recipe: shirley temple cupcakes

so you know how crazy busy  life can get & then in the blink of an eye a week has passed?

that's how i feel today.

i can't believe it's monday.

...a week later monday to be exact.

last week:

-re-dyed my hair purple (it fades fairly quickly)

-rance had his first illness, a double ear infection.

-i made my first ever, from-my-own-imagination crockpot meal (recipe to follow soon)

-we had our last soccer practice of the season

-i introduced mason to space camp (the totally-awesome-80's-movie)

-i finished 'crowning glory of calla lily ponder' & hit my goal of 24 books for the year

-i started reading 'little women', to surpass my goal of 24 books for the year.

-i went to the midnight premiere of breaking dawn with 3 of my favorite people

 & 2 of my favorite teenagers :)

-i came down with a 24 hr bug

-mason had his last soccer game of the season & got his first trophy ever.

-i baked goodies for my cousin's bridal shower

-i saw breaking dawn AGAIN with 2 of the same favorites from the midnight premiere.

-i spent time with family & laughed my butt off.

that's the spread at my cousin lisa's bridal shower.

i am responsible for the dessert (minus the bundt cake), along with a little help from my mom on the piping job.

my other cousin (who is ALSO a lisa) put together a beautiful table & party.

it was my first shot at 'girly' treats for a grown up party

& i was pretty excited about how they turned out!

the party throwing lisa is a graphic designer

& she made me up some graphics to match the invites she designed.

& i made up the cupcake toppers.

these were shirley temple cupcakes, found via pinterest OF COURSE.

i pinned them awhile back, and when she called me up & asked me to contribute i went to my boards for 'pink inspiration'.

they were SO moist & SO good..

very mild cherry flavor, but still very good.

here's a link to the recipe from 'the curvy carrot'.

with thanksgiving this week, there is no sign off life slowing down either..

here's to a busy life, that even with it's twists & turns & ups & downs,

is SO worth it! :)

xo-k

linking to:

tip junkie

today's creative blog

book: the crowning glory of calla lily ponder

it's no big secret around here i have a thing for vampire stories. i will admit that i get sucked into them, however horribly written they may be, and forget i live in a reality where the only real vampires are those people who are so miserable in life that they SUCK the life out of you.

them and the occasional confused individual who feels the need to cap their teeth & clothe themselves from head to toe in black patent leather.

but you can't bet your life i'm not out bragging about reading vampire smut. i already feel like i'm one step away from being one of those housewives who fawn all over those cheesy romance novels in the grocery store... not there is anything wrong with that... but i can not imagine myself picking up a harlequin romance novel, or any novel for that matter, where there is a half naked man on the cover with his hair blowing back in the wind.

i like my men sans billowy white shirt please.

SO. back to the book i just finished. it's more my genre, my preferred reading outside classics. 

'the crowning glory of calla lily ponder' by rebecca wells. she's the author of 'divine secrets of the ya ya sisterhood' which i read after seeing the movie. (ps. the book, as usual, was SO much better) i picked it up on a whim & could not have loved it more.



i'm a sucker for stories about real people. small people from small towns. people who are great if for nothing else than their frailty & flaws. i don't think i have sobbed while reading. ever. it was ALMOST the ugly cry. almost. but it was SOO good.

it's written loosely as a diary.. it just sorta flows along from the time she is 5 until she is in her early 30s. you will cry, you will laugh, you will scratch your head. but you will connect with her.. or at least i did. it's one of those stories that will remind you that the human race is capable of such good, and how important it is to connect with those we love.

it was a perfect read for me right now. perfect.

xo-k

ps. if you are interested in more stories like this, or 'divine secrets..', check out these books by fannie flagg; 'fried green tomatoes', 'daisy fay and the miracle man'. or adriana trigiani's big stone gap novels.

dr. seuss birthday: food

the food.. ohh the food...

i seriously don't think i've EVER had THAT much fun putting together a menu.

and it went without saying that when you work that hard on matching food to literature..

you HAVE to put labels on everything!!

and let me tell you..

everyone enjoyed the labels just about as much as the food!

for the kiddo's drinks we had a few juice choices:

pink ink yink dring (the cat in the hat): fruit punch

shloppity shlop (the lorax): blue raspberry

gloppity glop (the lorax): grape

i fell in love with the cups at this dr. seuss party..

& was so thankful she listed that she got them at hobby lobby!

i have THE WORST luck with kids not showing up..

and honestly, i'm beyond tired of coming up with treat bags

& then ending up with a bunch of left over treats.

so i decided these reusable cups were much more practical favors.

i couldn't afford to purchase the etsy digital file she did for the tags,

so i just used the doctor seuss font i found online & made my own flags.

the food:

noodles for poodles (fox in socks): caprese pasta salad

green eggs (green eggs & ham): deviled eggs

one fish, two fish (one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish): goldfish

truffula fruit (the lorax): grapes

cat's great tricks mix (the cat in the hat): maple bacon chex mix



grinitch spinach (what was i afraid of?): spinach dip

we had two sandwich choices, which i guess didn't get photographed..

