Thanksgiving is coming up so fast! I’m headed to Washington DC for Thanksgiving to spend it with Idan’s family; how about you?

Because I’m not always super useful in the kitchen (unless I’m baking), I thought it would be nice to bring some decor items to spruce up the Thanksgiving table a bit. We’ll see how much I actually have time to make, or how much I can realistically bring on a plane… I pulled together some cute DIYs from across the web that I thought would help make your Thanksgiving a little more fun (if pie doesn’t do it for ya)!

Corn husk candy favors – These are just darling, don’t you think? And super, super easy. These would also be a great gift for co-workers to thank them for a November well done. And they could be great place cards as well!

Leaf napkin rings – These are made pretty easily with air dry clay and add a handmade touch to any dinner table, especially Thanksgiving!

Pie-painted macarons – Oh come on, how cute are these?! Probably not for the faint of heart, but I have faith in you. You could totally buy store-bought macarons to make these, too! Nobody will ever know.

Pie Stencils – Click through for even more pie stencils where this came from (this one was my favorite out of the bunch). Super easy, and again, could definitely be done with store-bought pie (Costco makes the best pumpkin pie!!).

Pumpkin pie garland – SO EASY! And so stinking cute. I wanna eat it.

Pumpkin pie placecard boxes – Fill with candy! You can either place one at each person’s seat, or put them all together into a pie and have everyone grab one later as a treat! Also, if you don’t have a Cricut or Silhouette machine, you can always hand-write peoples’ names.

Other fun Thanksgiving things!

How to host a Friendsgiving dinner 

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I couldn’t wait even 4 days to blog about this Shabbat dinner. Similar to last year’s rooftop Shabbat, I got a call from my friend Marissa from OneTable who wanted to put together a Shabbat al-fresco towards the end of summer. After how well last year turned out, how could I say no?

The Venue

The dinner was in the garden at Christy Webber Farm & Garden–a branch of Christy Webber Landscapes in Chicago. The idea of having a Shabbat dinner outside in a garden sounded too good to be true to me; luckily, it exceeded even my wildest dreams.

The Tablescapes

I love a good tablescape. My new friends at Christy Webber Farm & Garden helped me out in this department–I had a vision and they elevated it with fresh greenery, pumpkins, and gourds! I brought the tablecloths, gold chargers, and plastic plates and silverware.

I also made the candlesticks. They are SO easy to make (exactly like these DIY menorahs from last year), and I bought the actual candles from the dollar store. I outfitted all the tables for about $20 and 10 minutes of work. You just glue the 3/4″ copper tubing  (specifically called a “coupling”) from Home Depot to these wooden blocks. If you don’t feel like making your own candlesticks, the below are just as cute!

I bought all the tablecloths, plates, plastic silverware, etc. on Amazon:

The Place Cards

I created these place cards using my Cricut (shocker), and they turned out really cute! I just cut out a square with a score line in the middle, and cut a leaf shape out on one side of them. I used a white gel pen to write people’s names, and voila! I put the place cards inside so people would see them on their way out to the garden. (See more Cricut projects here)

The Wine

I don’t think it’s a secret at this point that I’m obsessed with Chloe Wine. Their pinot grigio is my go-to, and I was so happy they offered to provide the wine for this special evening! There was barely a drop left at the end of the night. Plus, it’s so pretty!

The Appetizer

As an appetizer, I put together a cheese board made with goodies from Trader Joes. It’s surprisingly easy to put together cheese boards like you see at fancy events; I couldn’t believe how well it turned out! Shout out to my friend Lauren who helped me set up the dinner AND put the final cheese board together. I just bought all the supplies!

Everything you see here on the cheese board was about $50 total (for the food):

• 2 apples
• Blueberries
• Red grapes
• Cheddar cheese
• Goat cheese
• Gruyere cheese
• Apple jam
• Fig & olive crisps
• Brioche toasts
• Assorted crackers

The actual marble slab ($50) is a Crate & Barrel piece I bought this year. It’s extremely heavy, but I can’t tell you how many compliments I get on it. It is sooo perfect for these types of large appetizers, and I keep it on display in my kitchen when it’s not in use!

