Jen Bowles Design

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

{mixed media Valentine canvas:  collaged book pages & layers of paint}

Enjoy!

Peace on Earth

Like, literally.

 

If only actual Peace On Earth was as easy as adding  fun-tak to the bottom of some Scrabble letters and  sticking them on top of a vintage globe...

Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Tutorial

While pie may be the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving, there are certain folks among us that do not care for pie (ahem, all of my children & Uncle).  Typically Nana volunteers to bring a yellow (or Funfetti if she's feeling cray) layer cake simply adorned with Better Crocker vanilla frosting and a few sprinkles.  And all the cake eaters are perfectly happy.

This year however I asked Nana if she could please bring a selection of cheeses and crackers so that I could make the cake.  It's hard to be creative with cheese and crackers (although I did try with last year's Turkey Cheese Ball...).  A cake, on the other hand, presents endless opportunities.  

My first stop for Thanksgiving cake inspiration was...Pinterest!  Duh.

There I found these turkey cakes and settled on the direction I wanted to take...

source: Pinterest

Here's how my turkey cake was born:

1. Bake an entire box of yellow cake mix in a 2 quart Pampered Chef glass bowl

2. Mix up a chocolate cake mix and make cupcakes

3. Arrange said shapes into the shape of a turkey.  Use whatever large platter you have, make it festive with paper doilies.

4. Frost the turkey body with tinted buttercream.  Make it fancy with frosting dots.

5. Using powerful food coloring (or use regular food coloring and skip the complaints about the aftertaste of the frosting from the peanut gallery), tint your homemade buttercream into 3 separate colors for feathers.

6. Frost the yellow "feathers" (and by feathers I mean cupcakes)

7. Frost the orange feathers

8. Frost the red feathers

9. Retreat to craft room and cut out turkey head from cardstock.  Cut out and glue on eyes, 3-D beak, gobble, and Pilgrim-like hat.  

10.  Glitter the buckle of the Pilgrim hat.

11.  Use frosting to adhere paper turkey head to cake turkey body 

12.  Take pictures!  With evidence on Instagram, it's like it never happened ;-)

13.  Before allowing any part of the turkey cake to be eaten, insist that all guests view the turkey cake and are duly impressed.

14.  Call it a masterpiece and allow it to be destroyed enjoyed!

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving dessert!

 P.S.  We also had pie.  And ice cream sundaes.

NYC in a day: Christmas Edition, Part 2

We pick up the story of our NYC adventure just as we're leaving Central Park and heading to The World's Most Crowded Greatest Toy Store. As if the wall-to-wall people all day weren't enough of an indication, having to wait in line to go into FAO Schwarz was a sure sign that it's Christmas in NYC.  At least the line moved quickly.  Our first stop once inside was another line...for:  the Big Piano.

Aren't these girls too cute?

Oops, I mean these girls!

Ebby was disappointed to find that the $25k Barbie foos ball table was gone, so the girls had to make new friends...

When we hit the streets again after FAO, it was dark and Ebby was beginning to realize that her friend's boots, while cute, make not have been the best selection for footwear for a day a walking in NYC.  No matter, we persevered onto Dylan's Candy Bar.

So many mouth-watering treats...

This display from the rainbow bulk candy wall was my favorite:

Purchases were made by all here, including me who got something for Ebby's stocking ~ right under her nose.  So sneaky!

A stop across the street at Bloomingdale's meant a quick cruise through Magnolia (to check the scenery, no cupcakes this time) for me...

Meanwhile the girls went to find somewhere to sit down for 10 minutes.  #seriously.

Re-energized, it was time to head back downtown--on foot.  Love how the city transforms at night...and I love that woman's leopard print coat.  So New York.

Our final desitination of the day:  Times Square.

 

Our first stop in Times Square was Jamba Juice.  What can I say, we were thirsty.  Out in the heart of Times Square, it was people aplenty. 

For the record, I cannot imagine being here for New Year's Eve.  Actually, I can imagine it and it involves an astronaut diaper, aching feet & neck, and general sensory overload.  We looked up, we saw the Centennial ball for this year.  I'm good.  I'll watch the rest from my couch.

Times Square is an experience for sure.

