My Little Secrets

A DIY and Lifestyle Blog

Food & Drink :: Easy Mini Lemon Curd Pastries

I love picking up fresh pastries on the weekends. It’s seen as a “hey, you’ve worked hard all week, time for something special” kind of treat. If I was a skilled baker, I’d definitely prefer to make patches of goodies at home over buying them from the store.

However, baking to me has always been super complicated, lots of steps, many ingredients involved, and requires precision and patience. Which quite frankly I don’t have what it takes to perfect. But, I recently discovered the simplest (and tastiest) recipe for a stellar weekend delight thanks to my exclusive visit to the President’s Choice Test Kitchen!

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Lifestyle :: Better Sleep & A Mini Bedroom Makeover

A couple months ago, I was experiencing back pains every morning, and finally decided to make the move to switch out our old mattress for a new one. Since mattress shopping isn’t entirely sexy, in fact, many people find it quite intimidating, I wrote about a few things I learned before bringing home a new mattress.

It’s been eight weeks since we brought home our Tempur-Pedic Embrace Collection mattress and I couldn’t be more satisfied with it!  And to celebrate the beginning better sleep, I took the opportunity to refresh our bedroom with a mini makeover as well!

Keep reading for on tips for better snooze and my bedroom makeover details!

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Lifestyle :: Creating “Sticky” Memories with Scotch Tapes

A few weeks ago, I was invited to join the Scotch® Brand team in New York City to spend the evening at the Scotch® Brand Open House. It was situated in a beautiful brownstone home near Chelsea where we got to learn about their newest product innovations and get creative ideas on how to best use these products.

We saw demonstrations of expert gift wrapping styles using a variety of Scotch® Expressions Tapes as added decorations, utilizing the Scotch® Thermal Laminator for wine and cheese entertaining, and learned how we could use various tapes to make packing and moving more efficient.

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Lifestyle :: 3 Approachable Gardening Ideas

The May Victoria Day long weekend is typically the time that garden season gets kicked off. It’s like Christmas for gardening lovers! As an amateur, I thought I’d jump on the wagon as well and got quite a bit accomplished last weekend! I admittedly don’t have a green thumb but over the past two years, I’ve been taking baby steps and working hard on making progress on my gardening adventures!

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Food & Drink :: Nespresso Exploration 1 & Coffee Smoothie

As a coffee admirer, I’m always searching for new flavours and ways to enjoy my morning cup. It’s been several weeks since I shared a new coffee recipe and I’m eager to reveal today’s creation!

In early May, Nespresso launched Explorations 1, two exceptionally rare and distinctive limited editions of coffees originated from Kenya and Laos. Per Nespresso’s in-house coffee experts, these two extremely small batched coffees are considered ‘hidden gems’ due to their excellent taste profiles and the fact that they are Pure Origins – meaning they are sourced from a single farm or small group within a precise region.

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Gift Guide {and giveaway} :: Swoon-worthy Gifts for the Mom

I’d consider myself a pretty stellar shopper. Considering I’ve been practicing the art of shopping all my life, I can almost always attain what I’m set out to find. However, when it comes to shopping for mom, well, it’s an entirely different story.  I’m not sure about yours, but my beloved mom is just about content with everything she’s got in life (which is awesome) but makes it quite difficult when trying to find a gift for her.

This Mother’s Day, I am determined to find a unique gift that my mom (and yours) will have major appreciation for. Inspired by my recent visit to the One of a Kind Spring Show, I discovered some fantastic, hand made gifts that every mom will swoon over.

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Food & Drink :: Must Have Cooking Tools for Every Kitchen

We’ve all done it, accumulated ample ineffective and poor quality cooking tools that are likely past their shelf life over the years. It likely began when you kept those cheap items from your university days because you’re trying to save a few dollars, or decided to move in with your boyfriend (or girlfriend) and amalgamated a mishmash of your kitchen gadgets that barely worked (i.e. rusty can openers), sound all too familiar?

Well, guess what? You’re an adult now, and it’s time for an upgrade because keeping bad quality kitchen tools are not only a waste of space but if you’re looking to cook a delicious meal, having the right tools on hand is key!

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Travel :: A Quick Visit to Montreal and Nespresso Academy

Whether you’re in a highly technical profession or a free flowing creative spirit, continuing to learn and develop in your own area of expertise will most certainly benefit your career. However, in addition to ‘bettering’ yourself in your comfort zone, I personally also like to challenge myself to acquire new skills and discover new areas of knowledge. Oftentimes, I end up developing a new passion that I hadn’t considered before!

Since becoming a part of the Nespresso Coffee Connoisseur Club, I’ve managed to learn a few new tidbits about coffee. It has widened my familiarity and preference in both taste and intensity of coffee.

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Lifestyle :: 5 Thing I Love about Spring

Spring is such a beautiful season, isn’t it? The days get longer, the sun gets warmer, and flowers start to bloom. It’s such a wonderful time of the year. I spent the first long weekend of Spring making room for all the wonderful things I love about this season.

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DIY :: Pastel Gold Foiled Easter Eggs & Pink Latte

I’m often asked where I find inspiration for my DIY projects. The truth is, just about anywhere and more often than not, around ordinary objects laying around the house. I could be starring at a lemon or a book cover and it’ll spark a thought in my head for my next project.

I was brewing my Nespresso coffee one Saturday morning and as I was refilling my empty glass bonbonniere with my favourite capsules, the pastel coloured ones particularly stood out to me. They reminded me of beautiful and delicate Easter eggs. 

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