party

Erica’s Sprinkle

When you have your first baby, you are given a party where gifts are bestowed upon you like rain. It’s called a shower and it is supposed to set you up in preparation with the things you and your newborn will need. Of course, by the time the next baby comes around you (most likely) still have all of the major items you need, plus experience so the transition is much easier. However, isn’t fun to celebrate the new baby anyway? And what mother wouldn’t mind a couple new onesies, stocking up on diapers and a few new outfits! Enter the “Sprinkle,” a gathering in honor of a mother-to-be (again) and the new baby. It is especially fun when the first born was, as in this case, a girl and the next arrival is a boy. Because it’s fun (and honestly refreshing) to add a little blue to the waves of pink. The theme of this party was woodland. The cake looked like a log and was adorned with forest animals.

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It’s perfect for this time of year, when there is a little chill in the air… and we can bust out the lumberjack inspired flannels.

Mom and dad (and uncle) to-be.

Mom and dad (and uncle) to-be.

The restaurant is a rustic lodge inspired eatery with open log beams and buffalo plaid covered stools. The centerpieces, made by Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ryan (from a fallen tree right in their back yard), were like something you could find along the edge of a picture perfect forest.

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The cake wasn’t the only place the little woodland animals showed up.

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True to a hike in the woods, everyone got to take home a couple varieties trail mix.

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We can’t wait to meet you Maxwell!

Loving Lately ❤

Loving Lately #1: Seasonal Parties – Harvest Celebration

Admittedly, I am not crafty. But I know people who are! My mother for example has an artistic flare that passed me right by. She gets inspired by her six grandchildren and makes every season come alive in fun and innovative ways. And although I may not come up with these ideas, I certainly appreciate them! How adorable are these little pumpkins? And better yet, they are delicious, because they are Rice Krispies Treats! I know what you are thinking. Do they have organic food coloring? Well I like India Tree’s natural food dyes. (But I’m not saying that’s what my mom did.)

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Our gathering took place at the family cabin, and at night for a little ambiance we lit a pumpkin style lantern. Originally made to light the way outside, the lanterns were made from repurposed hanging flower pots. The hollowed and carved pumpkins are set on a bed of colorful leaves and filled with a candle. Creatively my mother used paper bags and coffee filters for the bow! (People need to get creative in the woods.)

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For entertainment we the kids played rounds of tic-tac-toe. Who needs pencils and paper when you have pumpkins and sticks?

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Not really true to character she also made some pumpkin cake pops, covered in white chocolate and sprinkles. -That is to say carrying out a theme is all her style, but molded bakeware is more of my thing… So I’m pretty sure I’m rubbing off on her.

The party included good eats, and fun drinks too… which I’ll be sharing with you in the future. But for now I’ll leave you with this:

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Because even though they’re not organic, they are a Michigan company. And you know I have to make a plug for my Michigan companies. 😉

Sidenote: I’d like to give credit to the sites my mom uses for ideas which are partially hers and some variations of things she saw on the world wide web, so I will in-part simply credit the internet.

Smoky Cheese Ball

I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been told I make a pretty good cheese ball. Oh yeah, life of the party – right here. It’s honestly one of the easiest things to do. It’s so much better than store bought and worth the effort. The goal is to taste like cheese and be able to spread on a cracker. Because it’s so simple, using quality ingredients is mandatory; punishable by… a tasteless disaster! (Possibly.) Over the years I’ve made quite a few variations, and this one is a crowd pleaser every time.

As organic as possible:

1/2 cup Butter (1 stick), softened

12 oz Cream Cheese (1 1/2 bars), softened

1 1/2 tsp granulated Garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Milk

8 oz Smoked Gouda, shredded (can substitute with smoked cheddar)

3/4 cup Pecans

On the day I know I’m going to make a cheese ball, I get out my butter and cream cheese in the morning with my coffee. That way when I feel like getting to it, it’s ready to go. That’s like the extent of the difficulty. When you’re ready to get started I throw everything (except the pecans) in a stand up mixer. Although if you don’t have one, no worries; once everything is soft, it would be easy to mix by hand. Beat until creamy, scraping down the sides.

Now here is the trick for a perfect ball: Line a bowl with two sheets of cling wrap, in a cross pattern, pressing down with extra over the sides. Using a spatula, scoop the cheese into the center of the lined bowl. When all of the cheese is in, wrap the cheese with the plastic until covered and form a ball, pressing the cheese together lightly to rid of cracks and air pockets. Place back into the bowl and put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. (You can easily make this a day ahead.)

