Browsing Tag

DIY

Administrative Professionals Day, Entertaining

Create a Restful Work Space

February 15, 2016

It’s Spring!

Create A Happy and Restful Work Space

Before long it will be warm enough to get outside and work in the garden, but before that you can freshen up and spring clean the inside of your home — the kitchen, family room and mud room. Take your spring cleaning one step further and create a corner office — a restful work space with personality.

Restful Work Space

This article with photos will help you design a restful work space. Here are great tips on  how to create a mini bulletin board to keep organized and how to add colorful office supplies, frames and knickknacks. In no time your office space will be a calm retreat and a fun work environment.

Tips To Personalize Your New Desk Space

 

 

Customer Appreciation, Feedback, Gift Baskets

Picnics!

April 12, 2012

Welcome back readers,

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and didn’t eat their way into an early coma like I did! I asked that if any of you had some great desserts or decorations you made for Easter to send me a picture and thankfully one reader, Sharon, sent me a picture of some creative and delicious chocolates she made! Seriously awesome decorating skills on these chocolates!  It’s never too late to send it your own pictures if you still have them, especially if you tried out any of the recipes we’ve posted. Now, on with the show…

Last week I asked you all to vote in the comments section on what you wanted me to write about and the clear winner for the week has been picnics! Coffee and tea came in second with fitness following close behind, but clearly everyone is very excited about this nice Spring weather and can’t wait to get out and enjoy it (without breaking a sweat that is).

Picnics should be fun and easy, something you can throw together in a few minutes. So I have a couple of sandwich recipes that would be perfect for a Spring picnic, as well as a few suggestions to make your time outdoors a little more comfortable.

Peanut Butter Banana Sandwiches

This is an absolute favorite of mine! All you need is some bread, peanut butter (I prefer smooth), sliced bananas and you’re good to go. I like to add a few extras to my sandwiches for more flavor and components. I usually add some honey and granola mix, gives it extra flavor and a little extra crunch.

Peanut Butter Apple Sandwiches

Are you sensing a theme or my love of peanut butter? You can always substitute peanut butter for any other nut butter (almond, sunflower, etc.) or if you want to make it a super sweet treat you can add Nutella. For this “sandwich” I don’t actually use bread, instead I slice apples to be the holders. You spread peanut butter (or whichever you prefer) on the apple slices, add granola or chocolate chips (or both!) and stack the slices together to form a sandwich. It’s a fun and healthy treat that is very easy to make!

For picnics, you can generally use any kind of outdoor blanket or mat and you’ll be fine, but the problem always lies with where and how you’re sitting. Sitting outside is probably one of the more uncomfortable things since the invention of the sofa, so it’s hard to get used to (especially if your knees are about 40 years older than you are like some blog writers). So I have two cheap options for outdoor seating to make your picnic a bit more comfortable! Our first one is from Target, a reclining picnic seat. It seems like it would be nice for back support and easy to pack up and go with. I’m probably the clumsiest person around though, so I would find some way to keep falling back on myself. So I have a second option from IKEA for us…balance challenged people out there. It’s technically a stool, but it’s also very sturdy, wide and doesn’t seem like it would fall over on you! All the makings of an easy picnic seat (for me at least!).

If you want some great picnic gift baskets that are all ready to go, we have some seriously amazing picnic options on our site right now! My three picks:

Well I hope you all enjoyed this picnics post and have some more ideas for the rest of us! In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs), tell me some of your picnic ideas and recipes! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Impromptu Picnic Cooler & Snacks Tote Gift Basket!

Happy Picnicking!

Party!

DIY Easter Party Part Deux

March 29, 2012

Welcome back readers!

LOVED all your cute Easter party ideas, recipes and traditions! I think I might have to try the hidden jelly bean in the cupcake idea for my younger cousins. And five you lucky and random commenters will be able to have your own fun with this Easter basket prize. Congratulations to Lucy (March 22, 2012 at 3:06 pm), Sharmila (March 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm), Will (March 27, 2012 at 6:32 am), Arvind (March 27, 2012 at 1:19 pm), and Ben G (March 29, 2012 at 10:27 am)! Please send your shipping info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send over your Flowers of Spring gift basket!

We have another week of Easter to talk about! Last week we pulled together some fun DIY activities and decorations to try out for your own Easter party, so this week I was thinking that we would talk about one of the more important aspects to any party: the desserts. Of course, this is mostly because I had a mini Cupcake War marathon the other day and have since been living on The Food Network website and drooling over every idea I see.