The girls shopped (and sat) at Forever 21

Saw the ferris wheel at Toys R Us

And took in the, um, unique atmosphere...Kids, stay in school and don't become this guy:

Finally, around 7:30, we emerged and made the final 6 block push back to 34th St. to the bus stop.  It seems however that the crowd and the giant strawberry-banana-orange Jamba Juice did not agree with Ebby.  We had to make a pit stop at Duane Reade for Pepto Bismol tablets, gum, and water.  For a few minutes it looked like Ebby might hurl right there on the streets on Manhattan.  Luckily, a.  I brought a doggie (poop) bag to use as a puke bag on the bus, just in case and b.  she didn't hurl after all.  By a little after 8pm we were gathered at the Bolt Bus stop next to the Tick Tock Diner awaiting our chariot home.

It was a fun-filled whirlwind of a day for sure.  It's always fun seeing NYC dressed up for the holidays.  On our next trip though we might skip Midtown altogether.  Chelsea, SoHo, TriBeCa, and the East Village are calling my name.  I'm going to see what I can do about answering come Spring!

Thanks for stopping by...

 

 

NYC in a day: Christmas Edition, Part 1

A December Saturday in NYC with 3 teenage girls?  When you've got a persuasive daughter, an affinity for the Big Apple, and round trip bus tickets from Boston for only $32, the answer is yes.

Here's a quick peek at our timeline:

• Leave the house at 6:15am
• Leave South Station, Boston on the 7:30am Bolt Bus
• Arrive NYC (34th & 8th, near Macy's) at 11:10 ~ 35 minutes ahead of schedule!
• Walk the streets of Midtown Manhattan: 11:15am to 8pm
• Leave NYC on the 8:30pm Bolt Bus
• Arrive South Station at 12:45am (exactly on schedule, with a rest stop)
• Arrive home at 1:30am

With a loosely planned agenda, we were able to cover a lot of ground in not a lot of time.  Our stops...

1D World near Madison Square Garden

Pretty much a supersized concert souvenir stand selling all things One Direction.  The girls are big fans so it was a must see.  They added their grafitti to the walls but didn't make any purchases.

Macy's

The line for Santa was way too long but Mrs. Claus was just hanging out by some better sportswear.

We looked, but didn't touch, the dresses in the Bridal Salon.

 Ebby had done some research online and picked our lunch spot: LT Burger at Bryant Park.  On the way we checked out the ice skaters and the carousel. 

We got off to a rough start with the service at LT Burger (waitress mix-up meant it took 15 minutes for someone to take our order), but the food was delicious.  We all had The Standard burger, fries and a shake.  $22 per person with the tip, btw.

After lunch we walked by the lions in front of the NY Public Library and up 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center. 

Last year when I came with Ebby it was too early for the tree to be fully decorated so this was her first time seeing it.  All the girls were pretty impressed.  I think.

 

Next up was my one requested stop for the day:  Anthropologie at Rockefeller Center.  I admired the windows and was duly impressed with the creativity and detail but they weren't my favorite.

Maybe it's because I'm jaded spoiled by the real Winter Wonderland animals we have in our backyard...

I found the interior displays to be more to my liking...

I thought this book page chevron wall was very clever:

 Inside of Anthro I did see what turned out to be my favorite display of the day ~ something so cool it deserves a separate post. Hint:  book wall...

 Onward up 5th Avenue we admired more windows and storefronts and general festive atmosphere.

 

I gazed longingly at Henri Bendel as we walked past.  I did take in the windows at Bergdorf, but again, I liked them but didn't love them--though I'm sure my boys woudld've loved the dog circus themed window!

Our next stop was the Plaza Hotel.  The girls were particularlyenchanted by the sight of Afternoon Tea at the Palm Court.  At $50-$60 per person that wasn't happening (this time), but we kept it classy by posing by the lobby Christmas tree instead.

Luckily you can get less expensive fare in the basement concourse level of the Plaza at the Plaza Food Hall.  It was my first visit here and except for the shortage of women's restrooms, it was a thumbs up.  We wandered around to get the lay of the land and ended up at the Billy's Bakery outpost. 

I've read good things about their cupcakes so when presented with the opportunity to sample, how could I resist??  For whatever reason, I overthought my flavor selection.  I should've gone with something classic like Vanilla or Red Velvet, instead I got Banana Nutella.  Don't get me wrong, it was good, but too banana bread-y for my taste.  Oh well, I'll try again next time.  Such a burden!

