Chocolate and Peanut Covered Frozen Bananas

Yes, this just happened. And for a few reasons:

1. I heard Arrested Development was making a comeback. You know, the Bluth Original Frozen Banana Stand. I liked and watched the show the first time around, so I am glad it's coming back!

2. I read an interview on McSweeney's Internet Tendency's Interviews With People Who Have Interesting or Unusual Jobs column: Laura Anderson, Making a Living From Bananas. Its about a couple a friends who started a frozen banana stand inspired by Arrested Development.

3. While trying to come up with dinner ideas, I was exploring Food Gawker, where I saw a link to Carpe Season's Arrested Development inspired frozen bananas.

Okay, so I am by no means obsessed with Arrested Development, but there were just too many signs pointing to me making chocolate covered frozen bananas. I mean, chocolate (yum!) with peanuts (yum yum!) covering bananas (triple yum!). You can't go wrong!

Ingredients:
dark chocolate chips, melted
roasted peanuts, chopped
ripe bananas

How To:
(Now, I am not a pro here, I just wing it, so if your an experience cook/baker you'll have a better way of making these and probably better equipment, i.e. double boiler. And you'll probably remember to buy popsicle sticks.)

1. Prep the bananas (take off peels and insert popsicle sticks)
2. Chop peanuts
3. Melt chocolate (without a double boiler, I just put the heat on low and stir constantly)
4. Dip (or in my case, roll) the bananas in the melted chocolate, then in the chopped peanuts.
5. Stick in freezer (for a few hours...until frozen... I think we dove into them after about 3-4 hours. Overnight is probably best.)
6. Enjoy!

Making them was a giant delicious mess. Popsicle sticks are overrated (mainly, because I didn't have any). I just used my fingers and got chocolate everywhere.  Then B came home, while I was elbow deep in the chocolate and he jumped right in.

Do I even have to say that these were yummylicious? I mean, of course they were! Just looking at the picture below makes me drool.

Bike Stamp Boy Shirt

One of my nephews is turning TWO YEARS OLD today! How did that happen? He was just a baby yesterday, I swear! It has been fun watching him grow up. He basically wants to do everything his big brother does (they are cute-overload-cute together, but also brothers-of-mayhem-crazy together). His mom decided to get him one of those balance bikes (basically a bike, but no pedals) for his birthday. I got him a helmut and made him this bike themed shirt.

As per usual, it's easy to make. All you'll need is a shirt, fabric paint, cardboard, and linoleum stamp/carving tools or a pre-made stamp. Make the stamp, then stamp your shirt and done! Make sure to wash the shirt first and when stamping put cardboard in between the shirt layers (so the fabric paint doesn't bleed). Perfect for a personalized or last minute gift!

May Etsy Wish List

1. Wood Cactus Planter in Recycled Cedar 

2. Skinny Bar Bracelet 

3. Leather Wallet in Coral Pink & Elephant Gray 

4. Blue Bird Planter

5. Yellow Heart Leather Card Case

 6. Set of 3 Porcelain and Cotton Rope Hanging Planters

7. Lace High Knee Socks 

8. Origami Crane Necklace

9. White Birch Forest Wall Art/Shelf 

10. Bunny Rabbit Planter

11. Lucia/Three Color Leather Clutch 

12. Walnut Slab Side Table with Hairpin Legs

Have you ever spent hours looking at Etsy, finding things you never knew that you wanted? I do that all the time. Literally. All. The. Time. Especially since opening up my own Etsy shop. I want to support others just like me, trying to sell the stuff we love to make for fun (or for money, but mostly for fun).

DIY Wedding: Giant Paper Flowers

Every time I see these giant paper flowers, I fall in love. I have seen them floating around wedding websites and Pinterest boards. Recently, I decided that I just had to have them at my wedding. Bonus: it's way cheaper than real flowers! I got scared when I heard a bridal bouquet can cost $150. I avoided thinking about flowers as much as I could. There will be some real flowers at the wedding, but in the form of leis (all the way from Hawaii!). 

I used the DIY Giant Crepe Paper Roses tutorial from Studio DIY. It is a very thorough tutorial and easy to follow. I suggest reading all the way through the tutorial before actually starting to make the flower. She includes a couple of tips that she found helped along the way. I'm going to be completely honest: it's hard to make and take a while. The first one I made took me an hour and a half and was not short of a few frustrating moments. 

My newly engaged sister, Teenah, decided long before I did that she wanted to make paper flowers for her wedding (Teenah: this is me announcing my copycat-ness). She found a great website to buy lots of crepe paper for cheap. I used the heavy weight crepe paper. One roll makes about one flower's petals (15 heart shaped petals, 5 small petals) with a little extra. 

Home is wherever Mom is

I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful Mom. She has been and will always be my support, my best friend and my sounding board. Since going off to college, I have moved around a bit. It has been hard for me to be far away from my close knit family. Now, I only live an hour away, but even that feels far sometimes. Maybe that's why the saying, "Home is wherever Mom is," really resonated with me. My home will always be where my Mom is (and where my sisters and B are) no matter where we are.

Mother's day is coming up this Sunday, don't forget to tell your Mom you love her!

Color Inspiration: Spring Flowers

New Bag: The Shopper Tote

I had a lot of free time this weekend to do some sewing (something I haven't been able to do in a while). It was amazing. I sewed up a custom bag and whipped out these new bags: The Shopper Tote! It's simple hand stamped canvas tote, with faux leather handles and a flat base. Check it out on my Etsy Shop: Love, Danni Designs.