Spring is in the Air!

We've had some warmer weather here in Massachusetts this past week. It is difficult not to have thoughts of Spring and to be hopeful that even more warmer days are on their way! In the spirit of spring-like thoughts, we have some very sweet birthday cakes to share.

Butterflies are a sure sign of spring. This butterfly cake for a little girl named Isla was made for her first birthday! She even had her own mini cake she could get her hands into. What kid could resist that giant butterfly? Isla managed to eat almost the entire cake herself. Even the fondant flowers! Guess she liked it! :) The mini smash cake was made of yellow cake. The bottom layer of the larger cake was chocolate flavor with peanut butter filling, the top layer was yellow with strawberry filling, all covered in fondant.

The ladybug cake was made for Meghan for her second birthday. We were told the birthday girl couldn't keep her hands off the little ladybugs! We are happy she loved the cake so much. The ladybugs were made with yellow cake and the round cake with flowers was red velvet flavor, all with a vanilla buttercream frosting.

Two very special birthday cakes for two very special little girls!

Rainy Day Recipe

So the last few days have been full of snow and rain, and the next few days promise more of the same. What to do you might ask? Do what we do, bake something chocolate! These Chocolate Crinkles will be sure to brighten your day!

Chocolate Crinkles
Makes 5 to 6 dozen

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup confectioners sugar

• Mix oil, melted chocolate, and sugar together.
• Blend in one egg at a time, then add vanilla.
• Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Chill for several hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 350˚
• Drop teaspoons of dough into confectioners sugar and roll. Shape into balls.
• Place 2" apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

The Perfect Clutch

Looking for the perfect accessory for a wedding, party or a night out? For the ladies, a purse is essential! We are purse gals ourselves and are always on the look out for a cute clutch. Here are a few we wanted to share with you. Now the challenge is to pick one!

These clutches and change purses come from Oktak's Shop on Etsy. There are some colorful and fun clutches as well as some more sophisticated options. A purse to suite almost anyone's taste.



We also love these purses from Tulip Couture's Etsy shop!



As you'll notice, we love Etsy! It is a great resource for handmade and unique items, especially for a wedding or event. There are so many great products to be discovered! This most definitely will not be the last time you'll see a post from us with Etsy items:)

Glowing in the Rain?

What a cool concept by Bright Night! These umbrellas light up! We love the design and practicality of this umbrella. We especially love the idea of using them for a wedding! Not that any couple particularly wants a rainy wedding day, but these sure could brighten it a bit and make for some unique photographs.



If you are looking for an umbrella with a bit more style, the lighted umbrellas come in patterns as well. Here are a few to choose from.



Of course, we couldn't just stop at the lighted umbrellas. Oh no! I guess we're already thinking about Spring:) We started to search out other fun umbrella options.

We love the umbrellas at Bella Umbrella. There is an umbrella that could suite just about anyone's taste. They also offer rentals which is a bonus!

Here are some fun and lovely umbrellas at Bella Umbrella.









You can also visit Parasol Passion for more parasol options.

Daily Drop

utopia loves these drop caps! As designers, we are inspired by so many things. We think the drop caps created by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische are so much fun. Jessica is designing a new letter each day. The really cool part is you can copy and paste the code and use it for your blog too! Visit Daily Drop Cap to find a letter that you love:)

January is National Blood Donor Month

Recently, a friend's son came down with a blood disease called Aplastic Anemia. He is 3 years old and has just undergone a bone marrow transplant. Before the transplant, he needed weekly blood and platelet transfusions. Please consider donating blood this month. It only takes an hour of your time and results in lifesaving platelets or blood for those in need!