The Main Course

For dinner, I had Doc B’s catered. The manager at the River North location was so nice; we basically called him and said “we have 30 people coming for dinner and want to keep it light; here’s our budget, can you help us put together a menu?”, and he put together the perfect dinner. It was an assortment of salads and 2 sandwich platters. I would 100000% order from them again!

Side note: the dishes that went the fastest were the Tangled Noodle Salad and the Brussels Sprouts Salad. I highly recommend these dishes if you’re ordering from them!

The Dessert

Sadly I didn’t photograph the dessert, and I’m not entirely sure how I missed this! I picked up black and white cookies from Manny’s Deli in Chicago. They are the yummiest and I just cannot resist a black and white cookie. The key is to get a bite of both the chocolate side and vanilla side at the same time. If you don’t get that reference, please see here.

I should also mention that my friend Eshley also made 3 dessert challahs, so we were SET in the sweets department.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make my dream Shabbat a reality!

• Effie at Christy Webber Farm & Garden for being the most gracious host I could ever ask for
• My friend Lauren for coming 2 hours early to help me set up
• My friend Eshley for making SIX challahs, which were gone in approximately six seconds
• My friend Taryn for candy-ing the almonds for the cheese board, and for taking a ton of photos when I was busy setting up and greeting people
• OneTable for providing the grant that made this dinner happen; if you’re looking to host or attend a Shabbat dinner in your city, sign up for their platform! It’s the BEST!
• All 30 people who showed up, ate good food, drank good wine, and spent the most wonderful evening together making new friends

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One thing that immediately unites me with people is a shared love of this timeless show, and when I met my friend Casey, it was no exception.

Casey is getting married this fall (yayyyy!!!) and after stalking her registry for the perfect shower gift, I noticed she had a trifle bowl listed, along with some serving spoons. DONE, I thought. After all, if you are a Friends fan, you are probably thinking exactly what I was thinking. Who can resist cackling at this classic scene?

It also turned out perfectly that Taryn and I were getting her gift together, and the three of us bonded over Friends during our 2 years working together at our old job. The stars REALLY aligned here.

Of course, I made these using my Cricut machine (more DIY projects with that here). While I did need to spend a bit of time weeding out all the letters, it was so worth it–I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out!

I linked the SVG files for all 3 towels here, but if you don’t have access to a Cricut and just HAVE to have these, shoot me an email or a DM on Instagram and we can work something out. ;)

Shop Supplies Here:

Love you Case!! Can’t wait for your wedding! 

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Sweet, sweet summertime. It’s finally here and I am LIVING for it. I vowed to travel less this summer and spend more time in Chicago, and so far it’s working out really well (aside from our Paris and London trip, but no complaints there).

I’ve seen these little Mochi Ice Creams every time I’ve gone to Whole Foods in the past year, but hadn’t tried them until now… and I just love these things! If you don’t already know, Mochis are bite-sized ice creams wrapped in sweetened rice dough. They’re perfect little finger food desserts! Of course, I wanted to figure out a way to make them even cuter for hosting purposes… because of who I am as a person.

Making pops out of them seemed like the perfect thing! And, honestly, the easiest. Because during the summer, who wants to spend all day in the kitchen?!

To make these pops, I used some pretty simple ingredients:
Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream
Lollipop Sticks
Assorted sprinkles (I used these, these, these, and these)
Candy Melts

The candy melts were easier to melt than I thought they would be – I just put them in a glass microwave-safe container and melted according to the package instructions!

While they were melting, I put the candy sticks in the mochis to get ready for dipping. Once they got dipped, they got sprinkled!

I put the pops on a plate to dry, and once they were mostly dry, stuck them in the freezer. It’s important to not put them into the freezer right after you’ve dipped them, or they’ll cool too fast and crack when you try to move them! Let them cool at room temperature for a few minutes, THEN transfer to the freezer.

Bubbies carries a TON of flavor options, but for this project I used vanilla (my favorite), and passionfruit (Idan’s favorite). You can find them at your local Whole Foods Market, or by using their in-store locator online.

