pompom cake

I got to make a cake for my little niece who was turning 1.  Turning 1 is a big thing so I wanted it to be cute and special.  Sadly, I am not a great cake decorator.  I finally came up with this and thought it turned out pretty cute. 

I simply made some yarn balls and glued them onto sticks.  I wish I would have had some scissors to cut some of them down a bit, but when you decor last minute as a clubhouse with no supplies you work with what you've got.

The cake was red velvet and delicious.  It was fun to cut into the cake and find a bright beautiful red cake waiting for you.

Neighborhood Recipe Group

Our neighborhood has a great recipe group going and I decided it was high time I helped host one. With the Chinese New Year approaching, I thought, what a great and easy theme to throw together, especially since I knew I could get my neighbor, Aymee on board. She loves all things Asian and even has that influence in her home decor. So I called her up, volunteered her house and help! We partnered up with our friend Kristy and the rest feel into place.
I am not a chef by any means, so I claimed the two yummy things I had to contribute (Apricot Chicken and Chicken Won ton Salad) as well as being a pro at chocolate dipped fortune cookies!:) The rest of my contributions had to do with the decor of course. I am so pleased with how the labels all came out. It looked so good and professional.
Phewwww!!!! Another thing to finally check off my list!:)

milk and cookies baby shower

My son's primary teacher (and new friend) is expecting her first baby so we put on a shower for her. It was so fun. I needed a party to get me excited about something. I love to put on a good party, and it's even more fun now that I am getting better at it.
I was inspired by this cute party my friend, Amy put on and knew right away that was the direction I wanted to go.
I made my own printables and rest was easy. Collecting jars from friends, getting a few milk bottles, fun straws, ribbon and tubs from the dollar store, a home-made banner and goodie bags, some puffs, cute napkins, and of course yummy cookies....that's it.

so much character in a name

This is a great way to display your child's/spouse's/friend's name when having a party or special event. It's super easy to do, adds to the decor and color scheme, and it's fun to take a minute and think of words that really describe what that person is like at that point in their life.
Give it a try!

somebirdy's birthday

I had the best time putting together my daughter's first birthday party. At first I thought I wanted to do the traditional princess-like bash, but then got thinking that I will probably host my fair share of these as she gets older...so I wised up and did what I wanted.
I was inspired by this little bird toy. And from there I ran wild with it. I had so much fun being girly. It actually was a pretty cheap party. About $3 worth of paper made all the banners, a $3 flower for the cake that was homemade by my mom-patterned after these, pictures printed from home in frames I already had, $2 worth of birds for the mobile from the dollar store that I hung on sticks from a tree, the toy bird I put together for $3, and the cake supplies for the cake balls. With about $9 for bottles and straws I made a beautiful party for about $20.










I made Chocolate Chip Cookie, Caramel Apple, and Churro cake balls. They were INCREDIBLE! The Churro ones were hands down the best. I got the recipes from a great cake ball recipe book, 101 Gourmet Cake Bites by Wendy Paul. My mom got me for my birthday. She picked it up at Costco.


It's tradition in our family to get a birthday shirt each year. Here's what I came up with for my little birdy. LOVE IT! :)

a guy's party

My boys were invited to a boy's birthday party. It was a contruction theme and we ran with it. We made him a great tool belt and hard hat that we got some tools for.

for dad

I know you all think you had the best dad and are now married to the best dad ever, but you are mistaken. My dad and husband currently hold those titles! :)
We had a great father's day at our house and it is partly this party and printable that helped add to the ambiance.

girly baby shower

We had a great shower for my sister-in-law this week. It has been a long time coming. I have been doing a lot to have it be the best shower ever. My other sister-in-law hosted it, my mom did the food, and I decorated and did the games.
It turned out great. Her mom was able to be there and then we just had our family there. It was very intimate and fun. The food was great. My mom of course made the cutest treats.
We got this idea from a blog that had done it in blue for a boy. We of course had to have a rubber duckie punch that was pink!

Cupcake rattles with lollipop sicks and gumdrops.

Marshmallow booties with paper cups of mints.

Toast bibs with cheese, meat and garnishes.

I love decorating for parties. I went over early that morning so that it would be ready for that evening. It was fun to set up and see where things would look good. I even brought my laptop and had a slide show of the pictures I had taken of the baby's nursery so that everyone could see what a great job she had done making it all.




I made cute pink clothes pins for the "cute" game. And I had great prizes for each winner. It was a great motivator.
I made these cute little game folders for each person with the game card in them.
We played:
Clothes Pin "cute" Game
Guess her Belly with Yarn
How many Kisses in the Jar
The Tray Game
Baby ABC's
Baby Word Scramble
Nursery Rhyme Time
We all had a great time playing the games.


We also filled out "Words of Wisdom" for her and gathered them for her to keep. It was fun to be able to each tell her at least one thing we had learned and would want to pass on.
I made her a diaper cake, a "baby sleeping" sign, and a hooded towel. It was the first time I had made a diaper cake and the sign, but I think they turned out SOOO good. The towels are something I have done for a while now. I have them for my kids and they are the best.