Cranberry Cream

This Cranberry Cream Jello Salad was always a staple at my Grandma Bea's Holiday table growing up. She loved the Holidays and any excuse to get her family together.  Now I make it for my family every Christmas and Thanksgiving or any Holiday if I can sneak it in. With only three ingredients this is so easy to make and the perfect compliment to turkey or ham.  I also love to snack on the leftovers with nuts sprinkled on top and a little extra dollop of whipped cream.

Holiday Chalkboard gift tags

We have so many gifts going out right now from our family and from my kids that I created a simple holiday tag with an editable name on it.  A quick and easy way to add a personal touch to your holiday packages. Happy Holidays!!!

Download your editable tags here. 

Chocolate Pecan Toffee Bark

Every Christmas I look for an easy, simple recipe to give to our teachers, family and friends.  I love treats that travel well so my kids won't have to worry about squishing them on the way to school. Something that can be shipped across the country to family and friends with no worries. I also love treats that don't take a lot of effort or have too many ingredients.  We ship a lot of packages at Christmas with family and friends all over the world and with four children there are plenty of teacher gifts needed. 

I've had a favorite "Cracker Cookie" recipe that's more of a chocolate almond toffee bark than a cookie.  It uses saltine crackers but no one knows and it's always a hit.  This year I thought I'd change up the recipe a bit and use pecans because pecans and toffee are so delicious together. I'm so glad I did. 

My Zazzle store

Yay!  We have a Zazzle store.  Filled with my original illustrations and graphics.  My grand master plan is to stock the store with coordinating items for all my printable parties over on Etsy.  I'm also planning to have many of my Etsy invitations available here as well for those that would like everything printed and shipped to their door.    

For now we have aprons because well I love to bake.  There are mugs because I love coffee and hot tea.  

Then there are pillows, plates, phone cases, tote bags and mouse pads.  All of the items in my shop can be customized, so you can add text, change the background colors or even select a different style of the item.  There is still plenty of time to order before the holidays so take a look around and let me know what you think. 

Cyber Sale

Yay It's Cyber Monday!  Lots of awesome deals all over the internet helping to usher in the holiday shopping season.  Our Cyber Sale at Sunny by Design will last all week long from Dec 1st to the 7th. So you can stock up on invitations, or coordinating party decorations for your upcoming parties.  Order now and wait up to 6 months to have your items personalized for the big day. To cash in on the 30% savings use the code CYBERSALE2014 when you check out at our Etsy store.  

Apple Cranberry Bread

My grandmother's Apple Bread is my favorite quick bread recipe.  It's simple, fast and scrumptious. It freezes well and makes a wonderful hostess gift, teacher gift or holiday gift.  Can you tell I love this bread?  Even though it's wonderful on it's own I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like with cranberries added for the holidays.  I'm so glad I did.  The sweetness of the apples and bread with the tartness of the cranberries goes perfectly together. 

How to Tea Stain Paper

Last year my son had a Zombie Apocalypse birthday party.  I wanted to have aged paper for the invites but I also wanted to save on printer ink so I decided to hand stain the paper myself. Tea is so much cheaper than printer ink or store bought scrap book paper. 
It's surprisingly easy and I bet you have all the supplies you need on hand. 

13 Days of Handmade Halloween 2014 (Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams)

Yay!  It's that time of year again.  Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams is hosting the 13 Days of Handmade Halloween.  Today I am guest posting a DIY on how to tea stain paper.  Great for making invitations, cards, spooky pirate maps or just creating your own vintage looking scrapbook paper.

Keep visiting Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams to catch all the wonderful Halloween DIY's by these fabulous bloggers.  

We've also got a fun Linky party going on for these 13 days.  If you have a Halloween craft or food tutorial that you'd like to share link up with us and join the party.  

~Happy 13 Days of Handmade Halloween~

An InLinkz Link-up

Notebook Doodle Nail Art Tutorial

What better way to get ready for school than to doodle on your notebook nails?  I love to doodle and it's not much different doodling with nail polish than it is with a pen and paper. I recently did this nail tutorial for a new publication I'm working with called Ella and Annie Magazine .  We just released our first issue and it's packed full of back to school ideas, parties, articles, inspiration, crafts and recipes. Fun stuff. 

