Color Crush: Black, White & Beige

Black and white color combo has always and will always be classic, but add a little beige and we. are. in. love. You just can't go wrong. Below is one of our favorite invite suites - so simple & chic with gorgeous hand calligraphy by Larry Orlando.

Color Crush collage: clockwise from upper left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

*Photos courtesy of corresponding websites

*Invite photos by Laura Ashbrook Photography

The perfect little clutch

There's something in the color, that signature Tiffany's blue, that always puts our mind at ease. You get that too, right? Totally normal! Tiffany's has beyond mastered their marketing campaigns {obviously}, they're known for offering some of the most stunning jewelry, classic china and silver and now... phenomenal handbags! How delicious is the Lyn clutch in their signature color? While we're a little partial to this color, there are five other options to choose from! undefined undefined

 

*Photos courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

{Milk} Shake it up

Now that daylight savings officially happened, we are mentally heading into Spring & Summer full force! Events on warm days are some of our favorites- sundresses, warm nights, ice cream- an irresistible combination! Ami from Elizabeth Anne Designs shared this precious, flirty, ice cream sundae bar idea that is just delicious. What a fun element to add to a wedding, shower, birthday party... or even a family reunion. As shown in the photos below, there are plenty of opportunities to customize a station like this to perfectly complement a color scheme or party theme.  

Love and LOVE.

Oh, and how stinkin' cute is this couple?!?

*Photos courtesy of Kellie Kano Photography

Tuesday Bootsday

Who said your wedding shoes have to be 3 inch stilettos, or that your bridesmaids should have dyed satin shoes to match their dress? Well, if anyone ever did say that, this bride didn't listen... and we are so very glad. {By the way, I've secretly always wanted to be a Southern bride and wear cowboy boots under my dress, but this bride has proven you can do whatever you want and pull it off!} And The Photographix couldn't have captured it better.... we are obsessed! Happy Tuesday Shoesday my friends.

*Photos courtesy of The Photographix

Pop Rocks turned Classy

Remember Pop Rocks?! We used to love those little candies - especially when we learned how to shoot them/pop them at our siblings. Oh the memories! While checking out one of our blog crushes, Birthday Girl, we saw this fabulous recipe for Pop Rocks Chocolate Cake {original recipe via Chubby Hubby} and couldn't resist sharing. What a fun, unique treat to have at a birthday party or shower!
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Pop Rocks Chocolate Cake
For the popping-candy base
85g whole hazelnuts
40g milk chocolate
2 tsp mixed spice
100g popping candy
For the chocolate mousse
350g dark chocolate
400ml double cream
Pinch of salt
For the chocolate glaze
20g chocolate (same type as for the mousse)
120ml water
8 whole coffee beans
Couple of pinches of salt
30g cocoa powder
70g unrefined golden caster sugar
Directions
To make the base, preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F and roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes until lightly coloured. Blend to a paste in a food processor, then set aside. Melt the milk chocolate in a bain-marie (a large basin over a saucepan of simmering shallow water — take care that the water does not touch the basin) and stir in the ginger spice and popping candy. Next, fold in the hazelnut purée. Place the 12 cm ring mould on a serving dish and gently press in the base mixture to a depth of about 1cm. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until hard.
To make the mousse, chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a metal bowl. Bring 150ml of the cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir extremely gently until all the chocolate has melted, watching carefully to ensure it doesn’t take on a granular texture. Add the salt to taste. Once the chocolate cream has cooled to room temperature, lightly whip the remaining 250ml cream to soft peaks, but do not over whip. Fold into the chocolate mix. Pour over the base in the ring mould and place in the fridge to set for two hours.
To make the glaze, chop up the chocolate and set aside. Place the water, coffee beans and salt in a pan, whisk in the cocoa powder, then set over a medium heat and simmer for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a small pan and melt over a medium heat. Unrefined sugar will caramelise quickly, so keep an eye on it; when it does, pour over the coffee and cocoa mix — stand back, as it will bubble and spit. Beat in the chopped chocolate and, when melted, pass through a fine sieve. When cool, but still liquid, pour over the mousse to your preferred depth and return the cake to the fridge to set.
To serve, run a hot knife around the inside of the ring before removing the cake. When slicing it, again make sure the blade of the knife is nice and hot.
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{after... oh sweet heavens}
Yes please!
*Photos courtesy of Chubby Hubby

One saucy satchel

Thursday Purseday... well, it's truly our favorite day of the week. We've had a slight obsession with handbags since college. It started with a single signature logo-ed coach bag and the rest is history. Well through the years we've tried to broaden our collection and stay away from black {it's pointless to have more than 3 black purses, right?!}...  but despite our efforts, we couldn't resist this saucy, textured satchel.

