2 Ingredient Truffles |

This year I am making Chocolate Truffles to give as gifts.

I found this super easy recipe for Two Ingredient Truffles on the Mom of All Trades Blog.

Here is a quick break down of the recipe:

The Two Ingredients:
- 1 Pkg of Chocolate Chips
- 1 Brick of Cream Cheese

- Let Cream Cheese soften for about 20mins in a bowl - cream/whip it

- Melt the Package of Chocolate Chips (in 30 second incriments so as not to burn it)

- Blend the cream cheese and chocolate together


- Use a spoon to scoop out small portions of the chocolate - drop them on a wax paper covered cookies sheet. (I was able to get 24 truffles from this recipe)

- Place the sheet(s) in fridge for about 1 hour.


- After the truffles are chilled and can be handled without melting take them out of the fridge and roll them into more of a ball shape.

- Then roll the truffle in a 'topping' of your choice.

The Toppings I Used:
- Coconut
- Walnuts and Pecans Chopped up
- Coco Powder
- Christmas coloured sprinkles
- Skor Bit Chips


Recipe Variation:
I also made a second batch using dark chocolate chips and I added in a 1/4 cup of crunchy peanut butter so that those truffles will have peanuts in them! A Yummy combination!


Wrapping the Truffles:
I got cute mini cupcake wrappers from Bulk Barn that are Christmas Theme and I also got nice see through red candy containers to arrange the truffles in. I will tie them up with ribbon and place a tag on each to give them as gifts.

Have a yummy Christmas Season!

Our 2011 Christmas Greeting |

KO TWO Designs Featured in a Starbucks Wedding Shoot |

The Post is Up! The Wedding Chicks Blog picked up the photo shoot, put together by Blossom Events, that several of my designs are featured in.

Click HERE to see the blog post on The Wedding Chicks Website.

And Click HERE to view all of the items I created for the shoot in my Etsy Shop.

** Be sure to click on 'View Entire Gallery' at the bottom of the images to see ALL of the images.

Images from the post featuring my designs:

The "Coming" Of Christmas |

I read a friend's blog post today and she mentioned advent candles. I didn't grow up lighting candles at home in commemoration of advent but we did of course have the classic chocolate calendars that my mom would get for us each year. My brother loved to yell down the hall each morning telling me what the image on the chocolate was of to spoil the surprise for me, I always loved to guess what the image on the chocolate would be first and then open the little door to reveal the chocolate waiting inside!

But today when I looked up 'Advent' I found that the word itself is from the Latin 'adventus' meaning "Coming". It reminded me of how important it is to celebrate the "coming" of Christ at Christmas, not only that he came to earth as a baby (the reason we celebrate Christmas) but that he is coming again which is definitely something to celebrate!

Instead of the classic 'advent wreath', or an advent calendar, I had the idea of placing 12 mini candles down the runner of the table and hanging a nativity ornament or tag on each candle (perhaps in the order of the Christmas Story) and then each night at dinner you could light one candle and read a portion of the Christmas Story (Separating the story into 12 different sections). That way on Christmas eve the last candle would be lit and the Christmas story completed. You could use traditional advent candle colours or something that compliments your dinning room. Then you could make the last candle purple (the colour of royalty to symbolize Jesus as King) or white perhaps - setting the last candle apart from the rest.

Since my table is already decorated this year I might do this next year - but I mocked up what it might look like (below) and also shared some images of nativity ornaments/tags that you could hang on each candle.

I can image how beautiful the table would be fully lit with candles and can image the excitement and anticipation that would come as each candle was lit and as the table slowly began to get brighter approaching Christmas. It would be a great family tradition and it would be a meaningful way to tie in the Christmas story at each meal leading up to Christmas as well - Counting down not to "Present Day" but to CHRISTmas Day!

Cute Christmas Creations |

I wanted to share some of the super cute Christmas treats that I have come across that I would like to TRY to make this year for the various Christmas events we will be attending.

Fruit Christmas Tree - I found this on Pinterest and it is originally from the Ginger and Garlic blog.Vegetable Christmas Tree - When I came across this Veggie tree today I LOVED that it matched the fruit tree! You could do one of each to bring to a party or family event and have a 'forest of food' on the buffet table. Check out how to make it on Wanna Green Bean's Blog


Cheese Platter Tree - Love this idea too and it is a bit more simple than the above trees.


Cheese Tree - Instead of the classic cheese ball that I usually do for Christmas I want to try to make one of these 'cheese trees'. I think I would use red, yellow and green peppers to decorate it instead of the jelly sauce.


Chocolate Truffles - I am for sure going to be making chocolate truffles this year to give as gifts. I got coco powder, coconut, walnuts and pecans and Christmas coloured sprinkles to make various flavours.

Oh the lovely treats of the holidays! Happy Creating!

Caribbean Cruise |

My husband and I recently booked our very first CRUISE!
We are VERY excited!

We are going on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise to the following places:

We will be cruising on the grand Princess:

The Grand Princess recently went through Dry Dock Renovation and so there are many updates and it looks like it will be really nice:


I am currently sewing some dresses/shirts to wear on the trip (possibly a post to come soon showing how those turn out) and I am researching each ports of call to see what the best places and things to do and see are.

If you are cruise addict or someone who has been on a princess cruise, OR to these ports of call let me know if you have any suggestions or advice about cruising.

Little Penelope's Parties |

Last week I opened up my new ETSY Shop:
Little Penelope's Parties.

