Lake House and Birthday Parties!

Still working on our lake place. I forgot/didn't get time to get the paint last week, but with celebrating our little girl's 3rd birthday and her Grandma's birthday, we had a busy weekend anyway. 

Before the weekend I went to my new found love/addiction - Pinterest - to find some inspiration for the party! Whoever invented Pinterest needs to be...well, on one hand hugged and blessed beyond belief...and on the other Shot! (only kidding - 'cause it is SO addictive I'm on there for HOURS). I actually had a thought last night whilst on there that there really needs to be an actual job created for me as a professional pinterestress! Hire me to pin stuff, all day, every day. I could seriously do that!

Anyway, back to the story...um....oh, yeah! Party!! So these are some images I found as inspiration for our own little shindig!

These are cake toppers from Etsy store Gifts Define - I copied them, but made them out of fondant for the cupcake toppers. I think theirs are made from felt?? All their stuff is SUPER SUPER cute - go check them out.

Flag banner from Sweet Kiera:

Pretty little mermaid doll from Wee Wonderfuls (book).  I have been meaning to make these for the girls for some time (guilty, guilty) so with our Ariel/Under the Sea theme - this was the perfect time to get into gear and actually do it! I love this book - lots of super cute dolls to make that don't look too complicated :)

Pretty streamers from Style Me Pretty:

Lots of lovely inspiration for our Ariel/Under the Sea birthday party. Sooooo, here is what I came up with. Now, I was so totally unmotivated, for some weird reason, so I really came up with all this in one afternoon. I think it came out OK. The girls LOVED it, so they are really the most important critics for me.

I cut out some fish and octopus shapes and had the girls color them in.

Grandma's extra chocolate, double fudge chocolate, chocolate cake! Got as much chocolate in there as I could! LOL!

For the girls (and anyone who didn't want the chocolate overload) I made these super delicious whole wheat cupcakes! I have made them before and they were a hit at a MOMS event I took them too. I basically just googled a basic cupcake recipe and substituted in whole wheat flour (same amounts and same cooking time). Both times they have worked out great - my kids love them and I feel somewhat 1% better giving them whole wheat instead of white processed flour. I just try to ignore all the sugar I put in them and icing on top.

So here is my adjusted recipe:

BASIC WHOLE WHEAT CUPCAKE RECIPE

1/2 cup butter or shortening at room temperature.
1 3/4 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Put shortening in a mixing bowl.
3. Sift dry ingredients together in separate bowl.
4. With a mixer, mix the dry ingredients in slowly with the shortening.
5. Add 1/2 cup milk and the egg to the dry ingredients and beat until flour is fully moistened.
6. Add the remaining milk and the vanilla and beat for about another minute.
7. Place paper liners in muffin pan and fill 2/3 full with the batter.
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Makes about 18 cupcakes.

Mermaid doll. 

May need to make some more - but next time I will make them a little bigger (I just used the pattern at the size it was in the book), as they would be easier to work with. Also, I used pen for the face, not embroidery, and I would do it after I put the hair on, so placement would be better. The tail was kind of difficult, my time and patience was wearing out by then, so I fudged it and finished it with ribbon to close the seam so you could not see the messy finish there (shhhh, don't tell anyone!). But, again, the girls LOVED them - so how can I complain (or anyone else, for that matter!).

I bought a lot of decorations from Dollar General and Party City. I made the flag banner from scraps of fabric I already had - all I did was cut out triangles with about an inch at the top so that I could fold the fabric over the ribbon, then sewed the fabric onto the ribbon. I also made the little mermaid dolls for my girls as a party favor of sorts! All in all, it really didn't take me very long to get it all done - which was so great because the motivation was lacking!

So here is my little birthday girl with her princess crown on - I think she sees the world a little different from the rest of us - and that is awesome!!! Still can't believe she is now 3! (tear, tear, sniff, sniff).

 

Now I'm exhausted...but happy :)