Car Birthday Party {DIY Details}

 

 

 

 

For those of you that follow me on Facebook or Instagram,

you've been seeing all my car posts over the past few weeks.

 

 

My little buddy turned two!

And to celebrate, we threw him a car birthday party.

He LOVES cars.

And this is an understatement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned when I shared the invitations with you,

we decided to go for a playful vintage car theme in lieu of the Disney Pixar Cars theme,

and I'm glad that we did, because I loved the way that everything turned out.

 

 

So here are some of the DIY details!

 

 

Since Ben's birthday is in February and we live in Pittsburgh,

all of our set up had to be inside.

We live in less than a mansion,

so we kept it simple, like our Winnie the Pooh Party last year,

and just had some family and close friends over for food and libations.

 

As for decorations, I mostly stuck with the old tissue paper standbys.

As luck would have it, Target had a bunch of their tissue on clearance when I went shopping,

so I got a lot and maybe went a little overboard.

 

 

I made a ton of these pom poms in all different sizes and colors and hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.

They added a fun burst of color when you came in.

 

 

I also made two long fringe tissue banners,

one for over the food table and one for our living room where most of the seating is.

Tissue paper decor is great because you can buy it super cheap is basically any color.

If you're not picky about colors, the dollar store is a great resource.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My centerpiece for the food table was this "road sign" in the shape of a B (ya know.... for Benjamin).

 

 

 

 

 

The letter I bought for a couple bucks awhile ago for his bedroom.

It's just the paper mache kind from Joanns.

I painted it black and then added the dashes.

Simple. Simple.

 

 

 

 

The food table turned out really nicely with some fabrics that I had from other projects.

The route 66 fabric is one of my favorites. I just put it over a box to elevate the cake stand a bit.

 

The "fuzzy dice" are white square boxes that I had which my mom and I added black dots to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my food labels, I made a simple placard in Photoshop to look like a license plate.

 

I tried to make them look as much like a PA plate as I could, and added Ben's name at the top.

 

 

 

Not all of the food was themed,

but we did make "nuts and bolts" (chex mix), pot holes (peanut butter cup cookies), and dip sticks (pretzels) for the snack food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made pigs in a blanket (because who doesn't like those?),

and my mom made this awesome stop light for the dips (ketchup, mustard, and relish).

 

 

 

 

 

 

She did a great job just using poster board!

So cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our drink table, I also kept it simple. I used more steel accessories that I had around the house and some bandannas from a camping trip.

 

 

The only thing really themed was the gas pump placard I made in photoshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car cake was so much fun for me to make.

The bottom is two round cake layers,

and I carved the car out of a loaf pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I knew I would be carving the car, I wanted a pretty dense cake

so I opted for Elvis' Pound Cake.

 

 

 

I have to say, it was yummy, but definitely dense.

I could only eat a very small piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tires are chocolate donuts.

The headlights are yellow m&ms.

 

 

 

 

The grass is coconut which I threw in a ziploc and tossed with a few drops of green food coloring.

Shake shake shake, and you have grass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I made a road sign to go beside the car which I just posted on a chopstick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made Ben a special shirt to wear.

He was so busy at his party, that this, unfortunately, is the best picture I got of it. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a plain shirt at Target, and free handed the car with a bleach pen.

I don't know if it was because the shirt was a little thin, or that it was lighter in color,

but I literally left the bleach solution on the shirt for about 1 minute and then rinsed it off.

Any more, and I was afraid it would all just bleach to one big blob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my last detail is our favors. I got these little steel buckets for a buck and filled them with some candy, toy cars, and playdoh for good measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben had such a great time playing with his friends and family,

and he especially liked the cake. :)

 

 

Happy Birthday, buddy!

We love you!!!



May Showers

It's shower season, for sure.

Between baby and bridal,

I have a shower to go just about every weekend for what feels like the next 5 years.

