Get Hoppin' In The Kitchen

It's the Year of the Rabbit, so this spring everyone should try making the super cute Betty Crocker Bunny Cake for Easter, or just for fun!! My mom made this cake for Bunko, but she used Paula Deen's recipe for Cool and Creamy Coconut Cake, which is very moist and decadent.  It is  from The Lady and Sons Just Desserts cookbook. If you decide to give Paula's recipe a try, one helpful hint we offer is to look for the cream of coconut in the liquor section of your grocery store. It is the same coconut they use for Pina Coladas

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Total Time: 2 Hours and 10 Minutes

What You Will Need For The Cool and Creamy Coconut Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
water, vegetables oil, and eggs called for on the cake mix box

1  can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1  can (12 oz.) cream of coconut
1  container of cool whip
1  cup shredded coconut

What You Will Need To Decorate

a tray or a piece of cardboard, covered with foil

white construction paper

jelly beans or robin's eggs

green food coloring

1  cup coconut

Heat oven to 350°F. Make cake as directed on the box for two 8 inch or 9 inch round pans. Using a fork or skewer, poke holes in the entire cake. After mixing condensed milk and cream of coconut, slowly pour over warm cake. Cool cake completely.

Reserve one layer for another use or to make a second bunny. Cut one layer in half as shown in the diagram below. Put halves together with cool whip to form a body.
 Place cake upright with the cut edge down on the tray. (If you prefer the Carrot Cake, follow the directions of the box and frost with cream cheese frosting instead of cool whip.) 

Cut out notch about 1/3 of the way up one end of the body to form the head as shown in the diagram below. Attach half of cutout piece from tail with toothpicks. Frost with remaining cool whip, rounding body on sides. Sprinkle with the 1 cup coconut. Cut ears from construction paper; press into notch on top. Use jelly beans for eyes and nose.

 Shake 1 cup coconut and 3 drops of the green food coloring in a tightly covered container until evenly tinted. Surround bunny with green coconut grass.
 Add additional jelly beans or robin's eggs if desired.

Click HERE to read reviews and comments on Betty Crocker's Bunny cake!!

A Fresh Look For Spring, Or Any Time Of Year

Choosing a paint color for a room can be challenging and overwhelming because there are so many colors to choose from. Luckily, Sherwin Williams created a free online
 Color Visualizer to help you see what your room will look like before you paint it.

My parents felt like their living room needed a little color, so we decided to paint an accent wall. An accent wall is using color to treat one wall differently from all the others in a room. It adds excitement and importance to a space. Pick a wall with a major focal point such as a fireplace wall, an unusual shaped wall, walls holding dramatic artwork, or the wall behind a bed's headboard. This is where your eye goes first. An accent color makes a focal point more dramatic. We chose the wall with the fireplace in my parent's living room. We weren't sure what color we wanted, so we gave the Color Visualizer a try. We tried gold to compliment the brown couches and the rock fireplace, seafoam green to pull in the accent color on the pillows and accessories, and brown for a rich, warm feeling. We took a picture, uploaded it into the program, and then tried the three colors.

 My parents liked the seafoam green, but went with the brown. They felt like their fireplace stood out in the room too much because of its size, but the brown really softened the look, and I agreed! Brown is a great neutral color, so they can still switch out pillows and other accessories depending on the season. I painted the wall for them in just a few hours. They have been happy with the results and have received many compliments on their color choice.

Click HERE to try this fabulous free program with a photo of your home. If you still feel unsure of your paint color choice after trying the program, you should consider hiring an Interior Designer. Let me know if you need help!

Here are a few Wise Design tips for painting:
{1} Choose an inspiration piece in your room and pull a color from it. For example, a rug, accent pillows, or art work.
{2} Check out Sherwin Williams and give the Color Visualizer a try before you purchase your paint.
{3} If you like more than one color, purchase a small sample can and try painting a little before doing the whole wall.
{4} Don't be afraid to try bold color!
{5} When painting, tape all molding, cut in the edges with an angled brush, and make sure you have the right roller cover for the textured surface you are working with.
{6} Cover all flooring and furniture.
{7} Wear old clothing. No matter how careful I am, I always seem to get paint on my clothes.
{8} Open doors and window to air out the room and to help the paint dry. Wait 24 hours before hanging anything on the wall or pushing furniture back into place.
{9} Keep in mind, the paint color changes a bit as it dries.
{10} Enjoy your room's new look!

An EGGceptional Idea For Spring

I was recently inspired with an idea when I visited the Pottery Barn in San Jose. I loved all of their spring decorations, but this "Happy Easter" display really caught my eye. It was hanging above one of their

dining room tables. 

While I was there, I picked up their spring catalog. The catalog showed the holiday eggs being used as center pieces on the table, too.

I wanted to make my own version of this spring display at Dolce Home, where I work as an  interior designer. Although they have the holiday eggs for sale at the store or online at Pottery Barn.com, I decided to make my own with a few changes. First, I wanted mine to be multi-colored. Instead of white eggs I chose light blue, light pink, and light yellow eggs from Joann Fabric and Craft Store. Second, I wanted to use a decorative ribbon instead of twine, so I chose a cream ribbon with scalloped edges. Next, I bought black scrapbook letters to use instead of painting on the letters. Last, I wanted the eggs to say
"Happy Spring" instead of "Happy Easter" so that the display could hang in the shop for all of spring!

Everyone who visits the shop loves our new spring display. So, thank you Pottery Barn for giving me the EGGcellent idea to create my own "Happy Spring" eggs!!

