{It's Party Time!} Tea Party for Our Little Princesses

I asked my 2 1/2-year-old if she had fun at the Tea Party we recently held for her and her cousin Brylee.

"I want more. I wanna go there again."  <--- I think that says it all!

As I mentioned a while back, this is a VERY belated birthday celebration for the girls. Their birthdays were back in March and April, and of course they had parties then, but we also had to have our 2nd Annual Tea Party. It's a tradition now, and we cannot break tradition. Plus, they're at the point where they remember every promise we make ... =)

Pictures and details of their 2nd birthday parties are here on our blog. Avery's party was a Candyland theme, and Brylee's was a Wild theme.

But who doesn't love a tea party? I'm talkin' frilly pink dresses, decadent desserts and "pretend" tea complete with pinkies in the air. Here is a glimpse of our special tea party:

One of our tissue paper door signs. The party theme colors were pink, purple, lime green with a small accent of yellow, so we created a special sign to go with it.

Mikaelah created this Tea Party ribbon topiary. (Picture clearly wasn't taken at the party, but this way it shows off some of the polka dot a printed/patterned ribbon she used. Have I mentioned we love polka dots?!)

Mikaelah's fabulous green wire dessert stand makes another appearance. (Love this item because it can go with almost anything!) I made and decorated the cupcakes, and the cupcake toppers were a creation of Ciao Bambino on Etsy.




I baked the chocolate chip muffins. Talk about yummy! They're made with absolutely no oil or butter, and applesauce is used instead. Our brother Jonah would eat a whole batch of these on his own because he loves them so much!



I also whipped up some marshmallow pops =)

Our Tea Party banner can be found on our Etsy shop.



And now for the table set for the princesses ... oh yes, and Landon, Brylee's older brother! (He secretly loved the tea party!)

They're ready to party: from left, Brylee, Landon and Avery.

 Pinkies in the air! (See, Landon, I know you had fun!) And now for some candid shots of the kiddos:

Success! I think they all had seconds of the desserts. (I think Brylee liked the icing more than the cupcake.)

Happy Tea Party!

Anna

{Parties in Action} Bryson's First Birthday

Little Bryson had a great turnout for his birthday party over the weekend!

His mother, Susan, and I had a lot of fun creating his cake and smash cake. And I think Bryson thought it looked good ....

.... But I don't think he much cared for it! (Or was that the candle he was trying to eat?)

These are only SOME of the gifts on the gift table. (He had so many presents, that he almost fell asleep trying to get through them all!)

This is a handpainted "B" created by Mikaelah. With dots/bouncy balls to match the party theme, of course.

While it might not be the best picture, Bryson's birthday shirt was absolutely adorable! It's a handmade creation by a good friend of Mikaelah's who owns LittleRascalBabies, which can be found here on Etsy. She specializes in embroidered and embellished shirts/bodysuits, burp cloths, bibs, bloomers, and boxers for babies and children.

We all had a wonderful time, but now his mom and dad, Eric and Susan, have to find room for all those new toys .... Good luck!

Anna

{Parties in Action} Ella's Cupcake Party

The lovely mother of 1-year-old Ella shared a picture of the cupcake table from the recent birthday party. I just LOVE seeing everything all put together ... and all those yummy cupcakes ready for the taking!

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing this great photo!

Anna

{Real Life Cupcakes} Lemonade, Milky Way and Strawberry

Ella's recent birthday party was a major cupcake celebration that called for fantastic cupcakes. Here's what we baked up for her and her party guests:

 

Happy cupcake eating, everyone!

Anna

{Bridal Shower} Tiffany Blue, Black and White

Mikaelah and some of her close friends hosted a very pretty bridal shower for their friend Gina this weekend.

Decorations for this were simple. Black and white table runners, white floral centerpieces, a few poms and also a little touch of a select few brighter colors.

But everyone knows a bridal shower is all about the gifts ... well, and the desserts! Yummy!

I made the engagement ring cake =)

It was a two-layer white cake with whipped frosting, sprinkled with blue sugar and candies. So simple and cute.




A handmade sign welcomed all of Gina's guests to the party.

 
The color theme continued on these customized ribbon topiary centerpieces.

I just adore these poms hanging over the dessert and punch table. And so easy to assemble!

Also loved the flower centerpieces Mikaelah put together. The flowers match what will be in the bride's bouquet on her big day.

A few "splashes" of color here and there =)

Ok, now back to those desserts ...

Since the cake was a white cake, I wanted to have a little bit of chocolate offered in there somewhere. So that's where the cupcakes came in. One dozen was chocolate with the same whipped frosting as the cake, and the other dozen was made similar to Mikaelah's "Milky Way Cake" she made recently for the American Cancer Society's cake contest.

That tasty recipe can be found in this previous blog entry.

And, oh yes, more chocolate. Had to have the bowl of matching colored M&M's!