Before serving (or transporting to a Partay) toast the pecans. I like using the toaster oven for small batches like this, but stove top and conventional oven will work too. Heat in a dry skillet over medium heat (watching and tossing) or at about 350º for 6-7 minutes, just until you start catching the aroma of the nut. I don’t like the nuts over toasted for this. Then chop the nuts into small pieces. Remove the ball from the plastic wrap and roll around in the nuts. pressing nuts onto every open space. Don’t worry if the wrap left not-so-pretty lines, they will be covered with beautiful nut pieces! Place on a serving tray with assortment of crackers and spreading knife. Get ready to live.

Elijah’s Birthday Extravaganza!

Everyone wanted a horse themed party this summer (well two kids anyway). So how do you plan two parties back-to-back with the same theme and keep them completely different? It ended up being a lot easier than I thought. Elijah, who turned three, wasn’t able to take riding lessons this year. For a couple of the lessons he sat and watched enviously as his older siblings and cousins got to ride around on horseback. I know, I feel like a terrible mother. But what are you supposed to do when you have no baby sitter? I’ll tell you what I did. I rented a horse and pony to come to our house for his birthday party so he could have his very own horse ride.

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Look at that face, worth every bit of it!

And you have to let the other kids ride too…

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The package also came complete with petting zoo,IMG_9829IMG_9779IMG_9780IMG_9785
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And face painting!


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I got to feed the horse one of our apples!

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Aren’t horses beautiful?

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And so are little cowgirls!

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I honestly was so busy with the party that I almost had forgotten to take pictures of the food!

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Beef brisket, scalloped potatoes, rolls, chips,

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the family baked beans (I think they make an appearance at almost every gathering),

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and corn on the cob grilled in the husk,

Where is one to get something to drink in these parts?

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At the waterin’ hole of course! (And there was pop on ice.)

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We had “haystacks” at the last party, so this time we had “Barn Muck,” peanut butter and chocolate. Yummy!

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And no birthday party is to be without cake!

I missed the whole part with swimming in the pool, but it was there. Then we had what turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the day. (I’ve shared my love of party photo ops before.) I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. I never knew one could have so much fun turning dollar store mustaches into all sorts of facial hair… (I’d really like to do a whole post on this, and I would like to apologize in advance for the onslaught of pictures coming your way.)

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Overall the party was a huge success because the birthday boy was happy! He told me so! “Me excited about my birthday. Me like my presents!”

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Happy Birthday Elijah/Cowboy/Power Ranger/Spiderman! We love you so much!

Horsin’ Around for Addi’s Birthday

The kids, my two oldest, my neice and nephew, have been taking riding lessons this summer. Naturally horses are all of the rage to them right now. So when the birthday ideas were rolling around the one and only theme to be had was a horse of course! (I had to.)

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The farm, where the lessons are had, rents a pavilion along with a horse riding package for parties. My sister, the chef, is also quite an efficient party planner (she gets that from our mother). She made the giant daisy overhead streamer for an area designated as the dance floor. (She also made the burlap birthday banner from the featured image.)

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She covered all of the picnic tables with white cloths and made beautiful arrangements with wildflowers and Mason jars.

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The menu included hamburgers (requested by the birthday girl)…

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baked beans and watermelon…

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slaw salad,

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and potato salad.

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The weather was absolutely gorgeous for cowboys and cowgirls alike.

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As a memento for the birthday girl, everyone attending the party signed a picture…

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of Addi with her favorite horse, Morning Star.

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I have to admit, when Addi said she wanted a cake with the face of Morning Star, I was nervous it would come across like something from The Godfather, but it turned out pretty cute.

 

A highlight of the evening for me was the daddy-daughter dance.

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Everyone got to take home a little “haystack.” Have you had one of those before with chow mein noodles and butterscotch? Um, delicious.

Thank you Addi! You are turning into such a lovely young lady!

Mickey Mouse Birthday

Over a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon, we were invited to celebrate a special birthday… Isaac turned two!

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And Mickey Mouse was the theme of the day, so you have to come dressed ready for the party!

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If you watch Mickey’s Clubhouse you know the “Hot Diggity Dog” song, and what would a party be without a Hot Diggity Dog Bar?

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And all of the fixin’s…

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What a good dad!

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Mickey was everywhere!

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On the walls…

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At the kids table… (it’s hard to put the work away (and that was not his Dr. Pepper!))

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Right down to the bottom of the serving bowls (of really good macaroni salad).

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And on the top guest’s heads.

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What if you need to blow your nose?

