DIY Baby Shower

My sweet friend and neighbor was pregnant with her first baby, so two of her dear friends and I decided to throw a bash to celebrate her and the soon-to-be baby!

Scrabble pieces added to a spring

wreath announce the theme of the party

We put touches of 'baby' all around the areas that guests 

would mingle

 Baby blocks spell out the theme.  Frames filled with baby pictures of the

mom and dad-to-be made this party perfectly personalized.

  It's sweet to imagine what baby might look like

editor's note: I am a blog fail...the baby is way born and SHE IS WAY CUTE.

Vintage baby clothes that once hung above my daughter's bed,

were strung on twine and clipped with small clothespins.

 My sweet Logi wanted to add to the festivities

 Paper pinwheels and flowers.  Very simple,

DIY, decorations for this celebration.

Here's how I made the pinwheels:

I had a lot of scrapbook paper sitting around.

I do not imagine I could scrapbook to save my life, 

but I do love the color options and use the paper often.

When I started thinking about decorations for this party, I 

decided I could probably use the same technique 

I use to make puff pastry pinwheels, out of craft paper.   

 I only had single sided paper paper on hand.

I would imagine (but don't quote me) that

one can purchase these squares of paper

with patterns on both sides.

Since I was working with paper on hand,

I used a glue stick to glue the backs of 

2 pieces of decorative paper together.

I mixed and matched the papers looking

for funky contrast.  

After the glue fully set I cut from the 4 corners

of the paper square leaving about the size of

a half dollar coin in the middle.  The square

turned into 4 triangles of paper, attached at the center. 

I put a dot of hot glue in the center and quickly

folded the right side of each triangle to the center.

How cute are they!! So fun and funky and

OH SO EASY!!!  To cover up the gluey mess

I used random buttons, and an additional dot

of hot glue to secure the button.

 

How adorable would these be hanging in

a nursery?

 I used a paper punch in one corner of one of the

protruding triangles, then used fish line to hang

them above the dining table and outside on the

porch to help welcome guests to the celebration.

 DIY floral arrangements.  Use what is seasonal, and

just pop them in jars or buckets you have on hand.

Spray roses in spring neutrals and button mums were my go-to 

favorite all spring, so it was a no brainer for this party.  I placed

them in a vintage milk bottle crate.

 The mom-to-be opening presents.  Her sweet

mom (and a couple of aunties were able to fly in

for the celebration)

 

Mom-to-be with her mama.

 I bought this felt banner in the $3 bin at Target.  It was just the felt 

letters on ribbon, so I dolled it up and with little rounds of burlap and fabric 

(a few layers, held together with a decorative brad).  

I then glued the circles on the store bought banner.

 We of course threw it down with the delcious

spread of food.  I will blog that at a later date...

goal: before baby turns 1

 xo

Union Station Denver

My hubby had a birthday last week.  He spent his birthday morning and afternoon skiing (how royally great to be able to ski on a random Friday off in May, which happens to be your birthday...because Mary Jane extended the ski season 2 extra weeks!), then we headed out for 24 hours. I planned our short adventure just 20 minutes away from our house at the newly renovated  Union Station in Denver.

 I thought it would be fun to spend our 24 kid-free hours checking out 

Union Station, because 4 years ago (can it really be that long ago?)

this was our view, for our first 5 months in Colorado.  .

 The Crawford Hotel is right inside the station.  Lovely!

The room we stayed in was so cozy, and it was fun to be staying

right were all the action was, since our trip was so quick.

 Terminal Bar had a wide array of local beers, cocktails and light fare.  

 We sat on the Terminal Bar patio for an hour, sampling beers 

(I still hate beer) and took in some amazing people watching.

 Shuffle board.

 The art deco details throughout Union Station were nearly too much

for my heart.  I loved every corner.  This is a snap of the bar

on the mezzanine level, just above the Terminal Bar.

 Interior of one of the many restaurants onsite, Stoic & Genuine. 