I really hope Gina had a great bridal shower (and got some great gifts, too!)

Anna

Here is where I'm linking to:

Father's Day: Three Treats for Three Great Dads

Three awesome dads. Three awesome baked goods.

This is my blog tribute to some of the fathers in my life: my husband, my father, and my father-in-law.

The best part about what I baked for them? Each of their desserts says so much about them! All three are so different yet so special. So here's what I baked up for them:

For my husband I made a peach cobbler (it was actually his request). It's his grandmother's recipe that I found on an old, tattered recipe card a couple of years ago. Simple and sweet.

My husband doesn't have much of  a sweet tooth ... of which I am so jealous! But if he has his choice, he will take a pie or cobbler any day over cake or ice cream. (Now, for me, I'd be the one downing some ice cream before you even asked me what I wanted! Or cheesecake, at that!)

For my dad, it was all about the peanuts. He LOVES peanuts, peanut butter ... anything like that. So for him I baked Rocky Road Brownies.



Yum! Chocolate, chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, marshmallows and more chocolate, all on top of chocolate brownies! He's going to love it.

Now my dad has a major sweet tooth. Mom says in that part he's just like his father, my Grandpa Becher, who would always ask "What's for dessert?" within a second of finishing his meal at dinnertime. Dad's just got one major sweet tooth.

And then there's my father-in-law. Now, he's got a sweet tooth, too. But he and I share something very special, and that's our love of cheesecake.

Ah, we often reminisce of the DELIGHTFUL cheesecake we had while we vacationed in Disney World a few years ago. Absolutely the best cheesecake ever.

So for him, I baked Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Babies. They are individual brownie bites complete with yummy cheesecake in the middle. (And there's a little peanut butter mixed in there as well!)



 I hope they LOVE these desserts. All of the baked goodies are so different, but each of them just seems to "belong" to each of these great men in my life.

Happy Father's Day, Josh, Dad and Vernon! Love you!

Anna

{Cake Contest} Banana vs. Lala

It was sister vs. sister in this week's "More Birthdays" cake contest for the American Cancer Society.

Even though we didn't win, Mikaelah and I had a great time baking and decorating for the contest. Mine was a lemon cake that looked like a golf course, and Mikaelah took on a swimming pool-themed "Milky Way" cake.



And here we are standing proudly over our cakes at the left and right.

No, we can't claim the lovely fondant cake in the middle. One day, though, we'll be able to make stellar cakes like that! ... But we can make cute and creative ones like this!



My votes definitely went to Mikaelah on this one. It was only the second cake she'd ever baked, and it turned out GREAT and absolutely adorable, too.

I'm mean, using chocolate frosted doughnuts as inner-tubes for the "people" to float on? Precious.



And of course, the crafty and creative one that she is, she added stickers!



My reaction when I saw how cute they looked at the edge of her cake? Ummm, I believe it was something along the lines of "No fair!!" (I wanted stickers on mine, too!) She's just so darn creative and clever.



She might have earned points on her use of fun stickers, but I got bonus points for saving the day. As she was carrying her cake into the competition, she noticed that one of the little swimmer's bikini was made of (gasp!) two different colored Dot candies! Oh no! (She's the brunette seen here in the back middle.)



I assured her that it would look like we meant it to be that way. But Mikaelah would have none of it.

But of course, me being the mom I am, I had an emergency bag. And what just so happened to be in said emergency bag? Backup candy, including two of the same colored blue, and rather large, gumballs.

Here she is, post-surgery.

 

And now for my cake.

Mine was a lemon layer cake. Two 8-inch rounds on the bottom, and two 6-inch rounds on the top. In between the layers was a very yummy lemon frosting. =)



Don't get stuck in the stand trap! It was made complete with a golf tee (made from two white Smarties candies), the green (made from green sugar crystals), the flag waving in the wind (pretzel and Fruit by the Foot) and of course the hole (a single M&M turned upside down). And don't forget the golf balls (white Sixlets candies).

"Banana" and her cake

"Lala" and her cake

Here's the recipe Mikaelah used for her "Milky Way" Cake. (This is the way to make it if you're not adding fun decorations to the top. If using decorations like our little swimmers playing in the sun, you'll want to use a thicker frosting. She used two cans of white whipped frosting, tinted blue):

Ingredients:

1 dark chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients used to make it, such as eggs, oil and water)
1/2 small can sweetened condensed milk
caramel sundae topping
1 tub whipped topping

Directions:

Bake cake according to package directions. Allow to cool, then poke holes throughout top of cake, using either a candy stick or toothpick.

Pour condensed milk over top of cake, then topping it off with the caramel.

Evenly spread the whipped topping over the cake. Enjoy!

***

We're really happy to have participated in this great contest. Not only did we get to experiment with recipes, techniques and creativity, but we also were able to help out a great cause.

Happy baking, everyone!

Anna