Back to School Free Chalkboard printable signs

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close.  We don't go back for two more weeks but we have already started getting ready for the big event.  My kids are sad of course and I am a little bit sad too.  I'll miss the late nights, late mornings, fireworks and the lazy beach days.  There's something so special about summer that makes you not ever want it to end.  However now that I'm a parent I can't deny that school starting gets me pretty excited too.  I miss the structured sleep schedules and the early morning wake ups and the quiet house during the day.  Oh how I miss the quiet house.  Sigh. 

So while I've been getting my kids ready for back to school I've also been making these back to school signs.  The first day of school should be an exciting event.  What better way to mark the occasion than with these chalkboard photo prop signs. There's Preschool through 8th grade all together in one pdf file so you can pick and choose the sign that's right for you.   I hope your last few days of summer are stress free and relaxed as can be. We hope to get a couple more lake days and a few more ice cream cones. If you use these signs for your kiddos I'd love for you to tag me on facebook , twitter or instagram.  

Happy Back to School !!!

Back to School Preschool - 8th grade printable signs

4th of July Free printable 8x10" sign

It has been a busy summer for us with lots of work for Mommy and trips to the lake for the kids.  July seemed to sneak up on me all to fast. So with 4th of July just a few days away I managed to whip up this patriotic chalkboard print. What I love about this sign is the homey, rustic feeling it gives with the chalkboard background and scribble effects.  I can picture it framed on a mantle on hanging in a patriotic collage on the wall.  I just love rustic Americana art.  

I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July with lots of fun, family, yummy food and fireworks. 

Happy 4th of July!

~Sunny~

Download your free print here.

Retro Cupcake Birthday Party (Real Parties)

Tell me what is cuter than a retro cupcake decorating birthday party?  Nothing, there's nothing cuter and there's nothing cuter than this little lady in her sweet cupcake apron, tulle skirt and sweet cherry topped cupcake.  My fabulous friend Keisha from Cupcake Wishes and Birthday Dreams recently celebrated her daughters 9th birthday with this adorable theme for her adorable little girl Nikki.  

Last Day of School (free) printable signs

Yay Schoooool's out for the summer!!!  I don't know who's more excited about no homework and sleeping late me or the kids (I think it's me).  Although my kids are pretty excited. They have been counting down the days for weeks.  I think they started somewhere around 21. So today was a big deal for all of us.  

The end of the year is always so hectic with graduations (from just about everything) and concerts and ceremonies and last minute field trips and class parties.  Whew I'm getting tired again just thinking about it. I've never had time to design an end of year picture sign with all the activities going on.  But this year I was determined to make it happen.  So determined that I whipped these up the morning of the last day of school. 

I've always wanted to document their first and last day of school with them smiling big holding a cute sign.  This year I finally did it and I'm so glad. My babies are growing up so fast.  Mara is my youngest and I can't believe that she just finished Kindergarten.  Marina is going into 5th grade next year.  That's one step closer to middle school.  It hurts my heart a little to say goodbye to all those wonderful memories and their sweet teachers every year.  

Free printable end of year signs

So if you'd like to say a sweet goodbye to preschool-8th grade, I've got you covered. You can download all of these signs here and just pick or choose the one you would like to print.  

I hope you have a wonderful end of school year with not too many tears and lots of hugs and smiles.   

Teacher Appreciation Editable Thank you tags

Yay! It's teacher appreciation week.  We love our teachers.  Every year they become such a big part of our lives and we try to show them how much we care every chance we get.  Teachers truly have one of the hardest jobs in the world.  They are the most patient, creative, kind, nurturing and determined people I have every met.  Trust me you have to be to keep my kids interested in learning. 

