Cupcakes, make them!

Hi people! My last post was about cupcakes, where to find them and how to "manage" them.  Rembember? Today, I wanna share with you two of my best and easiest recipes. The first cupcake we're gonna be doing is pink candy vanilla cupcake and the second is chocolate coconut cupcake (coco-choco in French please). You can see on the picture how they look like. Thank you Instagram :-) Don't hesitate to contact me if you have a question concerning the backing, the ingredients or the decoration.

Pink candy vanilla cupcake

For the cake:

-150g butter
-150g sugar
-175g flour
-1 t.s. baking powder
-3 eggs
-1 t.s. vanilla extract
-Salt

Mix all the ingredients together and fill the paper liners with the mixture. Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven. When the cakes are baked, you can squish some Amaretto on the cakes to add a bit of subtlety.

For the frosting:

-250g sugar
-125g butter
-2 egg yolks
-1 t.s. vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients together and use the mixture to create the topping of the cupcakes. You can decorate the cupcake with candies, candles or sugar ornaments. As you want.

Let's rock these cute cakes!

Chocolate coconut cupcake

Prepare the same mixture as for the Pink candy vanilla cupcake and add chocolate chips and coconut flavour to the dough. Here, you can decorate the cupcakes with coconut and chocolate powder.

Done! Please send me pictures of your cupcakes or other cute pastries!! Hope you'll enjoy baking these cakes as much as I do :-)

Cupcake! Yes, please!

 

 If you follow me on Pinterest or if you know me personaly, you probably know that I loooove cupcakes. I love to buy them and bake them. A cupcake is a a small cake topped with frosting and cute decorations. Where to buy them in Switzerland? How to bake them? How to present them? You'll find everything in this article.

Here are some websites of cupcake stores in Switzerland. I would say that the first two are my favorite. 

www.frosting.ch/cupcakes (Biel/Bienne)

www.cupcake-affair.ch (Zürich)

www.everydayisabirthday.ch/ (Geneva)

www.judescupcakes.com/ (Vevey)

http://www.cupcakeheaven.ch/ (Geneva)

www.gillianscakes.ch/pages/en/home.php (Zug, Zürich, Lucerne)

www.yumm-club.com/ (Basel)

www.cupcakesandthecity.ch/ (Geneva)

www.ohsweetestthing.com/ (Zürich)

If you're like me and you like to bake, you can try to do them yourself. All you need is flour, baking powder, butter, food coloring agent, eggs, sugar and a LOOOOOTTTT of imagination. For the decoration I usually use candies by Lolipop (http://www.lolipop.ch). My tip would be to create the cupcake at the last minute to keep all its taste (the cakes and the frosting can be kept refrigerated). 

Ok, now that you have your cupcakes, what do you do? Eat them, right? No, first you have to pack them. Here's how:

-You can put a cupcake in a cup or a mug as a gift or,

-You can use cupcake boxes (available at Globus).

You're good to go. Yay. Your belly will thank me, I swear! 

Pictures: Internet

Be the perfect host

Hey, there I am, after being M.I.A. for like 4 month. But yesterday I made the resolution to post an article at least every week. Yep!

Today I'm here to talk about hosting and throwing a party like a real master. It's not really complicated if you're organized and if you use easy tools, within reach of everybody. I chose this subject 'cause I'm hosting a little girls-night-out at my place in two weeks. I just started to prepare everything. Here are some guidelines that are, in my opinion, essential to please your guests and have fun (the purpose is not to spend the party as the crazy-psycho-bitch).

1) Use Pinterest to find inspiration. Create boards about yum food, sexy outfits, cozy atmospheres, etc...And print your boards. This will transform you from simple friend-organizing-a-party to amazing-entrepreneur. Seriously I do this ALL THE TIME (hmm since Pinterest has showed up). Here are the boards I use to "create" my event from A to Z. Btw, follow me on Pinterest pinterest.com/jeys23/!

2) Plan the event soon enough in order to have time to think about everything. Every detail counts! Did you think about the drinks? The food? The deco? The music? The guests? Yes?! You're good to go then!

3) Prepare a lil' something for your guests to take away as a souvenir after your party. Should it be a card, food and drinks decoration or pieces of ornament. Remember the time when you were a kid and when you received un-useful presents at birthday parties!

Enjoy and don't forget to have fun!

Pictures: Internet

You're the packaging

Hey there,

Here I am with a new post about style. Don’t freak out, it’s not going to be about another new trend (there are already so many different out there) or how to give you a headache in less than five minutes. No, this article is about fashion as a packaging. The title is pretty self explanatory, right?!

