Winter Wonderland First Birthday Party

My nephew Kaden. Recently turned one so I threw him a winter wonderland birthday.

I was going to make a cake but then I saw these adorable snowmen cake that Albertsons had around the holidays. 

We had a hot cocoa bar with tons of options for people to add to their cocoa. Putting the add ons in blue mason jars added a little flair. 

 Their choices consisted of candy canes, chocolate chips, caramel, mini marshmelows, mint chocolate chips and cookie straws. 

Guests picked thier own mini mason jar to drink out of. Adorned with snowflake felt stickers from Michaels and ribbon. Paper straws to drink from.

I made my drink dispenser a melted snowman. By taping Eyes to him, adding a hat made out of a black paper cup and black plate, wrapping a scarf around him and laying a carrot next to him.

Food consisted of all things snowmen like. 

Snowmen arms.

Snowmen noses. Little baby carrots. 

Snowballs, Donut holes.

Puff Pastry (recipe) and cupcakes with the most amazing buttercream. We made snowflakes using chocolate wafers, melting them and squeezing the designs from a fine tip squeeze bottle on to wax paper.  

Garlic Basil Feta Dip. So good especially dipping the snowman noses into it. 

 Although they are not snowman related either. We served green chile tortilla rolls.

To make green chile tortilla rolls.

You need to first grab some cream cheese and diced green chile. 

Mix in a bowl.

Spread on to a flat tortilla. 

Roll up the tortilla and cut into small bite sized pieces. 

Pin the Nose on Frosty. I took an old presentation board from my masters class and painted a snowman. I then cut out carrots and made them sticky. Kids were blindfolded and had to pin the nose on frosty. The winner got a chocolate snowman. The windows were frosted with frost in a can. 

Kiddie guests brought home their very own snowflake pail from Target filled with light up snowflakes and an assortment of  candy. 

Rustic Woodland Baby Shower

This past weekend I threw one of my dear friends, a baby shower for her little boy Jase. Unexpectedly, Jase was born before the baby shower at just 35 weeks. Jase is doing well and is a very strong little trooper.
The baby shower turned out beautifully.

I already had this pinecone wreath in my christmas stuff and I made the banner with burlap triangles that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. Using a stencil I painted the word baby.

I cut out triangles of paper and use my cricut cartridge Simply Sweet to make the letters. 

Using hooks I attached the pinecones to some twine.

We had a mimosa bar with three different options, peach, grapefruit and orange. Using pinecones I just added a quick little label for the food and drinks. Tags were cut using Create A Critter cartridge. 

Fresh fruit. 

 Pumpkin Cookies (made by the Mother-in-law, and man were they delicious, maybe i can beg for the recipe) and Lemon Blueberry Muffins.

Now on to my favorite part of the shower these amazing Cream Puffs!!

I made this recipe up in my head. Super easy. 

1.You buy the puff pastry in the frozen aisle. 

2.Using a muffin pan you form little bowls for the puff pastry. When they come out of the oven (350 for 25 minutes) just use a spoon to reshape them into bowls. 

3. Fresh whip cream

4. Wash the mint and roll into sugar

5. Add fruit of your choice. 

Picture came out a bit blurry. But Broccoli Spinach and Cheddar Quiche, I added the spinach; recipe does not call for it. 

I bought a cute little deer christmas ornament to add to the top of the cake.

Hot cocoa in mason jars for the favors. 

 I used my Jubilee cartridge to make the tags and I embossed thank you on them. The twine I found at Target for a dollar.

Update Diaper Boxes

I found this amazing idea on Pinterest and just couldn't wait to try it out. I am a high school teacher and my students have journals they write in every day so I thought making these would be great for holding their journals and add a little design and color to my otherwise gray and boring classroom.



Materials needed: Diaper boxes (I used 108 count diaper boxes, they were just the right size)
                             Fabric of your choice.3 Yards made 5 boxes and 2 Bulletin boards (pictures to come)
                             Spray Adhesive

Measure your diaper box and cut fabric accordingly

It helps to have an extra hand, spray your box using the spray adhesive. Do it one side at a time. Flatten it out to make sure their are no creases.

Fold the ends on the bottoms like you would wrapping a box. I forgot to take pictures of this step.

Here are the boxes without the embelishments.

I added ribbon and some tags using my cricut. Cricut cartridges used were Simply Sweet for font and Jubilee for the tag. 

And here they are in my classroom.

Pistachio Cupcakes with Homemade Buttercream

I recently made these pistachio cupcakes for a baby shower and let me tell you, they were AHHmazing!! So easy to make and so flavorful. Do you ever notice how most desserts are left over. Like no one ever eats all the cupcakes. Well not this time, I had one measly cupcake left over that I hoarded for myself. They were so delicious. Everyone commented on how tasty they were and how the buttercream was the best.

Using a simple cake box mix. Needs to be white or vanilla. 

Add in the pistachio mix dry, do not make the pudding just add the dry ingredients to the dry cake mix. Now follow along with the box directions. The cupcakes come out with a hint of green. You could add a few green food coloring drops to make a prettier green. I would have if I had thought of it. 

For the frosting:

Homemade buttercream frosting: recipe from food network.

Ingredients

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

I used this site to learn how to frost cupcakes. I think I did a pretty good job at my first time attempting pretty frosting. I used a wilton 2D tip and a coupler, starting from the outside make a swirl into the middle. I finished off with sugar pearls, I purchased these at Joann's.

Polka Dot Baby Shower

This past Saturday, I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend. 

I made a diaper wreath, that I had hanging on my door. Welcome sign was made with my Cricut and Simply Sweet cartridge. I will post directions on how to make this on a upcoming post.

A long with games, I also had a scrap booking station, where the girls could make a page for Caitlyn's scrapbook. I had embellishments, paper cut according to size, pens, glue and scissors ready for their use.

I had put a baby picture of Caitlyn, Ethan and the upcoming baby in frames for decoration. Cubes were made for cake pops, which ended up not happening. Will post on that later as well.

Diaper cake I had made to go with the theme. Stay tuned for a how to on this diaper cake.

I had hung lanterns in the corresponding colors over my island. The lanterns were purchased at the Paper Lantern Store. 

A shot of the food. Fruit salad (purchased at Costco), Strawberry Spinach Walnut Salad (recipe calls for pecans, I used walnuts), Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches (also purchased at Costco, just needed a little putting together), deviled eggs, and Pistachio Cupcakes (and mmm were they yummy, got so many compliments on them, made with homemade Butter Cream Frosting. 

A closer shot of the cupcakes, I added just a hint of blue food coloring to give them that pretty pale blue color, and topped them off with some sugar pearls. 

Here is a shot of the glasses I had made. Will post how to on an upcoming post. 

Paper straws were bought at Sofie's Big Day on Etsy, really the only place I could find light blue striped straws for a good price. 

I served Lemonade and a 7-up, Lime Sherbet Punch.

It's a Boy banner made using my Cricut and Simply Sweet cartridge. 

Close up of the Lime Punch, I love how green it is.