Another pro tip: I served these little guys on a French marble slab — this was helpful because it stayed cool and helped the Mochis not melt as fast.

If you think far enough in advance, you can also put the marble slab in the freezer for a few hours to help it stay cooler longer!

Enjoy! If you’re entertaining this summer, this easy summer dessert idea is sure to be a hit.

This post was sponsored by Bubbies Ice Cream, a brand I love. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Love Always, Audrey running!

If you loved this post, you’ll love these:
The Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
DIY Mi Casa es Su Casa Doormats
Guinness Chocolate Mousse

Save it for later:

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It’s been a minute since I’ve posted a DIY on here! I’ve been thinking on this particular one for quite a while so I’m SUPER excited to finally share it with you guys.

A few months ago, I came across this doormat on one of my all-time favorite blogs, designlovefest. It immediately reminded me of the doormat that has graced my grandma’s front door in Arizona ever since I can remember:

The doormat from The Woodsfolk inspired me to make my own version! Using my Cricut Explore Air 2, I created some stencils and used Martha Stewart Outdoor Paint to stamp up a plain doormat. NOTE: SVG files are at the end of this post!

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Here are the details for your own DIY Mi Casa es Su Casa Doormats:

I opened Cricut Design Space and created a big pink rectangle the exact size of my doormat – I wanted to be able to line everything up perfectly. This particular mat is 30″x18″.

I then created my stencils in Adobe Illustrator and exported those files to SVGs. Then, I imported them to Cricut Design Space and re-colored everything by which mat I wanted them to be on.

When importing text, it’s important to make sure you “weld” all your text together, or else they will cut all jumbled up. See how they imported separately below? The weld tool is one of my best friends.

Then it was time to cut! I cut everything into some leftover poster board that I had lying around. I have a few bigger mats (longer than the typical 12″x12″) and that was important for keeping elements of this project all together.

While everything was cutting, I painted the doormat a base layer of pink. Note: I would have used spray paint as that would have produced a more even layer, but spray paint is illegal in Chicago and I would have had a heck of a time getting it. Also, I don’t have a backyard or garage to spray paint without the risk of spray paint fumes.

When my stencils were ready, I carefully placed them on the mat and started painting. I used a mix of regular foam brushes and these little dot sponges that I found to be much better for stamping straight up and down.

To add a little more depth and texture to the mat, I decided to use a flat sponge brush to paint a lighter green around the edges of the plants. Here’s a quick snap I got with my phone before I painted the lighter green edges:

I also painted in the letterforms (a’s and e’s). So much better, right? Also, LOL at my bag of carrots on the side. I take my snacking very seriously.

It’s not perfect, but hey! Pretty good for a first-time doormat maker. And I *think* my grandma will be proud.

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Want to make your own DIY Mi Casa es Su Casa doormats? Find the SVG files here.

Interested in other Cricut projects? Check out this Halloween project, this gift basket idea, and these DIY Valentine’s Day mugs.

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As I’m sure you’ve seen on the blog before, I’m kind of obsessed with my home space. It has to look as perfect as possible, and my roommate and I always joke that our apartment can never be more than 10 minutes away from “guest ready”… aka we can throw a party or have people come to stay with us with just 10 minutes of cleaning. Call us crazy, but hey, if you ever wanted to come over, all you’d need to give us is a 10-minute warning and I call that pretty good.

Coming back from THAT tangent… over the summer Tori and I redid our kitchen–we painted the kitchen cabinets black, added silver hardware, and covered the awful laminate with some pretty marble contact paper. And months later, it’s all still holding up–I have to admit, the contact paper still being intact after 6 months surprised me, too.

Because I am completely restless, I decided that I needed a subway tile backsplash, too (something I’ve wanted for a while). While hiring a contractor or installing a real tile backsplash in a place I don’t own was completely out of the question, I was definitely open to the idea of a more temporary, cheaper option.

Enter Smart Tiles.

I first read about these tiles on my friend Krys’ blog a few years ago–she is an expert in rental renovations and totally sold these tiles to me. Smart Tiles are basically giant stickers. They are flexible and easy to cut with a box cutter or x-acto knife. And they are super easy to install!