A Fashion Must Have

If Spring has sprung, why does it still feel like Winter? No matter the season, this is a fashion must have. The open front cardigan can be worn in Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter. It's our favorite cover up! It's comfy and easy to wear. Dress it up with skinny jeans and heels, or down with leggings and Uggs. It looks great over almost anything: tank tops, long sleeves, blouses, sweaters, and even dresses. We love being able to wear a light weight summer top during the cooler months by just throwing a cardigan over it. The cardigan can be paired with funky belts, hats, scarves, chunky or long necklaces, and of course boots! We love that this accessory looks great on any body type and on women of all ages. You can find a great open front cardigan almost anywhere. Prices will vary, from $10 to $100, depending on the location. Mom and I have found some great ones recently at Ross, Marshalls, TJMaxx. They are also available at Target, Forever21, Gap, and Nordstrom. Even the Stars enjoy this fashion must have!

A Decorative St. Patrick's Day Note Tag

For St. Patrick's Day this year, I needed a unique and inexpensive hostess gift. I came up with the idea of using a St. Patrick's Day card to make a decorative note tag to hang on a bottle of wine. I cut the back off of the card and glued the front to a piece of matching scrapbook paper. I trimmed it with decorative scissors and added a gold ribbon to the top for hanging. I wrote a special note on the back and hung it over a bottle of wine.

This decorative note tag could also be used on a bottle of beer, champagne, or Martinelli's cider, or it could be used as a gift tag. After the bottle or gift is opened, the hostess can use the tag as a decoration. It can be hung on a key hook or a door knob.

A Towel Stand With A Twist

We both purchased this small counter towel stand, and have found many wise uses for it!! Mom uses it for hand towels in the kitchen and I use it for headbands and scarves in my bedroom. It can also be used for necklaces and bracelets, hand or tea towels in the bathroom, or even for a couple rolls of toilet paper. We found ours at Ross for a great price, but the stand can also be purchased online at A Touch of Class. If this look doesn't fit in with the interior of your home, you can also find other versions of the towel stand on Amazon or at Bed Bath & Beyond.

A Wise Suggestion: We think this stand would make a great hostess gift with a set of kitchen towels. Mom gave this to my aunt, and has enjoyed giving her holiday towel sets to hang in her kitchen throughout the year.

Let us know if you like this Wise Design idea!!

 

                        

Aly's 24th Birthday

For our first post, we'd like to offer a few ideas from our most recently planned birthday party, which happened to be mine! Mom was thinking of a "Happy Birthday Little Lady" theme with cute red and black ladybugs, but I had a more mature black and white theme in mind. After all I was turning 24, not 2+4!

We think every party theme needs at least four essential items to make it a success; paper goods, invitations, decorations, and a cake!! Here are our four....

Paper Goods: My mom found this great damask print made by Amscan at ShinDigz.com called "Always and Forever." It features a black and white damask pattern, with a pale blue trim and dot accents . The pattern was designed for a wedding or bridal shower, but can also be used for other occasions, like my birthday! We chose the pieces that only had the damask pattern; the cups, cake plates, and small napkins. We paired them with plain black dinner plates and large black napkins . 

Invitations: Since the matching invitations were for another occasion, mom gave me the task of creating my own . I used a black and white damask print for the background and an elegant curl in a matching pale blue. I added black dots to really tie it all together . I then sent them to my local print shop to be printed on card stock . The invitations turned out exactly as I had hoped they would!!

Decorations: Our theme was simple, black, white, and blue, so we thought simple decorations would be best. Some of our decorations were a birthday banner, balloon bouquets, and candy dishes with matching M&M's from Powell's Candy Shoppe. We used martini glasses as our candy dishes which enabled guests to see the colorful candies, and at the same time gave it a fun and festive look!! This was our downscaled version of a candy buffet, which are very popular for almost all occasions. (Check out Candy Buffet Creations to see where we got our inspiration!!) We also used a decorative decanter with an iron stand to serve lemonade. By adding a few drops of food coloring to our lemonade we made it a beautiful blue, which matched everything else perfectly. We then topped it off with a splash of Sprite and lemon slices from my mom's very own lemon tree!!

Cake: My mom ordered my fantastic cake from Baskin Robbins because she knows I love ice cream cake!! She gave them a napkin from the paper goods so that they could do their best to create a design that matched. Most bakeries will do this. It's a great way to show them what colors and patterns you are looking for in your cake design.

Everyone who attended our party seemed to really enjoy themselves, especially me!! Mom and I were extremely satisfied with how our party ideas turned out and we can't wait to plan our next one...My dad's 50th!!!

The Wise Women Behind The Wise Designs

For years we have been helping our friends and family with design ideas for their interiors, fashion, and everyday life. We now have decided to make our fabulous design ideas available to everyone!!!

My Mom, Liz, has been an elementary school teacher for the past 26 years. During her free time, she enjoys working on design projects for her home, planning theme parties, and shopping for that perfect gift, or home accent piece, for friends and family members.

I received my interior design degree from CSU, Chico and currently work as a junior designer at Dolce Home. Art has always been one of my passions and  I feel blessed to be working in a field where I can use my artistic talents. Some things I enjoy doing in my free time are designing furniture, creating graphic designs, working on arts and crafts, shopping for clothing and home decor, and keeping up to date on the latest fashions and trends.

We hope you will find our Wise Design ideas helpful and entertaining. Add our blogspot to your Favorites and check back every week to read about our newest projects and design ideas!!