Whether you’re single or not, Valentine’s Day has become a popular holiday to also celebrate friendships.  Women all over the world are celebrating “GALentine’s Day” with fun luncheons, brunches, girls’ nite outs, parties or just swinging by to say, “I love you and I’m so glad we are friends.”  I love it!  There’s nothing like having a good group of women that support you and love you and always have your back.  So of course, it makes perfect sense to acknowledge them as well.  I’ve rounded up a bunch of affordable gifts (mostly from $10-$50) from beauty and apparel to home decor and sweets in this GALentine Gift Guide to help give you some ideas.  Click on any image and it will take you to the store!

I absolutely love this new necklace called “You’re Making Me Blush”.

Our Large Rhinestone Bow Bangle is always a favorite and such a pretty gift to give a friend.

This gorgeous Pink & Khaki Plaid Blanket Scarf is a gorgeous gift and much more affordable than the Burberry original.

If you’re not getting anything for your Galentines, maybe you could make them a plate of cookies or send them a nice card?  I like to do this every year.

Excuse the iPhone picture from 2015, but you get how cute they are right?!

I ordered these ones and they came in these cute little boxes (I purchased a dozen).  I put on my soft lips sweater and spent a day delivering them to my girlfriends with a big hug and told them how much I adored them.  You should try it!  It is the most fun and it means so much to your girlfriends!

Here are some great cookie sources you can order from (scroll right to see more):

And some cute tops with lips or hearts too!

I hope this motivates you to do something fun this year.  If it’s not your thing, well then show yourself a little love and grab some of these cute things above for YOU!  Or you can even send this link to your significant other for some gift ideas…ha!

I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest posts.  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!  Hope to see you soon!
Wishing you a very Happy GALentine’s Day and hope this gift guide was helpful!

xoxo,

The post GALentine Gift Guide 2017 appeared first on Summer Adams.

Whether you have new neighbors, company coming, or just a craving….baking cookies is ALWAYS a good idea!  My daughter is almost 10 and really enjoying baking with me and learning different recipes.  One of the best gifts we gave her at Christmas was this American Girl Baking recipe book that I purchased at Williams-Sonoma.  Each recipe so far has been delicious and really explains each step of the recipe, which is great for beginning bakers.  So, we sat her 2 dolls in the kitchen (to join in on our fun, because they go everywhere…ha!) and got to baking.

The roll out sugar cookie was FABULOUS and the cookies actually kept their shape after baking, which other recipes have failed to do.  I’m attaching the recipe below BUT changing a few minor details (to avoid copyright issues).

Roll-out Sugar Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract

Glossy Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 TBSP warm water
2 TBSP light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-4 drops food coloring (I use just 1 to keep it very light but add more if darker is desired)
Sprinkles, optional

Preheat oven to 350ºF and spray cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray or parchment paper.  In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt together in one bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar for about a minute until blended.  Add egg and vanilla.  Add flour mixture, half at a time on low speed.  Dough will look a little lumpy or pebbly but that’s ok.  Scrape down bowl and put in fridge for 1 hour.  I have also put it in the freezer for 20 minutes and that worked just fine.

On a clean surface, sprinkle flour and then roll out dough to 1/4″ thick.  Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, place on cookie sheet, and bake for 8 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheet (you don’t want them to break or wrinkle) and then frosting when cool enough.

For the icing, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla until smooth.  Add food coloring and whisk together.  Frost cookies (immediately add sprinkles if desired) and let dry for 20 minutes before serving. They will be so pretty and glossy!

I not only brought these delicious cookies to friends and our new neighbors but I also added them to the darling little cake stand on my vintage tea cart. During the winter it becomes our Hot Cocoa Bar.  But now that it is warming up, this vintage tea cart becomes an adorable area to entertain guests and serve them something sweet and either sparkling water or fresh lemonade.  You may be asking why I am NOT turning it into a Tea Station since it’s a tea cart.  Well, I already have one in my kitchen.  See HERE.

I love having giant marshmallows because my friends’ toddlers that come by to visit always love a marshmallow!  While living in Portugal years ago, I was so impressed that every time you entered a home that the Portuguese people would offer us cookies and something to drink.  Even if they did not have much and worked several jobs to put food on the table, they always were the kindest hosts and offered us something.  That meant a lot to me and I made sure that I would always be ready for guests stopping by and make sure I had something lovely to offer them.

Sources:  Bunny towels from WIlliams-Sonoma, Bunny jar from Target Dollar Spot, Pink & Gold polka dot plates from HomeGoods, Pink pitcher & Cake stand/dome from Home Goods, Bunny napkins from T.J.Maxx, Hobnob glasses from Home Goods, Straws from T.J.Maxx, Hobnob jar from HomeGoods, Apothecary jar from Home Goods, Heart and jumbo marshmallows and Mini Cadbury Eggs from Target.  

What do you do for your guests?  I’d love to know so leave a comment below!

xoxo, Summer

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It’s mid-January!!!  Can you believe it??  Valentine’s Day is just a month away.  As soon as Christmas is over and I have all my decor put away, it feels empty and plain and sad.  It makes me excited to bring in Valentine’s Decor.

On that note, we start baking everything in heart shapes around here.  I absolutely ADORE these italian sandwich cookies with raspberry preserves.  I used my little heart cookie cutter to cut out the middle of one side to make them more of a valentines cookie.  These are simple and soooo delicious!

Easy Italian Raspberry Preserves Sandwich Cookies:

Ingredients
3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I like to use vanilla bean paste)
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup good raspberry (or preferred fruit jam) preserves
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350˚ degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart-shaped cutter (optional). Place all the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.  It’s important to chill them to keep their pretty shape (I may have learned this the hard way, wink wink

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Now, my gas oven cookies super fast so I only did 10 minutes.  You may want to try that first and possibly do less, depending on your elevation.  Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Sprinkle the cut-out piece of the cookies with confectioners’ sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners’ sugar on the top.

And how cute are those golden arrow measuring spoons?! You can find them here below by clicking on the picture:

Search through all my other Valentine’s here on my blog!  I have other fun recipes and gift ideas!  I sure LOVE this time of year!  Happy Baking!

xoxo, Summer

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Ordering all my Valentine’s sugar cookies for friends and family for Valentine’s Day and I’m soooo excited!!! Megan at Well Mixed Sweet Treats makes the CUTEST cookies I’ve ever seen and put together such cute little bags of cookies. I know my family will love their personalized cookies. Hurry and order yours now!  She ships all over the country and you can get yours right before Valentine’s Day!  Don’t forget to follow her on Instagram @wellmixedsweets and also on Facebook !

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Our 4th “Countdown to Halloween: Frightfully Fun Family Night” presents…”Girl vs. Monster”. I made Ooey Gooey Monster Eye Cookies and they were soooooo yummy!! {Warning: if your kids suggest this movie, RUN!! It bored me to tears but they loved it…so I suffered through it ha!)  Does anyone notice an ongoing theme for Beckham??  Like most little boys, he LOVES to be in his skivvies  He walks in the door and gets comfy.  Underwear all day, e’ry day haha

Ooey Gooey Monster Eye Cookie Recipe:
1 Yellow Cake Mix Box
½ cup butter softened
½ tsp. vanilla
(1) 8 oz. bar cream cheese softened
1 egg
green and yellow food coloring
powdered sugar
candy eyeballs

Beat butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese until fluffy.
Mix in cake mix. Add green and yellow food coloring until it’s the color you want (I used equal parts). Chill for 30 minutes.

Roll into balls and dip in a bowl of powdered sugar.
Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. While cookie is still warm, push candy eye balls into the center of the cookie. ENJOY!

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