How to install this stick-on tile backsplash:

First I figured out how many tiles I would need. Smart Tiles has an excellent calculator on their website to help you figure this out! I measured the space in sections–so section A, section B, section C, etc. You can measure in feet, OR measure in inches and divide by 12 (that’s what I did… not sure if that made more work for myself or not but whatever!).

My final measurements:
Section A: 23″ x 17″
Section B: 54″ x 17″
Section C: 30″ x 30″
Section D: 11″ x 17″

I ended up needing about 35 tiles according to their website, and this could not have been more accurate. Wahoo!

I received the tiles very quickly and got to work that weekend. I started out on the top left corner of the largest section, cutting the first tile down to a straight edge so it lined up perfectly with the wall. From there, everything was pretty easy.

I filled up the entire backsplash with tiles, minus the edges where I knew I’d have to do some cutting. Then after a lot of x-acto knife and ruler use, I filled in the edges!

When I inevitably made a few mistakes, the tiles were surprisingly easy to peel off and move around. They are designed to be delicately stuck to the wall so they may be removed easily if necessary. When I was ready for the tiles to be in their final place, I just applied pressure to all corners and edges of the tile to stick them permanently on the wall! Easy peasy.

The whole project took about 2 hours and I could not be happier with the result! The kitchen looks even more sophisticated than it did when we painted it (especially now that I have my new KitchenAid mixer!!).

I should note that Smart Tiles are easy to remove with a hair dryer (for heat). Not that you’ll ever want to take them down!

My favorite styles:

If you have any other questions about Smart Tiles, check out their FAQ page or comment below! Smart Tiles are available at Amazon, Wayfair, Home Depot, and directly from their website.

Smart Tiles provided me with the tiles to review, and all opinions of my new stick-on tile backsplash are strictly my own. Thank you for supporting brands that keep Love Always, Audrey running!

P.S. If you liked this post you’ll like this one, this one, and this one.

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First up is this gold wreath.

I started with this hoop. I’m not sure of the exact name of it, but it’s in the floral design section at Michaels and was only a few dollars. They have a bunch of different sizes! You could also use an embroidery hoop if you need to.

I took the hoop and painted it with some gold liquid gilding–this is one of my favorite craft tools and I use it all the time. I’ve had the same bottle for YEARS now and it never seems to be less than full. Magic? Maybe.

I picked up some faux florals from Michaels using a 40% off coupon and took apart the gold one.

Then, I glued the branches to the hoop using hot glue. The hot glue didn’t make the two stick together like I had hoped, so I ended up taking some gold thread (also from Michaels) and wrapping it around the branches once they were in place. It made for a nice touch, anyways!

Then, I made the center using supplies from Paper Source.

Have you guys heard of embossing? I’d heard bits and pieces around the crafting community, but hadn’t really tried it until I attended a Paper Source event in Lincoln Park last summer.

Basically, you use stamps, embossing powder, and really high heat to set this powder and make it look just so pretty.

I used this process for a few things: the centerpiece for my wreath, some Hanukkah cards, and some boxes to put goodies in. Here’s what you do:

1. Dip your stamp in this special ink.
2. Stamp up your paper! I like to make it so it goes off the page a little bit, so having some background paper to catch that is a must.

3. Cover your stamping area with embossing powder! I, in a crazy turn of events, used gold. ;)

4. Use another stamp if you want, and make that a different color!

5. Use the heat embossing tool to set the powder. You’ll know when it’s turning!

See how cool that looks?

I wrote out the name for this envelope with this pen–long live gel pens! Also, 10 points for you if you know what that address is. ;)

You can use this technique for SO MANY THINGS. Some ideas off the top of my head:

• Cards
• Envelopes
• Envelope liners
• Kraft treat boxes
• Postcards

One last idea… I used this pen (made of the same ink as the inkpad for embossing) to write out a few things and emboss them! For example, my friend’s name on the Kraft treat box below, and writing out my own sayings on these dreidel cutouts!

So, what do you think? Would you take up these Hanukkah DIY decorations?!