I hate buying gifts, especially shower gifts

since you get so many of them from your guests,

and for the most part, you already know what they are since you've registered.

Not to mention I (obviously) like to the make things myself.

A family friend is getting married this summer and I was invited to the really really really cute shower of his bride, Shannon.

I knew I was going to make something but didn't know exactly what,

until I found this fabric, and I knew I had to make her something with it.

(I actually bought more with the hopes of making something for myself, too)

It's an insulated carrier for baking dishes (like a pyrex),

keeping hot things hot and cold things cold.

I originally found the tutorial here,

but then made just a couple alterations.

The pyrex dishes that I found had handles on the sides so I had to remeasure and alter the lengths of the fabrics that wrap around the dish.

I also found this braided strapping which I thought would be so cute with the fabric, so I used a couple yards of that for the handles instead of making it out of the fabric as well.

The original tutorial also had a velcro strap to hold the spoon,

but I thought a simple pocket would work better.
That way, she can also use different utensils with it depending on what recipe she makes,
and the utensil should fit just fine.

I also switched out the velcro on the inner wrap for this button and elastic.

I'm hoping that it will mean thatk she can use a different dish with the carrier if she wants,

and the elastic will accomodate for any difference in dish length.

Also, it's cute.

The shower, like I said above, was super cute.

Look at these favors (left).
Simple.
Pretty.
Loved 'em.








And do not even get me started on the food.
Everything was so delicious,
and, as you can see,
so pretty.

Pam made a cake from Southern Living, I believe,
with almond flavoring
and buttercream frosting,
and blackberry preserves in the middle.
I died.




Chris and I are so excited to celebrate this wedding in another month.
Given Shannon's taste,
it's sure to be beautiful.


Congrats to Shannon and Jonathan!
Can't wait to be there for the big day.

Red, White, and Blue Pie

I had a crazy weekend.

We were busy all around, but it was a lot of fun.










Family and friends were around, so we ended up throwing an impromptu get together at our house.

Since it was Memorial Day yesterday,

I thought I would make what I call "Red, White, and Blue Pie."

It's pretty tasty and simple to make.

Plus, it uses fruits that are in season right now (rhubarb, strawberries, and blackberries),

so even if you don't grow them yourself,

you should be able to find them at your local farmers market or grocery store.

Red, White, and Blue Pie

Ingredients

For the Pie:

One 9" pie crust, uncooked

about 7 cups of rhubarb, strawberries, and blackberries (I like about equal parts of all three, but I use whatever I have), cleaned and cut up

Note: I dice my rhubarb into about 1/2"pieces and my strawberries to bite sized pieces. The blackberries I leave whole.

1/2 C of brown sugar

1/2 C of white sugar

1/2 C of AP flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

a healthy pinch of salt

For the crumb topping:

1 stick (1/2 C) of butter, chilled and cut into 1/2" cubes

3/4 C of brown sugar

3/4 C of AP flour

3/4 C of oats (not instant)

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

a healthy pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, gently mix your fruit with all of the filling ingredients. Be careful not to break up your fruit too much.

Place rolled out pie crust in pie dish and fill with fruit mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

In the meantime, mix all of the crumb topping ingredients except for the butter in a medium bowl.

Cut in your butter with a pastry cutter (or a fork if you don't have one).

After the pie has baked for the first 20 minutes, top with your crumb mixture and place back in the oven.

Knock the oven temperature down to 325 degrees and bake for another hour, or until the filling thickens.

By the way, I put a foil lined cookie sheet underneath the pie plate, so I don't have a sticky mess in the oven.

Done and done.

And so good.

I Speak Construction Worker

Yinz just interested in this?
Scroll down.

So my house is old.

Like built before the times of Downton Abbey OLD.

Ergo, we knew we would have some "projects" on our hands when we purchased it.

A lot of these projects we have tackled ourselves,

but some are a little out of our reach.

The roof, for example.

We've had the original slate roof with wooden, yes wooden, gutters,

and now we are updating to a newer, sleeker, more waterproof version.

