A Cupcake Garden-yeah Spring!

Spring is in the air....and along with the bees, I have been busy in the kitchen growing flower cupcake after flower cupcake. Hydrangeas, roses, pansies, zinnias and whimsical what-nots, straight from my imagination.

The order was for 120 "whimsical flower cupcakes in a variety of bright,spring colors".  It was so much fun to make.  I watched dozens of flower "tutorials" on Youtube to get inspiration and I think the polka dot leaves from scrapbook paper were a great  whimsical touch!  I just free-handed the leaves, cut out 240 and stuck two on a toothpick with a little hot glue.  Sounds time consuming, but it went together pretty quickly!

As with every baker, the transporting of the cupcakes to the party was the stressful part!  I am still searching for the perfect, cost effective way to move a large order of cupcakes.  I tried glue dots on these, but I am afraid they didn't work very well.  I met the party hostess at an in between location to drop them off  for the First Baptist Church of Powder Springs and they had slid around a little still.  I have had the most success with sticking a dab of frosting on the bottom, but that can be so messy.  There has to be a better way...

Anyway, I loved the way they turned out and I hope you loved them as much as I did, Sharon!  Thanks for letting me be a part of the party!

 

Cowboys And Indians First Birthday!

Amy Biggs threw a fabulous 1st Birthday for Reisler.  I was lucky enough to not only be invited, but given the opportunity to help her set it all up on the big day! 

It all started with this paper mache Indian found at an Estate sale.  His name is Chaz and Amy was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use him!

Of course, if you have a corn field and an old fashioned red barn, you have a great starting place! The Teepee was a gift to Reisler and I am sure he will enjoy it for years to come.  Amy bought hers, but here are great instructions to make your own!

 Lots of fun details! Straw hats with flowers are a great idea for centerpieces.  Old cowboy books tucked in hay bales.  A bandana banner, and Chuck wagon wheels hang on the tent.  Amy even made the stick ponies for races from muslin and yarn.  The tables are covered in brown kraft paper and stamped with cowboy stamps from the craft store.

 

Lassos and life size pony cut outs were placed around the yard for the younger guests to try their hand at roping the cows that wandered over to the fence line for a visit.

A bushel basket full of cowboy accessories made for a fun photo shoot.

This man may look like an authentic cowboy, but don't be fooled!

It's just Reisler's Grandpa!

A tepee smash cake for Reisler.  

Bandana dresses are available here.

.

A bonfire tops of the celebration! 

.

Birthday Overalls for Cowboy Party!

Is that not the cutest baby?  He is very quiet. Deliberate.  A thinker. He never cries.  Famous for his Smooshie Face.  This is Reisler, my nephew, and here he is wearing the overalls I made (embellished, really) for his first birthday.  The front is appliqued in cowboy fabric from Alexander Henry and red bandannas.  The back has Reisler's name written in "rope".

In case you want to make some too, this is what I did:

 For the applique, I just cut out patches and shapes from the fabric and stitched around it with a simple straight stitch.  Then I did a blanket stitch with red embroidery thread around the patches.  I left the edges of the appliques raw on purpose.  I like the frayed look they get after a couple of washes.  There is a great tutorial for applique here, at Sew Mama Sew- a great site for sewing info and tutorials.

 For the personalized back, you will need a tube of  Dritz(R) Liquid Stitch- 1-1/4 oz. or any washable, fabric glue and some rope or string. For practice, I shaped the string into the letters of his name.  You could probably use a fabric marking pencil or chalk here if you are nervous, but I decided to just free hand.  So, doing a few letters at a time, I used the glue (it goes on white, but dries clear) to spell out his name and then pressed the string into the glue.  That was it!  Very easy!  And very cute, if I do say so myself!

Next Post will be the  Big Birthday Bash!