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WE MOVED TO A NEW BLOG!!! YIPPY!
It’s been a more than amazing 2011 so far and I can’t wait for you to see all of the things going on! Make sure to visit the new blog and follow along. Please come and join us!
{Image from 29BlackStreet}
Dearest Blog,
You have been so much fun and a great place to come to to post about work, design, and life! I enjoyed the time we spent, but it’s time to move on…there are things coming…really good things coming!
For one thing, I felt it was time to clear things up and simplify life. My freelance design company is Kori Clark Designs, which owns Paper & Pigtails. Kori Clark Designs works with a few select corporations on a regular basis, where as Paper & Pigtails is a stationary side of the business that creates party designs. This said, Kori Clark Designs simply doesn’t have the need for a blog to showcase my corporate work as those are a case by case basis, but Paper & Pigtails does need a blog to showcase designs and new products, so I have developed a new blog…that eventually will grow into a portfolio as well, so everything will be in one place. This will still be mainly a product blog, though I do like to share personal things from time to time. You can also still find all posts here on the new blog as well!
I made the choice to leave you now sweet blog, as there are A LOT of good things coming with the new year and I wanted to be prepared! I have new party designs lining up to get added to the shop, new photos to share, and a whole new product line to announce very soon!
Check out my new blog, www.paperandpigtailsparty.com and let me know what you think!! If you are subscribed to this blog, your subscription will be valid on the new blog. If you aren’t yet, you should be!!
I usually only post design related things (and a little family too) but these Mini Pie Bites were too wonderful not to share!!
My husband’s family is British, and his grandmother has been making mincemeat pies all of his life. When we were visiting her last year, she made some just for him and I have to admit…I was a little nervous….I mean “meat” in a pie? Coming from Louisiana I am familiar with all foods being cooked together in one big pot and throwing everything into your cooking, so I tried one. Guess what, it’s not meat!! Yes, I am sure most of you know this already, but mincemeat DID have meat in it long ago, however today’s version is a tasty blend of pippin apples, raisins, and spices. Great Granny BWI {British West Indies} makes hers more like turnovers and I knew my hubby liked being able to pick them up and eat them. When he requested them for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) I decided to find a way to make them my own.
I wanted to add apples, so ran a search and came across this recipe on Gourmet Girl.It looks tasty, right? I loved the idea of essentially having an “apple pie” layered with a “mincemeat pie”. I decided to go a little Sandra Lee and use a pie crust mix, so my pies were “Semi Homemade”, but I didn’t have any complaints! I made a few changes to the recipe Gourmet Girl posted based on what I had and fitting it to the mini pies….so here is what I came up with.
Pie Crust: 2 Boxes Jiffy Pie crust mix, if you prefer going all the way, see the Gourmet Girl Post for a recipe and instructions.
Apple Filling:
5 cups apples (Jonathan), peeled and sliced into smaller pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon organic whole milk (or heavy cream)
1 (26-ounce) jar mincemeat (We use Crosse & Blackwell)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
For the pie crusts:
In a large bowl, prepare mix per directions.Use 2 disks when making this pie. Roll out dough on floured surface and use round cookie cutters to cut out small pie shells. You will need a larger circle for the bottom of the mini pies and a smaller one for the top. (NOTE: I used 2 cups instead, turning them upside down to cut out two different sized circles) Place the larger circles in the bottom of a muffin/cupcake tin with the edges running up the side to form the mini pie shells. Mine only came about half way up the muffin tin sides.
For the apple filling:
Combine the apples, butter and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.
In a medium bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and a pinch of salt. Add slightly cooled apples and mix well. Stir in vanilla and milk. Place a spoon of apple mixture into the bottom of each mini shell, spreading evenly.
Add a spoonful of the mincemeat on top of apple filling in each mini pie. Then use the smaller dough disk and adjust over each mini pie. Vent the tops and brush with melted butter and a sprinkle of sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes.
I hope you can find the time to make these this holiday season! My husband has already requested we have them for Christmas, to take in to his co-workers, and to wrap up with a Happy Holiday gift tag for friends….
SIDE NOTE: although we made these for Thanksgiving Dinner…we ended up eating them for Thanksgiving breakfast…and they are perfect with coffee! You can also easily adapt this recipe to allergy free with Gluten Free Pie Crust, subbing Rice milk for the milk, and omitting the butter on top.
{Photo courtesy of Sandra Downie – The White Library}
{Photo courtesy of Sandra Downie – The White Library}
These sweet printable Holiday Candy Bar wrappers were just added to the Paper & Pigtails SHOP for only $5! You can jazz up your regular candy bar to make them a beautiful addition to a Christmas party, a party favor, or even to dress up and give a little “Holiday Cheer” to friends or co workers {in chocolate form of course}.
The wrappers were originally designed for Sandra Downie, The White Library for this stunning Red And White Peppermint Table, which was also featured on Celebrations at Home HERE. Be sure to check out both places for party inspiration!!
As for me, Lots of things are going on around here and you will be seeing them all soon!!!
WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
The 40th Comment was made by Michelle {MLPastryFox}!!! Congrats Michelle! I will be emailing you shortly!
This year, I have a lot to be thankful for, like these loves of my life –
I had our family photos done a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share a few of them with you for several reasons
1) Um, what mom doesn’t want to whip out the wallet full of photos at every chance? Well…this is kinda my wallet!
2) My daughter’s dress and jacket, and my son’s tie were made by the AMAZING Georgia Grace Designs and YOU still have time to win a $50 credit to her shop for a few more hours…the cuteness is overwhelming! Go to this POST to enter…. Winner will be announced later today around 4:30pm EST!
