Here’s a peek from today’s shoot over at Living Social‘s 918F st offices. We created three tablescapes/ party decor looks for their marketing collateral.They have awesome event spaces which are a delight to decorate. I LOVE how everything turned out. Especially love the pics taken by Lisa Marie of Sweet Tea Photography. I am such a fan of her work and such a pleasure to team up with. Thanks for all your hardwork Lisa Marie.
Happy Spring, friends.
image: Manvi Drona
For my friend’s birthday yesterday I made these pistachio-cranberry shortbread cookies and I was glad with how they turned out. We enjoyed these post-dinner with prosecco. Here is the recipe if you like shortbread cookies that are not too sweet.
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks/16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (130 grams) unsalted pistachios
3/4 cup (150 grams) dried cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
In a food processor whisk butter until fluffy with soft peaks. Add sugar and salt. Whisk for about 5 minutes until sugar and salt have mixed well with the butter. Switch to dough hook and gradually add flour. Using butchers knife coarsely chop pistachios and cranberries. Add to dough mix and knead until evenly distributed.
Divide dough into 3 parts and roll each part onto parchment paper. Flatten dough using a wood spatula, wrap parchment paper around dough. Freeze for about 45 minutes.
Preheat over to 300F. Unroll dough from parchment paper and slice into 1/4 inch rectangles and place on lightly floured cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the sides start to turn slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool. Dough will be soft but will harden in about 10 minutes. I made a second batch with only pistachios and added a teaspoon of cumin which also turned out pretty well. Start to finish I would say it took me under and hour and half with all the prep, freezing and baking.
Dough can be frozen for upto a month which makes these great for last minute entertaining. I’d pair with pistachio gelato or enjoy as is.
Would love to know if you end up trying this recipe out.
xo
Planning a spontaneous New Year’s Eve bash and need affordable decor ideas? You’re in luck! My newest tablescape for Bright.Bazaar packs several easy-to-pull-together DIYs using leftover wrapping paper, one trip to the craft/dollar store and will take you just minutes to create a festive and sparkly New Years Eve party.
Give old vases a festive touch by freehand brush strokes using acrylic paint or liquid gold dye. Spray paint will also do.
DIY party kits. Create individual party kits for guests and use as part of table setting decor.
1. Party hats using left over wrapping paper, party fringe and glitter. Top with name tags and double these hats as placecards.
2. Confetti bags using star and circle sequins in glassine bags. Print, cut and glue Happy New Year tags to each and add to party kit on place settings.
3. Party horns. Dress up store bought party horns with glitter and fringe garlands.
The runner is actually gold wrapping paper, found nearly everywhere! The stripe fabric is from ikea.
Hop over to Bright.Bazaar to get more New Years Eve party ideas and how-to on creating a photo booth for your party at hgtv.com.
xo
As a puppy-mommy I find it hard to enjoy the holiday season, or any occasion for that matter, without my adorable lab Dexter. He is the one thing I look forward to seeing all day. So, when my editors at HGTV.com took me up on a pet holiday feature I was only too thrilled. And for months I have been waiting to share details of this project with you. A pet PAW-ty celebrating the furry members we love and cherish so much. A holiday party with pet-friendly yet totally stylish decorations, a treat table, doggy-bags, and home made goodies for the pups! Inviting Dexter’s doggy friends, indulging and pampering them at party focused on them was one of the most satisfying events I have ever planned. Nothing was off-limits for them and just seeing their happy faces was priceless.
I stitched up these bow ties for each of the guests to wear at the party which also doubled up as favors.
The dinner table with placecards and bowls for pet-owners to take home. The tablecloth fabric is from Ikea and the candy-cane-like treats are from petco. The placemats are glitter paper from Michaels. For the centerpiece I place a rosemary plant in a dollar-store bucket.
No party is complete without a dessert/treat table so why should this one be any different? I created a garland of plastic ornaments as a backdrop hung above puppy reach, and placed a mix of store-bought and homemade goodies so the doggies could help themselves.
These dog biscuits were easy and so fun to make. Recipe on hgtv.com
Little flags made with craft paper and a graphic bone served as helpful food tags.
Personalized striped doggy bags for each pet-parent to fill with treats to take home.
For main course we served dog-friendly ice cream. Can you tell how much they loved it?
Dexter was one super happy puppy! Needless to say, all the pups had a ball!!
Get all the details, including recipes on how to host a pet holiday party from the full feature at hgtv.com
xo
styled and photographed by Manvi Drona
There’s nothing like waking up to the loveliest birthday wishes from all over the world. Emails, wall posts, phone calls and little packages in the mail with the sweetest notes making my heart completely melt. You are the best peeps a girl could ask for. Thank you for filling my day with so much love!
I wish everyone in hurricane Sandy’s path safety and warmth.
In case you missed it last week, my monthly tablescape feature for Bright.Bazaar is live. This time we headed East for an Indian-inspired tapas soiree. A burst of bright colors like aquamarine, navy and tangerine, in vibrant patterns, played up with watercolor menus and invites, {by Little Bit Heart, thanks Jenna and Elizabeth}, and gold elephant place card holders and understated centerpiece using baby’s breath came together to create a fun party look for Fall! I loved how my my peacock tumblers from Good Earth looked.
