Pink Sparkle Fun

Some dear friends of ours gave Julia the most wonderful birthday present last month. They literally sent a box of pink, sparkle, fun. The box itself was wrapped ON THE INSIDE with glittery wrapping paper and there were faux jewels just bouncing around among the gifts, which included this pink glitter purse and skinny pink glitter belt. 

To say she LOVED these presents would be a huge understatement. She has worn the belt and the purse everywhere she goes! She puts them on as soon as she gets home from school. She takes them to Grandma's house. She wears them to playdates.

Proof positive: PINK SPARKLE FUN is where it's at.

Washi Tape

I am so in love with washi tape, the pretty Japanese decorating tapes that make EVERYTHING LOOK GOOD.....

1) Teddy Bear & Cupcake Deco Tape. 2) Cute Deco Tape. 3) Cath Kidston Masking Tape. 4) Purple Washi Masking Tape Colorful Spots. 5) Japanese Washi Masking Tape, Pink Flowers Floral. 

Go forth and tape, my lovelies!

Rilakkuma Kit Kat

More Japanese treats. Can anyone find this for me??? The only one I can find is on Ebay for a LOT of money. And it's in pancake flavor. Say what? I need help solving this mystery friends.


(Image credit: I am SO sorry but I have no idea where I got this picture from, its been floating around in my file for a while. This is indeed a post of mystery.)

Japanese Snacks

Japanese Food Drops (strawberry milk flavor), $4.80.

 

Korean Style Cheetos, $2.40

 

How darling is this??? Sakura Tea, Cookies & Candies Set, $16.50.

 

I LOOOOOVE POCKY! It's so fun. Pocky, $10.

 

5 Color Traditional Japanese Candy, $4.00.

 

Cherry Soft Candy Treats, $8.

 

Hello Kitty Red Tin Bucket Snack Set, $11.95.

I don't know about you, but I want them ALL!

Pink Office Supplies

I want ALL of these. Just right for Spring, yes?

(Image credit: http://kimchicsisters.tumblr.com/post/7746217059)

Cherry Blossom Cordial & Pink Lemonade

Ok pink lemonade is self explanatory. Pink lemonade is waaaaay better then regular lemonade. (Because of the pinkness, duh.)

But this other one! I want, I need, I MUST TRY this pretty pink drink! First of all, I love grenadine. Did you know that in France, grenadine and water is a drink all by itself? It's like a Shirley Temple, minus the 7-Up soda. Did you all drink Shirley Temple's when you were little? I loved that drink with all of my being.

I am going to rename this drink Cherry Blossom Cordial because that sounds awesome.

Cherry Blossom Cordial

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 tablespoon cherry blossom tea or any floral white tea

3/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Simple Syrup

1 1/2 tablespoon grenadine

Directions:

1. Heat the water in a medium pan over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat, add tea, and let sit 2 minutes. Strain immediately, and refrigerate liquid right away until cold, about 1 hour.

2. Combine tea, lemon juice, simple syrup, and grenadine. Pour over ice when ready to serve.

Serves 5.

(Image Credits: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com)

Cherry Blossom Lanterns

This photo was taken in Malaysia and served as the inspiration for our Spring Origami Lantern Tree. INCREDIBLE, right? It looks like a fairy tale come to life....

(Image credits: http://mindingmymoment.tumblr.com/post/9630412850)

Pink Parfait Girl's Tea Hat

I do believe this would be any little girl's dream....to wear this to a fancy (or even not-so-fancy) tea party, or garden party, or fairy party! Or an it's Thursday party!

You can find this little girl tea hat, along with one in yellow, over at Tea With Grace.

Oh and I also believe that the only appropriate drink at such an affair would be Berries and Cream Sweet tea.

Be Sparkly!

This cute and inspirational artwork was created by a favorite blogger of mine, Nicole from Sketch 42. She's an AMAZING artist and her design blog is cooler than cool. Nicole made this art for her daughter and I hope she sells it in her Etsy shop soon, because I would snap this baby up in a heartbeat.

More sparkle fab via We Heart It:

And then there's this one from Brave Girls Club.com:

 

Also, I recently saw this nugget of awesome on Pinterest via http://goodthingsarewildandfree.tumblr.com/ . Oh how true this is!

 

Be sparkly! Be pink!!

Pink Rainbow Sugar

I think colored sugar like this would elevate....EVERYTHING...into the realm of super special. You know I'm right. I'm gonna do this project with Julia and I don't think it will be a hard sell: "Hey Julia, want to mix some colored sugar together?" Better yet, I could call it "FAIRY SUGAR" and I think she might run me over trying to get to it!

The tutorial on how to make this pretty pink goodness can be found on the GORGEOUS blog, Stonegable. I want to make pretty much everything on the site. Beautiful photography and inspired recipes!

Studio Oh! Mini Box of Recipes

Are these not DIVINE? I have seen these with my own two little eyes and I am here to tell you, they are the cutest, coolest, the tiniest little recipe boxes under the sun and they are SO DELIGHTFUL. $10!!!!!! Next year, I am giving these as gifts for Christmas. There is a tea box, a cookie box, a cupcake box, a cocktail box, a small bites box and a CHOCOLATE box.

I want them ALL! You can find the whole selection of Studio Oh! Mini Box of Recipes here.

Hello Kitty Land

Someday my daughter and I ARE GOING TO SANRIO PUROLAND in Tokyo, otherwise known as Hello Kitty nirvana. Doesn't it look unbelievably fantastic? 

Check out the map of the attractions:

Check out the list of shopping options: Festival Plaza, Kitty's House Shop, Vivitix, and Jewelland Gate. I don't know about you, but Festival Plaza sounds pretty darn awesome!

And we're going to eat at the Cinnamon Dream Cafe:

This indoor amusement park opened in 1990 and welcomes 1.5 million visitors a year. I INTEND TO BE ONE OF THEM. I'm not joking. This is majorly on my life list of It-Must-Happen.

You can check out even more images here. 

(Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dansnosekai/with/4719962269/, www.puroland.com,  http://www.flickr.com/photos/chocoland/4890675460)

Origami Lantern Tree

Julia and I made this spring cherry blossom mini-lantern tree last week. Want to know how much I love it? SOOOOOOOOO MUCH! When Julia came downstairs the next day after I had added even more lanterns, she said "Oh it's so pretty Mom!" More of the actual creating process is described over at Julia's Bookbag.

I think it's the perfect way to usher in the new season, and it cheers me no end to gaze at it, especially since the weather is not very springy right now. We used origami paper to make the lanterns and tissue paper to make the cherry blossoms, which we just stuck on with tape. The lanterns are so easy to make; you can find my tutorial about making lanterns here.

Japanese Stickers

Want to have a STICKER PARTY??? (I do!)

Check out these stickers that my new reader pal Bonnie just told me about -- I'm so wild about them that I put them up above the stickers I found originally for this post!

Sticker Sack Kawaii Animals Japan Sweet Town, $2.99.

Kamio Sticker Sack Fairy Girls, 2.99.

 Darling!!!

And we also have these cuties:

Kawaii Sticker Flakes -- Ohajiki Stickers Cute Girls, $6.80.



Kawaii Sticker Flakes -- Fairy Tale World, $3.



Kawaii Japanese Cute Stickers -- Party Kitchen, $3.50.




Kawaii Japanese Sticker Alice Set, $10.

All of this sticker goodness can be found at the darling Etsy shop, Kawaii Meow. This online boutique also has THE CUTEST fabrics!