black sesame ice cream

Last year I tried black sesame frozen yogurt at Yogurtland and it was one of the best flavors EVER. It might seem kind of insane if you're used to chocolate and vanilla (or in my case, strawberry and coconut) but the only crazy thing about it is how good it tastes. It was unexpectedly amazing, and (hooray!) my at-home version came out just as fantastic! :D

I found a few recipes online, but they were all either too fatty or required equipment I didn't have (like a coffee grinder) so I made some adaptions, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. Luckily the ice cream gods were in my favor and it's pretty perfect.

I used this recipe, with the following alterations:

- 2% milk instead of whole milk
- 3 egg yolks instead of 6 egg yolks
- add 1 tsp. vanilla in step 2

I also used a food processor to grind the seeds, since I don't have a coffee grinder. I'm not sure how fine the sesame powder gets with the grinder but mine still had little bits of sesame seed that ended up making some pretty speckles in the finished ice cream. The ice cream was still incredibly rich and creamy without the added fat from the eggs and whole milk. I'd love to keep testing different ingredients to find the perfect low-fat base for all of my ice cream experiments! :)

a recipe for a toothache

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I have a bit of a weakness for ice-cream themed things, so I decided to round up as many awesome (can I say awesome if I included two of my own sweet and lovely brooches?) ice cream things as I could, and pour them all into one post. I'm glad I snatched up that ice cream print dress from asos a couple years ago (the one I wore in my outfit post on Tuesday) because except for the dress pictured here there seem to be hardly any available anymore. When I got mine there were an abundance of ice cream dresses -- basically as many dresses as there are possible flavors. I hope it wasn't just a passing phase because I think everyone's wardrobe could use a little soft serve :)

recipe: pumpkin pie ice cream

Last weekend I got a text from Yogurtland saying they had a new pumpkin pie flavor of frozen yogurt and I was dying to try it! I went on Wednesday and the cashier told me the flavor was already gone for the season (what?!) so, heartbroken, I went to the grocery store to see if they had any. They didn't! Then I remembered that I got my dad an ice cream maker for his birthday this spring and we had yet to try it out.

I did a quick google search on my phone but couldn't find any recipes that used real pumpkin pie. Most have pumpkin filling and graham cracker crumbs or something like that, but I wanted actual pie in my ice cream. So I decided to just wing it and BOY am I glad that I did. I used the milk measurements from a peanut butter ice cream recipe that came with the ice cream machine and then eyeballed the rest. It came out so great I can't wait to try other flavors now! I want to try apple next but my dad is campaigning for garlic (yup, garlic!) We'll see..

Here's my recipe for pumpkin pie ice cream:

1 pumpkin pie, pre-cooked
1 cup fat free half-and-half
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup brown sugar
red and yellow food coloring (optional)

Cut 1/4 slice of the pie and eat it. If you want to save it for later or give it away that's fine too, but I recommend eating it immediately. Then scoop out the entire center of the pie, including the bottom crust (leaving only the crust edges in the pan) and mash it up in your mixing bowl with a fork. Add brown sugar and mix. Then add the half-and-half and combine with a hand mixer on low speed. Then add the heavy cream and continue mixing on low for about a minute. Cover your bowl and store in the fridge for a couple hours (I left mine in overnight.)

When the batter is cool, add it to your ice cream machine and watch the magic happen! My ice cream maker (this one) is open at the top (I don't know if all of them are? I'm new to this) so I could see the batter transforming into ice cream right before my eyes. It was SO cool! While it was churning I added 3 drops of yellow and 3 drops of red food coloring to make the ice cream a little bit more pumpkin-looking. I was also planning on adding some crumbs from the leftover crust edges a few minutes before the ice cream was done but it ended up getting too thick for me to add anything! I definitely want to try that in my next batch for some added texture.

massive sweet and lovely update - part one

I've been adding heaps of new products to sweet and lovely lately so I think it's about time for a little shop update! This is actually just a small sampling of the new additions, there are oodles more on the New Arrivals page, including St. Patrick's Day jewelry, a few Pi Day items and lots of new sweater clips! Also all of my new ice cream products are available as sweater clips and brooches in mint chocolate chip, vanilla, sprinkles and strawberry. If your favorite flavor isn't available, drop me an email.. maybe I can whip up a special batch just for you! ;)

ps. Enter code "unicorn" at checkout and receive 10% off plus some unicorn freebies in your order! ♥




Also these lovelies are back in stock again! yay!

friday favorites

I'd already be sold on these shorts if they were just high-waisted and mint colored, but the fact that they also have pink ice cream sundaes printed on them totally seals the deal! Cutest shorts ever!



