(Don't forget to enter our calendar giveaway!!)

give it away now....

Its almost 2011 and we want to party like its 1999 to celebrate this year's fantastic calendar!!

Join our fantabulous giveaway by leaving us a comment about your favorite adventure.

Gain an additional drawing entry by posting this phrase on twitter.com

 "I entered to win the 2011 illustrated calendar by Don and Dee Sullivan @
http://deesullivan.blogspot.com
You should enter too!"

The winner will be announced January 3rd.  Check back then to see if you've won!

The Best of Luck to all!!

xoxo

Love,

don+dee

wintery wonderland...

We had the first snowy Christmas here since 1945....lucky us!! 

We have gone sledding, made snowmen and warmed up with Italian cookie lattes and yummy lemony blueberry breakfast cake.

Its feels like home here this winter and I love it!

How was your Christmas?

Love, 

~dee

xoxox

holiday wishes...

Love,

~all of us

xoxo

a little must read on etsy....

Sadly, I have only met Jemima through on line notes and overheard phone conversations with my brother but even from the teensy bit of communication, I think my brother has a total sweetie for his girl!  (I was very impressed when I found out she was a fellow Etsy seller with such fun and beautiful products.  I thought to myself, he picked a good one, just sayin'.)

She is from Australia and is living in British Columbia working her craft with a magical touch of creativity for her company called, Sparky Jones! 

You can only imagine my surprise and delight to see her featured on an Etsy interview this morning.

I had to do a double take.

You will definitely want to read her endearing interview.

 She also has a cute blog that I visit.

Hope you love her work and interview as much as I did!

xoxo

Happy Wednesday, friends!!

Love,

~dee

P.S. A big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Don's wonderful parents today!!

a little tea party...

Bella and I are enjoying a little tea party today simply made with some art paper and a clementine crate that we adhered to the crate using acrylic polymer emulsion, trimmed with scissors and then coated with a couple of layers of the emulsion to protect its finish.  

It was a fun little project we worked on this morning.

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Enjoy!

xoxo

Love,

~dee and bella

xoxo

just a quick peek into our week...

 candy cane cupcakes I made for fun....

 getting ready for Santa...

 paper trees I made from a vertebrate anatomy book...

 enjoying a little kitchen helper...

 making a paper forest...

and my sister's quote from facebook was up on the bigscreen on Larry King's finale last night...I thought that was a fun tidbit of our week.    Way to go, Lori!!  I miss ya!  We will miss you Larry!!

Happy weekend, friends!

I am off shopping with a friend today.

xoxo

Love,

~dee

truffle recipes to share...

Oh happy day...

I finally put my recipes together to share...

 

White Chocolate Coconut Truffles

 

200 g unsweetened shredded coconut 

100 ml heavy cream 

70 g icing sugar 

70 g unsalted butter 

200 g white chocolate 

1. In a mixing bowl combine coconut and icing sugar. 

2. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over low heat ,stirring occasionally,
until the butter has melted. Pour the mixture over the coconut and sugar.
Stir until all the ingredients are well combined. 

3. Using a melon ball scoop, shape 3-4 cm in diameter balls of the mixture. 

4. Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. 

5. Melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot,
not simmering water or in the microwave. Using a toothpick dip each ball in the warm
melted chocolate, place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Place in the fridge for 30-60 min to allow the chocolate harden before serving.
I sprinkled the tops of mine while still
unhardened with snowy looking sprinkles.

Homemade Turtles

• 1 c. butter 
• 1 can Eagle Brand milk 
• 1 lb. brown sugar 
• 1 c. light corn syrup 
• 1 tsp. vanilla Dash of salt
• 30 oz German dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate
• 1/3 bar paraffin 
• Pecans

In heavy pan, melt butter, add brown sugar and salt.
Stir in syrup gradually; cook to 245 degrees or almost hard boil.
Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pour in buttered 9 x 13
pan. Cut into squares; press pecans into each square of caramel
and form into small circular shapes. Melt chocolate and
paraffin together and pour in small circles on parchment paper.
Press caramel and pecan bunches onto semi hardened chocolate
circles. Pour more melted chocolate over caramel pecan patties.
Then drizzle with a different colored chocolate over the top
if you like. (As shown in photo.)

Enjoy!

Wishing you all the best!

love,

~dee

xoxo

a little play time in our day...

We have been spending our day making paper chains and playing in a blanket fort by the fire after a 4am wake up time this morning to go drop off our oldest son for a trip to Atlanta for his high-school arts group.

To be honest, I think I am too sleepy to do much else.

 I would love to sport one of these today that I found here.

xoxo

Happy Wednesday!

Hoping you find some time in your day to play too.

Love,

~dee

a little peek into our weekend...

Our weekend was filled with a little Christmas party with our wonderful neighbors and family,

cider and treats,

listening to Christmas carols, going on a long drive to look at pretty Christmas lights and watching snowflakes fall to the ground and melt away.

What filled your weekend, friends?

Happy Monday!!

Love,

~all of us

ooh my this week has flown by...

I got myself a new shorter haircut in a lighter, brighter red...

worked on making labels for some canisters which I think are kind of cute...

wrapped up a canvas to make our living room more festive...

hung some stockings with care...

found this wonderful sled for only 15 dollars (it reminds me of snowy days back home) and the adorable hand painted Santa is from Don's mom (isn't he a cutie?)...

 was gifted with these cute boots by my love...

and enjoyed all my trips in and out of our home due to the Christmas-y door decor.

It has been a busy one and I didn't even realize that I hadn't blogged all week.

Hoping your season is lovely and I would love to hear the highlights of your week.

Also lastly but not at all least:

Its my sweet little sister's birthday today!!

Wishing I was with her.

She is the bestest!

Happy Birthday, Lori! 

xoxo

Love,

~dee

weekend full of warmth, goodness &....

 candy cane lattes made by melting candy canes in hot coffee, adding two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and topping with whipped cream and a candy cane...

 

soft peppermints shared with our sweet little one...

 

making sweet Christmas-y cake stands with planters, ice cream cups, plates and vintage Christmas ornaments....

 

whipped up some white chocolate coconut truffles...

and we received a surprise visit to our neighborhood from Santa himself!!!

What a weekend!

How was yours?

Wishing you a happy week ahead!

xoxo

Love,

~us

our pre-christmas sale...

Send me a message prior to your purchase and I will adjust your price to 30% off between December 5th all week long until December 11th!!

Enjoy your weekend, friends!!

xoxo

Love,

~dee

oh christmas tree...

She isn't a real one like we planned but she is a  pretty pencil tree in her glory and a very generous and lovely gift from Don's parents this year.

We decked her out in Ikea along with some decorations we have accumulated throughout our years together.  For next year I am thinking we may try out some greys, whites and metals but for this year she is wearing candy cane red and white.

She is the glory of our living room this season and Bella's joy to light up each morning.

Happy December 1st, friends!

Enjoy your day!

xoxo

Love,

~dee

P.S.  For those of you who asked for the turtle recipe, I will try to do that up soon.  I made the recipe up myself, so it may take a bit for me to figure out how to word things and give you all proper measurements.  Thanks for your patience.