Candy's Shower

Today I went to my sister-in-law's baby shower and it was a blast. She had a less traditional open house shower which was so nice. You could mingle, eat, drink, and the mom to be opened gifts as the people arrived so there was no three hours of doating over baby crap and not really getting to spend time with the guest you came to see. It was much more personal.

Yes those are real high healed zebra print baby booties.

Sock monkey basket from the Dollar Tree- Super Cute!

A petit guest testing out the goods!

A new crocheted pink pig to match the one Candy had as a baby.

These next two pictures are after a few Bloody Marys

Can we say 1992!

FYI: Candle Sale

Apparently every February, during school break, Yankee Candle in Deerfield has a huge warehouse sale (I was unaware of this but I guess it has been going on for years). I went with my mom yesterday and was blown away with all the great sales. If you are planning an event and looking for votives, a gift for an attendant or special someone, favors, or building a gift basket for a Jack & Jill you have to check out this event.

Most merchandise was 40-60% off!

Class Up Your "Silverware"

A fun and easy trick I like to use to class up that plasticware at a shower, birthday, or holiday party is to wrap it up ahead of time in a fun way. Wrapping your cutlery helps your guests grab them with one hand if needed and adds a touch of professional class to your event. (Wrapped plasticware says you know what you are doing-even if you don't)  Play with plasticware color, napkin color, and ribbon-all of which you can get at the dollar store or odd lot store. (Try to avoid a party supply store as they will sell paper goods and colored plasticware at two to three times the price)

To wrap cutlery take a dinner napkin and turn it like a diamond. (You may have to open your napkin if it is a rectangle to make it a square), stack your silverware with the knife on the bottom then the fork and finally the spoon with the tips just sticking over the top edge of your diamond. Fold up the bottom portion of the napkin, fold over one of the flaps, and finally roll up your cutlery in a snuggly wrapped package. 

Use thick ribbon to make a napkin ring. Peruse your local arts and crafts store for a fun design that matches your event colors- there are soooooo many cool options out their for ribbon. I recommend 1-2" ribbon.

Precut your thick ribbon into strips. Wrap the ribbon around the rolled cutlery and use a little hot glue to hold it in place. Take the extra end of ribbon and fold it into the hot glue crease and add a dab of hot glue to hold the folded edge down and make a finished looking product.  Finally stack your beautifully rolled cutlery in a basket, bowl, or creative container. 

Wrapped plasticware for the baby shower I am helping host this weekend. The mommy to be wants black, white, and touches of hot pink. She also really likes monkeys so I went with jungle animal print ribbon.

You can also use a few pieces of thin 1/4" wide ribbon to add a colorful bow to your wrapped plasticware instead of a napkin ring. The advantage of small ribbon is it is easier to add a few colors of different ribbon at once. Just wrap the ribbon around your wrapped cutlery (to add a little flare tie a piece of candy or small gem into your bow).

A few years ago I did a holiday party with gold plasticware wrapped in a white paper dinner napkin with thin gold ribbon and a mini candy cane tucked into the bow.  Supper cute and easy to do ahead of time!

Valentine's Day: A Marketers Dream

The concept of Valentine's Day is fantastic but it has become a holiday of one-uping your loved one by buying each other crap they don't need.

By keeping it simple and sincere you will find February 14th to be a lot less of a dreaded day.

Some ways to keep it simple:

• Make each other cards (sounds cheesy but I love homemade cards way better than store bought)

• Make dinner for/with each other

• Go out to lunch (not nearly as crowded and cheaper than dinner)

• If you buy flowers get them from the grocery store or wholesale store (Costco). They will wrap them up really nicely and will be a fraction of the price ($10-25). Don't be afraid to stray from the norm of roses, if you know your significant others favorite flower get them. It will show them you pay attention and might be cheaper than the overpriced red roses.
   
• Watch a movie together (Really watch it- turn off your phone, put down the lab top, and hang out!)

Mike, my husband, and I have a tradition of making fondue together every Valentine's Day. We really enjoy cooking together and just hanging out without any distractions. We also really look forward to our tradition in the days leading to Valentine's Day. Fondue, wine, and flowers for the occasion runs about $38. You can't go out for a nice dinner with drinks for nearly that.

The best part is enjoying the true meaning of Valentine's Day.

Trendy Cupcake Shop Confections at a Homemade Price

Cupcakes I whipped up in my own kitchen last night.

Cupcake shops are popping up all over and although I can't help peak in the window to see all the beautiful cakes lined up in little rows I won't pay for them. Frankly it would make my grandmother roll over in her grave if I payed $3-5 for a cupcake.  A box cake mix (which tastes just the same as homemade and can be added to if you want to make it your own) costs less than one cupcake. An average cake mix makes 24 cup cakes which if you bought them would run you around $96 at $4 each.