The way I see it, traditional and easy is always best. We can all go crazy on the decorating part after it’s made, but I think an easy to make yet incredibly delicious carrot cake would be a great main dessert for any Easter party (also this recipe is from Alton Brown who’s show Good Eats happens to be one of my absolute favorites).

Alton Brown's Carrot Cake

Alton Brown's Carrot Cake

What you need:

  • Unsalted butter (for the pan)
  • 12 oz. (approx. 2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
  • 12 oz. grated carrots (medium grate)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 and 1/3 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 oz. plain yogurt
  • 6 oz. vegetable oil
  • Cream Cheese Frosting (store bought or see recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.

Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Makes approximately 2 cups

If you’re feeling daring, try out these two other cake recipes from The Food Network and maybe send in some pictures! I’m really interested to see if anyone can pull off the Peeps cake!

Since you’ll be doing everything else on your own from the decorations, games to this awesome cake, I have a few suggestions of unique treats to order in as fun side desserts or table sweets!

My top Easter dessert picks:

Rich Easter Egg-Shaped Mini Brownie Cakes: So rich and “egg-cellent” (I’m sorry, I had to!) little cakes. They come in orders of 6 confection-dipped, Easter decorated brownie cakes and are easy to share and leave out as fun and festive treats.

Rich Easter Egg-Shaped Mini Brownie CakesHappy Easter Truffle Cake Pops: Just as delicious as the brownie cakes, these are our chocolate truffle cake pops decorated for Easter. They come in orders of 6 and you’ll be lucky if they last more than 6 seconds once you set them out!

Happy Easter Truffle Cake PopsHappy Easter Belgian Chocolate Covered Oreo® Tin: So cute, so festive! These Oreos® are decorated in bright Spring colors and topped with egg and bunny designs. So rich and delicious, they’ll be hard to share. Come in an order of 16 cookies.

Belgian chocolate oreos
Hope this has you feeling a little inspired (and mostly really hungry)! Tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) what kind of Easter desserts you’ll be trying out. FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Easter Truffle Cake Pops!

Happy Baking!

Customer Appreciation, Party!, Sweepstakes

DIY Easter Party

March 22, 2012
Easter gift baskets

Welcome Back Basket Readers,

Thanks for bearing with my late post earlier this week and the kind messages. Aside from some annoying allergies, I and my car are doing a lot better (who knew cars were allergic to pollen)! Also, congratulations to any of you who were lucky to win one of the truffle cake pops in our Facebook Sweet Spring Sweepstakes! Personally, I can’t be trusted to be alone with the cake pops for fear of eating them all and putting myself in a sugar coma; just know that I am very jealous of all of you who won. One more thing before we get on with the show, we’ve had a slight change in our shipping process over here and I know a few of you have emailed about your winning gift baskets. If you’re a blog winner who still hasn’t received their prize, please email me at amariscal@1800flowers.com with your name, the blog date you won and the gift, so I can track and correct anything that needs to be fixed!

Easter! It’s a great family holiday with lots of delightful treats to it. I’m also convinced that everyone wised up to the incredible egg and decided that we needed a holiday to celebrate how insanely delicious it is no matter what time of day it is (just go with it)!

I thought it would be fun to write about how to plan a DIY Easter party this week, so let’s jump in. Decorations are essential to any party, and lucky for us, I found this super cute, cheap, and easy idea to brighten up any Easter celebration. Modern Parents Messy Kids has come up with a creative way to use paint and pantone chips as colorful “DIY Egg Garland.” All you need for this easy activity is a hearty collection of paint chips (very easy to pick up at your local home improvement store!), scissor, hole punch, and string! Check out the blog for the DIY details, and enjoy this cute pic tutorial below: DIY easter party egg garland

Our Easter gift baskets make for festive and fun center pieces for your Easter party. Filled with lots of delicious chocolates and treats it will be hard not to touch, but you can incorporate them into the day’s activities as game prizes (see later in the post)! My top picks for the party: The Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Bunny Gift Basket, Flowers of Spring Gift Basket, and the Blooming Spring Sweets Basket. They’ll be extremely excited to win one of these great gift baskets!

