Oh Jill Stuart, How I Adore Thee!!

Are you a sucker for gorgeous packaging?

I most definitely am! and oh my goodness does Jill Stuart step up their game when it comes to packaging. Their products may come with a heavy price tag, but they do not disappoint! One of the few products I picked up on my trip to hong kong, was this gorgeous blush from Jill Stuart. The one i have is in the shade 09 - little bouquet.

and some quick swatches.. :)

Isnt is absolutely gorgeous? 

Not only the packaging, but the colors as well! I find that although the blush itself can seem a tad light when swatched, but when used on top of a primer or even just your foundation, the result is a much more pigmented and gorgeous color! Plus, the texture of this blush is very nice, and i love how theres four different range of colors to mix from meaning you can go a bit more coral one day, or a bit more rose the next. whatever rocks your boat! ;)

Rainbow Rice Krispy Squares!! Recipe & Picture Steps

Everyone Loves Rainbows! 

So for fathers day, my family had a big BBQ dinner and it was a lot of fun! :) the unfortunate part, was that it was also raining... something we knew days in advance but didnt let ruin our day. So to cheer everyone up, I decided to make these rainbow rice krispy squares! It was a big hit and everybody loved them :) so now its time to share with the rest of the world! :D

note: all pictures below were taken with my iphone 4, so sorry in advance for the quality of the pictures!

 finished product :)

Step 1 - Gather your ingredients!

To make the rainbow layers, I had to make 7 different batches of rice krispys mixing in a different color each time. For each batch, i used the following amounts: 1/8 cup butter1/2 bag (250g) mini marshmallows3-4 cups of rice krispysfood coloring

This made a good amount for a large family party. approximately 40 squares.

you'll also be needing some pans prepped with buttered tin foil to shape your rice krispys

Step 2 - Melt the Butter and Marshmallows!

over LOW heat, melt the butter

then, add in half a bag of marshmallows...  

and melt again while stirring constantly. you DO NOT want to let anything burn as that will affect the ending taste of your rice krispys, so keep an eye on the marshmallows and keep stirring until you get an even paste with no bumps.  

this is almost ready, still have to get rid of a few of those bumps though before we move on,

Step 3 - Add food coloring!

take the pot off the heat to prevent burning, and then add your desired food coloring until you reach the color you want. here i am mixing red and blue to get purple.   note: you want to add MORE food coloring then you think you need. because once you mix in the rice krispys, the color get toned down quite a bit.

Step 4 - Add Rice Krispsys

throw in your rice krispys and mix well! This was my first batch and i totally did not add enough food coloring to make this the purple i wanted. oh well, you learn from mistakes right? good thing i had 6 more batches to go after this!

Step 5 - push onto buttered pans

this is my mom helping me push them onto the pans. it is easiest if you do this step with BUTTERED SPOONS! that way, the rice krispy will not stick onto the metal surface and it'll make life SO much easier! you want to flatten out the rice krispy until its a nice thin layer. small holes are okay if you cant push it out any further as you will be adding 6 more layers on top to cover.

Step 6 - continue and repeat steps 2-5!

now you'll want to repeat the steps but just change up the amounts of food coloring you are adding in. if you're making the rainbow, work your way BACKWARDS up the rainbow :) for example, the next one for me is blue!

Extra Tips:

i found it MUCH easier to take out each layer after i finished pressing them down in the trays and placing them on a sheet of tin foil. that way, when you make the next batch and place it into the trays, it wont stick like crazy to the bottom layer and prevent you from panning it out properly. Just keep adding each layer AFTER you press them down and that will make life much easier, trust me!

almost finished....

pretty isnt it hehe

i added a layer of just normal rice krispys (no food coloring) on top because i wanted to decorate with icing at first. but then i ended up just leaving them empty and i thought they looked nicer with the normal colored layer on top :)  if you want the rice krispys chewier and firmer, use a clean rolling pin to press the layers together

and then you are pretty much done!

(minus the cutting and eating parts!)

finished product!

the edges are a bit messy, but you can always fix that up when you cut the squares :)

here we turned ours upside down to draw lines and cut into squares :)

you could just leave them like this if you want, in big strips lol since they look like pretty rainbows! but since we had a huge party, we decided to cut them in squares :)

and here they are! the inside (after cutting) looks ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! i love it! oh and yeah, we ended up arranging them in a checkerboard style :)

and we also took the four corners and put them together to make a "hamburger" type rice krispy lol i originally wanted them to be balloons, but yeah, now they are just "dad" and "happy face" lol! :D

anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed this quick recipe and picture tutorial! I know not all of you are into making and preparing food and i most likely will not be doing this too often, but i just thought i'd share because i LOVED the ending result :D hope you all have a great week!

 

My Big Day! Convocation 2011

I have officially graduated!!

YAY! After four years of hard work, i have finally received my Bachelors of Commerce in Accounting :) and now.. i can officially say i have graduated! :D So what now? I am looking for a job.. haha surprise surprise! and then after that, it'll be off to pursue my CMA designation, which means what? more school for me *sarcastic yay* lol. oh well! i am actually probably the biggest keener i know, so :) i will enjoy it as much as i complain about it lol.


anyways! here are some pictures from my big day! enjoy!

now its time to start a new chapter of my life... :D

Crackle Nail Effect Polishes from HK!

Crackle Crackle Crackle!

Its the new biggest trend and of course, hong kong has got it covered! While on my trip to hk, i found out that there were many stores that carried a TON of these crackle effect nail polishes in every shade possible! They had an immense range of shades, but i only ended up picking up two (major regretttttt!) because i was scared they'd explode or leak on the way home...

 

purple crack effect polish, gold glitter polish, blue crack effect, silver glitter, top coat

close up of the nail effect polishes

this is the glitter silver polish that i used as a base.

as you can see, there are fine glitters all over!

Let the cracking begin!

i applied a coat of the blue nail effect polish.. and literally within seconds it started to crack!

cracking.... hehe

and cracking...

this is what i ended up with, its a bit messy but its so pretty!

as you can see, i also swatched the purple/brown shade on top of the silver.

here you can see the different effects you can get with the crackle polishes. the cracks range from small to large depending on how thick you apply your polish. the thicker layer you apply, the bigger the cracks. the thinner you apply, the littler the cracks!

 i think the best looking ones are from a nice even coat.. something that is (for me) harder than it seems!

and heres a picture of my cousin's nails. she used a purple/brown shade over the glitter gold polish. the results give a completely different effect!

i totally am in love with these crackle effect polishes, not only because it looks cools (and makes drying nails that much more interesting!), but more so for the fact that you have literally endless possibilities! You can purchase just one single shade of the crackle effect polish, and pair it with every single other polish you have creating different results every time! So if you have one of these crackle polishes, get creative and start pairing! I have yet to re-do my nails just yet, but once i do.. i will test out other colors and post them up here! :D