Happy Thursday everyone! It’s almost the weekend, and finally time for a new week of Etsy Love showcasing some beautiful shops of jewelry, art, fabrics and even cake!

Ayofemi jewelry is the shop of designer and student Ayo, in Phoenix. Ayo makes jewelry in her spare time, mainly consisting of pretty, charming necklaces, bracelets and earrings from a mix of gold and gorgeous soft colors like coral, lavender, and turquoise. Oh I plan to pay this shop another visit very soon!

Esther Ramirez is a talented crafter, designer and illustrator from Chicago, and sells her beautiful creations at Essimar. The abundance of color and pattern in her shop emphasizes the whimsical element in her screen prints and paper crafts, which are gently made one at a time in small collections.

For fun and quirky fabric design, handmade bags, and quilts, just head on over to Aunt June. Lauren Hunt designs and prints many colorful fabrics that could become totes, pillows, anything really as far as your imagination takes you! I love all her fabrics from the feathers, to boats, and bird prints too.

You can find absolutely anything on Etsy! Even the most precious cake bunting shop, Kiki La Ru for all things pretty, striped and flowered is available here! Homemaker and artist in Austria uses primarily vintage and upcycled fabrics and supplies thats she purchases on Etsy to create her sweet homemade cakes!

(images: sources listed above)

Sunday Suppers is a blog by Casey Solomon and Karen Mordechai, dedicated to still life photography, food set ups and groups of people getting together to cook and hang out.

Created as a labor of love by stylist and photographer Karen Mordechai, Sunday Suppers are class-cooking-dining experiences held in Brooklyn and taught by local Chefs, with the wonderful objective of pairing friends with food. All the gorgeous photographs on the blog are styled and shot by wedding and food photographer Karen Mordechai, who captures the fresh, local, and seasonal meals gorgeously, and in an inviting manner.

I was immediately drawn to Sunday Suppers for it’s inspiring photography, it’s lovely content and great recipes. They also design entire events, or on a smaller scale, offer services like table design, buffet, set-ups, favors, and more. If you love the photography like I do, you can find some of Karen’s limited edition archival quality prints on the Sunday Suppers shop.

(images: karen mordechai for sunday suppers)

I promised you some goodies from the bridal show I went to this past Sunday, and I managed to find some really great things! There was a lot of tackiness ranging from the party stripper pole limos to overflowing bejeweled centerpieces, but there were definitely some awesome treats and ideas as well that I wanted to share with you!

Today I’d like to point you in the direction of the mouthwatering Bruce County Nut + Fudge Co. Not only do their Gourmet Caramel Apples look scrumptious, they taste even better! They are all dipped in home made caramel and then dipped a second time in Belgian chocolate and different toppings. And nothing sounds better to me right now than homemade fudge. mmm.

Bruce County Nut + Fudge Co. was started by sisters Yvonne, Melissa and Tanya. Each one of them contribute from designing the candied apples, to creating new flavors and making sure customers indulge in the delish treats. How do you choose between maple, cappuccino or cookie dough flavours of fudge, coconut cashews, Chilly Dark Bark… ? And the list goes on!

Can you get any cuter than these bride and groom candied apples? Here you can get monogrammed candied apples or add a design to match the icing on your wedding cake! You can  also get custom made and dressed up goodies!

Even better? You don’t have to be getting married to get in on the action! Order candied apples, fudge, gourmet nuts, or even gift baskets for any occasion! Next occasion? I say so. Check out their selection here.

(images: bruce county nut + fudge co.)

If you’re anything like me, then you definitely stock up on sweet chocolates during christmas time. It’s almost overload, but I always end up with left overs. I was thinking of different ways I could use these extra chocolates by incorporating them into other recipes and remembered that nothing is better than peanut butter and chocolate. mmm Reese’s.

Since I am no baker, I took the easy way out. So I went out and bought a pouch of Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix. I picked out about 6 medium sized Patchi milk chocolate pieces to mix into the cookies. It’s only 9 minutes for preparation time and 10 minutes of baking time!

Ingredients

1 pouch (1lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 375°F

1. Prepare 6 medium sized chocolate pieces.

2. In a medium bowl, add the oil and water.

3. Crack one egg into the bowl.

4. Throw in the cookie mix.

5. Un-wrap the chocolate and cut them into small pieces.

6. Crush the pieces with any type of crusher that is strong.

7. Add the crushed chocolate to the cookie mix.

8/9. Stir the ingredients until a soft dough forms.

10. Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls.

11. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. For even baking, make sure cookies are the same shape and size.

12. Remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely, about 20 minutes. Now it’s ready to try these yummy treats! mmm…

You could also use these delicious cookies that you just baked as a nice little party favor or thank you favor in the new year! It will make a fun project. Just follow these instructions to create a nice package!

What you’ll need:

Baked Cookies
Clear plastic box like this
Gold ribbon (thick and thin)
Scissors
Liquid glue

Directions

1. Pick out a bunch of cookies, a clear plastic box like this and some gold (or any color you like) ribbon available at any craft store.

2. Glue the thick ribbon around the bottom of the box and glue from the back.

3. Place the cookies in the box and close the lid.

4. Put the thin ribbon through the thick horizontal one and pull through over the box and under the thick ribbon on the other side.

5. Turn the box over and bring the ribbon together to tie in the middle and criss-cross. This creates a ‘plus’ on the back of the box, and flip the box back over to make it right side up.

6. Cut the string and tie the together to make a knot.

7. Use the scissors against the surface of the straight ribbon to create curls.

8. Cut about 6 inches of the thin ribbon and tie around the knot, and follow step 7.

9. Voila! You’ve got your cookie favors!

Who would you give these favors to? Enjoy!

(images: samia kallidis for burrs & berries)