A little bling-bling

My friend Stacey has recently become an independent stylist for Stella & Dot.  She hosted a trunk show earlier this week and I am in love.  The pieces are versatile and well-made and I am obsessed.  If you'd like to host a trunk show, her contact info can be found here.

I am challenged when it comes to wearing jewelry.  If anything, I'll put on a bracelet.  I am terrified to wear dangly earrings because the kids might pull on them.  Ouch!  The kids pull on necklaces too, so it's not often that I'll wear one.  But whatever I wear, I like it to make a statement.  And jewelry makes me feel a little more polished, regardless of the outfit.

Here are some of my favorites (click on any image to go to the item page):

La Coco Curb Chain Necklace

This piece can be worn as a long necklace, or you can remove a section to make it shorter.  That removable section becomes a bracelet.  Also, you can attach a brooch.

Carrie Bangles
I am loving the turquoise and coral combo.

Petra Braided Bracelet
This bracelet is pure bling. 

Pyramid Double Wrap Bracelet in Cognac
This would be cute all by itself or layered with other bracelets.

Cameron Pendant

La Coco Rope Necklace

This necklace can be worn in a single strand, or doubled or tripled.  And you can attach a brooch.

Bee Brooch
I purchased this item at Stacey's trunk show.  I love this piece paired with the La Coco Rope Necklace and I also think it would look awesome with the La Coco Curb Chain Necklace.

Essential Ball Studs

And finally, for the girl who is afraid of earrings.

FYI for anyone (Paul) who might be buying me a gift for my upcoming birthday (Paul), my wishlist is here (Paul.  And Mom too).  xoxo

Party Planning Committee: Fabrics

For Charlotte's birthday party, I decided to create a banner and coordinating table runner out of fabric.  I could have used scrapbook paper for the banner, which would have been just as cute, but I wanted it to match the table runner.  Plus, I think that the banner will look precious hanging in Charlotte's room when the party is over.  Soooo, I assessed what I already had and then when to Fabric.com to choose some additional fabric.  I plan to do basically the same thing for Joey's birthday in February, so I ordered plenty for a second project.

These are the fabrics that I'll use for Charlotte's party decor:

And this is her party invitation, for reference:

The fabric and invitation are not matchy-matchy, but each fabric includes at least one color from her invitation.

Last night I started working on the table runner.  I did not take pictures to document the process, but the project is very straightforward.  I used my rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat (thanks, Paul!) to cut strips of varying lengths but (fairly) uniform width.  And then I stitched them together to form a long strip.  Sorry, no pictures, but imagine something like this:

That's not an accurate representation by any means, but get the picture?  Okay, good.

Now I just need to trim up the edges and stitch the runner and the liner together.  For the liner I'm using a couple of yards of cheap off-white broadcloth, cut to the size of the runner.  I'll stitch "right sides" together on three sides (like a pillow case) and then turn inside-out and stitch the fourth side closed.

Next on the agenda will be making her banner(s) from the above fabrics.  I will cut the fabric into triangles and attach a fabric backing.  Right now I'm thinking of using a no-sew method - Heat n Bond - so that the little flags will be stiffer.  Imagine that it will look something like this,  but hopefully with nice straight lines:

I'll share pictures of the actual table runner and banner soon, if only to prove that I can cut a straight line.

Party Planning Committee

Holy moly!  Charlotte's first birthday is in three weeks!  I was so distracted by Christmas that I hadn't given the slightest thought to planning her party.  And the first birthday is kind of a big deal.  Not that she'll remember it.

Out of laziness Because I'm cheap In my attempt to lead a greener lifestyle, I usually send out Evites, but I had a credit at Shutterfly and decided to send out paper invitations.  I guess that instead of being green, we're keeping the postal service in business.  Here is our adorable card:

I just love Shutterfly.  Honestly.  And thanks again to David Smith for the gorgeous photos.  The pictures from our photo shoot have gone a long way!   

I've been stalking Pinterest for party decor ideas:

• make a birthday banner either out of fabric or card stock using color scheme from the invitations
• sew a table runner with leftover fabric from birthday banner
• make an arrangement with coffee filter "flowers" or something like that (my friend Stacey made some for her one-year-old's birthday that were adorable!)
• and that's about it for now!

I'm also planning to DIY a cake or cupcakes, and Charlotte will have her own "smash cake" of course.

In the meantime, we need to clean our house.  It will take about 3 weeks to clean up the mess from Christmas!

Fairy Princess Wands

For favors for Joey's birthday party, I decided to make each guest her own fairy princess wand.  Well, each child guest.  Considering that only a few young ladies will be at the party, it's a manageable project. 

Most of the materials that I needed were available at Hobby Lobby:  wooden star wands, glitter spray paint, acrylic gems, and ribbon.  The primer was purchased at the hardware store, but they probably have it at the craft store.

I began by spraying the wands with spray glitter, but it was very sheer and I realized it would be necessary to prime the wands for good coverage.  At the hardware store I purchased gray spray primer, which worked nicely with the silver spray glitter. 

To transform the wands from drab to fab:  glitter spray paint.  I used several coats to make the wands extra glittery. 

Oooh!  Sparkly!

After the paint was dry, I brought the wands inside to bedazzle them.  By that I mean that I used hot glue to affix acrylic gems to the wands.  For the finishing touch:  a little organza ribbon.

Although Silly Bandz and stickers are fun party favors for kids, I hope that Joey's guests will be able to enjoy their wands for longer.

Joey's Birthday Cupcakes

Joey asked for chocolate cupcakes with green frosting to bring to school on her birthday.  While I actually had cake mix and a can of frosting on hand, I opted to make everything from scratch.  The results are good enough to share.

I based my cupcake recipe on the Double Chocolate Cupcakes from Our Family Eats, but I modified it slightly because I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand.  My cupcakes were fantastic nonetheless.

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake/muffin pan with paper liners.

Stir together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Add eggs, water, sour cream, oil, and vanilla to dry ingredients.  Mix until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom as necessary.

Pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are fully set and spring back when touched.  Let cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

The yield for the recipe from Our Family Eats was 24 cupcakes, but I only managed to get 14 out of the recipe.  The cupcakes were huge, which probably had something to do with the smaller yield.

For a while I have been searching for a homemade frosting recipe that tastes as good as the butter cream frosting from the Publix Bakery.  So the other day I Googled "Publix bakery frosting" and it turns out that other people are fans of this frosting as well.  Go figure.  I browsed several recipes and decided to try one by Copykat Recipes.  It did not disappoint.

For the frosting:

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
2 cups Crisco Vegetable Shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 pounds confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder

Mix butter, Crisco, and salt together on low speed for 5 minutes.  Add vanilla, butter flavor, and almond extract; beat until well blended.  Add meringue powder and half of the confectioners sugar. Turn mixer on the slowest speed and add the remaining confectioners sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it's mixed well.  Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.

I cut this recipe in half, and had plenty to frost 14 cupcakes with a lot left over.  Maybe I should have been more generous with the frosting?  While I had to buy a few ingredients that I wouldn't ordinarily keep on hand (meringue powder?), the outcome is worth the investment.