circusy type things and you have just a bit of california jane!
im really excited! like lots of exclamation points excited!!! this shop will be a sneak peek into my brain. so step right up! see the man eating chicken & his wife the bearded lady! and pick up a lovely bauble made by the tattooed girl!

i hope you will check it out!

you can also like my Facebook page.... that would be awesome!

saturday

have i mentioned how much i adore southern sunshine? seriously, the north is gorgeous... totally eye exploding beautiful, but there is something so familiar and magical about a sunny day in the south.

today we were blessed with some beautiful rays, a slight chill in the air, and much needed away time. it was amazing.

we made a quick stop into one of my soon to be favorite places Toad Hall. located in cooper young,



 

i fell in love with the lovable decor all over the shop. these little pillows stole my heart ♥

 

 

and i could go on all day about the other pretties i found!

 

these hand painted paper mache' trays... some gorgeous mercury glass vases and these sweet little outdoor tables....

 

after some eye candy we braved the closest thrift store we could find, it was packed. seriously. did everyone decide to go thrifting today, i figured they all had the flu or something. but i still found a goodie or two that thanks to my sweet chef came home with me. and then we purelled like crazy people because im a closet germaphobe, and seriously... dont these people all have the flu?!

thankfully the chef had the foresight to plan a quick ice cream/fooseball/whole foods outing as well, just as the sun was starting to set...

 

 

 

oh, and this chocolate. holy shiz. you heard me. holy. frackin. shiz.

 

olive and sinclair

 

i want to sing this... "ollliivvvve & siiiincllllair!"  my eyes and my taste buds are happy.

 

how was your saturday?  do anything fun?

 

oh.... i almost forgot! i was invited by the super sweet created by laurie to go blog hopping this morning, so of course i joined in! you should spend the rest of your weekend checking out a few of the links over on her blog! you wont be sorry! And thank you for the invite Laurie! ;)

talk to y'all soon!
{teehee, all southern and stuff}






DIY outside the box...

one box. a bazillion possibilities. {or at least 5 }

 

the tiny diva and i would love for you to join us in 5 weeks of craftiness outside of the box... this box.

 

starting now....

 

 

 our first project was inspired by one of my favorite bloggie places, CAKIES, i came across her "little stars" post a few days ago and my eyes got happy! our little stars are a bit different, made from cardboard, but they warm up our bleak little wintery space perfectly!

 

supplies needed:

the box... of course! {we only used one of the side panels}

scissors

gesso

white craft paint

pencil

star stencil

glue/mod podge

glitter

 

trace your stencil... then cut it out

 

 

 

paint with gesso and craft paint... could you do only one or the other?... i GESS-SO! ;)

 

can you ever have too much glitter? the answer is yes. yes you can. but for this project the more the merrier. {we had gold sparkly hair when we were done... }

 

 

once the glue dries poke holes in the tops of your stars, thread with ribbon or what have you,

{we used grey twine} and hang somewhere that needs a little bit of glittery magic!

 

 

 

 

what kind of stuff can you make from one box?

Sunday Dinner... Leave the Gun take the Donut...

sometimes i have an idea in my brain for a long time, but get lazy and leave it there.

  todays sunday dinner recipe was just that.

  i have wanted to make donuts for awhile now, but didnt have the guts to try it, making dough, letting it rise, cutting it, rising again, frying, glazing... its all a bit much when you have a house of hungry beggers waiting to eat and getting up at 6 am on a sunday is out of the question!


  but today we woke up and it was rainy, and brunch was just at our fingertips. and who doesn't love tea & donuts!   {or milk. whatevez.}





i have a few words for these amazing little bits of sweet, tender, goodness... yum. holy cow yum. sweet baby angels yum.




INGREDIENTS:

2 {.25 ounce} envelopes active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water {105 to 115 degrees}

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

 

{GLAZE}

1/3 cup butter

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons hot water or as needed

** I also dusted a few with granulated sugar and nutmeg... holy balls. and the powdered sugar ones were awesome as well!

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

	Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
	In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.
	Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.
	Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.
	Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up.  just a side note... this recipe made a bazillion donuts, and they are still perfection as i sit here watching the golden globes and nibble. how was your sunday? anything fun? anything yum?

Genuine...

  Ive noticed lately around the blogsphere that lots of people are starting their year off with a photo a day challenge here, or a journal a day challenge there... as crazy as it seems that I would ever have the want, let alone the time to participate in something like that amazes me. But lately a lot of things about our little life here amazes me, so I guess I will jump on in.