I had been meaning to open it for awhile as I had a few of my Children's Party designs listed in my KO TWO Designs shop and the bright colours of these items kinda threw off the rustic wedding vibe that shop has.

Penelope's Parties is a design shop that provides customized print-it-yourself designs so that party planners everywhere can have access to QUICK, CUTE and CUSTOM cards right away (no waiting on the mail).

So watch out for lots more items to come including more kids party invites, shower invites, stag and doe tickets and more!

Here are a few of the card designs listed in Penelope's Parties so far:

Newspaper Style Save the Date

YAY!
Another Feature!

My 'Newspaper Style Save the Dates' were featured on Emmaline bride.
Check out the post HERE

They were featured in the 'Proposal Story' section of their 'Save the Date' feature because my newspaper save the dates are a neat way to share your proposal story with your guests. You can also share details about your upcoming wedding and even add in a few quotes from the bride and groom!

They are an inexpensive 'Print-It-Yourself' item and can be found in my ETSY shop HERE

Thanks for checking them out!

Pinterest |

A friend recommended Pinterest to me and I just started using it and I LOVE it! It is so nice to have a place online to quilckly save/post things that I like, or that inspire me. It is also a helpful tool to use when planning a party, or a room makeover so that you can save your ideas and inspiration quickly and easily all in one place!

You can check out my boards HERE

I hope more of my friends start using it as I love to 'follow' people that I know on Pinterest!
Its fun to share ideas and inspiration!

A Wedding I Photographed Was Featured on Emmaline Bride |

Jenna and Aaron's beautiful orchard theme wedding that I took photos of this past spring was featured on Emmaline Bride.

Check out the post HERE

Quick, Easy and Cute DIY Projects |

I found a few cute and easy DIY projects that I want to try soon and thought I would share:

Hankie Table Runner | I was recently given some antique hankies and I thought this would be a great use for them (since I don't plan to blow my nose with them) | Found HERE on Country Living

Multi Vase Flower Centre Piece | So easy to do and a great country cottage look. I would use a variety of vases and maybe even some mason jars putting the tallest vases in the middle surrounded by the shorter vases in the front | Found HERE on Country Living

Button Lampshade | I saw this DIY project in a book I got from the Library, but here is a photo of what they look like found HERE

Button Initial | I found this in Pretty Cute Pink's Shop on Etsy, but you can find the DIY instructions HERE | Very simple to do and would look really cute in a kids bedroom.

Lemon Strawberry Jar Cakes | Such a cute idea! Individual desserts served in mason jars | Recipe found HERE

Happy Crafting~!

Home County Folk Festival | 2011

Being my first year here in the city we decided to check out the Home County Folk Festival, and what made it even more of an enticing event was that my favourite artist, Hawksley Workman, was performing on Saturday night.

Here is a clip (not shot be me) of one of his songs from the night! A GREAT Concert!



Hawksley's Site

Shop Local...Online!

I think it is awesome to support local artists instead of buying from large main stream companies and chain stores. So I thought I would do a feature on a few cute local shops that I came across on Etsy. Shopping local is already close to home, and now it can be even closer by shopping local ONLINE, from the comfort of your home office / computer desk!

Here are a few of the neat local online shops I have come across |

London Ontario's Fancy Cuts - They sell adorable iron on appliques for baby's onesies, children's clothes and more! My favourite items are the iron on ties for on little boy's onesies and shirts.


London Ontario's Neck Candy Collars - A neat shop for pet owners who love to stylize their pets in hip and colourful collars. My favorites are the bow tie and flower collars!


Kitchener Ontario's Merrily - A shop that is everything Retro! I LOVE her 50's style aprons, they are very affordable and would be a great addition to a retro bridal shower gift.


Kitchener Ontario's Hawt Home -This shop has beautiful throw pillows in it that are made with funky and vibrant fabrics. They even do custom monograms and words such as 'love' and 'home' and even 'Mr. and Mrs.' pillows making them a great gift option for weddings!


Kitchener / Waterloo Ontario's Craftabulous - She sells some really unique items. My favourite are her 'Love Measures' earrings and pins. She uses various colours of seamstress measuring tapes to make these items, they would be so cute to give to friends who love to sew.


Hamilton Ontario's Adeline's Attic Vintage - This shop has amazing vintage pieces all organized by decade. A great shop for anyone who loves wearing vintage or who is needing costume pieces for an event or photo session.


St. Catharines Ontario's Bombshell Blooms - She creates gorgeous hair flowers that would be great for any occasion and I think would be especially nice for bridesmaids to wear!


My Online Local Shop - KO Two Designs - A shop full of handmade wedding creations.


Do you know of any fabulous local online shops? Let me know about them n the comments area below - or post a link to your own online shop in the comments! It will be great to have a directory of awesome local shops for people's personal and gift buying needs!

Our Wedding Was Featured On ... Emmaline

So excited! Our wedding was featured on Emmaline Bride.

Here is the link to the post on our wedding Rustic Real Wedding with DIY Charm.


They included many photos as well as all of the descriptions of various items / DIY projects below the photos at the bottom of the post!

Thanks Emmaline Bride!

Many of the items I created for my own wedding I now sell in my Etsy Shop for those planning a similar themed wedding!


Our Wedding Vendors:

Photography By Jenn and Dave Stark
Flower By Bella's Floral Boutique
Cake by Mill Street Cakes
Venue Balls Falls Conservation Area
Tissue Pom Pom Decorations by Bryar Strutt with Event Essentials
Catering by Diane and Dave Beasley