Easter gift baskets

(left) Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Gift Basket; (center) Flowers of Spring Gift Basket; (right) Blooming Spring Sweets Basket

So, Easter is pretty much the one holiday I can get away with eating all the deviled eggs I want without (too much) regret. It’s a holiday staple, but Foodjimoto offers a cute and simple “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” way to make them festive. Use the eggs that you color the night before for your deviled eggs! It adds a great pop of color and interest to a regular dish. colored deviled eggs for easter

You’ll need some activities during the party to keep it fun, especially if there’s an abundance of young kids with short attention spans!

  • Easter Egg Hunt (Duh, Alex!)
  • DIY Bunny Ears: Pick up a bunch of $1 head bands, pastel color felt (make sure to pre-cut it in bunny ear shapes), colorful pipe cleaners, glitter and durable fabric glue. Kids can glue the felt to the pipe cleaners so that they can shape the ears, decorate with glitter, and attach to the headbands.
  • Pin the Ears on the Bunny: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, but you know…
  • Guessing for Prizes: Fill some baskets or jars with M&Ms or foil-wrapped chocolates, let everyone guess the amount of pieces in there and reward the top 3 closest guesses with Easter baskets!

Well, there is more than enough to do here! But if any of you are still looking for more ideas, let’s take it to the comments and help each other out. In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) let us know what sort of fun Easter activities (for adults or children or both!) you can come up with! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Flowers of Spring Gift Basket.

Happy planning!

 

18B Easter blog

 

DIY Easter Party!

Welcome Back Basket Readers,

Thanks for bearing with my late post earlier this week and the kind messages. Aside from some annoying allergies, I and my car are doing a lot better (who knew cars were allergic to pollen)! Also, congratulations to any of you who were lucky to win one of the truffle cake pops in our Facebook Sweet Spring Sweepstakes! Personally, I can’t be trusted to be alone with the cake pops for fear of eating them all and putting myself in a sugar coma; just know that I am very jealous of all of you who won. One more thing before we get on with the show, we’ve had a slight change in our shipping process over here and I know a few of you have emailed about your winning gift baskets. If you’re a blog winner who still hasn’t received their prize, please email me at amariscal@1800flowers.com with your name, the blog date you won and the gift, so I can track and correct anything that needs to be fixed!

Easter! It’s a great family holiday with lots of delightful treats to it. I’m also convinced that everyone wised up to the incredible egg and decided that we needed a holiday to celebrate how insanely delicious it is no matter what time of day it is (just go with it)!

I thought it would be fun to write about how to plan a DIY Easter party this week, so let’s jump in. Decorations are essential to any party, and lucky for us, I found this super cute, cheap, and easy idea to brighten up any Easter celebration. Modern Parents Messy Kids has come up with a creative way to use paint and pantone chips as colorful “DIY Egg Garland.” All you need for this easy activity is a hearty collection of paint chips (very easy to pick up at your local home improvement store!), scissor, hole punch, and string! Check out the blog for the DIY details, and enjoy this cute pic tutorial below:

[Picture]

Our Easter gift baskets make for festive and fun center pieces for your Easter party. Filled with lots of delicious chocolates and treats it will be hard not to touch, but you can incorporate them into the day’s activities as game prizes (see later in the post)! My top picks for the party: The Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Bunny Gift Basket, Flowers of Spring Gift Basket, and the Blooming Spring Sweets Basket. They’ll be extremely excited to win one of these great gift baskets!

[Picture]

So, Easter is pretty much the one holiday I can get away with eating all the deviled eggs I want without (too much) regret. It’s a holiday staple, but Foodjimoto offers a cute and simple “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” way to make them festive. Use the eggs that you color the night before for your deviled eggs! It adds a great pop of color and interest to a regular dish.

[Picture]

You’ll need some activities during the party to keep it fun, especially if there’s an abundance of young kids with short attention spans!

· Easter Egg Hunt (Duh, Alex!)

· DIY Bunny Ears: Pick up a bunch of $1 head bands, pastel color felt (make sure to pre-cut it in bunny ear shapes), colorful pipe cleaners, glitter and durable fabric glue. Kids can glue the felt to the pipe cleaners so that they can shape the ears, decorate with glitter, and attach to the headbands.

· Pin the Ears on the Bunny: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, but you know…

· Guessing for Prizes: Fill some baskets or jars with M&Ms or foil-wrapped chocolates, let everyone guess the amount of pieces in there and reward the top 3 closest guesses with Easter baskets!

Well, there is more than enough to do here! But if any of you are still looking for more ideas, let’s take it to the comments and help each other out. In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) let us know what sort of fun Easter activities (for adults or children or both!) you can come up with! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Flowers of Spring Gift Basket.

Happy planning!