Etsy Tuesdays: Sunkissed

I just love the glint of sunlight in this treasury - so summery!

♥Favorite Find: The absolutely stunning Pilbara Jasper silver ring by MarKhed.

Etsy Tuesdays: A Day in Paris

A beautifully collected treasury with tons of French cafe flavor, non?

♥Favorite Find: The adorable "Oui" earrings by ChYMieRa!

Hi! My name is Rachel, and I'm addicted to...

...these chub-a-licious plants called succulents.

They're pretty damn cute, and I like to lightly squish their plump leaves between my fingers.

It all started at my college's annual plant sale last month when my mom and I dropped in to look for lonely vegetable plants to adopt. Then I spotted the succulent table and the delightful "Mrs. Giuseppe" variety of Sempervium (aka hens and chicks) caught my eye...

How could you resist a cluster of squeezable flora that looks like mutant rose-cabbages?

Bonus points for the itsy-bitsy clover with heart-shaped leaves.

About twenty minutes and three whole dollars later, I had myself a plant with some serious wow-factor and hopefully something I couldn't kill with my somewhat "black thumb".

A week, some more dollars, and a bit of burning-the-midnight-oil-research later, I had myself a small army of budding succulents... and a problem. Where the heck to put them?

Poor, homeless little chubbies...

Solution: succulent dish garden! Detailed instructions after the jump...

A weekly dose of Etsy? Yes, please!

It's no secret that I'm crazy about all things Etsy.

It's like a nerdy, crafty, vintage wonderland, and I could easily spend an entire day browsing and feeling utterly inspired to go make something!

Yesterday I thought to myself, "Why not spread the love?"

So without further ado, let me introduce ya'll to "Etsy Tuesdays" - where I'll handpick one of my favorite front-page treasuries of the week to share!

Here's a juicy, sunny pick-me-up for those of you also experiencing dreary, un-springlike weather!

♥♥♥

♥Favorite item:

Those yellow chalcedony earrings by GlitzGlitter - I'm craving lemon candy already!

Made with a thing called love...

This Valentine's Day, I was totally conflicted on what to bake. I was inspired by all of the heart-shaped cookies, cakes, and truffles flooding the blogosphere, but craving something simple and sweet like cupcakes.

The compromise?

A tasty fusion!

The results were chocolate heart-cutout cupcakes filled with a luscious strawberry-cherry cream cheese frosting...YUM!

And the finishing touch?

I found these adorable cupcake wrappers from Pink Peacock Paperie! B creates some insanely cute designs that are free to download (like this one!) or available for a small fee. Drop by her site for some eye candy!

Anyways, you may be curious as to the fate of the leftover pieces of heart-shaped cake...

Heart-shaped mini cakes + leftover frosting equals...

Squish together and stuff into mouth. Immediately.

Bite size ice cream cakes + whipped cream + sprinkles = JOY!

Nothing screams "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" quite like an ice cream cake!

Middle Name Silly's (the boyfriend!) birthday was last month, and as an avid devotee to the wondrous marriage of smooth ice cream and fluffy cake, there was little trouble deciding what to make for him!

The trouble started when it came time to choose the flavors.

I knew I wanted to have a chocolate cake base, but what flavor of ice cream to pair with it??

Cookies and cream, chocolate fudge, vanilla bean, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, coffee...

WAY too many options!!

After much deliberation, I settled on strawberry with a hot fudge filling.

Which flavors would you choose? ♥

A spoonful of warm berries helps the chill go away...

Now don't get me wrong: Winter and I are life long buddies. We go way back.

However, after a long winter break filled with freezing rain, a dusting of snow in the central valley (can you believe it?!), spending each night mummifying myself in a mountain of blankets, and far to many wet sock incidents; I've had it up to my ears with my chilly friend.

I hate to say this Winter, but I need some space.

I need to feel the sun's warmth and save my poor, little frozen toes.

I need to warm up in the morning with some molten berry sauce over french toast.

Mmm.
It's getting toasty already!

♥