Construction workers are a great group of (mostly) guys.

They're easy to please,

which is great because a happy worker makes a happy homeowner.

Why?

Because when they like you, construction workers do things like:

• Help you carry in your groceries.
• Conveniently take a 15 minute water break when you're trying to get your kid to nap.
• Place their cigarette butts in a designated vessel as opposed to all over your yard.
• Not curse (as much), especially when your child is around.
• Put up with and even play with your two psycho canines.

And perhaps most importantly:

• Listen more carefully when you give them OCD requests.
• Work a little longer each day.
• In my opinion, do overall better work for your home.

Which brings me to my next point,

Easy Ways to Make a Happy Construction Worker:

• Talk to them when they're taking a break.
• Provide them with that which they most desire.
• Gatorade
• Beef Jerky
• Tastycakes

I went to the grocery store yesterday and stocked up on some Gatorade, I use this recipe for jerky marinade(I sub beef for venison), and I don't usually ever have tastycake-like baked goods, but I DO bake a lot. Today, they're getting handholdable mini apple pies (recipe below).

I would say all in all, it took me about 10 minutes to put them together and another 15 to 20 to bake?

Well worth the time.

In my eyes, having some hardworking men on your side is invaluable. :)

Mini Apple Pies

Ingredients: 5-6 medium apples (I use Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and cubed

1/2 C sugar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons AP flour

2 pre made pie crusts (no lie, I use store bought)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all ingredients (except crust) in a bowl. Set aside.

Using a ramekin (mine is about 5 inches in diameter), cut circles in rolled out crust and place crust circles gently in a muffin tin. I got about 10 out of 2 store bought crusts (or one package).

Fill muffin tins with apple filling.

Don't be afraid to mound it a little; they'll bake down.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are a bit browned.

I like my filling with a bit of a bite left in the apples, but if you want the apples more cooked through, I recommend precooking it on the stove top for a bit until the apples just begin to turn soft.

Let set for a few minutes, then remove from muffin tin.

That's it! So simple.

Hope you enjoy. :)

No Need to Thank Me

We celebrated my husband's 30th birthday over the weekend

by throwing a joint birthday party with his best friend.

Don't hold your breath,

nothing really blog-worthy about it.

It was a great party,

involving many people, food, drinks, and a bar.

No cute decorations, games, or any such thing.

I did, however make a bunch of desserts,

and two were somewhat noteworthy.

The first was not even my own recipe.

Rather, this one that I found on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago.

At first take, it looks like a plain ole chocolate chip cookie recipe,

but I got so many compliments on them, I thought I should share.

I think the secret is in using coarse sea salt instead of regular salt.

The recipe also calls for cake flour, but I just used straight up all purpose.

So good.

The second dessert was my

Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

I'm not sure where exactly it came from,

but somehow ended up in my arsenal,

and it is always a hit.

Chocolate Crumb Crust:

1 1/3 C. Chocolate wafer crumbs (I just found out you can actually buy these now. just the crumbs! crazy.)

1/4 C. softened butter

1Tbsp. sugar

Combine ingredients. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan. Wrap bottom of spring form pan in foil to prevent leaking, and to prevent water from water bath from coming into the pan.

Filling:

1 1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1/4 C. Kahlua (let's be honest, I use more)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 large eggs, beaten

1/3 C. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 C. sour cream

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, softened

In a bowl over a pan of simmering water (or a fancy double boiler), melt chocolate with Kahlua and butter. Stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl combine eggs, sugar, and salt. Add sour cream and blend well with a mixer or a lot of elbow grease. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Gradually beat in chocolate mixture. Pour mixture into your prepared crust.

Place in a water bath (I fill a large roasting pan with about 3/4" water). This will allow the cheesecake to bake slowly and not to crack when it cools. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until center is just set. Let come to room temperature, then cool in the refrigerator for several hours (if you can wait that long).