ham (green eggs & ham)

rare who roast beast (the grinch who stole christmas): roast beef

the dessert buffet:

sneetch bellies (the sneetches): oreo truffles

which are, by the way TO DIE FOR.

thing 1 & thing 2 cupcakes (the cat in the hat): red velvet cake with buttercream frosting

(i can't find the frosting recipe i used, but it wasn't my favorite, so i'm not so sad about that!)

i printed out all these nice little circles with 'thing 1' and 'thing 2' to put on the cupcake wrappers..

annnddddddd.. ya.. they wouldn't stay on. neither double stick tape nor glue dot worked for me..

i was bummed for about 2.5 seconds & then i got over it! :)

yertles turtles (yertle the turtle): chocolate pretzel turtles

these were ALL over the web a few months ago..

and they are super simple.

pretzels, rolos & pecans

line a baking sheet with foil & place pretzels out

put rolos on top.

heat in 250 oven about 2-4 minutes, until the candy gets shiny

DO NOT OVER BAKE.

(experience speaking here people!)

pull out & immediately place pecan on top & push down.

viola. simple & tasty! :)

the cat's hat birthday cake: red velvet cake & buttercream icing

(same recipe as above)

as you can see, the babe had NO problem diving right into his cake.

he picked up each layer like a cookie and totally went for it!

he was in hoggg heaven.

xo-k

here's the invitation.
& here are the decorations.

currents: 11.10.11

watching: the harry potter marathon on abc family. there is no such thing as too much harry potter. the dude said tonight before he went to bed 'ya know mama, i wish magic was real.' me to buddy, me too.

reading: just finished up the davinci code. contemplating re-reading breaking dawn until i can beg my friend yvonne's copy of the black dagger brotherhood #9 off her. then i'm back off vampire smut for a while.. ok.. so maybe not.. but i feel like i need to round out my year goal with something a little more substantial.. or just a little less embarrassing to admit you read!

eating: cherry tootsie pop. yes, i totally raided the kids halloween candy. i've successfully avoided the chocolate candy calling to me from the little pumpkins that sit there mocking me atop the fridge.. i deserve something for my efforts! (and nana keeps the boys well stocked with tootsie pops, so they will never notice!)

wanting: absolutely nothing.. :)

needing: a haircut. the purple has faded significantly.. i'm good for one more round of purple hair & then this rat's nest is getting a heavy trim. it's bad when i can't rake a brush through pin-straight hair.

stressing: over christmas gifts. and maybe not how you'd think.

obsessing: over learning how to crochet. my mother in law taught me a few stitches & terms when she was here in october & i'm having a hard time just picking a beginners project & going with it.

via

feeling: disappointed & frustrated. i don't understand people who live in a perpetual state of 'woe is me'. those who choose to blame others for their poor choices. who feel that deleting you from facebook will erase you from their lives completely, they seem to think you can wipe away family ties with a click of a button. it makes me so sad, but i'm tired of beating a dead horse.

anticipating: BREAKING DAWN!!! only 8 more days. and i'm so ashamed to admit to all you fellow twilighters that i have no tickets, nor concrete plans as of yet..... and.. THE MUPPETS. :)

xo-k

dr. seuss birthday: decorations

ya, ok so the kid is almost 14 months old..

cut me some slack will ya?

there is no shortage of pictures or words in here..

so it's been a little daunting to get the posts together.

i'm going to start with the decorations..

coming in the front door.

i borrowed the idea from a few other parties to have 'happy birthday to you' by dr. seuss there for guests to leave a message to rance for his first birthday on one of the pages.

this sign is typed up in a dr. seuss font i found online..

printed off & placed in a frame.

the confetti is punched out from the scraps of book pages left over from other decorations.

i made this wreath from book pages out of a few cut up dr. seuss books.

i just cut the pages down into a square (6x6 i think)

& rolled them up into cones gluing them down as i went.

i kinda just wung it.. thankfully my booboos are covered by the front piece!

i spray painted a red wooden number one

& found some dr. seuss stickers at micheals to add to it.

for one of the table centerpieces i saved a bunch of boxes

& wrapped them up in coordinating wrapping paper

(not my favorite designs.. but it was harder than i thought to find the right color blue!)

i bought a cat in the hat plush off ebay for $6 (including shipping) & set it on top..

i put some of the stickers on cardstock to spell out the babes name..

attached them to wooden skewers

& then stuck them in the top of the boxes of the centerpiece.



for the dessert buffet i used the same method of wrapped boxes to make a cupcake/cake tower.

i cut out banner pieces from book pages & attached them to seam binding.

and put out our collection of dr. seuss books.

i sucked it up & shelled out the money to have balloons this go round :)

more banners from book pages..

i printed out some monthly photos of the babe & put numbered stickers on them...

then i made some clay 'rocks' & put wire photo holders in them..

more banners in the kitchen...

and then i made food labels for everything from cardstock..

printed labels & stickers.

hopefully you can check back tomorrow for the food!

xo-k

see the invites here.

the food is here.

linking here:

whipperberry

sun scholars

diy: mama & me notebook

as much i want to say it's not true..

sometimes the dude gets less attention from me, just in general.

and for a kid who was an only child the first 6 1/2 years of his life..

