Uncategorized

Buying a House

- casaazul Leave a comment
I always thought buying a house was going to be this magical journey of falling in love with a house. 
Just like you fall in love with your partner in life! 
But this journey, which has currently lasted less than 5 days and 6 hours … has only brought headaches and tears.
It is kind of joke that it hasn’t even been a week and most people look for months before they make one of the most important decisions of their lives. Oh! And not to mention we only saw two houses. But I did fall in love with the first one we saw. And yes, as my husband pointed out,  it was nothing that we ever talked about wanting in a house.  But I can see my girls running around in the yard, having beautiful fairy tea parties, and walk to their pre-school. Not to mention it has a beautiful garage that looks like a little barn and it has been converted into an office space. Which would perfect for our Casa Azul Studio. 
I guess buying a house is just like getting married, it’s a lifetime commitment, you are madly in love in the beginning, you find faults along the way, you fix them and love them again.
Anyway, we are looking for more houses to satisy my husband. But I’m crushed! How do you know it’s the right house? How emotional should one be through this process? In the meantime, I’ll obsess on Pinterest and keep dreaming of falling in love again and again
house5
House 1
house6house 4 house 3

Sugar Cookies

- casaazul Leave a comment
We’ve been busy around our house making treats for our family and friends and found this awesome cookie recipe from Craftiness Is Not Optional.
Best sugar cookies ever!
Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset
Ingredients:
 2 cups butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
2 t. vanilla
1 ½ t. salt
5 c. sifted flour
Directions:
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Mix well. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Roll to ¼” thickness in between sheets of parchment paper (sprinkle flour on both sides of the dough and paper), then chill dough in fridge until firm. Cut with cookie cutters and place on greased cookie sheets. Repeat with remainder of dough, but keep in mind each time you roll it out they get tougher from adding flour while rolling. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Make sure they are not sitting on the counter very long before putting them in the oven, you want them to go in chilled. Cookies should not brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the tray then transfer to a cooling rack.  I usually bake them a day before I decorate. Makes about 40-50 cookies, depending on the size of your cutter design.

A Haunted Birthday Party!

- casaazul Leave a comment

Happy Birthday Maddox!
To create this haunted look, I tried to recycle as much as I could. I used an old fabric as a curtain and nailed it to the window, cut some paper bats from poster boards and hung it from the ceiling with some fishing line. I also used a chalkboard paper runner that I found at Target and I think it turned out pretty cute and cheap. What do you think?haunted Bdayhaunted bday 2

Halloween Treats

- casaazul Leave a comment
Last year my sister-in-law bought these treats from a Harvest Festival and this year
we decided to make a craft-playdate with the kiddos.
Halloween tretas
Things you need:
Brownie mix (follow recipe)
Marshmallows
White yogurt covered pretzels
Food markers (we bought ours at Michael’s)
lollipop sticks
halloween treats
Cut brownies in square.
Place the lollipop stick in the middle of brownie to hold together the skeleton.
Use the white yogurt pretzels as the skeleton bones.
Place the marshmallow on top for the head.
Use the food markers to make the face of the skeleton.

DIY Sharpie Mugs

- casaazul Leave a comment
mug2
I’ve been looking at this DIY mugs project for a while and decided to give it a try. The first time I used regular sharpies and after washing them in the dishwasher a couple of times, the colors started to fade. After doing a little research I bought OIL-BASED Sharpies and so far they haven’t faded.
Maybe this time I will only hand wash them.
Easy and super cute project!
mug20