A Sneak Peek of Hull's Happiest Days Designs Home and Studio

I love design magazines. I love, love, love to peek into interiors where designers and artists live. So I thought today I would invite all of you into our home and studio. Hope you like it and thanks for dropping by.



This is our dining room, its in the new part of the house -1811. We spend alot of our time around this table: homework, art projects, and of course meals. Kevin and I designed the banquette around an old door we found in the basement. He then custom made the banquette and we upholstered it.



This is our kitchen. We recently added the pressed tin backsplash and that is my grandmother's butcher block we use as an island.




Our living room and our two dogs: Cocoa and Princess Buttercup (yup, from the movie). Guess who is who? Kevin's mom made the goregous rose crochet afghan on the couch. Despite our dessertware in monochromatic tones, I do LOVE COLOR!



The Master Bedroom. I love our hundreds of years old wooden floors. The antique yo-yo quilt inspired a family project. We started two Christmases ago making one for my Mom, hopefully, Christmas 2011 she'll finally get it. We ( I say we loosely, Kevin and the girls) have made 750 yo-yo's so far. We need to get to 1000 for a full sized quilt.



The studio where we create Hull's Happiest Days Designs dessertware and our other products. I love this space it's large and tucked away from the rest of the bustle of the house in the attic. We were told this room used to be the colonial smokeroom where they cured meats.



Our girls are so lucky! How many parents allow a year round tent in the playroom?

Scrumptious Brownie Recipe

Remember those delectable Heart Shaped Brownies I was swooning over in my last post. Here's the recipe. If you cut them out into heart shapes you get adorable portion control. Yummy!

Recipe:
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten)

2 sticks (8 ounces) butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
2 tbsp instant espresso
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar, for decoration

Grease a 13 x 9″ pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and instant espresso. Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture and stir to combine.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into the bowl sitting on top of the chocolate and suggar mixture. Stir the flour mixture into the batter and stir gently until all the flour disappears. Pour into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes, press a 4″ or 5″ heart-shaped cookie cutter into the brownies. Cool for about 10 or 15 more minutes, then carefully carve out the pieces around the heart and place in a medium bowl. Leave the heart pieces in the pan and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.

The Brownie scraps you can roll into balls and then roll them in powdered sugar or granulated sugar for another treat!

What I learned from Valentine's Day-my happy moment

Well, Valentine's Day is past. We did really have a wonderful Valentine's Day, but as I sit her and ruminate on the holiday and what makes it special to me, I think there are some elements I'd like to pull from Valentine's Day to the rest of the year. Namely: Brownies, making stuff, and saying how I feel to those I love.


Let's start with Brownies, really what's not to like about brownies? If you cut them into heart shapes then you'll probablly eat less and still get all the yumminess without the I just ate a 1/2 a pan of brownine hangover. Yes, heart shaped cookie cutters are a must do. All year round.



Making Stuff. I love making stuff. I have a business of making stuff, I have been an artist of one form or another all my life. But lately, and not so lately, I have been so busy marketing stuff, teaching stuff, and cleaning up stuff, not so much time to make new stuff. So for Valentine's Day I decided to make paper maiche heart boxes. I spent a blissful afternoon alone with my hands in newsprint, wall paper paste, and duct tape. Unfortunately it took more time than I expected for the wall paper paste to dry so alas I only made one Paper Maiche Heart Box. But that's ok-it was perfect to hold our family's hand made valentines, (another lovely afternoon). I'll get to the other two by next Valentine's Day. However, the point is not the quantity of creating but the enjoyment of the experience. I need to create weekly, if not daily for balance.



Lastly, tell those I love them, I love them, the good old fashioned way and write it down. My husband and I started a tradition when we were dating to write a love poem to one another every Valentine's Day. We even have a beautiful handmade notebook. For the first several years of our life toghether we faithfully stuck to the tradition, then we had the kids, things got a bit hectic-not so many poems, got a bit sporadic. This year we went back to our tradition. Even though I had to re-read my husbands poem three times comparing our love to a row boat. I finally understood his analogy and the fact he so carefully crafted it means the world to me. I enjoyed stopping everything and writing for him as well. I think I need to stop and appreciate the wonderful man and family in my life more often than once a year!

We're on TV again! Check-out the video and discount code!

Check out this gift insider TV segment. Hull's Happiest Days Designs was featured on Fox 2 TV News Detroit. Uncle Joey from Full House dropped by too!

