The Man and I don’t do Valentine’s Day, but it is a good excuse to have a nicer than usual dinner at home and even indulge in dessert.

Being mid-week though, it needs to be simple, plus it’s really hot this week here so a no-cook dessert is definitely the way to go.

I bought these pre-made mini pavlova nests and filled with lemon curd (I had a homemade batch in the fridge – what, don’t you? – but you can buy it from gourmet supermarkets) then topped with blueberries.

Ready in two minutes flat, it’s the perfect dessert for V-Day tonight or for any summer dinner party where you’re short on time.

Whatever your plans, I hope you have a lovely night!

Keen to get back into socialising after our time away from home, The Man and I invited some friends over for dinner on the weekend. The couple is mad about anything Japanese so it’s become a bit of a tradition to have themed dinner parties.

I’m generally a fairly confident cook but Japanese is definitely a gap in my culinary expertise, so it’s always a fun challenge trying new things. This time, I wanted to concentrate on the main course (I was cooking tuna for the first time) and just have a simple summer dessert.

I used some green tea ice cream from the local Asian grocer, topped with crushed ginger nut biscuits and served with sesame snaps (and sake, naturally). The combination of flavours and textures worked really well. (Although I have to admit to being more excited about using my new Anthropologie bowls than the actual dessert!)

Do you have any store-bought desserts that you tizz up to present to guests?

As you know, I run my stationery business from home. With it comes a whole bunch of packaging and shipping supplies which I keep in one side of the buffet cabinet in my office. The shipping gear on the bottom shelf was working quite well, but the packaging on the top shelf? Not so much.

On more than one occasion I had ordered more cellophane bags, thinking that I’d run out, then finding I had them all along but they were buried. Or worse, I had gone to start packaging up some products in their cellophane bags, only to find I had actually run out.

After a quick trip to Ikea, I added a couple of the Rationell Variera shelf inserts and my cello bags, labels and note card boxes are now divided up so I can easy see and access everything.

Only a quick and cheap hack, but anything that saves me time searching for things and makes my business run that bit smoother gets a huge tick in my book.

One last post to squeeze in before the long weekend. Head over to Polka Dot Bride to see how to make these recycled jar vases, the perfect budget-friendly centrepiece for weddings… or perhaps a last-minute Easter brunch? You never know, you might even have all you need already on hand like I did.

Do you come back from the hardware store with fistfuls of colour chips every time you embark on a new painting project, even though you know you’ve probably got half of them at home already? By any chance does it have something to do with the fact that they’re all in a big jumbled mess like mine were?

I grabbed some hinged rings and a hole punch and ten minutes later, voila! Paint chips all sorted into their colours and brands so next time it will be easier to flip through to select. Bonus points

Painting’s not so bad, it’s the clean-up that’s annoying, right? Well, not any more if you use this nifty trick of lining your paint roller tray with alfoil.

See this and other clever painting hacks at Martha Stewart.

I have a super quick and easy project to take a regular cake and make it suitable for a special occasion (in this case my mother in law’s birthday). You might even have everything you need on hand already.

You will need:

• Coloured paper cut into strips
• Wooden skewers
• Sticky tape
• Scissors

1. Fold your paper in an accordion style.

2. Cut about three-quarters up the bottom of the accordion, making the cuts close together.

3. Unfold the paper.

4. Tape one end of the paper to the blunt end of the skewer. If you are making bunting, repeat on other end of the paper and you’re done. If making starbursts, continue on to the next step.

5. Roll up the rest of the paper strip and secure with sticky tape.

6. Tease out the paper ‘fronds’ until you get a nice full shape.

Oh, and the cake itself? Best. Cake. Ever.

I used this recipe for hummingbird cake with cream cheese icing. Many commenters noted that it produced an enormous amount of icing. I chose to ignore their advice of reducing it because I believe there is no such thing as too much cream cheese icing. Turns out they were right, but that was easily fixed by making a quick batch of cupcakes to send off to The Man’s work.

Check out examples of my work or drop me a line to enquire or place your order.

We were given some fun, brightly coloured tealight holders as a housewarming gift. I do like a nice bright colour here and there, but a whole bunch of them together I found difficult to work into our decor and as cute as they were I was never quite sure what to do with them.

Fast forward to last Christmas when I received a whole box full of craft supplies from my in laws (squeal!) including a silver leaf pen. I was itching to do something with it but couldn’t work out what, until I remembered the candle holders.

As you can see, they’re more of a satin metallic rather than a true silver foil like the vase, but that’s fine. I think the pen is designed for small embellishments not to cover large areas like this so you’d definitely achieve a better finish by using actual leaf. But for ten minutes’ work and zero dollars I’m happy with the result. I think they’ll prove much more versatile now.

Check out examples of my work or drop me a line to enquire or place your order.

Yesterday I shared how I updated a tired old buffet, but the interior still left a lot to be desired.

Can you imagine storing your cutlery on that scungy green felt? Yech. I’ll be using to store craft and packaging supplies so it doesn’t have to be good enough to eat off but still definitely needed to go.

I assumed the felt was inserted separately into each section, but it was actually one whole piece so it was a little trickier than anticipated.

It also left a lot of residue, but that was easily removed with a damp cloth and a paint scraper.

I swear I drove all over town looking for some decent wrapping paper that would suit the room’s palette of yellow, grey and white (and now blue). I didn’t find what I was looking for, but this silver and white contemporary lace pattern will do (it is only inside a drawer after all). I just cut it by eye (if anyone has any tricks please leave them in the comments!) and stuck on with some double-sided tape. The metallic finish was hard to photograph, so here’s a closeup:

I suspect all the other drawers in the house are feeling a tad jealous.

I love a home with plenty of books, but let’s face it: they don’t always go with the decor.

With the landing bookcase I shared yesterday, I want a classic look that’s a lot more toned down than much of our home. I’m planning to enlarge and frame a black and white wedding photo to hang above it, so too many garish book spines will ruin the look.

I found these gorgeous watercolour patterns over at August Empress. I simply printed them out on my home printer, cut to size and folded around the books (if they’re books you use often, I’d suggest protecting them with clear contact).

I used (from top):
Chevron watercolour pattern
Geometric watercolour pattern (subtle light grey so it’s hard to see in the photo)
Floral watercolour pattern

The patterns are free for personal use and there are more colours and patterns than I’ve shown here, so head over to check them out.