hemingway tea

I love tea. Like, really love tea. Mainly black, but sometimes green. Never citrus. 

I got this fun Ernest Hemingway tea in my stocking for Christmas and I wanted to share it because after just finishing a book about him, and then starting a book by him,

 it's made me very excited!
(Yes, I know I'm a nerd.)

"There's no one thing that's true. It's all true."

-ted x

melting snowmen cookies

Alright, so yet another Pinterest project that I tried... and I think I did pretty ok here! I thought these cookies were adorable and looked fun to make for the holidays so I thought I'd share how it's done. They're super easy (and I can barely cook)!

First, you'll need sugar cookies. Feel free to make your own but I didn't have time so I decided the easy-bake Pillsbury kind were perfect. 

Bake these and then let them cool. If you're unfamiliar with baking, this part is pretty important, as the frosting won't spread well if they're too warm. 

Next up, gather all the supplies you'll need for the decorating! I bought the following items:

Whipped vanilla frosting (doesn't have to be whipped)

Jet-puffed marshmallows (not minis)

Cookie icing in black and orange (I couldn't find black so I got chocolate)

More cookie icing in your choice of colors (I went with red, blue, green, and purple)

White sparkle sprinkles (powdered sugar is a good alternative!)

Now that the cookies are cooled, frost them!

After frosting, we get to the fun part. 

Take the marshmallows on stick one on each cookie, a bit off-center.

Now my favorite part -- putting the faces on! (My chocolate icing was a bit runny, so when it started creating droopy Frosty faces I'd pop it in the freezer for a few minutes.)

Once you have all the faces done, you get to create the scarves! 

Last but not least, sprinkle on some snow!!

Cookies complete! 

Thanks for reading! 

Enjoy! 

-ted x

a tip for french tips

So every once in awhile I'll get the urge to do French tips on my nails, but I always get discouraged because they always turn out sloppy. Awhile back, I found something on Pinterest and they're simple as pie now! 

Here I've shown step-by-step how it works.

Try it out! Think out of the box and don't go with the typical white tips! Make things fun!

Step 1: Pick a base colour. Or, leave that natural. With Christmas only 4 days away I chose red.
If you choose a colour, make sure to let it dry fully before going to step 2.

Step 2: Find some Scotch tape, and choose a colour for your tips. Feeling festive, I went with gold for mine. Tear off 10 strips of tape, each about an inch and a half long. You can try reusing strips but I've found it's less messy and stressful to just use one per finger.

You're going to want to place the tape over your nails, with the edge right on the end of your nail bed. Don't press the tape down too hard. This will prevent peeling off your base polish. Pushing it just so it is sticking is perfect. If you have short nails, just leave a couple mm of space before the tip of your nail.

Step 3: Take the colour you've chosen to do your tips and paint only the area not covered by the tape. I suggest leaving the tape on your nail for a few minutes after applying the tip colour to prevent smudging or smearing.

Step 4: Just add a clear coat on top and voilá! Done!

Happy nail painting! 

-ted x