The other day at my day job I was chatting with Elle, a friend and reader of YAY!DIY about easy dip recipes. She shared the recipe below and I KNEW it was something I would love. First off, it has three ingredients. I mean, what could be more simple? And besides that, TWO of the THREE ingredients are cheese. Oh yes, I am the picture of health. 
Of course, I couldn’t just take Elle’s word that it was delicious, obviously I also had to test it out at this week’s LOST party.
Submitted by YAY!DIY friend, Alison
YAY!DIY friend Alison shared a great dessert recipe with us that she made for Sunday’s Oscars. And it looked so good, we had to share it with you. Alison’s husband is a HUGE pizza lover, so when I got her email, it made me smile. Pizza for dessert? Of course it came from their household!
This recipe is so easy and uses one of my MOST favorite things – Nutella. (A throw back to my years in Germany, AND it’s a chocolate that’s perfectly acceptable at breakfast time? What’s not to love?) I am definitely trying this out one night soon. Let me know if you’d like to be invited over for Champers and dessert that day!
Nutella Pizza
Ingredients:
1. Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
2. Hazelnuts
3. Nutella Directions:
Directions:
1. Bake the Trader Joe’s pizza crust according to directions.
2. While baking, chop and toast hazelnuts over low heat, adding a dab of butter to the pan so they don’t burn. (Alison didn’t say this, but I like to add a bit of sugar when I toast hazelnuts!)
3. Spread Nutella on the freshly-baked crust, while it’s still warm. 4. Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts and enjoy!
Alison is a good friend of YAY!DIY and the editor in chief of ESPN’s GIRL magazine – the first magazine focused on high school women and the sports they play. Read it here: http://espn.go.com/high-school-sports/rise/or become a fan on Facebook and follow the action here: facebook.com/espnrise.
I love cocktail hour. On my list of most favorite things in the world, it ranks pretty high. Like, well, really high. I love it even more when there’s fancy, shaken cocktails involved. Sure, I can enjoy a Bud Light, but when given the choice between a Bud Light and an expertly made Gin Fizz, we all know what wins.
Years ago a good friend gave me a really nice Cobbler shaker set that I used for years. Unfortunately, too much use and sugary drinks have left the top permanently stuck on the strainer. In the meantime, I’ve tried to figure out how to make a drink using a single shaker and glass method, to no avail. We’ve seen OJ, Pomegranate juice and myriad alcohols strewn all over my kitchen. So imagine how excited I was to see this piece on Apartment Therapy, which gives the glass and shaker apparatus a proper name – the Boston Shaker – and gives a step-by-step tutorial! Fabulous! Cocktails at my house this weekend!
Check out this Apartment Therapy post to see the tutorial for yourself!
The "Gypsy Garden" pattern from ChicShelfPaper.com.
If you have talked to me at any point in the last few months, chances are our conversation has gone a little something like this:
You: Hey Lia, how’s it going?
Me: OH MY GOD MOVING SUCKS. LANDLORDS SUCK! I HATE LIFE!
And then you walk away and I am filled with shame at my lack of control in complaining. However, the hard part is now behind me and I’m onto the more fun part of moving – decorating!
I wanted to provide a little punch for some shelves and drawers I now have that are very plain. I came across this really amazing online store called Chic Shelf Paper, which is exactly what its name implies – a collection of shelf papers that are beautiful, whimsical and everything in between. I love almost every pattern but am afraid that they’re just out of reach in terms of price.
But it got me thinking – is there an easy DIY way to make your own shelf paper on the cheap? I’m thinking contact paper and some type of plastic-y top sheet, but am not sure. This will be my mission for next week. But in the meantime, does anyone out there have any ideas or have you done this at home? Holler at us – we’d love to feature a great tutorial or two!
For years I’ve been collecting the extra buttons that come with new sweaters, button downs and pairs of pants. And since, as many of you know, I love things with buttons (who knew my cardigan obsession would be so handy?) I have no shortage of extras. But except for a few spare coat buttons, I’ve never actually needed to use any of them.