3) I LOVE every opportunity to showcase the work of my dear friend and amazing artist – Courtney Vickers {Photography} We had so much fun spending the morning with her, and the photos prove it! What do you think??
Of course, my princess {3} is a fan of making the cheese face for photos! I love the “faces of C”
You may have also noticed that Thanksgiving is next week….and I don’t have Thanksgiving printables in the shop….. There are a few reasons for this as well….
1) I thought about it, and though it is my FAVORITE HOLIDAY, there are quite a few beautiful sets available, both free and for sale! There are several BEAUTIFUL sets free through Operation Shower that you can use for your holiday festivities and raise a few dollars to help a mom have an amazing baby shower!!!
2) If you all don’t know this about me, I do still work in freelance graphic design as well. I work for a number of Large hotels around the states and I have been busy working on holiday items for them, working on some branding packages for clients, as well as some TOP SECRET and AMAZING Paper & Pigtails projects!
So, something had to give, and it was the Thanksgiving set I planned. I am OK with it, I figure no one will go without printables just because of me {GASP}!! Now, I can move on to being Thankful… And I am so Thankful….for so much…and I am so thankful for all of the support I have received from all of you!
I hope you all have an amazing Friday and don’t forget to check back later today to see if you won!!
Here is a SNEAK PEEK from last weekends Open House! We all know that invitations set the tone for the party, so here are the invites. I wanted a warm, fall, homemade feel…what do you think???
We hosted an open house so that friends could drive down to see the new house and spend some time with us! (an hour or two from where our friends all live and where we moved from) When thinking about our new home and preparing to move in, I created this “Honey&Wheat” inspiration board which ended up becoming the theme for our open house!
We found different types of local honey and had a “tasting area” which I will share with you in the party photos! Honey has so many health benefits and it was a lot of fun to learn about local foods and host a more “family/grown up” event than the “kids” parties I have done before. Although our home was full of children, we hope the adults loved it too. The theme was perfect, because although it is ULTRA sappy, I want this home to continue to be filled with warmth and sweetness and that’s what this celebration was about!
You know…You are NEVER fulled dressed without a smile {and a perfectly matched party outfit}
Well, now you can host a holiday party with invitations & printables from Paper & Pigtails and a perfect party outfit from Georgia Grace!
Did you download the Free Printables I created as a thank you? If not, you should HERE! Now, you can have a really really sweet holiday party! This set was inspired by the Holly Jolly Christmas clothing line from Georgia Grace.
and I now have the Holly Jolly Invitation available!
I can not say enough how amazing Jordon from Georgia Grace is and how beautifully made her clothes are….simply stunning! We decided to do a give away of our combined items to help you have the cutest party on the block. Here is what you can win :
A Customized Holly Jolly Invitation Set of 25, professionally press printed on pearl card stock for a stunning look! {$60 total value}
&
$50 Gift Card to Georgia Grace
Download the freebies and you have the cutest party around!
Here is how to enter….It’s EASY!
Become a Fan Of Georgia Grace on Facebook HERE
http://www.facebook.com/georgiagracedesigns
and
Become a Fan of Paper & Pigtails on Facebook HERE
http://www.facebook.com/PaperandPigtails
Then leave a comment with your name and email address, and letting us know you are a fan of both pages. Next Friday, Nov. 19th we will choose a winner randomly!
* I am sorry,this giveaway is only open to US residents
When Amy of Buggie and Jellybean contacted me about designing a set for her son’s first birthday, she mentioned Paper Airplanes, and I loved it!!! We designed a logo and party supplies with the idea of “Nolan’s Paper Airlines”. She had a Pilot’s Lounge (Food table) and The Airplane Hanger – where assembly could take place. Read her full post here.
These Oreo pops look amazing! Find the “How To” and a Giveaway for a gift card to Paper & Pigtails on her blog!
The Paper Airplane set will be in the shop soon, now get over to Amy’s Blog to enter this giveaway for a gift card to Paper&Pigtails!
I am so thrilled to see the downloads and support for Operation Give Thanks! It is such a beautiful cause. Being able to support women who spend so much time away from loved ones, as their loved ones defend every one of us (and the moms who spend time away to defend us too)…well, it’s pretty amazing what all of these ladies do. If there is a good time to show support, it’s now, and it’s with Operation Give Thanks – Operation Shower.
Danielle Smith of Extraordinary Mommy joined up with LeAnn of Operation Shower to shoot this short video of the Operation Give Thanks printables in action.
I love their idea of using my printables for a spa party!!! Seriously cute! You can check it out on the operation shower site – HERE.
If you aren’t able to host a party, there are other ways I have seen to use these printables to raise money, such as:
– Use the water bottle label to wrap on a jar, with a tag tied on a ribbon around the top. Bring the jar to work or anywhere you think people may donate, and collect money!
– Use the circles as cupcake toppers and thank you tags to wrap baggies and offer to host a charity bake sale at your child’s school.
– Use the table Tent cards as placecards at a dinner and ask each guest to leave something small underneath.
– Decorate little Holiday bags for friends and family using the tags, and simply write the website on the back of the tags, and ask them to look into the cause.
If you haven’t downloaded my FREE PRINTABLES yet, get them HERE !!
If you have any other ideas, you can share them here, or join in the Operation Give Thanks Network to share!
Thank you for the continued support for Operation Shower!
Kori Clark Designs 
