Here’s some sweet inspiration for a special 2nd birthday!
Credits:
Sesame Street Inspired Complete Party Printable Collection: Shindig Parties To Go (Etsy)
Elmo Centerpiece (Bottom Left): www.CatchMyBlueSky.com
Gold Fish Soap Favors (Bottom Middle): Kara’s Party Ideas
Baby Sesame Centerpieces/Juice Boxes (Top Right): Unknown
This Jessie Cowgirl party was posted by Cindy M on Catch My Party.
The photo that caught my attention was the Mr. Potatohead Cakepops…so adorable!! But when I looked at the party there are so many cute elements to this birthday party.
This table is very cute. The boot centerpiece are fun and unique.
This is the most adorable cow cake. I always love a good cow cake!
If you haven’t found Catch My party, I couldn’t recommend it more. It’s one of the first few places I go for inspiration.
This was new blog find for me today: Sweetopia and that it is!! Such a sweet source of amazingly sweet inspiration. Are those letters really edible? Could I really make them? The answers are Yes and Yes.
Aren’t they beautiful?
My first question was: what is that fabulous glitter? Disco Dust. Hmm..that’s awesome! I didn’t know it, but I love disco dust! Come on, that’s just fun!
Head over to Sweetopia for the full Valentines Love Cupcake instructions!
I just found a new blog that is on the top of my list. The blog is called Not Just a Mommy. I can totally relate to Dawn: she is a mom, wife, party planner and has a B.S. Mathmatics…well, um…okay I can’t relate to the B.S. in Mathmatics, but the rest of it totally understand. She shares the most fun and creative ideas. The best part is that she share the how-to for them. I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time reading and trying stuff from this blog. I strongly recommend you head over to check it out!
My fun for today are these awesome little propeller marshmallow pops. I mean really! They are the stinkin’ cutest marshmallow pops I think I have ever seen! Best part is shared how she did it. Here’s the how-to:
http://dawnypoo.blogspot.com/2011/01/tuesday-tutorial-on-monday-marshmallow.html
So cute. Thanks for the this and what I expect to be many more sources of inspiration.
This fun barnyard bash was created for the sweetest little one year old, Jack. The big celebration was on New Year’s Day! What is more fun to celebrate on 1/1/11 than a first birthday! Jack’s mom bought this great banner on Etsy from DoodleLulu. This banner was a great jumping off point for this first birthday party!
Probably my favorite part of any party is the treat and favor table. I don’t know why, but I love them. One of my favorite elements of this party was the cloud backdrop. It really gave that outdoor feeling I was going for even though it was January!
The giant jar of animal crackers was a must – both a 1 year old favorite and animal shaped cookes. Perfect! Another must? Moo Juice (aka Milk). We wrapped Organic Strawberry milk with Moo Paper. We also added some cute cow and pig suckers that we purchased at Oriental Trading.
The week before the party, these cute felt barn bags were delivered to the Target Dollar Spot. They were so perfect for this party, that we scrapped our planned favors and went with these without thinking twice!! I also added a tag from Whisker Graphics on Etsy. These great tags are really versatile and completely editable.
Can you believe how sweet are these cupcakes? Carrie again shared her culinary genius and made us the most adorable cow, duck and pig cupcakes. The detail on the chicks is so cute and who doesn’t love a pig cupcake?
After I got done drooling over the cupcakes, I saw Jack’s personal birthday cake. Love the pig cake…I think Jack did too!
Because farms are all about fresh, I decided to keep the fresh flowers and apples as the centerpiece. It seemed fitting for the theme. These little hay bales were so cute and I was ecstatic when I came across them at the local craft store. They were the perfect base for a couple of buckets full of red and green apples. Between the apples, brightly colored fresh flowers. They look like someone just cut them from the garden!
Every great farm party requires cowboy hats! So, each kiddo received a cowboy hat. Paper is a great way to inexpensively set the tone. This 12 x 12 cow print paper was purchased at Archivers for less than a dollar, but packs such a big punch.