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Of course the kids had to jump around and get some ‘Mousekersize!”

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And then they needed to eat some birthday cake! (Even the ears, made of Rice Krispie treats!)

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M-I-C, See you real soon, K-E-Y, why because we love you! (But don’t leave without taking a cookie…)

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We love you Isaac! Happy Birthday!

Peter Rabbit Tea Party

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.”

Beatrix Potter

My mother had been planning a Beatrix Potter tea party for her grandchildren for a while,

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long before we knew of Prince George’s first birthday.

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The walkway was lined with little reminders of which way to go.

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There were snacks awaiting the little guests; like strawberries fallen in a little oreo dirt and white chocolate bunnies.

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Costume jewelry to adorn the ladies.

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Characters from the story made special appearances everywhere.

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Along with other special touches.

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Including frogs in the pond.

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Lavender hung with care…

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Just like the story book. (Mom’s art work, a gift to her grand-daughter from years ago)

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Mr. McGregor’s garden was a must. (No need to turn up the grass, just lay a tarp topped with dirt and cabbage leaves!)

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Careful Peter!

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It was a bounty for little rabbits.

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The setting was absolutely lovely, nestled under a shade tree.

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Vivid florals strung in the air added ambiance.

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Photo ops are some of my favorite party options… They make great gifts to send out with your “thank you’s”!

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Refreshments included rabbit and flower shaped sandwiches. (And wrapped chocolates that get eaten first)

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Chocolate milk served in a Beatrix Potter china set.

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The ladies and gents quite enjoyed themselves.

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Every children’s party needs activities! First it was a hunt for Jemima Puddle Duck’s lost eggs.

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Which made for a riveting egg toss! (Note: make sure the eggs are hard boiled!)

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Are both of her feet behind the hat?

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Reading Bench…

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Story Time!

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And a butterfly hunt! (No butterflies were hurt, in our catch and release.)

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Who’s ready for some cake?

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Now let’s burn off some sugar with a sack race!

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What a special day! Thank you Granny!

A Grad Party for Claire

Do you think that when you have graduated high school, you would no longer want to be called Clair Bear? Well that’s the prerogative, of an older cousin, to think of her always as a little girl. However, I did just attend her graduation party and it was lovely. So lovely in fact, that I had to take a billion pictures to share for entertainment ideas!

I really have talented family members. I mean, really talented. And although I will spare you the long details of the name of every dish and the respective member of my family who created it; you can rest assured I tasted it.

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The desserts were ridiculous!!! In the best way of course.

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Claire was able to travel to Europe, and Paris was woven throughout the decor…

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Clearly you see a pink theme here. Totes adorbs (that’s the Barbie’s Life in the Dream House talking). Pink was everywhere; Balloons poolside, college-to-be-attending letters, picture ribbons…

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The fence was lined with bottles and flowers and pictures of the graduate.

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The tree house was adorned with pics and memorabilia…

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There were tents with refreshments outside.

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Dinner included a lovely salad and pasta bar. And yes dessert was outstanding, but I just have to let you know that my Aunt Leann’s pesto was too, and I will be getting you that recipe… But look at these pink marshmallows and more fun things to dip in the chocolate fondue!

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Claire, our newest graduate…

Yes, I took a bad picture of a good picture... but it was so cute! (And sorry, I don't know who to credit for the original!)

Yes, I took a bad picture of a good picture… but it was so cute! (And sorry, I don’t know who to credit for the original!)

Consider this a standing ovation:

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Congratulations Claire!

The Birthday Circus

Okay, so this is a party that took place a little while ago. But it’s still a good’n. So I’ll share! We had a circus themed party for Elijah’s 1st birthday and it turned out really cute (if I do say so myself). For the first birthday of every child it is a tradition, in my extended family, to go big. Too bad, the child won’t remember… but we’ve got the pictures to remind him! The pool area was colorful, complete with cotton candy maker.

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Outside the tables had circus fare of potato chips and peanuts in the shell. Inside, the table was full of cupcakes with Elijah’s picture. (An idea I got from a magazine.)

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Our clown didn’t come through (text book), so dad pulled through like a champ… and still grilled the hot dogs! (Please pay no attention to the fence that needs mending. Thank you, you’re very kind.)

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Of course we had face painting!

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And photo ops!

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(They get me every time!) We also had a slushy truck…

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And a popcorn machine, to make the house smell legit.

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The kids took home a goody box complete with clown noses, candy and circus tattoos.

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The day was a success! (And we take that very seriously, apparently.)

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