My embellished good find

I found these Euro pillow shams being clearanced at the Pottery Barn Outlet for quite the bargain. Other than some zig-zag stitching, they didn't have any red on them -which I thought they needed more of. So, I remedied that by attaching some letters to them. G, for Gavin. E, for Eli. It breaks up the square pattern and added some color I needed. I adhered wonder under to some red felt and then used my friends super cool machine to applique them on. The stitching on them feels so good, you would never know I didn't buy them that way.

Celebrate!

I made pennant banners a few years ago for the twins circus party, and had a bunch of sewn triangles left over. My sister in law has made some for b-day gifts, so I thought I'd clean out the "studio" (term used very loosely), and whip 'em up. They were so fast as I already had most of it all cut out. Yippee!

Cakes with Purse-onality

I was asked to make a couple of purse cakes for an enrichment activity. The quilted aqua one on top is made with fondant. The handle is a licorice rope wrapped in fondant and "sewn", though you can't see the "stitching" in the picture. The hardest part was getting the fondant thin enough for the "grey wool piping". I also had to do the piping a little wider to cover the mess of exposed frosting from the gravitational pull of the fondant. I just kind of gave up and threw it on as it was late and my heart wasn't into it. Thank heavens for the internet, the idea came from a youtube video. They just slapped on the fondant pieces, and voila! Magnificent! I on the other hand, not so effortlessly dealt with gravity pulling the fondant sides off and then less of a voila! and more of a, huh?! But it turned out all right, if you don't compare it with the youtube video.

The bottom cake is covered in buttercream with licorice rope handles and piping. The flowers, beaded bottom border, and zipper are fondant. The zipper was pretty fun to do.

Coloring With Style

I stumbled upon these goodies on etsy from C BerryBaby while procrastinating cleaning the bathrooms. I LOVE THEM! The apron makes me giddy, thinking of a little 5 yr old looking so darling with a vast array of color at her fingertips (I know, I must be pretty special to get so excited over an apron). As for the crayon roll-up, my kids decide whether a restaurant is good or bad by the pre-dinner entertainment (ie balloons, crayons, etc.). Now, with the help of the stylish crayon roll-up, we can broaden our restaurant repertoire without causing too much of an uproar with the kids. Great birthday gift idea for kids that have everything -except a crayon roll-up of course.

Sugar and Spice

Party theme: So Sweet! (5 year old girl, 2008)

Cake: Three tier, pink fondant, beaded with white and dark pink frosting

Decor: Dark pink table cloths with light pink tulle, pink birthday banner, light and dark pink streamers, balloons, and dark pink paper lanterns. Most of the food was elevated out of the tulle with white cake plates, pedestal bowl, or plate stand. I used Addie's white parlor table as the cake table.

Menu: Petite corn dogs, flower shaped PB & J sandwiches, mini turkey sandwiches, cheese lollipops (pretzel sticks stuck into cheese cubes), pecan crusted cheese ball and crackers, chocolate dipped strawberries, fresh fruit (pineapple, grapes, and apples), cheez-it crackers (a staple for one of our neighbors) dressed up in a pedestal bowl, lemonade, and of course cake and ice cream.

Games/Activities: #1. They decorated foam visors with glitter, polka dots, pom poms, and foam sticky flowers as they waited for all the guests to arrive.

#2. I cut apart chocolate lollipop molds so each would have one. Then they painted various color candy melts in the mold. I finished filling the mold with chocolate as well as putting the stick and tag on while they were busy with another game. They also served as party favors.

#3. We had a build-a-sundae relay. Two teams each had a sundae glass they had to run to and fill with sundae items. The first person scooped ice cream then ran back and tagged the next person, second sprayed whip cream, third chocolate syrup, fourth sprinkles, fifth cherry, etc.

#4. This wasn't really planned, but turned out to be the highlight for Addie. After the sundae relay, they used the remaining ingredients to make an ice cream, mean-man-mud-pie (usually their "mean-man-mud-pies" are made with mud). What could be more fun than uncontrolled whip cream squirting, chocolate sauce drizzling, and sprinkles galore?

#5. Addie really wanted a treasure hunt like at the pirate party, but I was too lazy or uninspired rather, to come up with rhyming clues again. So, I just gave them a list (and pictures for those who couldn't read) of "sweet" items hidden around the yard.

Party Favor: As each guest arrived they were given matching aprons I had made, to wear and take home. They took home the hats they decorated, the lollipops they "painted", and some candy in a little cupcake bag.

Not McQueen or the Flash...just lightning

Party theme: Lightning (5th birthday, 2008)

Cake: cookies & cream ice cream cake (he doesn't like frosting)

Decor: Sweet Eli, wanted lightning as a theme and not knowing where to go with that, I decided to go with "good ole fashion backyard party" theme, with lightning capes to work the lightning in. I went with modern primary colors (red, mustard, aqua, lime and a dark royalish periwinkleish color). I decorated with balloons, streamers, fabric pennant banner (made for party 2 yrs ago), and of course colorful plates, table cloth, utensils, etc. Pretty simple really, but it looked festive.

*Brett thought maybe a karate chop would cut the frozen cake better than a knife.

Games/activities: #1. My husband wore a shirt I had ironed a lightning bolt onto, and the kids chased him with squirt guns (most guests a little too young to handle an honest to goodness squirt gun fight). He made it fun to watch as well with cartwheels, brake dancing and somersaults involved in his getaway.

#2. Good ole fashioned balloon popping relay (always a favorite). Remember the one? You have to run to the chair with your balloon and sit on it and try to pop it, then run back and tag your teammate and so on.

#3. Water balloon relay balancing it on a spoon around the chair and back. After which the chairs were used for target practice with all the water balloons.

Menu: Corn dogs, popcorn, cheeses and crackers, fresh pineapple, grapes, strawberries, apples, lemonade and of course ice cream cake.

Party favors: I had made 12 lightning capes, so each child could take one home, along with a way-too-big lollipop.

Whoooh, it's over!

I'm done partying for a while. Yesterday Addie had hers, so once the house is spic and span again, I'll blog hers and Eli's. I won't be throwing seperate parties again for a while, when you're a twin, there are just some things you have to share. It was nice though to get to do a girl party, lots and lots of pink. The sewing machine and I have spent too many nights together, I'm ready to trade in for a warm husband and comfy bed.