Design & Decor Blog

Every day, it’s inevitable. Around 3pm in the afternoon, I start to crave sugar. I just seem to need an extra jolt to push me through to the end of the day. And today, the perfect match for my sweet tooth would most certainly be these lemon cupcakes.

Excerpted from Cupcake Kit: Recipes, Liners, and Decorating Tools for Making the Best Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, this recipe is easy and makes a delightfully delicious sweet treat.

“Lemons are always in season and these lemon cupcakes are ready to party, to picnic, to lunch, or to take part in any happy occasion.

The yellow part of the lemon peel has a strong lemon flavor and is used to flavor the cupcake batter and frosting. Be sure to wash and dry lemons before grating the peel, and to grate only the colored part of the rind (the white pith under the rind is bitter). The cake flour used here adds an especially tender texture to these cupcakes. It can be found in the baking section of supermarkets.”

Get the entire lemon cupcake recipe! Plus, check out our food section for more easy recipes.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about one of my favourite things: stationery! In recent years, I admit I’ve become a bit of a tech junkie; if you’re one, too, check out Lauren McPhillips’ blog Tech Style. I love my little gadgets like my laptop, BlackBerry and iPod Touch. But even still, I love the tactile nature of notebooks and journals. I love feeling the smooth cover of a beautiful diary beneath my fingers and flipping through the pages of an old agenda book. So, despite being pretty nicely outfitted with gadgets, I still find myself turning to the old standbys of pen and paper to record important things. My newest find are these lovely products from Jenni Bick.  Featuring an assortment of journals, photo albums, specialty papers, invitations and gift-wrap, this site is a paper lover’s treasure trove. Two of my favourites are pictured here. Snow & Graham sticky note blocks (above) are $14.50 each and the Moderno Italian bonded leather journals (right) in pretty spring colours are $25 each.

For more information, visit jennibick.com.

You might also be interested in:

Organizing 101: Stationery
This primer on organizing stationery makes staying connected with friends and family easy.

Pretty paper
Revive the art of hand-written letters with lovely stationery.

Flower invitations, menus and placecards
Download our free flower invitations, menus, and place cards!

How to: Organize your home office
Designer tricks for turning your home office into an attractive and efficient workspace.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter!

Are you getting excited for Christmas? I am! If you’re expecting guests and want to impress, adorn your holiday table with the festive colour of red. I love this centerpiece idea.

Available at: Restoration Hardware
Price: $62.99

Delight your guests with a table that looks perfectly pulled together. It’s really not that hard. Pretty placemats, tablecloths and table runners instantly dress up a table and at trendexhome.com, you’ll find a huge assortment of styles, colours and patterns to choose from. The simple gesture of dressing your table will let your guests know that you care enough to go to a bit of trouble for them (though it’s really no trouble at all!).  Or if you’re dining solo, it’s nice to do something special for yourself and set a pretty table before you sit down to eat. Boldly patterned pieces, like the ones pictured here, are a whimsical way to liven up stark white dishware. If your crockery is bold enough on its own, choose from simple but elegant solid colours – trendexhome.com has a wide assortment; you’re sure to find something that’ll suit your table just right!

These products also make a great Christmas present. Order by December 1 for delivery by December 22 in Canada and the United States.

For more information, visit trendexhome.com. For inspiring ideas for dressing your table in style, check out Style at Home’s tabletop section.

Nothing says rest and relaxation more to me than cozying up with a hot cup of tea and as the weekend approaches, I welcome the chance to sit down and unwind. Wrapping my hands around a hot cuppa and inhaling the fresh aroma of a perfectly brewed cup of tea seems to melt my stress away. This tea set from Mighty Leaf is a sweet treat for the tea lover and comes with an assortment of tasty teas to try: Breakfast Americana, Organic Earl Grey, Bombay Chai, Orange Dulce and Vanilla Bean. Mmm! I can just feel myself starting relax! Once you’ve got your mug in hand, start a new tradition with styleathome.com’s guide to teatime etiquette, plus find tips for brewing the perfect cup of tea.

Available online at: mightyleaf.ca

These nifty notecards from Felix Doolittle make me think of the Beatrix Potter books I used to pore over as a child. Not only is the artwork reminiscent of Beatrix’s style but the size and shape of the notecards is just like her books … perfect for small hands. (Does that matter or am I just rambling?) If you’re as fanatical about pretty paper as I am, you’ll surely want to add this find to your list of must-shop stationery stores. The designs come in themed collections, notecards, invitations, memo papers, even baker’s labels. Even though these pretty delights are born and raised in West Newton, Massachusetts, you can shop online and have them shipped to Canada via UPS. We LOVE the Internet!

Available online at: Felix Doolittle

Hungry yet? How beautiful are these designs from The Cupcake Shoppe, based in Toronto? These cupcake creations are so pretty, they look good enough to eat … and luckily, you can do just that! Go ahead, devour a dozen! I won’t breathe a word.

Available at: The Cupcake Shoppe; visit thecupcakeshoppe.ca for more information
Price: depends how hungry you are

House guests often get a bad rap. It’s not easy being one. While visiting friends and family can be wonderful and oftentimes, these visits are long overdue … staying over one or two nights might just remind you why you don’t do it more often. It can just be plain difficult to adapt to someone else’s life at home. But if you are going to be a house guest for a night or two, start things off right from the moment you step foot inside the house you’ll be calling home for a little while. Show up bearing gifts. Bribe your host or hostess with something that’s sure to delight. Pictured left to right: Happy Hour Carafe and Glasses ($32), Towering Espresso Set ($32) and Weighted Sphere Vase ($72), all from violet.com.