Also, if you liked this post you’ll definitely like this one.

The post Easy DIY Hanukkah Decorations appeared first on love always, audrey.

As a self-proclaimed creative person myself, I love myself some good DIY projects, photography challenges, and, of course, writing my blog. One thing I love even more than making things myself, though, is helping others bring out their creative side! Helping my friend learn how to use her Cricut machine, or showing someone how to fake calligraphy… it brings me all the warm fuzzies. Below are some good gift ideas for creative people, or people who might not know that they’re creative just yet!

Shop these items here:

and the Laura Hooper Calligraphy Course can be found here.

Comment below if you need any more gift ideas! I’ve got plenty. :)

If you liked this post, you might like this one and this one. Don’t forget to check out the Holiday Hub!

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Yep, that’s right. You’ve seen me talk about my trusty Cricut machine before a few times (here and here for example), but while getting in the spirit of Halloween, I went a liiiiiittle crazy.

I’m obsessed with Hocus Pocus (obviously, who isn’t??) and decided to go with that theme for a few decorations. Supplies I used for my Cricut Halloween decorations:

• Cricut Explore Air 2
• A pack of black card stock
• Some black and gold vinyl scraps
• 2x plastic pumpkins (on sale at Michaels)

These pumpkins were inspired by these ones by Lovely Indeed! I bought the pumpkins from Michaels on sale and used some vinyl scraps to put the quotes on them. I did all of this, by the way, while watching Hocus Pocus, which I own on DVD. Obviously.

These bats were super easy to cut out! I used a pack of regular black card stock which I also purchased at Michaels. The wall art is DIY’d by myself–who knows what song that is?

See? Told you I was watching the movie the whole time. The banner was made with the spell that the witches put on Thackery Binx to turn him into a cat. I put some little cats in between to really get the message across, ha!

SVG file for this banner (and the cats!) is here.

Instead of buying plastic spiders, this year I opted for making my own with my Cricut. I cut out a ton of little spiders using this SVG file, and put them in the spiderwebs that I had already stretched all over the apartment!

I also taped some of the spiders inside lamps so it looked like they were crawling literally everywhere.

Candles. Candles everywhere. This pumpkin candle holder is so cute and festive for the whole season!

That guy lurking in the window has nothing to do with Hocus Pocus, but he’s one of my all-time favorite villains:

The Oogie Boogie man from The Nightmare Before Christmas! Since I didn’t have paper large enough to cut him out completely, I used 6 pieces of paper and once they were cut out, I taped them together. A little hasty but at night when it’s dark out, it looks really spooky!

This one takes a little more skill with the Cricut to make sure all the sizes line up properly, but if you’re experienced then you’ll know how to do it. Here are all 6 SVG files!

Save it for later:

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What other Cricut Halloween decorations ideas do you have? What should I start thinking of for next year?

P.S. If you liked this post, you’ll like this one and this one!

The post I Decorated My Entire Apartment For Halloween For Less Than $20 appeared first on love always, audrey.

One type of gathering that I love above all others is Shabbat. If you don’t know what this is, Shabbat is a weekly holiday for Jewish people (you might recognize it as the Sabbath). For Jews, it’s 24 hours every week from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown when you eat, drink, and just relax. It’s a time of reflection from the previous week, and a special opportunity to put your phone down and connect with people IRL. One tradition that comes from this weekly holiday is Shabbat dinners every Friday night, which I love hosting because of who I am as a person. Although I don’t host or attend every single Friday night, I deeply enjoy it when I do, both on a spiritual and social level.

A few months ago, my friend Marissa from OneTable (a non-profit dedicated to funding Shabbat dinners for 20 and 30 year olds) reached out to see if I’d be interested in planning a summer-themed Shabbat dinner that would be open to 30 people of Chicago’s Jewish community. At the time, I was absolutely swamped with planning bachelorette parties, helping with wedding planning, and personal trips. Plus, work was insanely busy at the time and I was working wayyy more hours than I normally do. But something (something crazy) inside of me just blurted out “OF COURSE! I’d love that!”

I am so glad my crazy self said yes to this.

