Baptism Day

Our sweet Brooklyn right before her baptism.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our middle dotter Miss Brooklyn turned 8. We had that really fun Mad Hatter tea party for her birthday, because 8 is a special birthday in our family. When you turn 8 you have the opportunity to be baptized in our church. This is an exciting time for her and she was thrilled to find out that she and her best friend could be baptized on the same day. Lot's of family and friends attended and we had a lovely lunch after. Between Brooklyn and her best friend Maybrie we had family from Idaho, Arizona, Utah and Kentucky.

The Dessert table.....you know me I like to make it look pretty. White was the theme.

Brooklyn with her best friend Maybrie. (Maybire's dad is Matt Montague who was a BYU basketball star 10 years ago, still holds the most assist record. He is also our bishop.)

Is it possible for me to have a party without cupcakes? I think not!

 

It was a wonderful day. We had a family reunion that evening as well with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It was great to see everyone. Family is so important and definitely a priority in our life.

Tomorrow we are off on our NYC adventure. The dotter's are so excited they can hardly stand it.

Valentine Day Party

I didn't post anything for Artful Thursday this week, I was getting ready for my Valentine Day Party Cookie Exchange. So...this will have to count as my Artful Thursday post. I had been wanting to host a cookie exchange for some time and thought Valentine's Day would be the perfect time to do it. I invited about 13 of my good friends and asked them to bring a favorite cookie to swap with each other. The party started in the morning, so I threw together a quick brunch. Quiche, Pear/Gorgonzola Salad and chocolate covered strawberries. The treat table was the most fun to put together. I had a definite look I was going for (ala Amy Atlas) but on a budget! I am going to share some ideas about the party.

Because of Valentine's Day I wanted everything pink, red or white. I was able to use my cute vintage glasses that I collect. All pink ones!

I made yummy treats, carmel/chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate covered strawberries and rice crispy treats drizzled with chocolate. These are all treats that are super easy to make but pack a big visual punch.

I pulled out all my glass jars ( I use them all the time, for parties, displays, they are really handy and depending on size only cost $5-7 each.) I saw tags similar to these on Amy Atlas's blog and asked my hubby to design some for me. I am happy to share the template. Leave me a comment if you would like the template emailed to you. I chose all red,white and pink candy.

The bags for them to fill with candy. I got the bags at $1 store used the template my hubby made for tags.

I love cupcakes and bought these at Kohlers. The hearts are picks from the $1 store.
I also wanted a few extra white platters, so I made my own. I wrapped a can with cute heart paper and put a white plate on top. Instant platter!

These are paper flowers. A Martha Stewart Kit. They were so cute and something I will use again.
I made this cute dum-dum topiary. I had a little give-away and one lucky friend got to take it home.
They yummy cookies friends brought to exchange.
Thanks to all my fun friends for celebrating Valentine's Day with me! And we all got to bring home yummy treats to share with our families.
My friend Lisa's sweet little Madeline. After 3 boys she finally got a beautiful girl.
And one last Valentine tidbit.....on Thursday the dotter's and I made boxes for the school parties the next day. (Their hair looks all crazy because prior to that they were playing Project Runway and used 1/2 can of hairspray!)
The finished products......


I hope you had a fun and sweet Valentine's Day.

A Birthday Party that Cooked!

I love parties, I love to plan them. I probably would be a party/event planner in another life. For Bronwyn's 9th birthday party we decided to have a cooking party. She invited 5 friends and we had so much fun! It was the perfect age to have a party like this. This is what I did:

1. Made matching aprons for all of them. (Thanks Mom for all your help!)
2. For party favors, I bought measuring cups at the $1 store and filled them with lifesavers and sour patch kids.
3. We dipped chocolates and they loved it. We dipped strawberries, carmel pretzels, rice crispy treats and oreos. YUMMY!
4. They each made an individual lasagna in a bread pan. We also made little salad kabobs with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and carrots.
5. For the invitations, I made a recipe card.

The party lasted about 2 hours and they each took home a plate of their dipped chocolates. Six was the perfect number. The party was a great success and I would recommend doing it for a fun birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRONWYN, MOMMY LOVES YOU!

The measuring cup party favor.

The recipe card invitation.

The girls dipping chocolate!

Bronwyn and Milly taste testing the chocolate strawberries.

Skyllar and Sarah dipping up a storm.

Bailey dipping her fingers in the chocolate!

Milly stirring the ricotta cheese.

Bronwyn and Bailey cooking the meat.