Cute Cookies & Packaging

One of my favorite things to do when I'm at the Mitsuwa market is check out the cookie/candy aisle. Its true I have a sweet tooth but I'm even more interested in the packaging. It seems with every visit I stumble across something new. This time I found these adorable Moomin shaped cookies. For those not familiar with the Moomins, they are characters from a series of books and comic strips written by Tove Jansson.

This box also caught my eye for the cookie pictured on the box. I liked how the cookie looked three-dimensional. I know cookies are already three-dimensional but this looked different. Usually a cookie is decorated with a print or frosting, not more cookie. So I had to see what they really looked like and bought a box.

To my delight, they were even cuter in person. I fear I may never be able to go back to my basic animal crackers after seeing these.

Craft: Pinata Piggy Bank

Okay, technically this isn't a pinata piggy bank but more of a pinata cupcake bank. But, pinata cupcake bank just sounded too strange/confusing for a title.

This craft was inspired by the Pearhead wooden piggy banks. Now where the pinata part came into the mix, I'm not quite sure. I'm guessing my train of thought was this > piggy bank > smash piggy bank to open> smash pinata to open > smash pinata piggy bank to open.

This is a fun craft to use up all those shirt boxes and tissue you have lying around from the holidays. Even though this craft is easy to do, it does take up a good amount of time. I recommend spreading out the steps into three days: 1st day - construct box, 2nd day - paper mache, 3rd day- cover with tissue. You can make your bank into any shape you want, get creative!

Supplies:
Cardboard - I used one large shirt box top
Colored Tissue
Glue stick
Masking Tape
Newspaper
Paper mache paste
White paint - optional
To make the cupcake bank, make two identical cupcake shaped pieces out of the cardboard. I recommend making a template with paper first. Next, cut 2 inch wide strips that could wrap around the entire sides of the cupcakes to form a box. It's important that your bank can stand on its own so your base needs to be proportional to the size of your bank.

Construct bank with cardboard and tape. Don't worry if it looks messy, this will all be covered up anyway. Cut a hole on top of the box to place money in.

Paper mache box to make it sturdy. You don't want it breaking open on its own. When dry, paint box white so newspaper print does not show through tissue (optional).

Fold a strip of tissue in half and cut to make fringe (refer to picture). Do not cut all the way up to the fold.



Starting at the bottom, layer tissue to cover entire box. Do this for all sides. You want to start from the bottom so only the fringe shows. If you start from the top, the folded part of the tissue will show instead of the fringe.

*When working with different colors, sometimes it's easier to draw out the pattern on your box.

Your pinata bank should look something like this when finished.

Sorry, I have to say this, just in case.
*Do not hang pinata bank. Do not hang pinata bank to open.

At First Site: Cookieboy

Photo Credit: Cookieboy

For 2012 I've decided to introduce a new series called At First Site. I'll be sharing sites around the web that inspire me. Hopefully you'll find them inspiring too.

I'm kicking off the series with the blog cookieboy. Please don't judge the site by the banner. I promise the rest of the blog is not filled with cookies hanging off a half naked man. Instead, this blog showcases the work of cookie artist Yamatake Natsu Hilo. What made me choose this site was his unconventional approach to the basic sugar cookie and how he's pushing the envelope with his baking. I'll leave it at that and let the pictures do the talking. This site is in Japanese but can easily be translated with Google Translate.

cookies from a cookie workshop

Jewelry displayed on cookies!

Cookie Cafe Display - I would love to see Amy Atlas do something like this with her dessert tables.

P.S. A craft tutorial is coming soon, promise. If all goes well, it should be up Monday *fingers crossed*.

Printables: Blog Organizer Inserts

Photo credit: My Girl Thursday

These blog organizer printables designed by draw! pilgrim have been around for a while but I thought some of you might be interested in them. They're great for organizing and setting goals for your blog. Even if you don't have an organizer, they still can come in handy. You can keep them on a bulletin board or your desk instead as a daily reminder.

Just out of curiosity, do you like to keep an actual organizer or do you use your computer/smart phone? I personally like to use an actual organizer to hold all my appointments and notes. However, I've been trying to keep more of it on the computer (ex. google calendar). This might sound strange but I feel like I can access/see it better when it's written down on paper. Anyone else like this?

Trying New Things

Every year our family gathers together for a traditional Japanese New Year's Day meal. Usually my husband's grandmother prepares the food but this year we all contributed. I volunteered to make the Ozoni soup. It was my first attempt at making the dish. I think it came out pretty good and everyone seemed to like it.

If anyone is interested, I used the recipe from this YouTube video: How to Make Ozoni Soup.

Don't laugh, I also tried a new hair-do for 2012, the Messy Bun. I'm officially declaring 2012 the year of the messy bun (for me that is, you can have any hair-do you want). I've decided this is going to replace that sad pony tale I've been rocking all these years.

Front view of messy bun.

Those are my diva sunglasses by the way. They're ridiculously huge but I wear them anyway.

Have any plans for trying/learning something new in 2012? It doesn't have to be anything big; it could just be a recipe or a hair-do.