Party of the Day at Catch My Party

I just received an e mail from Jillian from Catch My Party letting me know Alma's Baby Shower was selected as their party of the day. Very exciting!! You can check out the feature HERE. If you've never been to Catch My Party you should definitely check it out. They have an abundance of great party inspiration.

Bone Chilling Cemetery

I have an obsession with outdoor Halloween decorations. I love them!! Someday when my kids are older I would love to do a haunted yard with elaborate props. For now it's pumpkins and spiders around our house :) Here are some great ideas from Better Homes and Gardens on how to transform your yard into a bone chilling cemetery. One of many great tips from BHG is to dress up fake plastic skeletons with items found from bargain racks or at thrift stores. They made their own headstones, but you could easily adapt inexpensive foam headstones purchased at Wal Mart or even the Dollar Store. All you need is black paint and some clever verbiage.

Here are some tongue and cheek headstone names my family and I came up with :

Ben Gone

Anita Shovel

Ivanna Comeback

Barry A. Live

Dee Ceased Our beloved Mummy

Butch Erd

Bea Headed

Paul Bearer

Will Beeback

Ms. Terey

Rick R. Mortis

Frank N. Stein

Al B. Back

p.s. after we spent the weekend texting back and forth and laughing at each other's headstone names my mom informed me you can look up funny headstone names on the internet...go figure!

{ Baby Shower Monday }... On Tuesday ;)

Today's featured Baby Shower is this adorable birds + bees shower by the talented Natasha of Fete Fanatic. The added little details made a big impact! I'm loving the cotton candy displayed in sippy cups...great idea! And, how cute are the miniature bottles and pacifier embellishments?! You can check out more pictures on Natasha's blog here.

Miniature Caramel Apples

Aren't these miniature caramel apples from Glass Slipper Cakery darling?!! I adore miniature desserts anyways and think these are perfect for a children's Halloween party. I tried these for a kids party we did a few years ago using a recipe from Family Fun, but could not get the caramel to stick and ended up dipping them in melted chocolate chips. I'm anxious to try this recipe from Glass Slipper Cakery :


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
4-inch lollipop sticks
Melon baller
Granny Smith OR Red Delicious apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
3 oz. Peanut butter chips
2 tsp. shortening
Paper towels
Nonpareils OR sprinkles
Empty egg carton
Cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle (the pointy end will go into the apple pieces easier).
Combine the peanut butter chips and shortening in a small bowl. (DO NOT use caramel. Due to the moisture of the exposed apple, it will NOT stick!!) Heat chips in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted. Set aside to cool down, about 10 minutes.
Scoop a ball out of the apple with the melon baller, exposing a section of apple peel. Work ONLY one ball at a time, to prevent the yucky browning. (See below!)
Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of the ball.
Pat the apple dry with a paper towel.
Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, covering the exposed apple completely, leaving only the peel showing. Set aside standing on a plate for 5 minutes.
Roll the apple in sprinkles or nonpareils. Let stand for 15 minutes to harden.
Place the mini "Caramel " apples in an empty egg carton and place in the fridge.

Skeleton Cupcakes

I had the sheer pleasure of grocery shopping without my children Sunday, and the checkout lines were long. I promptly took advantage of this by browsing celebrity gossip magazines and looking through some of the Halloween edition magazines out right now. I spotted these little guys in Woman's Day. I think they are fantastic! Cute and easy...that's how I like my cupcakes ;) They are made out of a marshmallow and yogurt covered pretzels. You can view the how to here. Have a great day!

{ Baby Shower Monday } Alma's Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of co-hosting with my Aunt Shirley and friend of the mom to be Erica, a baby shower for my cousin Alma. The design for the party came from the invitation the mom to be picked out from Vistaprint. It had vibrant orange and green animal silhouette's with a solid chocolate brown background. Super cute! The thank you tags, dessert display cards, and circle hanging in the center of the tissue paper wreath were created by Kori from Paper and Pigtails. Kori was amazing to work with and she has a great eye for detail!

I attached to some of the centerpieces framed 4 D ultrasound pictures of sweet baby Tate. All of the centerpiece vases were purchased at the Dollar Store. The decorative wraps around the vases were made using coordinating scrapbook paper from Michael's, ribbon, and an elephant punch from Martha Stewart's scrap booking collection. They were filled with chocolate whoppers. The design idea for the centerpieces came from Katie Grace Design's. I made the lime green and orange paisley runner using fabric from the clearance rack at Wal Mart. Since I don't sew and I just couldn't find a way to hot glue it ( that's what I normally do :o ) I simply folded and ironed the edges really well. It turned out great and you couldn't even tell!

My Aunt Shirley who was also helping to host the shower helped me whip up some chocolate pie shots using my Nana's recipe ( minus a couple of cups of sugar. Nana has quite the sweet tooth ). We put crushed graham crackers in the bottom of the shot glasses then added some homemade chocolate pie mix and topped them off with a dollop of whip cream. I am in love with these! They were beyond cute and delicious!!

Our friend Blayne Mallery made the fabulous cake. She did an amazing job! If you are in our area and need a cake for any occasion you should definitely give Blayne a call.

Take home favors were jars of hershey kisses with personalized stickers from Posh Pixel's attached. Kristy from Posh Pixel's Design Studio has ton's of creative and fun paper goods and she is super sweet.

It was a really fun shower and a great way to celebrate another little one coming into our family. Can't wait to meet baby Tate!

Back on Track

Sick kids + computer problems = no posts. Luckily I think both are better which means I should be back on track Monday. I'm trying to sort through and organize pictures from Alma's baby shower, so hopefully I will have them ready by Monday!

Almost Halloween Time My Pretties!!

It's almost Halloween my pretties, and here are a few witch inspired treats to get you going. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I look forward to sharing lots of good ideas with you! Witch one is your favorite ? ;) Have a great weekend!


Image { Taste of Home }

Image { Martha Stewart }

Image { Martha Stewart }

Image { The Celebration Shoppe }

Image { Bakerella }

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

My two favorite things about fall are Halloween and Caramel apples. And, as I've said before I love cupcakes, so you can imagine how excited I was when I found this recipe for Caramel Apple Cupcakes in my Taste of Home magazine. A batch of these will surely help with the separation anxiety I'm experiencing with summer gone!!

Image { Cupcake Blog }

Ingredients
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) spice cake mix or 1 package (18 ounces) carrot cake mix
2 cups chopped peeled tart apples
20 caramels
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
12 Popsicle sticks

Directions
Prepare cake batter according to package directions; fold in apples.
Fill 12 greased or paper-lined jumbo muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
In a saucepan, cook the caramels and milk over low heat until smooth. Spread over cupcakes. Sprinkle with pecans. Insert a wooden stick into the center of each cupcake. Yield: 1 dozen.

DIY Birthday Cakes

Let's face it not everyone is skilled with a frosting bag or can manipulate fondant into anything recognizable. And, not many people want to spend a hundred or more dollars an the cake alone. Family Fun has come out with 36 DIY cakes that just about anyone can make. Not only are they adorable but they truly are fairly easy. From gummy bear Foosball cakes to a pound cake and powdered doughnut hole campfire cake you are sure to find one fit for your next party. You can see all the cakes as well as the step by step instructions here.

{ Baby Sower Monday } Pink and Grey Safari by Couture Parties

This darling Pink and Grey Safari baby shower is from the super talented Stephanie of Couture Parties. I love how that the pink is soft and feminine and the grey adds a touch of sophistication. And, how cute are the yarn pom pom napkin rings?! Head to Couture Parties to see more of Stephanie's great styling. Have a great Monday!