Cupcakes for the Graduate

When I found out that our nephew Cris was going to walk in the ASU graduation ceremonies, I quickly volunteered to bake cupcakes for his celebration. And when his wife told me that his favorite candy was Reese's Peanut Butter cups I was on it!

Carrie had seen the idea for the chocolate graduation caps somewhere (Sorry...I don't know the original source because a Google search provides a plethora of options). I used a hot skillet to touch the peanut butter cups to just so there was a melted surface, then I stuck them to a chocolate square (I used Ghirardelli). Then I piped a line of yellow frosting for the tassel and topped each with a small M&M for the button. They were a big hit! The cupcakes were yummy too - I found this recipe for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting - perfect with those mortar board toppers.

I also made red velvet cupcakes and created some toppers with ASU logos printed on cardstock, punched and attached to toothpicks. Note the gold star sprinkles - love! The "CONGRATULATIONS CRIS" banner was cut with my Cricut, and the fringe banner was made from a plastic tablecloth using this tutorial.

Oh man, creating this post has me wishing we had just one cupcake left over...

As guests were leaving the party that night I had some cupcake boxes on hand for take-away's. I loved being able to do that!

It was so much fun to make cupcakes for a family function that included my side of the family. Doug's family lives locally so my baking stints are usually for my in-laws. I loved being able to make these chocolate cupcakes for my nephew, Cris. And the red velvets for my niece, Savannah. And Carrie, of course.

 

Who does the baking in your family?

♥

Officially uninvited to future parties

We have this friend whose behavior can be a little unpredictable at times. Does everyone have a friend like that? That friend that you think about long and hard before inviting them to a family gathering because you just aren’t sure they will be able to behave themselves for the duration of a party?

Well, we knew that it might be an issue, but we included him in our party invites just the same...

And there he is, our little friend Lucky, at the beginning of our nephew’s graduation party last week. Just look at him! So cute, right? All smiley and happy and the blue-eyed center of attention. Everyone loved him and he got so much love and affection during the first half of the party. But once he got a little tired – once he’d had enough – he began to nip at the heels of a couple of nephews.

And then he had the gall and audacity to bite the guest of honor – The Graduate.

Now, we think that Lucky may have been a cattle dog in his life before us, and he’s been known to be a heel nipper on a camping trip before, but he’s never nipped an ankle to the point of drawing blood like he did at the end of the party last week. And even though a balloon popped and The Graduate made a sudden move, it was still no excuse for that extreme behavior.

So unfortunately for our friend Lucky, he won’t be included in the guest list of any future parties held at our house. He’ll be sequestered to the side yard where he will be forced to listen to the party from a distance and not be privy to any falling food scraps or random head scratches.

How embarrassing. We’ll know better next time.

Surprise Party for my Brother ~ Jack Daniels Style

Let me tell you about my amazing sister-in-law, Ryann, who just delivered a baby two weeks ago and simultaneously planned a surprise 50th birthday for her husband/my brother, Ron. She enlisted a few people for help, but she orchestrated the entire thing with a brand new baby.

Ryann is originally from Tennessee, and my brother is a fan of Jack Daniels whiskey, so she chose a Jack Daniels theme for his party. I love how the whole thing came together! Decorations were done in black, brown, and white, and she used bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey here and there as well.

 

Ryann made the awesome birthday banner to hang over the drink station, and the tissue paper poms were made by me during our drive to California.

Cupcake toppers were purchased from this Etsy shop, along with the letters for this banner...

...and water bottle labels too.

I love that Ryann created a private Pinterest board that I had access to, and one of the things she had pinned was a wall display of photos in the shape of the number 50.

Ryann collected photos of Ron's life and had them printed in black and white. As soon as the guys left for golfing that morning we all got busy with decorations, and Carrie and her cousin Britny were in charge of arranging the photos on the wall. I loved this piece so much!