Here are the reasons why style is important. One: the way you dress (and behave) tells a lot about who you are. Indeed, clothes, jewelry and accessories help you express yourself and reveal to the world who’s the person hiding in that terrific body. Two: once you found “your own style” it gives you guidelines on how to dress, behave, talk, walk, etc. Three: when you wear the clothes you like, you are more confident and proud of yourself, which magically attracts other people (G&G: girls and guys).

Today I feel like sharing my own secret about style with you.

Rule number 1

Choose a role model, friend or celebrity, who inspires you and has a great sense of style and attitude, in your opinion. It’s important that you’re convinced about that person. Don’t choose someone just because the person is, let’s say, “cool". When you have your role model, just copy her/his style.

Rule number 2

Wear jewelry all the time. It can be in your hair, around your neck, wherever. Be sure to choose something that you’re comfortable with.

Rule number 3

Superimpose in order to give volume to your outfit. This can be done by wearing a vest. A jacket. Two tops. A belt. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

Rule number 4

Wear the shoes (anything) you like otherwise you’ll feel frustrated. I’m tall and I’m always thinking twice before wearing high heels and end up not wearing my favorite shoes at all. Just because I’m conscious about what people say. Since I’m in the United States, I don’t care anymore about what people think. I wear my heels and feel good about it.

Rule number 5

Elect your favorite piece. I just bought some cowgirl boots (dah, I’m in Kansas now!!!) and they are already consecrated as “THE Boots”. They fit with everything and are exactly what I was looking for.

This week is Thanksgiving Recess, a good opportunity to dress up a little bit and try out some new things (sounds like New Year resolutions). So, let’s go! Happy Thanksgiving everybody J

Update Scratch Book

Hey you all,

I know I didn't post anything for a while and I’m sorry for that. 

I was reading my last post and figured out I didn't show you any examples of scratch books. The one on the top of the page is my current agenda, here, in the United States. Some people might think it’s a little bit “girly” but it’s actually a really good way to organize your life in a fun way. I’m usually easily stressed out but I learned that writing things down in a planner helps you calm down. Putting “stuffs” I like in my agenda makes me feel more excited about ALL the things I got to do. So, grab yours! All you need are scissors, glue and nice pictures (I usually use magazines or flyers). 

Send me a picture of you creation! I love it!

Outside In Vol. 2

There I am with a second post about packaging. As promised, I will tell you my secret. Packaging re-usage, or how to give bags, bows and boxes a second life. Below are seven rules or tips that I recommend to stick to in order to have fun while impressing people and friends.

Rule number 1

Add volume! Volume (not necessary size) makes a present look more generous. Volume can be added by using different patterns (don’t use more than three different) and textures (mixing tissue paper with fabric for example is perfectly OK). Don’t be afraid to use a lot of material such as tissue paper! Tissue paper is soft and visually flattering. I love tissue paper!

Rule number 2

Re-use H&M gift boxes! It’s free, simple enough to be personalized and fashionable. What could be better? These boxes are perfect for cookies or small pieces of cloth such as a scarf or a top. And don’t forget the tissue paper!

Rule number 3

Do it yourself! Reuse old unbranded boxes and stick your favorite magazine ads and picture on it. Make sure to stick to one unique theme, pattern or color in order to create uniformity.

Rule number 4

Use nodes and bows! Yes, even if you’re a guy! Anything that brings volume is good to take! See rule number 1.

Rule number 5

Use many different paper bags‘ first side to create a creative wall poster. Keep the coves to make it more special. This is a good way to expose your favorite item, to give some originality to a room and to create a background for pictures being taken inside. I promise, it gives every picture this “red carpet” look.

Rule number 6

Do scratch books and cards! It’s easy. Cut! Glue! Dispose! Done! The most expert of you might have a different technique but I thought that this was a quite efficient one.

Rule number 7

Be creative! Use a different theme according to the occasion! Girly. Fancy countryside. Classy black and white. New classy gray and white (see the look of this blog).

Well, I guess you’re ready. Enjoy!

You might also like this article: Outside In

Outside In

I'm sure you could identify the brands above in the twinkling of an eye, even though only a small part of the packaging is shown. Packaging is like a game. When I see a small part of an ad, a logo or a product, I always try to guess what brand it belongs to. Come on, you do that too!

Packaging helps customers identify an already known product and, therefore, increases the purchase probability. For example, if I'm traveling to a foreign country I would be more likely to by Pringles potato chips than an unknowned brand. 

Another way of seeing packaging is recycling. I'm not talking here about the fact of separating recyclables. A container, box or bag, might be used in a wide manner such as:

• a wall poster
• a scratch book element
• a gift wrap

In my next post, I'll try to give you ideas to make your own packaging by using everyday' "stuffs". Creative and smart.