A few weeks ago, I found my stash in an unmarked box in my underwear drawer filed neatly away in a logical place, and I thought they were too pretty to just sit there, unloved. I thought about what crafty project I could use them in. There were buttons in all different sizes and colors: red, black, clear, white, fabric-covered, flower-shaped, etc. It was a bit overwhelming.
Then, I realized the buttons made me think about Anthropologie, and that got me thinking about using them to spice up a plain white tank. In my head I knew it would be cute – and I have to say, the end result turned out adorable! I can’t wait to wear it with my favorite chino shorts and what else – one of my five Jackie cardigans from JCrew. Darling, right? I could totally picture this number at Anthro – but my DIY version costs a fraction of what they would charge for something like this.
Here’s how you can do it at home: Read More→
As one of the bloggers of NonSociety, Jordan Reid caught our eye for her honest, fresh approach to DIY. Her “I’ll try anything once!” attitude is so refreshing – so much of DIY is experimenting with various methods and materials until you find the perfect combination. Jordan just gets that. We love that no matter if she’s whipping up a quick dinner for friends or repainting a piece of furniture, she keeps it real – detailing what went right and what can be done to improve the next time in each post. Oh, and she’s totally gorgeous and married to an equally good-looking indie musician. Jealous!
Jordan took some time out from her busy schedule to answer some questions on finding balance at home, navigating the path to domestic goddess-dom and some of her favorite DIY projects.
Pulling together a somewhat healthy and delicious meal during the week is tricky. Between work,
Cooking the sauce
happy hours and the gym, I never have time to make anything decent. I do, however, often go back to one of my mother’s staples that she made us growing up: Pasta with Tomatoes and Capers. It’s so easy but still amazingly delicious. It’s saved the day on more than one occasion – most often when I’ve invited friends over for dinner, only to realize that I don’t actually have time to make anything fancy and still eat dinner that same week!
My mother jotted down this recipe so I could share it with you.
Recipe after the jump…
February just kind of flew by didn’t it? We can hardly believe that on Monday it will be March 1 and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to focus on spring and the pretty pastel-colored crafts thereof.
But we’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to thank all of our readers, new and old, who visited us this month.
Thanks to interviews with wonderful ladies such as Gretchen Hirsch and guest posters like Alicia Wells – we more than doubled our traffic goals. To say we are excited is an understatement!
And we have so much more planned. Next month, we’ll be having our first giveaway and hopefully begin selling some of the extra crafts we make. In fact, we’re asking you to help us with both of these! What crafts have been your favorite? We will raffle them off. What would you like to see more of? We will get on it!
Thank you sincerely for visiting and please continue to do so. And tell your friends! (See you next month, har har.)
lia and erin
Last night I was tweeting away about the Vodka Pink Lemonade drink I had just made myself when I came across a tweet from Southern Living Magazine discussing a recipe for shredded pork BBQ Chili. Obviously, I stopped immediately and got on my laptop to check out any accompanying pictures and the recipe. I mean, wouldn’t you have? The description said the magic word for goodness sakes: Pork.
This is what I'm making for dinner Sunday. Maybe you'll be invited over!
I found the Southern Living recipe here. Looking over it, it looks incredibly easy. Just a few key ingredients: pulled pork that’s already prepared (I may try it with that kind you can buy in the tub), canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili seasoning and BBQ sauce. And then – wait for it – you serve it over cheese grits. Yep, this is pretty much what they serve in Heaven. You’ll find my review of the recipe and my guests’ reactions hopefully sometime next week. Until then, let me know if you test it out at home!
The most genius idea - the Yanko Design Circulating Fish Tank and Plant Pot
I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of getting a dog, but fear that my current schedule wouldn’t leave much time for its care. So I started thinking about something much lower-maintenance and remembered my beloved beta fish, Theo, who managed to live through several years of college with me.
My greatest joy with Theo was his tank – which was not your traditional glass bowl but a fake blender. It even had buttons you could press that yelled things in a tiny fish voice like, “Oh no! Nooo!” and “Not again!” I loved that blender almost as much as I loved Theo.
more after the jump….