I have had this aqua ikat fabric from Quadrille, Inc for a while decided to use it to make napkins and am so pleased with how they turned out.
The menu cards are in a soft watercolor pattern and mounted on mini canvas’ painted gold. Dont you just LOVE!!! Jenna and Elizabeth always blow my mind with their creativity!
What do you think?
Check out the full article on Bright.Bazaar.
xo
I love this corner of my bedroom. Flooded with natural light, I really enjoy starting my day here; sipping coffee, watching the morning commuters hustle and collecting my thoughts. This corner faces west so the late evening light and sunset view is spectacular.
With no patio space, I didnt know what to do with this outdoor table, but was not willing to give it up. So, I brought it into my bedroom. It needs a new coat of paint. I’m dying to go bold and spray it gold!! Thoughts??
Im not the only one who loves spending time here, Dexter parks himself on a floor pillow and looks out to the street deep in thought too.
image: manvi
For my latest Tablescape 101 at Bright.Bazaar we are celebrating Summer with a seaside-inspired nautical party look. Playing up cool blues, natural materials, 3D elements, and handmade touches, this look is easy to pull together and has all the ingredients for a fun BBQ or seafood boil party!
Handmade bunting invites by Fig.2 Design, {gorgeous arent they?}, couldnt get guests more excited for this gathering.
Transform tin buckets by wrapping jute rope around them to make vases. Place Summery herbs in them for a fresh centerpiece.
Place paper boats and a beer bucket (urban outfitters) on the beverage station.
Clear plates play up the graphics of the checkered runner, which was a window panel in its former life. Fish plates, from Anthropologie highlight the blues from the runner and placemats.
These organic deep cobalt tumblers are made using recycled materials.
The striped placemats are actually paper cards from Michaels. For a “wow” factor we stuck dip dyed monogrammed place cards in aqua and cobalt to each and placed a starfish on top.
This fish platter is from West Elm and on sale!
Give white linen napkins a custom look with a simple anchor stamp and fabric paint.
Maritime print matchboxes from Pottery Barn served as favors, reminding guests to fire up their grills!
Happy Summer!!
xo
Styled and photographed by Manvi Drona Hidalgo
It has been a while since I posted and I feel terrible about this. Before its too late, I wanted to share a few highlights from my visit to San Francisco to see my sister.
Needless to say, it was awesome. Being with family, seeing my sister’s baby pup, the food, Napa Valley and the weather was just what my overworked brain needed.
Dont you just love this art glass display? It was in the caverns at Pine Ridge Winery.
We enjoyed a glorious day in Napa, celebrating my sister’s birthday.
Dinner at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon was the perfect ending!
Stolling through furniture stores in Hayes valley was delightful. These colored glass pendants took my breath away.
Found some lovely treasures at lavish.
Treated myself to melt-in-your mouth chocolates in exotic flavors at Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates. You have to try their coconut-chocolate truffles.
And macarons from Chantal Guillon. YUM!
The best tacos in a while, at Tacolicious.
Another highlight from the trip was getting to meet sweet stylist Amy Atlas in person at her book signing event at William Sonoma. I have been a long term admirer of Amy’s work and left feeling so inspired; she’s so lovely in person. Peeps, if you havent bought her book ( Sweet Designs; Bake it, craft it, style it) you absolutely MUST. Packed with drool-worth desserts, ideas to style tables, and templates, this is one book no hostess should be without.
I heart San Francisco.
xo
psst: when I am not able to blog and on the go, I spend my time here and here.
Happy Friday! Rain and thunderstorms in the forecast here so I plan on indulging in some culinary delights and finalizing a shoot for hgtv.com.
Speaking of hgtv.com, did you see my latest feature on summer entertaining? Clear skies and the stunning scenery at Linganore winery allowed us to really enjoy styling and photograph these party looks.
See the full gallery and tips on recreating these looks for your next outdoor party on hgtv.com.
Have a wonderful weekend.
xo
Styling and design: Manvi Drona-Hidalgo
Stationery: Fig 2. Design | Fabrics: Quadrille
Photography by Nicole Lubin and Manvi Drona-Hidalgo
Hello dears. I’m BACK. Firstly, thank you for your emails and comments expressing concern about my absence from here. If you like Mochatini on Facebook, you might know that my site had been hacked and it took a long time to clean and fix it back. I truly appreciate your patience and am grateful you didnt give up on me.
In addition to moving to a new location, more on that shortly, Mochatini offices have been busy styling entertaining features and parties.Rising in temperatures gets everyone in the mood for outdoor entertaining. And I have been loving creating outdoor party looks.Such as this one, supper at sundown. For those know missed it over at Will’s Bright.Bazaar, I wanted to create a cozy, modern rustic tablescape on my rooftop.
Keeping the focus on stunning views of the city, I kept the table settings simple and uncluttered using elements that soften the harsh concrete rooftop. When deciding on pieces for an outdoor party, chose materials that are easy to transport, are durable and complement the surroundings rather than competing with them.
Succulents in woven baskets make easy and portable centerpieces while adding form to the table.
A make-it-yourself table cover using durable materials such as a painters drop cloth, available at most hardware stores, is ideal for windy rooftops. Create a pattern using painters tape and spray with paint for a unique design.
from my recent glamping look for hgtv.com: Throw a luxury camping party at home
styled and photographed by manvi drona-hidalgo