Wedding Shower: "Wild & Bling"

Ready for something wild? Now we're talking ALL KINDS of animal print. Cheetah. Leopard. Definitely Zebra print. And show me Tiger!

My absolute favorite part of the wedding shower for future sister-in-law Jewel? The cake, of course! (And not just because I made it ... )

Animal print Cake Tattoos from Duff? Umm, yes please! Very easy to use, and absolutely the look we were going for.

Mikaelah found these adorable mini "paint cans" of gumballs back around Easter, and she kept them around with this cake in mind. (Aren't they packaged so cute?)

Below was the name card we made for the bride-to-be. I think she really liked it!

 
Gotta have the "Future Mrs. Prather" sash.

Jewel is a dachshund fan till the end, so these kissing wiener dogs made a cute little keepsake for her. They're salt and pepper shakers!

"Mr. and Mrs.": Created using the ever-so-popular Cricut. Just love that thing!

The party setup was just wild!

Decorative topiaries to go along with the animal print theme.

This is where part of the "Bling" theme came in.

Who knew you could find so many things in animal print?

Fun "Future Mrs. Prather" banner, complete in various animal prints, of course!

Now this was just funny. I was in charge of handling the games portion of the wedding shower. Now I'm not a huge fan of shower games, but I couldn't resist this one! It was a "Wild Photo Captions" contest.

Among the winners:
"If you don't ask me to marry you, you're never getting out of these woods!"
"You think I've got a choke hold on you now? Wait till we're married!"

Another wild table setup. Love how everything POPS against the black!

More of the wild topiaries.

We had a lot of fun with this one! Mikaelah really put a lot of hard work into getting it all ready! Hope you liked it, Jewel!

Anna

Candy Creations: Almond Bark

Growing up, I remember making a white chocolate chex mix candy with Mom each year around Christmas. After we were done making it, we'd package it up (or at least whatever we didn't eat of it!) and mail it to relatives as a nice homemade holiday gift.

Once I moved away from home, I picked up the tradition and have been making it ever since.But it's a shame to make this treat only once a year, so now I make it whenever I can!

The beauty of this dessert is that you can add in anything you want.

Pretzels? Yep. Pecans? Sure. Corn and rice chex? A must.

One of my favorites to mix in is Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal.

You can find almond bark in the candy or baking aisle of the grocery store. One big batch calls for one big bowl of cereal/pretzel combo mixed in with one package of melted almond bark.

We always made it with the white chocolate, but it's very tasty with regular chocolate as well. 

Yummy. It's like a sea of chocolate lava.

Here's the basic recipe, but one word of caution: I add in extra each and EVERY time I make it. So I'll round up to what I think I really put in ...

6 cups corn and rice chex cereal
2 cups Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal
1/2 cup pecans
1 package almond bark (white or chocolate), melted in slow increments in a microwave-safe bowl
2 cups pretzels

Other add-ins that would be delish:
Peanuts
Walnuts
M&Ms or other chocolate candy (Reece's Pieces sounds yummy just thinking about it!)

Nothing but sweet goodness as far as the eye can see ...

Spread the candy out on a flat surface covered in wax paper. Make sure it dries completely before packaging.

 

And I just love how pretty it is all packaged up!



Anna

Who Loves Tinkerbell?

We do, we do! And so does little Amelia, who is celebrating her 3rd birthday with a Tinkerbell-themed birthday party.

Mikaelah handmade these ribbon topiaries for Amelia's party, and we hope she loves them as much as we do!

Did you see all those sparkles? It's pixie dust =)

Anna

Oh. My. Strawberry.

Ahhh, the sweet taste of strawberries. Gotta love them. Gotta love that they're in season. And gotta love them in this ....

Oh My Strawberry Cupcakes

 

Ok, now wipe that drool away and let's talk about how to make these.

First, round up some freshly picked strawberries. Rinse. Cut off stems.

Now, try not to eat all of them before you put them into the cupcake mix. I know, tempting, huh?

Here's the rest of what you'll need:

1 box white cake mix
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
About 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 small container Cool Whip
1 graham cracker sqauare


*** The eggs, oil and water measurements are what my Pillsbury cake mix called for. Follow the box instructions and you can't go wrong.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 cupcake liners into 2 12-cup muffin baking tins.

In a medium size bowl, blend together cake mix, oil, water and eggs. Use a hand mixer on low speed for 2 minutes or beat by hand for 2 minutes.

Using a spatula, gently stir in about 1 cup of the sliced strawberries. Scoop batter into cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. Allow to cool.

Once cupcakes are completely cool, pipe or spread whipped topping right onto the top of the cupcakes.

Now the fun part. Load them up with strawberries! A slight sprinkle of crumbled graham cracker will do the trick. And voila!

Now go eat up and enjoy!

Anna