DIY: Dare to Draw - and Frame it

Back in high school I used to draw graffiti sketches in my notebooks during classes. Too bad non of those sketches ever left my notebook pages. But hey, it´s never too late:)

For this simple drawing I chose a word that perfectly catches our over all state of mind: "wanderlust" def. A strong desire to travel.

 I placed it right next to the photo albums of our travel holidays. Maybe you still remember the Customized Photo Album behind the frame.

I started out with a simple pencil drawing and then gradually added color.

In order for the pencil colors to stay "fresh" I covered the drawing with a coat of transparent nail polish.

I framed it in a simple black frame. For a more interesting touch, I wrapped the black frame with a colorful thread.

Love,
Emina

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Recipe: Dark&White Chocolate Decorations for Nerma's Nutella Birthday Cake

Dear readers,

The festive holiday season is still not over for us. Yesterday was Nerma's birthday and, as always, we made a birthdays cake for our friends. The cake itself is a delicious nutella cake with almost 500 g nutella and roasted hazelnuts. However, in this post we wanted to show you how to make this cool chocolate decorations for the cake, which will make just any cake stand out:

We found this awesome idea for drawing desert lace cups with chocolate on YouTube and it inspired us to try out something similar for Nerma's cake.

I started with drawing a template.

I covered the template with baking paper, then melted dark chocolate and made an improvised pastry bag out of a sheet of baking paper. Now I was ready to start drawing the chocolate design.

I filled the empty space with melted white Milka chocolate. Then I covered it with another sheet of baking paper and let it cool down. Before it was completely stiff, I cut it in pieces with a knife.

It's not perfect but since this was a first-time experiment, I'm pretty satisfied. I hope you'll give it a try since it is really super easy!

Love,
Emina Pin It Now!

DIY: Holidays Gift Wrapping

Dear readers,

Here is a new gift wrapping idea (still remember this one and this one?) made entirely with recycled materials. This time I wrapped a Christmas present for a friend.

Oh, and if you're interested in the content beneath the wrapping paper, I filled a beautiful box with the friend's favorite sweets:)

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Recipe: Emina's Birthday Cake with White Chocolate Shards and Pomegranate Seeds

Dear readers,

I love to make a fuss over my birthday and start annoying everyone about it a week in advance:) I also love surprises, I love to make surprises and to be surprised. As for the latter, I can't be thankful enough for the great people I'm surrounded with and who made this year's birthday special. You already read about the surprise birthday breakfast that Nerma, our brother, and my best friend prepared for me.

Nonetheless, I could not skip my annual tradition to make a special cake for the occasion. Do you still remember my last year's birthday cake? This year I surprised my colleagues at work with this beauty.

Although not visible at first sight, this is the simple tipple chocolate mouse cake that we have already made several times and that everyone loves. You have already seen it here (our Gossip Girl Cake) and here (our New Year's Eve Cake). 

Without further complicating the cake recipe, we recommend you to watch the video instructions from the cooking blog Dulce Delight. The girl behind the blog is so cute and her sweet recipes are just amazing.  

I have, however, added one alternation. In addition to the three layers of chocolate mousse, I added a crunchy crust.

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Happy Birthday, Emina!

Dear readers,

I had the most wonderful birthday morning! Nerma, Ajla, and Nerko, thank you for the beautiful surprise:) 

Nerma made 26 carrot cupcakes for my 26th birthday because she knows I'm nuts about cupcakes:)

One is never too old to be excited about wrapping up birthday presents:)

Love,
Emina


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DIY: The Perfect Wedding Gift - Stitch their Wedding Song and Date

 Dear readers,

The first girlfriend in our little group of girls hanging out since University got married recently. It was a big event for all of us and I wanted to give the happy couple a little handmade something: I stitched the title of their wedding song and the wedding date. I hope it will help the groom not to forget their anniversary in the future:)

The gift was the perfect excuse to finally start experimenting with stitching. I was planning on getting myself an embroidery hoop (in Bosnian: Djerdjef) for months and now I finally had the motivation.

I learned some basic stitching techniques back in primary school and for my first stitching project I just used the simple basic "backstitch" and added some improvisations.

Here comes the complete tutorial including preparing the stitching for framing:

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Recipe: Bucket full of (Apple) Roses

Dear readers,

Maybe you have seen pictures of "French rose tarts". There are all over Pinterest and really look adorable.

Nerma wanted to make something similar for a surprise picnic with her boyfriend. She found a cute makeover of the original tart recipe and the result are these amazing cupcakes/muffins topped with a delicious caramel sauce.

Here they are just before putting the tray into the oven.

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Recipe: Bosnian Baklava with a Special Chocolate Twist - Eid Mubarek!

Eid Mubarek!

Eid is a special guest in our home and there is no Eid without Bosnian baklava. 

As long as we can remember our mother always stayed long after midnight the night before Eid, making baklava and preparing traditional dishes for the early Eid lunch next morning.

It has been two years since she passed away and Eid is no longer what it used to be. With the time passing Nerma and I are trying to replace her as much as possible. This also includes taking over the Eid preparations.

When it comes to baklava, I think it is safe to say that we have mastered it! 

This Eid I was in charge of making baklava from scratch since Nerma wasn't home. I used the opportunity to add a special twist which Nerma would have probably been against: I added chocolate to the filling! The outcome is delicious - approved by Nerma and everyone else who tried it:)

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DIY: A special congratulation card and gift wrapping for Nerma's graduation





Dear all,

 

After six years of dental school, Nerma has finally graduated yesterday, making the 8th of September 2014 one of the happiest days for our family.

 

I used the opportunity to make the day even more memorable for her. I explored old photo albums searching for one particular photo: the photo of Nerma's first day in primary school!

 

I used the photo to make a special congratulation card. The photo's colors also inspired me to wrap her graduation presents in a special way.



 

 

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Something blue for a special friend (DIY Brooch)

Dear readers,

One more post before we finally fly off for the summer holidays.

A friend living far away is about to get married and I wanted to give her something special.

I made this brooch with beads in several shades of blue. Beside the obvious symbolism, the vintage style of the brooch also says a lot about her. She will understand:) 

Unfortunately, I somehow managed to erase all the step-by-step pictures from my camera. Therefore, I hope you will at least enjoy the pictures of the final result.

I wish you all warm and sunny holidays. We'll be back in a month.

Love,
Emina


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Recipe: Mini Bruschetta in No Time

We could eat bruschetta every day anytime, as a side dish, main dish, doesn't matter:) We also love to make bruschetta when we have a lot of  friends coming over.

 There are of course thousands of recipes out there. We would like to share with you the recipe we use most of the time. It is pretty basic, fast and yummy:)

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Recipe: Mini No Bake Cheesecake with Raspberries

I found a great summerish and fresh alternative to the classic baked cheesecake and I am happy to share it with you.

 The best part about it is that it will not take you more than 20 minutes to make it. It does however has to stay in the fridge for an hour or two (over night is even better but let's be honest, who has time to wait so long?:))

As a starting point, I found this great tutorial on youtube for a normal sized cake and adjusted it a bit so that I could make three of these mini sized cakes. I will not bug you with details as the video tutorial is pretty self explanatory. Therefore, here are only my adjustments:

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