that's a BIG change.

i try my best to set aside time for him on a regular basis..

to have chats like we used to..

but it doesn't always happen..

and sometimes, i think of things i'd like to tell him, and he's away at school.

so when repinned this idea on pinterest,

i knew i had to pick up a composition book right away

& set to making this a daily thing for us.

it's a mama & me notebook.

for me to write him letters of encouragement..

or silly little stories about what rance & i did while he was away..

to leave under his pillow for him to find when he gets home from school.

then he'll write me back, or draw a picture..

and i've given him instructions to be stealthy & sneak it back under my pillow before bed.

my hope is that it's something to help our bond... 

something that makes him feel special...

and gives him a way to tell me something maybe he couldn't 'tell' me.

ya know?

and. it won't hurt him to practice his letter writing, or writing in general :)

 supplies:

-composition book

-scrapbook paper

-alphabet stickers

-masking tape

-scissors

-adhesive

just lay your composition book down on top of your paper & trace around it..

cut out your shape with scissors or a paper trimmer.

put down your choice of adhesive.

put your piece of paper down over the adhesive & smooth it out.

annndd decorate as you see fit :)

& then if you have a child like mine..

write a DETAILED note about what the book is, and what to do with it.

(i feel like i have 9th grade handwriting in this.. but my normal writing is a mix of cursive/print & the dude can't read it well..)



then.. sneak & hide it beneath your child's pillow! :)

i'm excited.. maybe even more than he will be!

i kept notebooks with friends in school..

and i can't believe i didn't think to start one for the dude sooner..

although until last year he probably wouldn't have been up for it!

xo-k

linking to:
today's creative blog
tip junkie
sugar bee crafts
whipperberry
sun scholars

halloween: 2011

i am under no delusions that i will always be able to get them in 'theme' with each other..

but i'm going to embrace it while i can :)

when mason decided he wanted to be harry potter,

i knew right away i wanted to make rance hedwig, harry's snowy owl.

i absolutely love putting together costumes..

and the older mason gets, the harder it is to convince him to let me do so..

he always wants an EXACT duplicate of whatever it is he wants to be.

(such a little stickler for details!)

(i love moments like these!)

in a situation that i'm sure is a result of karma..

his wand disappeared into the house a week before halloween.

(a few weeks ago he wacked my aunt with it)

we spent a good portion of sunday really SEARCHING for it.

i'm convinced house elves made off with it.

we had no luck in finding it..

so on monday morning i decided to make him one.

'cause you REALLY can't be harry potter if you don't have a wand!

i used this tutorial i found on pinterest.

30 minutes later & even i was pretty impressed with how it came together!

after being bummed about his missing wand,

even mr. stickler couldn't believe i had MADE his new wand.

and from a sheet of paper no less!

as for this little guy..

his costume was inspired by several different versions of owl costumes across the web.

i wasn't planning on posting a tutorial on how i did it, so i don't have pictures of the process..

but here's a quick rundown..

for the body:

i bought a $2 white onesie from the clearance rack at target.

i had some leftover white fabric &

 i purchased a fat quarter of fabric from joanns of a piece of white with black circles.

i drew a elongated wide scallop shape on a piece of cardstock & cut it out.

traced it on the white & the patterned fabric over & over & over again

 & then cut them out.

started at the bottom & laid my 'feather's out & hot glued them down at the straight part of the shape..

leaving the bottom loose to 'ruffle'.

for the pants, i bought a set of women's knee length socks & used this tutorial.

for the hat:

i bought a grey beanie from the dollar spot at target

cut out circles from the left over white & printed fabric.

sewed on white buttons

cut out a little triangle from gold felt

it looked a little bla, so i added a few left over feathers around the eyes..

 & hot glued it all to the hat.

mason was so excited everyone knew he was & kept calling him harry potter.

my mom (like most mom's) kept bragging on me every time someone complimented rance's costume.

(which seemed like everyone!)

no one could believe his pants were really socks! :)

we went trick or treating with my cousin's family..

this is their little girl.

the phrase 'she's a pistol' applies SO well to this little one.

full of personality!

we didn't even pose her, she just hitched her thumbs in her pockets! :)

this may be my favorite halloween picture of all time.

and i'm not sure why. i just love it.

and if you look REALLY close you can see the marks of the first scar i drew..

because mr. stickler made me draw it three times to get it right.

and that revlon lipstain. it STAINS.. had to rub off a layer of skin in between drawings!!

that's about the best photo i could get with the three of them.

one was ready to trick or treat.

one just wanted to walk.

and one was just trying to get everyone to listen to her for a minute :)

and i said i wasn't going to do it, but i am..

i'm crossing 'celebrity sighting while trick or treating' off my bucket list..

we totally trick or treated at john travolta & kelly preston's house.

(one of them anyways)

and while i wasn't star struck like some of the others around us where.

i'm just amazed that in the po-dunk town i live in..

my kids got candy put in their buckets by kelly preston dressed up as a witch.

(and no, i didn't get a picture!)

hope you had a great halloween! :)

xo-k

linking to:

today's creative blog

tip junkie

sugar bee crafts

whipperberry

sun scholars