Every barnyard bash needs some fresh lemonade. A red and white checked tablecloth was the perfect starting point. I have been looking for an opportunity to use mason jars for a party and this was a great opportunity! We used brightly colored ribbons and papers as accents. To bring in a slightly vintage feel, I added a simple frame with a Lemonade 5 cents sign.
Of course we needed a few games for the party and wanted to keep them simple. I love to find sticker activities for little ones because they love it and it’s simple. This cute Make-Your-Own Farm Animal Balloons from Oriental trading was perfect for a first birthday.
Here’s the sweet birthday boy taking an afternoon ride on his pony!
Little Jack with his parents!
Happy First Birthday, Jack!
Credits
Banner (Etsy): DoodleLulu
Favor Tag (Etsy): Whisker Graphics
Photography: Nicole Reyes Photography
Cupcakes & Cake: Creative Cuisine by Carrie
Carrie and I teamed up a few months ago to create a little treat spot for an event at Brett Dorrian Artisry studios. Brett Dorrian Artistry Studios offers on-site or in-studio custom makeup and hair design by a team of professional media makeup artists. The studio specializes in bridal, event, print and fashion. Brett’s work is absolutely stunning. We were honored to be asked to be part of her studios open house. If you have a wedding or event coming up, I’d recommend giving Brett a call. I hear that the studios calendar is getting pretty full…so call now!
Brett was very sweet to share a few photos on her blog of the event. The studio is at the Semple Mansion is beautiful and is such a great space. All photos are courtesy of Brett Dorrian.
This is adorable! What a unique theme idea for a little guy! I found this party on the Bliss Bloom blog. This Funny Little Man party is cute, cute, cute!
How cute is this Happy Birthday banner? Love it!
Make your own ties was a cute and simple activity for the kiddos. This creative mom also incorporated one of my current favorite party activites: the funny photo booths. This was a perfect addition to this fun party.
These favor bags are awesome. I love, love how simple and fun all of the details were for this party. Head over to Bliss Bloom and check out this and many more great posts!
I love these little mailboxes. They always seem to surface at Valentine’s day and I always want to buy a truckload of them. Not sure what I would do with that many, but it seems that I will have a million uses for them over the year. This year I decided to go for it and I included them in my Valentine’s Day Target Treat Table!
Here’s what you need:
This couldn’t be simpler.
Here’s Carrie:
Two cakey cookies and a little frosting in between. Big whoop, right? That’s what I first thought when I started seeing more and more recipes online for these little treats we call Whoopie Pies. Well, this fall I decided to give it a shot when I wanted a quick treat to make and take to work. The recipe I found was SUPER easy, requiring only 4 simple ingredients… all of which I almost always have on hand. Perfect.
HOLY. YUM. I am hooked.
Since that day, I’ve experimented with several different recipes for whoopie pies. I have discovered two things: 1) it really is okay to use a box mix for these and still have them turn out wonderfully 2) you must, I repeat: you MUST use a delicious homemade frosting. Canned stuff just doesn’t cut it. Ever. You’ve probably said this yourself, and it applies here too: it’s what on the INSIDE that counts!!
So grab your mix or find a from-scratch recipe, and get bakin’! The fun part is experimenting with flavors, shapes, and decorations. For the Valentine’s Day dessert table, I used a simple white cake mix and added some pink food coloring. The frosting I chose for this was a delicious and simple cream cheese frosting. To get the heart shape, fill a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the cake mixture, cut off the tip, and pipe into a heart shape. I found the smaller hearts (about 2”) retained a more defined heart shape… let the cookies cool, then fill with your homemade frosting and top with a cookie of roughly the same size. I chose to add a little sparkle by rolling the frosted edges in pretty red sprinkles!
Here’s the quick and easy Whoopie Pie recipe:
1 box cake mix
3 large eggs
½ cup canola oil
½ cup water
PrepareWhoopie Pies by beating all ingredients on medium speed for 3 minutes.**If you wish to color your batter, add the food color and beat at the same time. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 400-degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or sil-pats.
