Saturday, October 6, 2012

DIY Chocolate Covered Strawberries Deluxe!

These chocolate-covered strawberries are not only delicious, but are also so cute and make a great addition to a party! These I made for my sister's bridal shower, so I decorated them with their initials, hearts, and sweet words.  The best part is that they are SO easy to make! I have always had a hard time with chocolate covered strawberries- I can never get the chocolate at the right temperature, it's hard to get the strawberries dipped in chocolate while making them look nice, and there's always chocolate left over that ends up getting wasted.  I wanted to make these for the shower and thought that maybe I could try to pipe the chocolate on the strawberries in zig-zag patterns and could possibly have more success.  Well, it worked great!  I used a frosting bag with a small round tip, filled it with chocolate and microwaved it to the right temperature.  I did some in zig-zag patterns but then got more creative as I realized how easy it was.  I loved that I was able to use all the chocolate without having so much wasted at the end.  I did have some chocolate left over after all the strawberries were covered and piped some words and hearts onto tin foil and refrigerated it.  After an hour or so, I popped the chocolate off and used it as a garnish on the platter.  They really turned out great and were just so easy and straightforward!  After my success with the strawberries I used the same technique to decorate some cheesecake cupcakes which also turned out really cute.  The possibilities are endless!

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Coolest Baby Book




Any parent knows that baby-hood is a short-lived period that, while we would like it to last forever, comes to an often unwelcome end. I should know because I am currently in the midst of this transition, watching my sweet, cuddly baby become an unrecognizable toddler who consistently disagrees, disobeys, & always exercises her free will. Coming to terms with these changes, I realized that these days and moments were being lost, and that although I can be a total maniac with my camera, I was not capturing the day-to-day shots that were so important and precious. This all brought me to my picture-a-day plan. I bought an Instamax Wide camera (modern Polaroid) and a scrapbook and set out to photograph my daughter at least one time each day.  I always try to get a shot of her doing something special (ie. playing with her favorite toy, wearing my favorite shoes, etc.) This way, when we look back on these photos, they will remind us of this wonderful time in our lives.  Yes, I am a normal mom and I sometimes forget to take her photo. But as time went on with our new routine, I forgot less and less.  I also try to keep the camera in a special spot so that we see it every day.  I admit, there are at least three photos of our little one sleeping, from days I forgot and snuck into her room late at night.  You do what you can! Kudos to anyone who can take the photo each day digitally and then put it in an album chronologically later.  I find it much easier to do it day by day.

Friday, August 3, 2012

DIY Wedding!!


Shortly after the 1st birthday of our 1st daughter, my (now) husband & I were married! Our wedding was at my parents house & in a desperate attempt to save money, we did almost everything DIY! It was a fun (sometimes exhausting) process but the end result was beautiful & so special because most of the decor, favors, etc. were hand made by us. I wanted to share a few of my favorite DIY-ers today, but there's much more to come! 



In lieu of rose petals, we decided to have the guests toss dried lavender as we walked back down the aisle as a married couple! The dried lavender can be bought for about $11/lb (which is quite a bit because it is so light). We wrapped the lavender in burlap (which was a central theme of our wedding). The burlap can be a bit pricey, but is much cheaper if you buy it in bulk. We tied the burlap with twine, which is inexpensive and can be found anywhere.  The guests really enjoyed this addition to the wedding. 





We also chose to use jars as a theme in the wedding.  We used these mason-style jars for vases, candle holders, and drinking glasses. For the vases shown, we wrapped them in 4" burlap which we bought to size for convenience.  We made a heart on the front with twine and also tied a bit of twine at the top of the jar.  They made beautiful candle holders, with the light twinkling through the burlap. We also made some as vases to hang in trees around the ceremony area.  They turned out beautifully.


For the table assignments, we went to a local antique fair and purchased a bunch of vintage keys.  We bought wooden tags and painted them grey then hand wrote each guests name with their assigned table number. We then tied each one into a bow with twine. To display the tags so the guests could find their name, we hung them on frames backed with chicken wire. They made a really cute trinket and added a fun spin to the normal table assignment card. Also, the guests enjoyed the vintage keys and got to keep them as a mini favor.  




Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for much more wedding DIY!


If you're interested, you can browse my etsy shop where I happily make these items for other happy couples!! Shop name, MindTheCat.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now....I'm pretty certain that I live an at least somewhat entertaining life (hopefully others will agree). It felt fitting for my first post to be about my first daughter's first birthday.  Many firsts have happened for my new family and I over this past year and this one is the BIG one! As every new parent says, the first year flew by and I cannot believe that it really has actually been 365 days since I gave birth to the sweetest thing I had ever seen.  Since then, she has become a little more sour... really coming into her own as a drama queen and temper fit-throwing extraordinaire... but none the less, she is still the sweetest baby to me.  

Her actual birth day was truly one of the best days of my life and I fully expect the anniversary of that day to be special to me year after year.  I know that I may have gone a bit overboard on her party, but I honestly couldn't help myself, she is so special to me and I felt that had to be reflected on that day. 

The theme of her party was birds, her absolute favorite animal. My sister, her aunt, made her this amazing cake.  Red velvet with fondant.  She is a genius, clearly. 


A for Adrienna


I am a mad woman with my camera and had snapped pictures of my sweet girl with just about everybody who she came across during her first year.  I was determined to find a way to use all these photos on her birthday because I knew all her party guests would love to see the pictures of themselves with her.  I simply tied string between two trees and clothes-pinned the photos to the string.  The guests enjoyed looking at the photos and took home the ones that they were in.  It was a very inexpensive but fun decoration.


Adrie's favor was a small bag of birdseed so her guests could feed the birds in their neighborhood and enjoy watching the birds as she does. 


This year has been the most wonderful year in my life, so far.  However, I feel as though it is just the beginning and I am so excited about that.