This past Friday, 30 wonderful people gathered for a rooftop summertime sunset Shabbat dinner that I will never forget. Here’s how I made it happen (and how you can, too):

Decorations

I sourced all of my decorations from Paper Source. (Are you surprised? You can see other parties I’ve thrown with them here, here, and here.) I got to preview their new Endless Summer line with this dinner (plates and napkins specifically), and to say I love this collection would be an understatement. Everything in it is so gorgeous – the colors are fantastic and I love all of the citrus and floral graphics! Everything in the collection complements each other so nicely, doesn’t it?

When people walked in, they saw a string of place cards and name tags with their names already on them (which I unfortunately didn’t get a picture of). I put the place card in front, and then used a mini clothespin to attach a name tag for them as well! And then I used the same clothespin to fasten them to the string. I then had everyone put their place card where they wanted to sit for the evening so they could save their seat while mingling!

We taped these coral paper flowers to the table and they looked so cute.

One thing I really recommend putting on the table is a set of Table Topics. It’s a pack of cards that asks fun questions for you to discuss as a group – it’s a great way to get meaningful conversations going! I have a set on my dining room table at home, too.

I used these blue tile tea towels (say that 10 times fast) to add a little more color and texture to the table. I love the tassels at the end of them! I also put down blue wrapping paper on top of the white tablecloths for a few reasons: a) it looked pretty and b) people spilled wine on the paper instead of my tablecloths. Win win!

We used this tray as a Challah tray and it worked out perfectly! And now it’s in my living room housing all my candles. Double duty!

This little “party” bottle opener is like a sneaky, multifunctional piece of decor.

Food

I ordered all the food for the evening (excluding dessert) from The Pasta Bowl. This is one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Chicago because it’s quick, inexpensive, and freaking delicious. It was actually Idan’s idea to call them for catering because we always see their little red catering cars driving all over the city! Their catering manager, Jay, is extremely easy to work with and very responsive. I would 100000% order catering from them again!

For dessert, we got Stan’s Donuts and put them on my donut wall (remember it from this post?). I re-painted the donut wall to match the other colors of the night and it complemented everything really well! Visit this post for instructions on how to make it (it’s super easy).

The big chocolate cake came from Costco and is honestly one of my favorite desserts of all time. It always reminds me of Matilda and every time I see it, “you must eat the entire confection!” comes into my head. Anyone else? Bruce Bruce Bruce!

I made the “Shabbat Shalom” cake topper with my Cricut (SVG file for your use here!). I know I talk about it all the time, but my Cricut is literally my best friend and I think every crafty person should invest in one if they can. There is no limit to the things you can make with it! To make the topper, I just cut out the letters and used rubber cement to adhere the letters to some skewers. Super super easy.

More Cricut craft ideas here and here.

Drink

I absolutely love Chloe Wine and was ecstatic when they offered to provide the wine for the evening. The rosé was a huge hit (no surprise there) and of course the bottles are beautiful and added even more decorative charm. Thank you to the team at Chloe Wine – the wine was, as always, fantastic! You can see another post where we drank all the Chloe Wine here. I’m truly obsessed with this stuff.

Location

We actually found this venue on Airbnb. We were searching high and low for a private rooftop space for weeks and finally came across this amazing apartment space. If you are looking for an event rental space, I highly recommend checking out Airbnb and Splacer (which we didn’t find until after already booking the rooftop, but it’s just as cool).

Overalls from Alice and Wonder, where else?

I used these gift labels as name tags. Worked out perfectly.

Taryn took a looot of the pics on this post. Thank you T!! Love you <3

My heart is so full. I love hosting Shabbat and this night was absolutely perfect. Thank you to all who attended – and if you’re Jewish and interested in hosting your own Shabbat dinner, visit OneTable here.

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Thank you so much to everyone who made this Summertime Sunset Shabbat possible:
Chloe Wine
Paper Source
OneTable
Michael Brown, Alyssa Barrett, and Marissa Freeman for helping me set all of this up! I couldn’t have done this without you.
Taryn Rosenberg for taking a ton of photos!

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