Over the kitchen/food area we hung some fringe banners that I made using this tutorial, along with a banner I made using my Cricut - sticking with the Jack Daniels theme "Aged to Perfection."

I love that the women in my family all gathered at Ron and Ryann's house Saturday afternoon to help with the party prep while the guys kept Ron distracted with a game of golf. My sister, Valerie made her yummy stuffed mushrooms for appetizers, and she was happy to entertain baby Olivia while we hung banners and photos.

Ryann had found a recipe for Jack Daniels cupcakes and I was in charge of those. You guys, I worried about these crazy cupcakes for weeks leading up to the day of the party! LOL. Seems silly now! I tested the recipe a couple of weeks ago and discovered there wasn't enough whiskey in the frosting to taste, so I added some to the cakes by poking holes with toothpicks before they were frosted and using an eyedropper to soak them with a little Jack Daniels. Kind of like a rum cake, you know? The result was still a slight whiskey taste, but they were really yummy. I loved them, and I am not a fan of whiskey. I baked the cakes Friday night when we got to my sister's house, and then frosted them on Saturday with frosting I'd made at home and brought to California in an ice chest.

Is it wrong that we had my five-year old nephew help load beer and ice into the tubs? :o) Stone is an awesome helper!

Of the 300+ photos I took last weekend, this next one is in the top five. My brother Tim and his family drove from Arizona on Saturday to be part of the birthday surprise - Ron didn't know they were coming. I took this photo just after they arrived and were meeting Olivia for the first time. It melts me every time I see it! ♥ ♥ ♥

I am terrible about keeping secrets and was so glad when the guys left for golfing that morning because I felt like I'd made it without slipping and spoiling the surprise. Imagine my horror and panic when I texted Tim with Ron's address and said "Hi Timmy! When will you be here?" and then realized I had accidentally texted it to RON instead! Holy smokes. There was some frantic texting to my two nephews on the golf course and Tyler was able to get to Ron's phone and delete my text before he read it. For crying out loud, Deb. Really?!?!

When the guys came home my nephew Cris texted that they were coming in the back door so all of the party guests gathered and faced that direction. Another text, "No! FRONT DOOR!" so we turned around. And finally, "AAAHHH! BACK DOOR!" Ron was really surprised when he walked in and I loved that. I had never been to a surprise party before, have you?

One of the best things about the surprise was that our brother Tim was there. My brothers have such a close friendship, and it just wouldn't have been the same without him. After dinner the guitars came out and we sat around the fire and enjoyed my brother's music and comedy show. It's always so much fun!

 

It was a great night with family and friends - the perfect way to

celebrate a really great guy like my brother, Ron. Big thanks to

Ryann for making it such a special occasion for him!

And great big happy birthday wishes for Ron!

♥

Baby Shower Weekend Recap

Hi there, blog friends!

♥

This past weekend Carrie and I traveled to California where my sister and I hosted a baby shower for our sister-in-law, Ryann. We had such a great time celebrating with family, and my weekend recap for today is all about the baby. ♥

My brother Ron and his wife, Ryann are expecting a baby girl at the end of February, and we are so excited to welcome sweet baby Olivia!

We chose a pink and ivory theme, and decorated with little birds and birdcages.

I had seen this fringe banner a while back and just loved it - had to make it myself! I used a Cricut die cutting machine, with Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the letters, and Songbird cartridge for the birds and birdhouse shapes.


There were no flowers in my house this weekend, but there were certainly some at my sister's house! {I'm linking up with Flower Jane over at Small But Charming for "Flowers in the House!"}

My sister found these cute game cards and pencils online, and it was so much fun to play a few games and award prizes to our guests. We had five games altogether, and our prizes were some cute coffee mugs my sister picked up with a Starbucks gift card tucked inside. We also used the two bouquets of pink and white carnations as prizes too.

I made favor boxes using this tutorial and different shapes cut with the Songbird cartridge. Inside were Hershey's kisses, some heart confetti, and a little note thanking our guests for coming to help us celebrate our sweet Olivia.