Drop batter into mounds of desired size (or pipe in desired shape), spacing them about 2-3 inches apart.
Bake about 11 minutes or until cookies are puffed and look set.
Transfer to rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, pipe or spread homemade icing onto one cookie. Top with another cookie of similar size. If desired, roll exposed edges in sprinkles or other edible decor of choice (chopped chocolate, nuts, etc). I’ve found these to be most delicious when they are chilled. Be sure to keep them chilled if you use a dairy-based frosting!
I am excited to share with you the first of what I hope is many, many guest blog posts from my good friend Carrie at Creative Cusine by Carrie. I hope you enjoy this post and give these amazing brownies a try!
From Carrie:
Confession time: Brownies are my BIGGEST weakness… I don’t even care if it’s (GASP!) from a box mix. Fudgy… gooey… chocolatey… I can’t resist any brownie that meets those descriptions. I will eat them until I’m sick. I was recently shopping at a high-end cooking store and noticed a brownie mix that looked amazing beyond belief. Perhaps you know what I’m referring to: the $18 a-box-brownie mix from Baked bakery in New York. That’s not your typical box mix. As amazing as they looked, I just couldn’t fork over the cash.
Fast forward to a couple days ago when Tara asked me to make a treat for her Valentine’s Day treat table. I’m always looking for the next BEST brownie recipe and I may have found it. Lo-and-behold, Baked has a cookbook and a fellow foodie blogger (www.browneyedbaker.com) made THE brownie recipe and shared it with readers. With photos to make anyone drool, I was immediately hooked.
To amp up the traditional brownie for the Valentine’s Day treat table, we decided to cut them into hearts and topped them with a smooth, decadent chocolate ganache. Using fun shapes and adding delicious ganache are two easy ways to transform traditional favorites into fun & tasty treats! I love finding wonderful and simple ways to make food taste and look amazing!
Chocolate ganache is one of secrets. Today I am going to share my most recent take on the Chocolate Ganache Covered Brownie! The great thing about this recipe is that it is really simple and anyone can do it. And it tastes amazing. Read on for both recipes.
The brownie recipe below includes a couple tips from me…
The Baked Brownie
Yield: 24 brownies
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Bake Time : 30 minutes
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper. **Carrie’s Tip: I like to line the pan with tin foil with the foil draping over the edges. When the brownies are cooled, you can use the foil as handles to remove the entire pan of brownies from the pan in one quick, easy move. It makes for nicer, easier cutting. Don’t forget to grease the foil before you add the batter !!
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature. **Carrie’s Tip: If you’re watching the chocolate mixture carefully and use low heat, you can skip the double-boiler and just melt everything in your saucepan.
4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve. **Carrie’s Tip: My brownies took longer to bake. Set your timer and keep an eye on them. Don’t overbake!
7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.
(Recipe adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking )
Chocolate Ganache
8 oz heavy cream
8 oz GOOD semisweet chocolate chips
1) Place chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl large enough to hold the chocolate (and the heavy cream you will be adding)
2) Heat the heavy cream in a microwaveable container and microwave for 3-4 minutes, or just until it comes to a simmer, being careful not to let it boil over!
3) Pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand for 2 minutes
4) Carefully mix the chocolate and cream until the mixture is smooth and fully incorporated
While your ganache is cooling slightly, cut brownies into desired shapes. Place brownies on a cooling rack that is sitting on a pan that can catch any dripping chocolate. Drizzle ganache over brownies, as desired.
Store any extra ganache in the refrigerator, covered. Reheat in microwave to melt; stirring part way through.
Another delicious use of chocolate ganache: Chocolate Ganache Frosting. Prepare ganache as directed. Allow to cool to room temperature; place ganache in bowl of stand mixer and whisk on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Pipe on cupcakes, brownies, or other desserts… ok, I’m salivating.