(look for the discount code below)




For the rest of the month we're offering a 10% discount to all who check out this video or the gift insider blog:

www.thegiftinsider.com

At checkout enter the discount code tgi10.

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxoxo
Hull's Happiest Days Designs

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Happy February 2nd, Groundhog's Day! We are HUGE fans of Groundhog's Day. In the past my family has traveled to Punxsutawney for the fantastic Groundhog celebration. They have a four day extravaganza featuring fabulous craft fairs, carriage rides, breakfast with Phil and sometimes Phyllis (Mrs. Groundhog), ice sculptures, and snow, snow, snow! Last year when we were there we got a Groundhog cookie cutter and a basic spice cookie recipe for Groundhog cookies.

Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to Punxy this year, but we still celebrated! Last night my girls and I made Groundhog cookies (recipe below), then at 7:15 this morning we watched Phil via live feed from Gobbler's Knob. Members of the inner circle woke Phil up from his stump and conferred with Phil, in Groundheese. Phil relayed to the Inner Circle President, that he did not see his shadow so Spring will arrive early! To complete our celebration tonight we'll watch Groundhog's Day the movie with Bill Murray.



However, after we watched Phil's predictions, we decided to put our own cookie groundhogs to the test. We had some conflicting predictions between Punxy Phil and our Groundhogs here. Both our Cookie Groundhog's saw their shadow, so winter around here is going to be in full force. At least until March 21st!



Groundhog Cookie Recipe
(we tweaked and made this one our own-Shawn)

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of molasses
2 Tablespoons of white vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
2 eggs
5 cups of all purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

Raisins for eyes


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugar and then add the rest of the ingredients up to and including the eggs. Mix until light and fluffy. On the top (without disturbing the bottom) add flour, spices, and baking soda. Mix so the flour incorporates with the spices and baking soda and then mix with the wet ingredients below. Once the dough is formed chill for about 2 hours in the fridge.
Roll out after chilling into groundhog shape (you could modify a bunny maybe if you don't have a cookie cutter) or just use a glass to make a round shape. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes. Add raisins at the end if you like to decorate. Cool on rack. Enjoy and dream of spring!

Birthday Fairies!

My youngest daugter had her birthday this past weekend, and I made her a homemade chocolate cake with purple buttercream icing on the outside and pink buttercream between the layers, (she was very specific)! Cake is a big deal around this house. As far as we are concerned, if you got cake you gotta party. So I broke out our lovely cake plate (apple tree fine) and our dessert plates-girls opted for their naughty Jacks from Halloween. But I realized after I made this delicious cake and decorated it with purple icing, there was no cake topper. That here at Hull's Happiest Days Designs we haven't created any birthday designs. So I got to thinking what would I like to have on the cake, and then I thought of how much my sweet baby would have loved to have fairies floating above her cake.




So, I set to work on creating some new water color designs for cake toppers. Here is a sneak peek!



We've decided to start creating some new product lines: garlands, cake toppers, and cards featuring our designs. Of course, we will still be doing the china, but I also want to start experimenting with new mediums and products that all center around our theme: Touchstone's to life's happiest days! Let's see how it goes.

Last Minute Homemade Gift! Fudge in a Flash!

This time of year it always seems that I need an extra present or two on hand. Here is a recipe for Chocolate Almond Fudge, that is delicious, inexpensive, and whips up fast! Perfect for co-workers, teacher gifts, or even to set out at a party! You can switch out the almonds for other add in-s, such as marshmallows, or peanut butter,or white chocolate chips. So simple and so yummy!



Decadent Chocolate Almond Fudge
Shawn Hull

Ingredients
3 cups of chocolate chips
1 cup of almonds
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Non-Stick Spray

In a double boiler melt down chocolate chips with vanilla, pinch of salt, and can of sweetened condensed milk.



Keep heat very low, so as not to burn. When the chocolate is smooth and has a shiny sheen, take it off the heat.



Add one cup of almonds and stir into the fudge mixture.



Pour into a 8x8 square pan sprayed with non-stick spray.





Chill in the refrigerator for two hours.



Cut into bite size pieces and package in air tight containers.



Wrap. I used brown paper bags, (I was out of wrapping paper, plus it gives a nice rustic homey feel). Tie with ribbon.


Give to friends and family!

Happy Holidays from the Hull Family!