We showered Ryann with gifts and well wishes, and I just couldn't resist snapping a photo of her adorable baby bump. Gosh, there's just something so magical about the whole baby-making-experience. Well...not the initial baby-making...I mean the pregnancy itself...well...you know what I mean! I couldn't keep my hands off Ryann's tummy and she was such a good sport about it. Love!!!

I loved that my mom's brother {our Uncle Ken} was able to bring our grandma to my sister's house to celebrate with us. She really enjoyed celebrating with us, playing games, and having cake. It's crazy to think about how much has changed since she was birthing her babies all those years ago.

My sister, Valerie, is such an awesome hostess and party-thrower. She is witty and fun and has a gift for entertaining. Combine her hostess-ing with my decorating and you have a pretty cool party, if I do say so myself!

All in all it was an awesome weekend! We got to spend time with my siblings, our cousins and friends - all for the purpose of celebrating the new addition to our family.

♥

"You know what the great thing about babies is?

They are like little bundles of hope.

Like the future in a basket."

~ Lish McBride

Cupcakes for the Graduate

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The first time I met Kelli she was 7 years old and swimming in her grandparent's pool. She only came out of the water to grab some of her grandmother's homemade ice cream, and then back in the water she went.

 

The first time I really spent time with Kelli was on a camping trip a few months later. She was the baby sister, the fourth in a line up of K's - all natural beauties and sweethearts through and through. Kelli was a typical little sister, a tomboy, full of spunk, and oh how she loved her Uncle Doug. I loved her instantly.

And now this little toyboy is all grown up and got herself graduated from high school. {Oh, this reminds me, I need to bust out a post with her senior pictures I took at camp a couple months ago...}

 

Kelli's mom, my SIL Laurie, always does such a fun job putting a party together. I love that she had us all sign Kelli's senior year book. I tried to remember some of the goofy poems we used to write, but came up with nothing other than, "Stay cool and have a great summer..."

 

 

I volunteered to make cupcakes and when asked what flavor she wanted, Kelli said vanilla. So, vanilla it was. I found this recipe for the cakes, and used this one for the frosting.

Cupcake toppers were made by printing clip art and message on a Word document,

punched with a circle punch and sandwiched with a scallop punch in the middle.

Easy peasy.

I feel so honored to have played a part in Kelli's High School Graduation celebration.

I'll share a few of her senior pictures next week.

♥

Snacks in a Bottle

I have been thinking about these little treat holders for a while now,

and I'm so excited to set them out on Thanksgiving!

* * * * * * *

I can't remember where I saw this idea, so my apologies if I'm not giving credit where credit is due, but I loved this idea for serving snacks in carafes instead of open bowls. The idea is that guests pour some of the treats into their hand, rather than reaching into the bowl. "A bit more sanitary," I thought, "and besides, it's a cute idea."

I bought these little wine carafes at a restaurant supply store for cheap {Local friends, you have to go there!!! It's on Main just west of Alma School in Mesa...} and I think they'll be great to have around for future events at our house. I want to get a few taller versions for varied height next time.

I printed some Thanksgiving words onto cardstock and used a couple of punches to make the tags, and the ribbon is some that I had in my stash.

And with that, I am officially ready for Thanksgiving company.

Wishing my U.S. friends a very safe and happy holiday,

and my International's a very lovely week!

♥

Cowboy Birthday ~ Yee Haw!!!

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My sweet nephew turned four last week and my visit with my mom landed

on the same weekend as his birthday party. So I got to help! :o)

Wanna' see?

I made the bunting by cutting two bandannas in fourths and tying them together. The treat bags/party favors were bandannas filled with prizes and then tied with jute. My sister ordered the cute little straw cowboy hats from an online source, and the party was held in a "party barn" in my sister's town. The kids had so much fun!

I'm so happy I got to share this day with Stone.

♥