On the way to find a seat, this sign caught my eye at Three Tarts. 

They had a variety of flavored handcrafted marshmallows.  Making marshmallows has been on my list for years, but it has yet to happen.  For $1, I figured I'd see what the fuss was about.  I chose a raspberry marshmallow.  It was light & airy, with good raspberry taste.  It would've made a yummy s'more...

Before it got dark, we finished up at the Plaza and headed across the street to Central Park for photos and a brief bit of exploration.  Ah, nature!

After our stop in Central Park, it was around 4pm-- a little more than halfway through our day in the city!  This seems like a good spot to take a break the retelling of  our adventure.  Stop by tomorrow for Part 2 which includes hotspots such as FAO Schwartz and Times Square!

Thanks for stopping by,

MOM Vintage banner

Ah, happy, sunny Monday!

I've been hard at work with my online blog design class and as such haven't been doing much in the way of creating any new content.  One step at a time! 

In the meantime, these photos of the banner I made my mom for Mother's Day  a few years ago seemed appropriate.

Here are a few close ups...

Mother's Day 2012 is less than a week away, I guess I should get started on this year's gift!

Thanks for stopping by,

It's May!

And that means...
I'm excited for the month of May for so many reasons.  Among them...

• Yard & garden projects!  Everything is so green right now.  And manageable and full of promise.  I've been weeding, moving shrubs, planting new plants and even started on my first wine bottle garden border--a bit of a challenge as we are a "dry" household.  Luckily we know lots of lushes ;-)
• More trips to the beach!
• Blog & etsy shop refreshment!  I'm taking an online class on Typepad blog design offered by Elise Blaha--Blog 2.0.  Over the years I've figured out just enough coding and graphic design to make me dangerous but far from proficient.  I'm so looking forward to learning how to make my blog look online the way it does in my head.  While I'm at it, I'm rethinking my whole blog/work/shop strategy.  Look for some big, good changes--hopefully sooner rather than later!

Hoping your May Day is a basket full of wonderful!

Thanks for stopping by,

{May Basket pictured above made by me for Ebby...in 2007}

St. Patrick's Day sign

It was a wonderfully warm and sunny day here in coastal Massachusetts--which means Spring Fever is on!  Before I go full-on Spring and Easter decorating though, I have one more St. Patrick's Day project to share ☺.

Fittingly, this St. Patrick's Day sign is "green", as in eco-friendly. For the base of the sign I used an old game box, Scrabble I think.  I had to cut three pieces because the box alone wasn't long enough and we were all out of extra large pizza boxes in the recycling bin.  I taped everything together and then glued on old book pages.  After the glue dried, I painted a wash of spring green paint to the book pages.

The lettering was originally going to be glittery but I didn't have the patience.  Instead I used a combination of green paint and green Sharpie. 

I wanted to do something a little bit different than shamrocks, thus the rainbow.

You can't have a rainbow without a pot of gold, right?  I outlined the coins with a gold glitter pen to help them stand out.

And there you have it, a green, eco-friendly decoration for St. Patrick's Day! 

Thanks for stopping by,

St. Patrick's Day Door Decoration

When I took down my Valentine's door decoration the other day all of a sudden my apple green door looked awfully bare.

Green door, St. Patrick's Day approaching?  How could I not put something up??

I didn't have anything in my holiday decorating inventory so I decided to make something.  I was thinking some kind of wreath but my materials instead led me to a door canvas.

Inspired by Lisa Kaus' new gift collection, particularly this banner, I got to work.

Here's what I came up with:

Materials:  18x24 studio canvas, canvas paper, book pages, watercolor paper, ball fringe, acrylic paints, gouache, gel medium, charcoal pencil

Some highlights of how I did it:

• painted the background of the canvas
• used gouache to paint book pages, cut out heart shapes
• attach everything to canvas with gel medium
• cut out bottom banner shape from canvas paper
• paint stripes with acrylic paints
• add trim (ball fringe, ribbon on sides to cover up staples)

I thought about adding '17' somewhere on the bottom right but decided against it.  After everything dried overnight tonight I hung it on our front door this morning.

After all, everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day ☺.

Linking up to these fun parties:

 

Hello and...

Happy Valentine's Day ♥