*Photo courtesy of Coach

Engaged: Kristin + Kelly

While the weather is still chilly out, we couldn't resist sharing this adorable engagement shoot that consisted of a hot cocoa date and romantic stroll. Maryland based company Laura Ashbrook Photography was perfect at capturing the adorable charm of this couple. How they met: It all started six years ago {when Kristin was sixteen} and hitching a ride to an event with her Young Life leader. On the way, they stopped to pick up Kelly. The moment Kelly got in the car and started reciting lines from SNL, Kristin was sold. Although they went their separate ways that day and never even spoke to each other, Kristin told herself that she was going to marry that boy with the crazy curly hair. Five years later through a mutual friend, fate brought them together! How the love blossomed? Well, that’s another precious story.

How he proposed: On October 23, 2010 Kristin drove to Kelly’s house at 6:30 in the morning to embark on an adventure that he had been telling her about all week. Little did she know, he’d been planning more than just the hike at Annapolis Rock where they were headed. Expecting to find Kelly still asleep in his bed, when she arrived at the house, to her surprise, he was awake, ready to go and waiting for her on the porch. The hour car drive to the trail was a silent drive and left Kristin concerned that something was wrong. To fill the silence and calm his nerves, Kelly turn on rap music...the entire drive...at 6:30 in the morning. When they got to Annapolis Rocks Kelly was anxious to get to the top and Kristin was clueless. It was a beautiful fall morning and the hike up the mountain was a fun and precious time for the both of them. When they got to the top, they went out on onto a rock that was overlooking the valley. Kelly then got down on one knee and asked Kristin to marry him. She said yes! Obviously!

Congratulations to this fabulous couple! Thanks for letting us share your beautiful story.

*Photos courtesy of Laura Ashbrook Photography

 

Artists who inspire

Happy Monday to you! For those who are avid tweeters, you may be familiar with Music Mondays. While Music Monday postings won't be a regular occurrence on Pearls for Paper, we couldn't resist taking this chance to share some of the musical artists that have been inspiring us lately. But now that we're sharing, we want to know what you're rockin out to these days too! Anything that we must check out?

 

A few on the current playlist:

The Head and the Heart

One Republic

Rachel Yamagata

The Beatles {loved those American Idol covers!!! Well, most of them...}

Amos Lee

 

Have a lovely week! xo

 

*Photo courtesy of Libertad Leal Photography

Hello March

You could call it Part II to our wall paper post because yet again we found a fabulous way to brighten your surroundings and spice up those old walls! Yes, it's adhesive and it's vinyl so you can actually write on it! This colorful calendar from Scribble on Everything seems like the perfect addition to an office wall to keep all those important dates at the forefront of your mind... or perhaps to spice up a wedding count down? What do you think- worth it for $80? undefined

Oh, and if you're crazy like us, you may even try and guess the Pantone of each month!!! {At least we know that's crazy, okay}

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*Photo courtesy of Scribble on Everything

Eyes on the Pies

Dessert is one of our favorite things to think about. Seriously. When it comes to weddings, people automatically think: wedding cake! While wedding cake is delicious and traditional, so many future brides are thinking outside of the box for their wedding sweets these days. We love this idea of mini pies- whether it be for a dessert display, tray passed goodies or takeaways for your guests, we've got our eyes on the pies! Mmmmm :)  

{Oh how we adore these custom labels!}

{So cute and what a great idea to offer a variety of flavors! Maybe incorporate a special family recipe?}

 

*Photos courtesy of Martha Stewart,  Sweetwater Portraits,  Bakerella, Chicago Now, Root Weddings

La Bella Bride Magazine

Based out of Rhode Island, La Bella Bride highlights wedding trends and brings together wedding vendors from the northeast. It's so fun to flip through and get inspiration - even if we aren't brides to be :) We are so excited to have been included in the most recent issue! Take a peek at some of our Save the Date and Invitation Suites that were featured...

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{Gail & Ryan}

To order your own fabulous copy of La Bella Bride, click here.

*Photos courtesy of Laura Ashbrook Photography

Float away

Back in the day balloons were a permanent fixture in all party decor. A party wasn't a party without balloons, right? And there's always the token attendee who squeakily shouts toasts after sucking down some helium. Well, honestly, we're kind of crushing on them again... and this is why:

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Sharing in our obsession yet??

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Okay, now lets all go to Paris and play with balloons, shall we?

Happy FRIDAY!!

*Photos courtesy of respective sites

Nothin' but Neutral

Big thanks to one of our beloved besties for these great picks from Nordstrom! Our purses for the day are subtle yet eye-catching neutral beauties. We loved them so much we couldn't share just one.

We are showing a little favoritism to the Valentino "Bon Bon" dome bag in Blush above. (I mean, look at it!)

And we couldn't bare to leave these behind.

1. Phillip Lim "Edie Bow" in White

2. Rhythem & Rhyme "Medium" crossbody bag in Beige Cut Python

3. Marc Jacobs "Paradise Rio" in Blush

*Photos courtesy of Nordstrom.com

It's a tie!

One thing that every woman should know is how to tie their man's tie. Yes, chances are he has had years of practice, but it's still necessary. Maybe a broken arm will require some assistance? Perhaps you'll be amongst groomsmen who need a hand perfecting their ensemble? Just in case, we figured it was only appropriate to start with 2 classics:

Now remember, practice makes perfect! ;)

*Vintage WWII photos courtesy of Hardscrabble Farm