No Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust

8 ounce package soft cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

8 ounces cool whip, slightly thawed

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and mix well. Add sour cream and vanilla, mix well. Fold in cool whip. (Wearing tons of SoulMakes, of course:)

2. Spoon into pie crust and chill four hours.

Tip: we put ours in the freezer!

(Source: Pinterest)

I have a major sweet tooth, if you ask me cheesecake is the best thing that ever happened to mankind. Naturally, we definitely want to serve it at our reception! Our big day is going to be very DIY, from the decorations to the food. I've been pinning lots of cute dessert ideas, so Trev and I decided to try out these little cheesecake bites! I can barely scramble eggs, so this no bake recipe was awesome. After  freezing it, we cut it into little squares, stuck lollipop sticks in them (found at local craft store in the cake decorating isle) and added a little slice of strawberry! Not bad for our first try (we plan on baking from scratch for the next try)

Delish!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Utah

We must have taken a couple thousand photos on our road trip. We're still slowly pouring through all of them, so here's a few from Utah. We didn't get to do much site-seeing, we just drove through on our way into Colorado. I had no idea how beautiful Utah would be, it's nothing but landscapes for days. The terrain seemed to be ever changing and we only saw a small portion state! In some parts we were surrounded on all sides by towering mountain walls, in others there were rolling green pastures dotted with cows and sheep. The colors changed from neutral grays to lush greens with warm red rock and back again. I'd love to go back to Utah and explore a little more on foot some day, it was so unexpectedly gorgeous!

Hope you guys had a beautiful weekend! Be sure to stop by the shop and check out some of our lovely new arrivals!

And if you're not already, follow us on Facebook to receive a special COUPON CODE!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Content With Silence

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence."

-Ansel Adams

Love,

MacK Mars

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Lavender DIY(sort of)

All you need is:

 Some old cans and bottles (I have quite the collection) 

Raffia ribbon, dried moss (I got mine from Michael's)

Lavender bunch (Trader Joe's)

Scissors

So I didn't take step by step pics (kudos all you DIYers out there), because the steps are really pretty simple. Tie raffia ribbon around cans & bottles, I just used a simple knot. Then trim the lavender to the desired height (I also added some white flowers) and place the floral bunch in different kinds of vases. I hot glued the dried moss to the side of one of the cans, to give the appearance of over flowering greenery.

We got a little creative and hung them from the ceiling. We just punched holes on either side of the cans and used transite line (fishing line) to hang them, the clear string made it look like they were suspended in mid air, defying gravity.

I've been collecting old glass bottles for a while and I recently started to collect cans as well, in preparation for our wedding decor. I've been dreaming of all different types of white flowers, mixed with lavender for our big day! I stumbled across a lavender bunch at the store, so naturally I brought it home to play around with. I love the simplicity that lavender offers. Not to mention the soothing and calming smell. Lavender symbolizes the first emotion of love in the language of flowers. It has often been gifted as a promise of new adventure and it expresses devotion and purity. Lavender is the color of grace, elegance and uniqueness. It completely personifies romance, a perfect flower to celebrate our love. I imagine beautiful and delicate little bouquets lining the tables during our receptions, so magical.

I hope this inspires you all to to get some flowers and turn some common household items into vases!
Have a beautiful day!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Old Things

Over the weekend I got together with my beautiful friend Tara, the creative mind behind Pearl. Love. We went to one of my favorite antique shops in town. You wouldn't know from outside appearances, but it's a huge, two story gold mine! The lower level has a maze of jewelry cases, tall stacks of crochet doilies, jars full of buttons, and gorgeous furniture. The upstairs is full of little nick-knacks;  faded wood clothes pins, worn out flags, Tupperware from my grandma's kitchen, turn style phones, tin containers and my favorite - old glass bottles. We spent almost two hours pouring through the place and it still felt like we hadn't seen everything. 

I've always held a strange fascination with antiques. I like things that are old and the history they bring with them. I love the mystery behind their wisdom too. I like to wonder what the story behind the antique is, it really gets my imagination going. I especially love the opportunity to turn something old into something new, to incorporate elements of today into it and add a piece of my story,  like the thunder birds above. We each got one and I upcycled them into braided leather chokers, classic SoulMakes style. I like that they hang upside down, it adds a sort of unique element to the necklaces and I'm a huge fan of anything out of the ordinary. 

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Beautiful Union

Sources: Spell Designs, Wild & Free, Pinterest & SoulMakes

Trev and I have only just started planning for our big day. Naturally, we will be making most of our decorations ourselves. I imagine that over the next year I will probably create a lot of different kinds of "wedding decorations," mostly just as experiments. Who knows what will actually end up adorning our wedding. Right now, I'm just having fun with all the overflow of inspiration that comes with this wonderful process! I'm totally in love with the idea of tons of white crochet details, flowy lace, flower crowns, sea shells, feathers and lots of hanging dream catchers! The beauty above is my latest creation, I adore the little cowrie shells. 

Lately, I'm finding myself so drawn to duck feathers. I love the almost stippling style color patterns at the base of of each one. I also love the way they feel. From a very young age I have been fascinated by feathers. They are such seemingly delicate designs, but if you look closer you can see how all the barbs and hooks stem out and tie into each, like a million tiny little zippers. It amazes me how feathers feel so light and soft to the touch, yet this simple arrangement of nature forms such a strong structure. Not the mention the celestial symbolism. It's easy to associate a feather with freedom, the idea of flying being at the fore front of your mind. Feathered creatures have the power to ascend and descend gracefully without any limitation of gravity. For thousands of years feathers have also been a awarded by many as a symbol of bravery, wisdom, respect, strength and trust. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to represent Trev and I forming this beautiful union!

Hope you're all having a gorgeous week!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Piece of my Heart

The endless beauty of the Grand Canyon is almost overwhelming. I imagine you could spend days or weeks, months even, exploring the canyon and still not see all of it. This magnificent place definitely stole a little piece of my heart. I love the warm color pallet surrounding the area, the patterned lines in the rock, desert roses, and the quiet, still air. Our latest collection, infinite summer, was so inspired by our time spent here. Not only with the idea of a seemingly eternal beauty, and an endless summer in mind, but the native art we found all across Arizona had me longing to create some beauties made with vibrant turquoise gems, all kinds of feathers and leather. I'm especially fond of these pieces, they mean so much, from the colors I incorporated to the stones I used. Each little detail is representative of a some part of our wonderful adventure, a lot of love went into their making. This collection is our way of sharing an element of our journey with you!

Stop by the shop and check out our latest designs inspired by the southwest!

Hope you're having a gorgeous day!

Love,

MacK Mars

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