preparation for halloween

It's been awhile since I've blogged again - no thanks to work and school, but during this time away from Blogger, I've been thinking about halloween costumes.  After watching Fantastic Mr. Fox again, I decided an easy, comfortable and most importantly warm costume for me this year would be Ash.  It'd be a relatively cheap costume, too.  All you need are some white sweatpants, a white cardigan, a makeshift cape, an "A" felt patch and possible 2 sets of tube socks (2 cut to fit your face).  If you really go the distance, buy this amazing felted fox hat on Etsy.  Here are some findings I've discovered for my costume (as long as I have a party to go to).  What are your costumes going to be this year?
'

Ash costume by hollin featuring elastic pants

American Apparel stripe socks, $8
Forever21 elastic pants, $14
CARDIGAN WITH BUTTONS - Collection - Knitwear - Collection - Woman -..., 46 CAD

it's autumn times!

Happy Autumn!

Source: tumblr.com via Cathy on Pinterest

I know I'm a few days late, but with the busyness that has plagued my days, I haven't gotten a chance to truly enjoy what wonderful crisp weather and food we're about to experience.

First of all, a reason for my lack of blogging: I've been blogging, just not on this blog.  Take a look at the photoblog.  If you haven't seen it in awhile, you can find A LOT of new sessions I had this summer.  I'd love to hear your feedback!

"And secondably," school has begun.  You would think, being an English major I would enjoy reading the vast amounts of literature that is being assigned to me.  But as of late I have found myself more interested in beautiful book covers, than I am with the contents of the book.  A good example of this, is the amazing illustrator, Lizzy Stewart.

So that is where my time as gone.  I have more projects and photography sessions for October so hopefully I'll be able to blog more about all of that.

Stay tuned for Stumptown Coffee Ice Cream and more!  But for now, I leave you with images and recipes for Fall.

Source: marthastewart.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: smittenkitchen.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: ideasandinspiration.tumblr.com via Hollin on Pinterest

BUTTERBEER RECIPE.  yeah. i'm totally making this.

Source: thepastryaffair.com via Hollin on Pinterest

the day in pictures.

Oh, what a wonderful day.  Woke up to a brand new Zara skirt (way better than flowers) and then proceeded to skip my first class in order to surprise the husband with a delightful dessert, which ended up taking longer than planned, therefore missing my second class, but all is well in the end when the apartment is cleaned up and there's dinner made on the table.  The second half of my valentine's day present from the husband was a little photo shoot with my wonderful cat and foster (we think of him more like a visiting cousin).  I now have some pictures of both me and Weasley, not just thousands of her sleeping.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta with Fresh Basil

Lychee Cake with Rose Yogurt Mousse and Lychee Panna Cotta with Rosewater Roasted Strawberries

the dessert table

canned lychee from montreal

roasted cherry tomato pasta with fresh basil

lychee panna cotta with rosewater roasted strawberries

lychee cake with rose yogurt mousse

yes, it was stupid of me, but for some reason I thought we needed one each....

digging into the desserts

the valentine's day outfit, showing off the new skirt

This will be the last big "food" post in a while probably.  I say this because after making 3 doughnuts batches in one week, and this dessert insanity, I think it's time to take a break from the largeness of our meals, at least for a week: stay tuned for the husband's birthday bash!

happy valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  I personally, don't have a lot planned this year, except for maybe a nice dinner out and a little surprise here and there.  If you plan on making your special someone a treat, here are some of my recommendations!  As you may have noticed, none of these desserts have any chocolate in them.  That wasn't on purpose - although it may have been subconscious as I've been eating nutella and pretzel sticks for the last week straight.... I may be all chocolate-out.  Regardless, here are the non-chocolate desserts that you could make for anyone in your life.  Be festive, people, dress up!

Source: taste-for-adventure.tablespoon.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: dashandbella.blogspot.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: souvlakiforthesoul.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: kokocooks.blogspot.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: stetted.com via Hollin on Pinterest

guest post at I ART U

I was asked by Jen from I Art U to make a garland out of her mini hearts template.  It was super easy and a lot of fun, and definitely spruces up your place for Valentine's Day.  I'm always sad, taking down the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations and really, there isn't another holiday until Halloween that you can decorate just as lavishly for.  My goal for next year is to research lots of Valentine's Day crafts, and have my entire apartment spruced up for the month of February, like this blogger, with her 20 Days of Valentines.

To see the craft and download the template, check out I ART U.  Also, look at her blog and see the other bloggers' version of the heart garland.

the tunnel of love indubitably...

Valentine's Day is almost here. What are your plans? Hopefully I'll be getting crafty later this week.

valentine's day

Do you Pinterest?  It's such a great way to collect all of your ideas together super awesome collections.  I have a Valentine's Day board, that you can check out for the rest of my collection of crafts, images, and fun goods!  To follow my boards, click here.

Source: marthastewart.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: designspongeonline.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Hollin on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Hollin on Pinterest

a christmas present diy

 This post is kind of late, being that Christmas is already over, but this can always be a birthday gift, or even something you can prepare for next year!

This year being so far from home and students in a foreign land... or at least semi-foreign... Christmas can be difficult to pull off!  We had a strict budget and followed it as much as possible, but a lot of gift ideas we had, we just could find around the city of Montreal.  What's even harder is shipping everything in time and in budget.  We probably ended up spending more on our gifts than we should've, due to shipping, however, it's way worth it to buy gifts for your family.  What was especially hard this year was finding gifts for our little nieces.  My sister-in-law has the cutest little baby girls, and unfortunately I've only gotten to meet the oldest one.  We wanted to get them something, especially since we're not around, so I decided to make them a handmade gift, that was lightweight and special.

Meet the bunnies.  Originally I wanted to do actual girl dolls, but never got around to finding a good fabric store.  These bunnies are so cute and fairly simple to make.  The only tricky part was the face embroidery.  My husband had to look up a video tutorial online, but once that was figured out, it wasn't too difficult.  I should've named these bunnies, but usually the kids name their animals themselves, right?

I know that once the kids start growing up, they'll want battery operated toys and more elaborate gifts, but for now, I'm glad they're young enough to enjoy something plushy!  I kind of want to make myself a cat version of this template.  To make your own: Click Here.