the new and lovely Dandelions are here....

Last year, just before Christmas, I shared my unclothed Dandelions, well all of them have found their new owner, fully clothed.
Today I am sharing the first two:

this one dressed in a red Liberty of London dress with a delicate French cotton lace

 and pink embroidered red felt boots;

and 

this one wears a simpler Liberty of London dress

and blue embroidered flowers on royal blue boots.

Just like in the previous year,

the deer are made of felt,

following this pattern from Posie.

They are super sweet,

I love making them, using many Liberty of London prints.

I am so happy I made one for myself,

which I will share soon!

Happy sewing!

Keeping warm with some hot cocoa....

I have not yet decorated the house for Christmas. We are getting the tree next weekend, but the kids insisted it was time to set up our cocoa station!

It has become quite a tradition here,

the kids enjoy coming home from school and getting themselves some cocoa.

For this year version, I am using the frame from my advent calendar

to display Christmas cards 

(since we have not received any yet this year, there are just our old ones!)

 I am also reusing the mug holder that I made last year,

and most of the other accessories.

It is fun to make a "different" cocoa station every year,

using pretty much the same thing!

Now let's walk down memory lane:

Last year hot cocoa station: the natural one.
2015 cocoa station: the red period....
2014 cocoa station: the deer version.
2013 cocoa station: the snow version.

With the lights on, it is really cute!

Happy cool days!

quick apple triangles

Making apple pies (and eating them) is a big part of enjoying fall,

after all we need to do something with all the apples we bring back from the orchard!

But sometimes, it is just too much time and effort.....

These triangles are fast and easy,

they can be a great way out of bringing pie to Thanksgiving!

They can also be made with leftover phyllo dough

from making Feta triangles,

there seems to be always more dough than filling,

so I make the main course and desserts all at one!

It is just phyllo dough, apple, lemon, sugar, cinnamon, a little flour, and butter.

The night before, put the frozen phyllo dough in the fridge for thawing,

the most difficult part of this recipe,

it requires planning!

Peel and cut apples into small cube (1/4 to 1/2 inch)

smaller makes it easier to fold the dough.

Sprinkle some lemon juice on the apples (fresh or bottle is fine)

In a little bowl, mix 3 parts sugar 1 part flour and a good helping of cinnamon,

then add it to the apple, mix well and let it rest for 30 minutes,

while you go check your favorite social media,

or have a coffee/tea break, no pressure!

After this little interruption, turn on the oven to 375,
take the phyllo dough out of the fride, and carefully open the layers.
Usually they come in thin rectangular sheets,
work wit just one at a time.
Fold it in half twice to a long rectangle,
put some apple mixture in a corner (a little more than I did on the pic!)
and start folding and flipping the dough until you have a triangle,
surprisingly fast and easy after the first few.
If some apples escape after the first turn,
just put them back in.

Once your baking sheet is full of triangle,

melt some butter and brush it on top of the triangles

and sprinkle some turbinado sugar (optional).

Bake 20 minutes or until golden.

Wait a couple minutes and transfer them on a cooling rack

and enjoy while warm and crunchy.

They can also be warmed up in a toaster oven

but no microwave (they become soggy!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

updating the master bedroom {the ORC edition}: the big reveal!

This is it, the last week of The One Room Challenge: the master suite edition!

It is done and now our bedroom feels like a Tiffany's box,

blue (a little turquoise) and white, and with some red,

like their ribbon for the Holidays!

I feel like my inspiration board is a good representation of where we ended:
Nice blue walls, warm color bedding, sign ....
and of course the ensuite bathroom:

Nice grey walls, new light fixture, beautiful double mirrors.
But before we explore the room in more details,  let's do a before and after, just for fun!

Here for the painting transformation.

Here for the closet doors transformation.

Here for the nook transformation.

And last but not least, the bathroom:

Here for the transformation.

Quite an impressive makeover!

I reuse a lot of things we had before,

I just think they look even better now,

like my antique 19th century ivory painting from my grandmother.

I kept the same curtains as I like them, and they bring some nice color and contrast to the room.

The nook is the bluest part of the room,

with the addition of the rug,

I must say it is less comfortable to read,

but so much more convenient to put my shoes on in the morning!

And in the bathroom,

I have been able to use some of the goodies I brought back from Provence,

like my Uzes Pot (which holds Ms C. old fake lavender from IKEA a few years ago),

my fouta and some savons de Marseilles.

I reused the same embroidered frame my sister made me too.

It feels like a little Provence corner, not bad for a DC suburb!

I have already planned how it could work for the summer:

with just some white bedding and a light blanket, summer are so hot here, it seems quite refreshing! Of course after last weekend freezing temperature, I feel more like a huge comforter, with some rich color to warm up the room!
I hope you are as pleased with your transformation as I am with mine. Happy DIYing!