Here are some simple tricks to make your cupcakes look like the pros at home. By the time I am done with you, you will be ready to start your own cupcake shop.

1. Wrappers: Find a fun wrapper that fits your theme or color scheme. Many stores are coming out with new designs and patterns. Most wrappers will run you from $1-$3 per pack. Michael's Arts & Crafts has a huge selection.

2. Baking the Cakes: Make sure to evenly distribute the batter and clean up any drips and drizzles. When you pull the cupcakes out of the oven allow ample time to cool completely before trying to frost cupcakes. *Brownies are a tasty alternative to cake batter.

3. Frosting: I am a huge fan of ganache as an alternative to butter cream. I think it isn't as sugary and has more flavor. The word ganache sounds fancy but it is really simple.

Ganache

• Two parts chocolate chips -mix and match or stay classic with all plain chocolate: semi sweet, peanut butter, mint, butterscotch, white chocolate, you get the idea
• One part heavy cream
• Flavoring/Coloring: pinch of ground expresso, peppermint extract, orange extract, coffee liquor (optional)
• Powdered sugar (for stiffening the frosting if needed

Create a double boiler out of a pot with a little water in it and a glass bowl on top. Melt chocolate in glass bowl over simmering water. Add cream and mix. *Add flavoring or food coloring if you choose to at this time.

Use the ganache right away as a glaze by dipping your cupcakes or allow to cool completely (about 2 hours) and whip in a mixer for a fluffy frosting. (Add powdered sugar to stiffen frosting if needed)

Ganache as a glaze

Ganache as a frosting: Whip, pipe with a pastry bag or just use a ziplock bag and cut off a corner, pipe in a simple circular motion from the outside filling in.  Add toppings right away before the ganache sets.

4. Topping: Get extravagant with your toppings. Adding the extras on top really puts on the finishing touches taking your cupcake from homemade to expensive posh bakery cupcakes. Try to think of fun flavor combos that will be different for your guests like, smore' cupcakes by adding crusted gram crackers and marshmallows to the top of a devils food cupcake or a french toast cupcake by making a maple cupcake topped with cinnamon and sugar frosting and crispy bacon bits (sounds crazy but will taste great and will wow your guests), or stay classic with peanut butter and chocolate (viewed at top), mint, double chocolate, etc.

Some fun topping ideas:

• Shaved chocolate (take a candy bar and run a vegetable peeler down the side)
• Colored sprinkles to match your theme
• Eatable pearls
• Eatable glitter
• Nuts
• Crushed cookies or mini cookies
• Penny Candy
• Chocolate Bark (Stick a small piece of chocolate bark into the top of your frosting will make your piece look artsy when it is really just broken pieces of chocolate)
• Fresh Fruit 
• Marshmallow
• Eatable flowers

Present your little pieces of eatable art on a cute tray or line them up in rows and watch the complements roll in.

Brownie Bites with Chocolate Mint Ganache, Andies Candies, and Green Sprinkles

One cupcake that I made many different ways. Aprox cost about $6-7!

Unique Accents Without the Sticker Shock

For you non artsy types out there Etsy.com is a web site that anyone can post their art they want to sell.  There are so many talented artist who want to get their start by offering you a good deal on the net. You can find lots of unique finds (which if you watch any wedding show is the goal of every bride) on it from pottery to knitting. Etsy wedding is a blog made specifically for brides trying to find a truly one of a kind piece at a great price for their big day. The blog finds art from the larger Etsy site that appears to be well suited for brides and narrows down your search for you.

If you are the crafty type this site is also a great place to find inspiration for projects you could probably do yourself.

This beautiful head piece is only $30 which is a fraction of the cost of most head pieces especially handmade ones.

Twenty assorted handmade atlas thank you notes for only $8.50

Check it out:

http://etsywedding.blogspot.com/

The Holy Crap I am Engaged and Need to Stick to a Budget Moment

Getting engaged is very exciting but the moment you realize you have to pull together the event of your dreams on a budget is very scary. You want it to be perfect since you are only planning on getting married once (I hope) but you don't have a clue where to start.  There are lots of books, web sites, and amazing blogs (wink wink) but if you want a great budget calculator that will help you see the whole picture check out

http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-tools.aspx

I found this budget calculator to be the most realistic. It helped me know what I could spend on save the dates cards or my wedding dress months before my big day without going broke before paying the caterer the day of my wedding. Your engagement is a long marathon and you don't want to get in trouble by sprinting in the beginning of the race because you got caught up in all the hype.

Sticking to your budget will help keep stress down (don't worry you will have plenty other reasons to stress). There is no reason to start off your marriage in debt.