This restaurant was not an option for me, because of my fake

seafood allergy, but check out the sick interior.  In love.

There is zero chance you will leave Union Station hungry.

 After dinner, we popped into Milkbox Ice Creamery, inside 

Union Station.  They serve Little Man ice cream, which is

about the best thing ever (and we used to walk to Little Man, just across 

the river from our apartment that overlooked Union Station)!  

We took our ice cream outside and sat by the fountains. 

I quickly decided I need to plan a day trip down with the kids, 

via the light rail because they would

love to run through the water (the restaurants along the linear

fountains have towels for guests to dry off, perfection!)

 After ice cream, I marveled once more at the

interior design inside the station.  I also

contemplated ways to shove this chair in

my backpack.  I then wish I had packed

like Lane from Gilmore Girls, when she

headed back to Korea! See below.

 We headed to bed and I slept like a bug in a fancy rug

buried in all the cozy blankets that adorned the bed.

The next morning, we woke up and stumbled down

the stairs right into Snooze Eatery.  I mean,

could it get any better than that!  There is

always a wait at Snooze, but on this cool

morning, no one wanted to sit outside, but 

we kids with our Minnesota blood pumping, 

took a table out there and it was glorious!

 Zac and I shared the breakfast pot pie

(helloooo rosemary sausage gravy and 

puff pastry. Wanna get married?)

and the OMG! French Toast.

The mascarpone stuffed french toast was 

topped with vanilla crème, salted caramel, fresh 

strawberries and toasted coconut.  Ridiculous! 

We walked around downtown until the wind 

shifted and brought rain, but that was the

perfect excuse to go crawl back into bed until

we got the boot at check out.  

 

So...the short story is:

GO CHECK OUT UNION STATION DENVER!

xo.

Birthday Party Prep, in the kitchen

 Sweet Logan turned 5 yesterday.  I will post all the pics of her wonderful birthday celebration, but for now here are the goodies I whipped up for her party!  

 You can't spell P-A-R-T-Y without cookies, or something 

like that...am I right?  Semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies,

dusted with sea salt are ALWAYS on the menu!

Dark chocolate cupcakes (along with vanilla cupcakes that

didn't get their time to shine in front on the camera during prep)

alwaty please the crowds!

 

 No Fail Frosting! 

 It is a must for cupcakes, layered cakes, spoons and fingers!

Make this recipe, it is quick and easy and oh so tasty!

 Copious amounts of rice krispy treats!  I didn't make 

homemade marshmallows for these bad boys, as I have

in the past.  But the secret to stepping up your game with

a krispy bar made with a bag of marshmallows: a bit of sea salt!

 Peanut butter and homemade jam (via the MIL) is 

turned into party food, by removing crust, with a round 

biscuit cutter and dipping the cut edges into

tiny sprinkles!  So cute and festive!

It's a 5 year old birthday party, but I always plan

for the parents who are showing up as well. 

Beer and handmade wraps were on hand for them.

Store bought tortillas filled with havarti, oven roasted

turkey slices, candied bacon* and sun-dried tomato 

mayonnaise** were perfection!

*to candy bacon, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and parchment (no stick, yay)

place bacon on the prepared baking sheet and generously sprinkle with brown

sugar and cracked black pepper.  Bake until crispy (directions on bacon package). 

Do not drain on paper towels as the sugars will just stick to the paper!  I place the cooked

candied baon on a cooling rack and allow to drip a bit (playing baking sheet under the 

rack to catch drips).  once cool, store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.  

Can be made a few days in advance.

**to make sun-dried tomato mayonnaise, grab your food processor and whip 2 small jars

of drained sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 cup cream cheese (soft) and 1 cup real mayonnaise.

Store air tight in the refrigerator, can be made a week in advance.

PARTY PICS SOON !!!

(but, let's be real...what does 'soon' mean to me?  still haven't finished

Sundance Film Festival 2014 pics...opps!)