Bridal Shower

So, this post was supposed to happen on Free for All Friday, but, lets just say I'm a little behind! One day I'll be really prepared and have all my posts for the week done on Sunday!

Since last week I was posting about the bridal shower I threw for my friend, I wanted to show you the whole shebang! Now, as you are looking at the pictures, keep in mind that my younger brother got all the photography genes in the family.

Drink table minus the coffee

Gift Table



Guest tables

Bride's chair



Food table minus some of the yummy foods

 

Close up of menu

 

Close up of card holder--don't you love the scale I found at an antique store!?!

 

 

I had so much fun with this shower! Hope you can get some ideas for the next shower you throw!

 

Lexi

 

Tasty Tuesday: Orange Dream Punch

Continuing with the bridal shower details, for today's Tasty Tuesday post, I will be sharing the punch recipe used at the Bridal Shower: Orange Dream Punch. This is so simple-only 3 ingredients-and tastes just like an orange creamsicle!

This is the picture from the recipe I followed. I forgot to take a close-up of the punch. I didn't add fresh oranges to mine.

 

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon orange sherbet
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (half of a regular can)
1 (2 liter)bottle ginger ale

Mix thawed OJ and ginger ale. Spoon in orange sherbet. Yummy!

 

 

Lexi

Made it Monday: Cupcake Liner Pom-Poms

It's Monday, which means it's time for another DIY craft! I had mentioned in a couple earlier posts that I had the priveledge of throwing a bridal shower for a very good friend of mine. I decided on doing a cupcake theme. (Understand that this isn't a cheesy, 3 year old type cupcake theme-more pics to follow in future blog posts this week) So, going with the theme, for the centerpieces I decided to do cupcake pom-poms.

Supplies:
-Small foam or styrofoam balls
-hot glue gun/glue sticks
-cupcake liners (each pom I did took appx. 75)
-something to form your liners with (I used a foam paint brush)

So here is what you do:

Take a cupcake liner and form it around your foam brush.

Put some hot glue on the bottom and stick it on your styrofoam ball.

Repeat a gazillion times:)

Like I mentioned earlier, I used 75 cupcake liners to fill up my styrofoam balls. This did leave a space on the bottom empty, but it was the perfect size for me to set it on a stand.

Ta-da! Here they are on the tables:

 At first when I started to make these, I thought they were going to take FOREVER! Here are a couple of initial mistakes I made:
-I started out by following a tutorial that said to put a pin in the center of the cupcake liner, then hot glue it. They didn't look good and it was taking a loooong time to make these, so I tried the above way and it worked much better.
-I bought styrofoam balls that were too big. I'm not sure on the exact size I used, but it was a mid-sized one.

One blog said you could use crumpled up newspaper, formed in a ball and secured with packing tape as the center of the pom. I did try this for one and it worked. The styrofoam balls worked and looked better though. 

More shower pictures, tutorials and recipes to follow this week!

Lexi

Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Its Tasty Tuesday! Today's recipe is going to get your mouth watering! Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes...YUM! I have made these for a couple of showers that I have hosted, and each time they have been a hit. Not only are these delicious, but your house will smell AMAZING when you make them. Just a side note...this is not a picture of my cupcake...I am a horrible photographer and all the pictures of mine made it look bad, so this is one from the blog that I had found this recipe on a couple of years ago. I will also admit that mine did not get quite so tall, but they were still yummy!

So, here is the recipe for these little bits of heaven...

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Dough

2 1/4 t or 1 packet dry active yeast

1/2 C granulated sugar, divided

1 C warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 C butter, melted

1 t salt

4 C bread flour

For the Filling

1 C brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 T ground cinnamon

1/3 C butter, softened

For the Icing

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2/3 C butter, softened

1 1/2-2 C powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.
Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead about 5-10 times. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).
After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners, and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.
Roll dough into a 12×22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls using dental floss or a pastry cutter. You may have to unroll each roll and re-roll in order for the dough to fit in a cupcake tin.
Place each roll in a cupcake liner. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Alternatively, allow to rise overnight in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F.
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, mix cream cheese and butter using the whisk attachment of a mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar until desired consistency has been reached.

Makes 24 rolls-although one time mine made less and one time mine made quite a few more.

 

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see my cinnamon roll cupcakes on the right...you may have to squint:)

 

 

Enjoy!!

 

Lexi

Made it Monday: Cupcake Costumes

Every year, my very small home town holds their annual Watermelon Days. There are rides, food, and a looooong parade. While the main parade happens on Tuesday night, on Monday night there are water fights, Watermelon Queen coronation, and the infamous kiddie parade. The last few years my nieces have participated in it and this year I convinced my sister and sister-in-law to let the girls be cupcakes. I had seen this blog post that had DIY Pottery Barn knockoff cupcake costumes. They were adorable and looked quite easy to make! With Halloween right around the corner, this post may inspire you!

Contrary to the instructions I followed on the blog above, I believe we only used around 2.5 yards of pink felt (that my mom picked up for a buck a yard. Score!!) for all four. I also don't think she included in the supply list a little extra brown felt for the "picket fence pieces.

The first step was making myself a pattern for the cupcake top; one big, one slightly smaller. I had to do this step a couple of times, because at first I made them way too big. It was helpful to have the kids there to have them try it on as we went.

 

 



 

 

I was making four of these (with my mom and sister-in-laws help), so I got all the tops cut out before I started the bottoms. We thought we were going to be able to allow the pieces to go on overhead, but when we added the ruffle around the top, we had to make a cut down the back and add strings to tie the top layer around their necks.

 

We cut out a brown, felt rectangle to the size of each girl for the bottom of each cupcake. Then we added the "picket fence" pieces.

 

 



We added ruffles around the neck, polka dot sprinkles, and trim made out of our extra felt around the bottom of the cupcake. To top it off, I made some cherry headbands. Here are two of the four cute cupcake models:

 

 

I wasn't able to be there for the actual parade, but the girls did great and took 1st place! I will have to get a picture of the whole crew from one of my family members, so that you can see the whole cupcake shoppe!

 

Lexi 

Made it Monday: Glass Etched Casserole Dishes

Happy Monday! This week, I'm going to share a fast project with you. One of my really good friends is getting married soon. Her friend threw a shower for her that was themed "fill the house room to room," where each guest was assigned a room to buy for. I got kitchen-perfect for me to try out glass etching casserole dishes! 

The process is quite easy, but I did forget to take pictures, so you'll just have to bear with my explanation. 

I cut out the bride's soon-to-be new last name in vinyl with my cricut to make a stencil. I put the vinyl stencil on the glass (the vinyl is sticky on the back). Then I applied glass etching cream to the part that said "Newland." I apply it with a small paintbrush or a foam brush. The cream can be pricey, but use a coupon at your local craft store and it makes it quite reasonable, especially when this bad boy will last you a really long time.

Here are the finished dishes:

This is a great way to never lose your dishes! I have also glass etched numerous drinking glasses, glass blocks, and champagne glasses for a wedding. Its a great way to add that little extra flare!

Lexi

Made it Monday: Snap!

Happy Labor Day! Hope you all had a chance to relax today and maybe craft a little:) I realize it has been a REALLY long time since I have updated my blog--SORRY!! My busy August schedule got the best of me, but I have a ton of completed projects I want to share with you. One of them being a canvas print I made for my brother. (If you follow my Remnants facebook page, you've probably already seen this)

My younger brother is a photographer, so this fits him perfectly! He plans on hanging it in his office/photo editing room.

I was able to make this with my cricut, some vinyl, a little bit of black craft paint, and a canvas. So not only is it cute, it was quite cheap to make as well.

Lexi