 A something a day seems a bit overwhelming, there are however lots of things I want this "break from the real world" we have been given to accomplish, I want to "tune in" to my passions, make time for creativity, challenge myself each day, grow a business, and find the genuine life we want to live.

   So here are MY {2013} challenges...

  I'm joining Paper Momma in her 52 weeks of drawings...

 

I felt like this was a great challenge for me, mostly because I have about fifty~eleven empty sketch books, that I have been hoarding, but not one has a full sketch in them. Its time to break the cycle and fill those babies up. And it will help me break out of this stupid comparison thing I do with my work that always leads me to just sitting staring at blank page, then putting it back on the shelf, because my brain tells me I'm not as good as everyone else around me. I hope in the next 52 weeks I draw a lot, but if I don't... no biggie. I also hope that I will have the guts to show you guys some of those drawings.

   Next I am going to take more photos. Now that the littles aren't so little, and I'm not waiting breathlessly to capture each movement, or blanket fort adventure, it seems my real camera is left all alone on a shelf and my smart phone has taken its place. Now that we have all this time on our hands it seems silly to not grab up my old friend and make new memories with her.
And I found a great little way to do that with Scavenger Hunt Sunday. Ashley's weekly photo inspiration will give me a reason to get out and go on new adventures!

   And finally I'm jumping on a band wagon, or "movement" or whatever you want to call it.
I'm choosing one word to live by this year. I have seen this all over the web, in most of my favorite blogs, but never really sat down to think about what difference ONE WORD would make in my life.
And to be really honest, I didn't even know this was really a thing till I sat down to write this post and googled My One Word {to try and jog my memory of where I saw this whole thing in the first place.}
  I was reading a few of the My One Word blog posts, and even though this is Christian based, I wanted to share it with you all {I normally try to keep it all "non denominational" Unity up here.}
A line in their blog post from today really stuck with me...

 

It becomes your focus, the lens through which you see your heart and life.

 

I like that, I like the idea that not only are we fortunate enough to have this opportunity to breathe, to focus on our family, and to rest. But that with that also comes the change to change our lives once back in the real world.

 

So, the word I have chosen for my 2013 is GENUINE.

 

gen·u·ine

adj.

1. Actually possessing the alleged or apparent attribute or character

2. Not spurious or counterfeit; authentic.

3.

   a. Honestly felt or experienced

   b. Actual; real

4. Free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere.

5. Being of pure or original stock:

 

  I want to live each day as the truest form of myself, to embrace my flaws, to live honestly, to feel good about each choice I make. I want my business to grow genuinely, to be original, and to stay focused on the goals I have made for the year .

To nurture my marriage in an honest true way, and to be the example of genuine for my children.

I want to be able to look at my world in 12 months and be proud of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.

 

"There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”   Howard Thurman

 



So what goals or challenges have you taken hold of this year? Have you chosen your "word"?

 

I hope all is well in your little corner of this magical place.

 

Be Good to each other,



*on a side note I had lots of really cool photos to share here, but blogger has decided we are not worthy enough to add photos. UGH. ;)

Out with the old, in with the who knows what...

Goodbye 2012!

    I would first like to say I hope this letter finds you all happy, healthy, & no worse for the wear! Merry New Year, Friends!

  I have had the opportunity the past few weeks to reflect, recharge and regroup, and take a good look back at the year 2012. It makes my mind spin thinking of how far we have gone in these short 12 months. I feel like we have lived a couple of life times in 365 days.
 
  Last Year I had decided that I would spend the year being "selfish". The plan was to spend time doing things that focused on making ME a better person, feel good about myself. Just being a bit more honest about the things that make me happy... I know how that sounds, but I feel like that as Mothers, and Wives and just Woman in general, we tend to put the focus on everyone else, and even though that is a very admirable trait, sometimes we lose our self in the shuffle. 

  This last year has been the most challenging, amazing, scary and sometimes exhausting, year of my life. But I can honestly say I have truly found what I was looking for. I'm not as physically healthy today as I had wanted to be, but I am mentally and emotionally stronger than I have ever been. I'm not in the "place" I was hoping to be by now, but I am so very acutely aware of where I am going.

  2012 taught me things like patience, and  preservation. To never be afraid to take chances... no matter what the outcome might be. To take pride in myself and the things I have created. I learned to stop in each moment and find the lesson that lies inside, and even though its not always pretty & soft, its always there and inspiring.  And that just when you think you have it all figured out, the universe spins and you land in a totally different direction. And that its OKAY.

  I'm excited to see where 2013 takes us. So many new adventures to be had, so many unexpected things to happen, some tears to shed, but over all some beautiful things lay ahead for us.

Love to All...