The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care...

One of my favorite things to do each year is make Christmas stockings.  I usually pick a family I love and make a set for them. Besides a Christmas gift, they are also a perfect gift for a new baby or even a wedding.  After all, they are something the family will keep for years to come.  And everybody loves to have something made (and personalized) just for them.  Depending on the type of fabric you choose, you can make a traditional stocking or you can pick a funky fabric to change it up.  Here are a few samples of the many stockings I've made over the years.

These stockings were made for one of my favorite families.  I made them all out of corduroy but in different colors (dark green & burgundy for the parents, red for their daughter, tan for one of their sons & blue for their other son).  The cuff, toe & heel are all made with the same fabric.  My favorite part is the lining.  I always choose a special lining that reminds me of the person...toy soldiers for  boys, pink & red snowmen for girls, etc.  I like how the cuff fabric is very traditional but the corduroy and the colors are nontraditional.

This is a close up of one of the stockings.  Each one gets a monogram to make it even more personal.

This is my mantel with our family stockings.  I made the stockings over several years, which means they don't match at all.  They are all different styles and fabrics but since they were made from the same pattern they all work together.

Pink Dinos

My daughter's friend wanted a pink dinosaur cake for her birthday.  I didn't have much time and I wasn't sure what to do.  I took inspiration from her party invitation and came up with this.  Thankfully the birthday girl liked it!

Rainbow Cake How To...

Rainbow Cake How To...

My original plan was to have the inside of the cake rainbow colored and have it iced in all white.  That's really the only way I've seen it done, and as you know by now, almost all of my ideas are borrowed from somewhere and tweaked to fit my needs.  I was telling my mom my plan and she said she thought the cake would be prettier if I made the outside rainbow colored too.  I didn't want to hear it.  I didn't want to think about how I was going to do it.  And I really didn't want to make 6 different colors of frosting.  But I did...and I'm really happy about it.  It turned out prettier than plain white and everyone was still super surprised when we cut into it!

Here's how I did it.

I made 3 white cakes, splitting each in half to give me 6 layers.  Each half was tinted with Wilton gel food coloring and baked.  Then I froze them.  After the cakes were frozen I sliced about 1/3 off the top so that my cake wouldn't be too tall.  I put them in the freezer until I was ready to frost them another day. Next I put a white buttercream crumb coat on top and in between the layers.  And then I added several dowels to hold my cake together.

I mixed 6 colors of frosting and used disposable piping bags since there were so many colors.  I used Wilton tip 12.  It's just a big open circle.  I squeezed a dollop of frosting and then squished it and swept my tip through it.  I began with the purple and worked my way up the side of the cake.

Rainbows and Unicorns Part 2

 The last post mainly showed the decor at my daughter's rainbow, unicorn party.  This post shows some candid shots from the party.

All of the kids were very busy crafting at the different stations.

The crayon melt required some adult supervision from Papa.

My little one loved using power tools with his Papa.

Rainbows and Unicorns Part 1

We had the big Rainbow, Unicorn party for my daughter's 6th birthday.  It was a success!  It took a lot of prep and hard work but not a lot of money.  Everything was homemade and nothing was difficult to do.  Here are a ton of photos of the decor.  I'll post more showing the actual party in a separate post.

The main table filled with homemade appetizers and desserts.

Fruity Pebble Treats & layered Jello

Oranges filled with Jello & chocolate covered pretzels.

Otter Pop Slushies... the biggest hit of all.

Sparkles & Cats for a Surprise 60th?

My mom's BFF Jann was turning 60 so Jann's husband decided he wanted to throw her a surprise party and he needed help from my mom and me.  I was all set to help.  I was even pretty excited!  My mom and I figured we could come up with a great plan and throw a fabulous party for Jann.  To our surprise  Jann's husband told us there were two things the party had to be themed around...sparkles and cats!  My first reaction was that it can't be done.  Those things just don't go together.  Luckily I contacted Tali from A Party Studio (www.etsy.com/people/APartyStudio) and she made us some amazing printables.  They set the tone for the whole party and it really did turn out to be quite beautiful (even if it was a slightly strange theme to work around).  Check out the photos and see for yourself.

There was a candy buffet for guests.  This was the party favor.

Rock candy is sparkly!