This is so simple and absolutely brilliant! White chocolate + yellow m&m + pretzel sticks = bacon and egg candy!! GENIUS! And perfect for Ron Swanson fans. Even perfect-er for vegetarian Ron Swanson fans who don't eat real bacon (yup, we do exist!) You can grab the recipe here.



Speaking of awesome tv people... Barney Stinson. ♥  I'm pretty sure I need this hanging up in my room. I love the quote (although I think when Barney said it on the show it was betraying how sad he actually was, but that's a whole different me-over-analyzing-sitcoms story) and the embroidery and the fabric! It's on etsy here.



I am SUCH a sucker for novelty things, and this is no different. It's a purse that looks like a ladybug! Not quite as amazing as the unicorn shoes (which are now in my closet.. surprise, surprise) but still pretty darn cool!



I'm kind of in love with Kailey's workspace. Ever since I saw this on her blog I've been staring at my desk contemplating which necessary item should be replaced with a pink ice cream lamp. I'm thinking the printer can go.



I love this DIY valentine bunting from Now That's Pretty! I might whip up one of my own using these vintage valentines I scanned last year.



Marianne Faithfull as a doll. She's one of my favorite singers and a pretty awesome person -- there's a documentary about her life on Netflix and I highly recommend it. I loved her interviews in the film, she's just such a strong, spunky and super talented lady!



Isn't this beautiful? I found it on pinterest but it just links back to an endless stream of tumblr reblogs and I can't find the original source. I hate when that happens! If anyone knows who made it, please let me know so I can add a credit :)



Color Me Katie has a super cute tutorial on how to dye rainbow flowers! If you haven't visited her blog before and have some time on your hands, just go through her entire archives. It's a guaranteed smile-maker and for anyone who loves color as much as I do, a feast for the eyes!



I wish that all elementary schools all had this hanging up in their classrooms.

My parents always taught me to say "thank you" if anyone called me weird (the fact that they felt the need to give me this advice must have meant that they knew what I was in for in school?) and I did.  I distinctly remember during one recess in 5th grade, this girl Andrea came up to me and just said "You're weird." I was so excited and said "Thank you!!" with a huge grin on my face. She gave me a strange look and then walked away -- probably even more secure in her belief that I was weird. To this day though I still see it as a compliment. I'm very happy with who I am (and who I was in 5th grade) and it's mostly because I was taught that being weird is kind of awesome.

Guest post: ice cream headband DIY by Kailey from Mermaidens

Hello, I'm Kailey from Mermaidens! I adore just about everything that is pastel or ice cream related, and so when I saw this DIY tutorial from Icing Designs my heart skipped a beat! Not only was it absolutely adorable, but immediately I thought of using one to make an ice cream headband and just had to share!



All you need for this project is:

1. Fabric

2. A 2 1/2" Styrofoam Ball

3. Fabric Glue

4. Cone Colored Scrapbooking Paper

5. Any Store Bought Headband

6. A Sewing Machine (though this can be hand sewn as well - that's what I did!)

Using the styrofoam ball, fabric, scrapbooking paper, and the Icing Design cone template, assemble your own ice cream cone!



Next, all you need to do is take any store bought headband and glue the ice cream cone to it - allow the glue to dry completely before attempting to wear. And voila! A super easy and cute ice cream headband :

As somebody who needs to watch their pennies, I was overjoyed with how low-cost this project was - I found the bag of styrofoam balls at the Dollar Store and already had plenty of fabric left over from other D.I.Y. projects!

I plan on making another one soon, only this time, in mint green!

Style Idol - Zooey Deschanel

Thank you to Megan for suggesting Zooey yesterday when I made a desperate plea for ideas on my facebook page :) You know how sometimes someone will ask you a question like, "what are some of your favorite movies?" and despite the fact that there are hundreds of films you adore, you can't think of a single one. That happens to me all the time when I'm getting ready to do my style idol posts. I have hundreds of style idols, but when the time comes to write the post... I blank. I'm a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel's style, but I totally forgot about her until Megan suggested her!

Anyway, here are some of my favorite Zooey outfits! I saw the black + yellow + white one a year or so ago and have been pining for yellow shorts (or a mini skirt maybe?!) ever since.

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

What is your favorite treat from the ice cream truck? (popsicle.. ice cream cone.. fudgsicle.. choco taco... chipwich, etc.)

ice cream cups

I'm not a big fan of ice cream (shocker!) ... in fact, when we get those Blue Bunny cones from the grocery store, I eat the topping, then scoop out the ice cream and just eat the cone. However, I am a big fan of ice cream aesthetics. Ice cream shaped anything makes me weak at the knees, and this is no exception. It a cup and lid set! It combines two of my favorite things - ice cream shaped objects and cups with straws. Yup, I'm an exciting girl ;-)

These are available on one of my favorite websites (with one of the best website names ever) Perpetual Kid. I'll take one in each flavor, please!