The Secret Life of Pets Inspired Party

An other party come and gone. This one we used 'The Secret Life of Pets' as our inspiration, it was such fun. The party was complete with a scavenger hunt where the kids had to dig for the treasure. 

A favourite these days seems to be Oreos dipped and covered with sprinkles. I usually use candy melts but this time I used white chocolate, I personally found that the candy melts work better. It might have been that the chocolate was too warm so the sprinkles would run on me at times.  

I bought some dog dishes to serve our food in, how fun is that?

Some dog bone sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle) served in a dog dish.

Cupcakes with creme cheese icing is truly the best. I found sheets of wafers, which were the perfected added touch to my cupcakes. 

And more sugar cookies and, of course, homemade marshmallows - they are the best!

I try to keep things simple, so this year I bought white cup, stickers and washi tape. I had the paper straws from a previous party and the colour happened to work great. I used a sharpie to write the kids names so they would which cup was theirs.

And finally, the cake. I did a store bough cake mix (gasp - I know!) this time. I have found that the kids will actually eat it rather than the homemade ones even though the homemade one tastes 10x better. Cream cheese icing as always, more wafers, oreo coookie crumbs for dirt and smarties. This cake has 3 layers and the bottom 2 layers had a circle but in it so that I could fill it with more candies. Such a fun surprise when you cut into the cake.

Photo Wood Blocks

I love preserving memories and have recently started to create these beautiful, archival wood blocks.  I love how they create a unique collage on the walls.

Keeping Memories

I used to scrapbook my memories and I loved it but once my kids were born, things changed. I found that I don't have time for everything so some things I had to give up.  

I still document my kids photos but I do it through a self published book for each year.  So, what do I do with all the rest of the stuff? Those prints that I had hanging on my wall at one point but have now been changed with a more current photo. And what about the haircut, or lost tooth, or report cards, etc., etc. The list goes on. 

I have decided (for now anyway) to use a standard 8.5 x 11" binder with page protectors. My kids are big enough to help out, which I love. Now the dilemma of where to put things is gone. What I love about this is that I'm all caught up really quick and if I want to scrapbook down the road these things, I can still do that. 

Below are a few examples of some of the pages in the binder. I used to print my kids hands and feet.  Now those pages are safely protected and can be easily seen for all to enjoy.

A small envelope with the hair of her first hair cut. And yes, she is standing in my fridge - how time flies from when they were small.

I used an envelope with one end cut to insert the report cards we get throughout the school year.

A Carnival Party Celebration

We did a carnival themed party this year, how fun is that. I don't think I've ever bought so much candy before. I made the kids each a candy skewer that they could take home, well actually 2 for each child. These were super easy to make.  I will admit that getting the candy on the skewer wasn't always the easiest.

To me carnival says 'colourful', so that is exactly what I did. I found these straws at Ikea and saved them for this special day.

Some ice cream cone sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle).  I did not make cake pops this time around but I still did find a use for candy melts. I dipped Oreo cookies in the candy melts and then into a bowl of sprinkles, so fun.

I make some rainbow cupcakes which is me just colouring the batter into 6 different colours. They did not turn out as I had envisioned them but the kids still loved them. I did cheat and used a cake mix (gasp! I know but it was easy and yummy - the perfection solution for when you procrastinate)

We filled a corner of our yard with empty boxes and managed to get a few appliance boxes too, those are the best! The kids has so much fun building and destroying what they made.

We had Korki from Clowning Around come to entertain the kids. She is so great with the kids and she is amazing at balloon creations.

And finally the cake. I made a white cake from Butter Baked Goods. I used cream cheese icing from Martha Stewart.  I love the look of those cakes covered in sprinkles, they just look so fun. So, I thought I would give it a try. I used non pareils for the side and let me tell you those tiny little things bounce....everywhere! For the top I used chocolate candies called sixlets. I love the simplicity of this cake!

A fresh look on an old piece

I got this loveseat recently. I painted it and had it reupholstered by Turtlenina, she did an other great job transforming it.  I love how it looks.  Scroll down for the before photo.

A new look for a chair

I love a beautiful chair. So I recently found this chair which I didn't mind as it was but it needed new fabric.

So, here is the updated fresh look. I painted it and had it reupholstered by Turtlenina, she did a great job transforming it.  I'm so happy with how it turned out and I love the use of 2 different fabrics.

Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

I have started a new tradition where once a year I host a tea party. I love doing this and all the details it involves.

The theme this year was Alice in Wonderland. We did my daughter's birthday in this theme and it was so much fun that I wanted the same party for me. Below are a few photos from that day.

The mini cupcakes on the cake stand are lemon poppy seed, they are so yummy.  You can find the recipe here and the cake stand is from Rosanna Inc.

I made some meringue mushrooms, the recipe I found on Sweet Treats blog and I am quite happy how they turned out. Below that are 'Sue Bars', it's a recipe my mom used to make so it brings back fond memories.

Some tea cup sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle). I tried a new sugar cookie recipe and these are by far the best that I have found so far.  You don't need to refrigerate the dough, you just roll it out and bake. And the best part is, besides tasting really good, is that the cookie doesn't spread.  The shape you make is the shape you get.  

A tea party is not complete without some pretty macarons. These have a chocolate ganache icing in them, so yummy.

Many of my parties include homemade marshmallows, these ones are blackberry flavoured.

A few Alice in Wonderland figures to help create that bit of whimsy. And some peppermint naniamo bars, these are super yummy. The recipe is from Butter Celebrates, here is a copy of the recipe I found printed in our local paper.

Chocolate dipped Macaroons, cranberry pistachio cookies and more mushroom meringues, oh so good.