This week I hope you give a little something to the teachers in your life, to let them know how wonderful they are.  Here is the tag I whipped up for our sweet teachers and the Dahlia bulbs we sent in for flower day.  I made the "name" text editable so you can personalize the tags, just in case you'd like to use these for the teachers in your life.  These fit nicely on live flowers or any flower bulb box.  

Thank you teachers for helping our sweet children bloom and grow. 

Download your thank you tags here

Happy Earth Day to Moo Free 8x10" poster

Happy Earth Day to moo, Happy Earth Day to moo, Happy Eaaaarth Day.  Happy Earth Day to moo. (Sung to the tune of Happy Birthday) To celebrate this wonderful day and this wonderful weather we are finally having I made this sweet Cow and Earth printable poster for "moo". 
I drew this cute and quirky cow years ago and have been searching for a reason to use him.  I think Earth day is the perfect fit.  So do your best today to show the earth some love and remember we're all in this together.  

Happy Earth Day!

~Sunny~

Download your cow poster here.

Painted Easter Eggs

Every year I love to color Easter eggs.  Sometimes I think I love it more than my kids do. We always dye some eggs but I like to try new things and experiment with different techniques. This year we decided to do painted eggs and doodle eggs with markers. I also tried blowing out the yoke on some of the eggs in the hopes  I could keep them for Easters to come.  Thank goodness it worked and I really love our painted eggs. 

Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party (Real Parties)

 

What girl doesn't love rainbow's and unicorns?  I have always been a bit infatuated with Unicorns, so when my friend Sheryl asked me to help with her daughters Rainbow Unicorn 10th birthday party I jumped at the chance. What could be more girly and magical and fun than rainbows and unicorns.  

Rainbow Zoo Birthday Party

 My sweet little Mara just turned 6 and she loves animals.  She has a collection of stuffed animals that is always spilling out of her room into every corner of our house.   Which is why I wasn't surprised when she requested to have "a rainbow zoo party" with all her stuffed animals in cages.  

Paris, I love you free download

Paris, the city of love.  I've visited Paris twice and it never gets old.  It's one of those places that imprints on your heart and you love it forever. The sights, the sounds and feel of the city with the Eiffel tower rising majestically above the skyline.  I love Paris and would go back in a heartbeat, if anyone ever offered (hint, hint).  But until then this sketch will have to do.  Paris, je t'aime.

If you love Paris then feel free to download this copy of my original sketch.  

Je t'aime

~Sunny~

Eiffel Tower print download here.

This is an original illustration by Sunny Duran.  You are welcome to download it for personal use only.  Please do not attempt to sell this or claim this work as your own.  If you repost this or share the link please give credit to the website and the author.  Thank you. 

Rainbow Zoo party in the works

My sweet Mara chose a Rainbow Zoo for her birthday party theme this year.  She was very specific with the animals the colors and how she wants to wear her elephant custom from Halloween at the party.  With her creative input these are the sweet Zoo invitations I created.  Hopefully the party will be just as much fun as the invitations.  Follow me on Instagram or Facebook for sneak peeks for this party. 

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Maraschino Cherry Buttercream

My sweet, sweet Mara just turned six. For her birthday dinner she asked for McDonald's (of course) and Cherry Chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  She adores Maraschino Cherries.  So I decided to use the cherry juice in the frosting and my Grandmothers amazingly easy and delicious chocolate cherry cake recipe for the cupcakes.  If you like cherries than you'll love this.  If you don't then just move on there's nothing to see her.  I must warn you though it is sweet.  The frosting was divine and Mara ate it with a spoon and didn't even touch the cupcake. 

2013 Year in Review...

I've never done a year in review before so bear with me.  At first I didn't think I had much to review but then after I thought about it I realized quite a bit had happened this year.  

I honestly didn't expect much from this year because we moved in January from Germany to Maryland.  That doesn't sound like a huge event but after living in Germany for 8 years living in the United States was kind of a culture shock for us.  I loved being back but it felt like I was in a foreign country.  It didn't take us long to get settled, buy a house and find all our favorite stores and restaurants. I was particularly happy to be back in the land of Target, Starbucks and Hobby Lobby.  Ah, there's no place like home.