Say cheese....crochet lens buddies

To say I live with a camera in my hand isn't much of an exaggeration. I love pictures and I love to capture images of everything thing but mostly my kids. There isn't much talent behind my pictures, every now and then I get lucky but for the most part its your standard mom took that photo kind of picture. Now if your kids are anything like mine getting them to look at the camera and smile isnt so easy! I have one child in particular who's favorite thing to do when you pull out the camera is look at the floor and say "Cheese" no matter how many times you say look at the camera , look up, can you see my eyes he never looks at me! So I was talking to Monique of Avery Grace Photography and she showed me a picture of a lens friend made of felt and what looks like an old school scrunchy. She also showed me a crochet version of one and said you could make one of these right? She was right I so could make them. So I set off to try and make a few different versions. Its amazing how well they work. Gives the little ones something to look at. adding a squeaker to some is just an added bonus. So here is what the finished lens buddies look like

This is Mr. Frog he was my first of the lens buddies He has a squeaker behind his right eye.

Next for myself I had to make an Owl

After the Owl I had a request to make one in red

Then came the request for a ladybug. She has a squeaker

Next I made a Lion because my 3 month old is completely in love with his Simba blankets.

The tale of a Drunk Cupcake

So whats a girl to do after a morning with 5 kids, (4 of which are under the age of 5) an afternoon working in her severely neglected garden, and a night at zumba????? Reach for the liquor!


 Now I've always been a huge fan of Malibu and pineapple juice until this past summer when my big sister Lonise came out for a visit. While sitting out on the back porch enjoying the quite and a drink she tells me that our sister in law Shelley would make a drink just like it but it had something else in in. After a quick call home the whipped cream vodka came into the mix and oh how my life was complete! Since that day it has been my drink of choice. So I reach in the cabinet pull them out and decide not to drink them but to make a cupcake with them. I grab a bunch of ingredients, my notebook and a pen to write it down. We all know I'm really bad about measuring things normally I just throw a bit of this a bit of that in and wing it but with the plan of blogging about this adventure I made sure to pull out the measuring cups and log what I did. This was no easy task for me. I started with the thought of  pineapple upside down cake and went from there. So with that said... here goes nothing


Cake Ingrediants:
2c Flour
1 1/2c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup coconut flakes
1c diced pineapple
2 Tbsp Malibu rum
2tsp vanilla
1/2c Pineapple juice
1c sour cream
3 eggs 
Pre heat oven to 350. Mix all your dry ingredients then slowly add in the wet. Spoon into cupcake liners and bake for 25 minutes + or - until the cupcake is cooked through.

Once the are done baking pull them out and place on a cooling rack. While cupcakes are cooling we are going to make a Malibu simple syrup.

1/2 stick butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup malibu rum

Melt you butter over the stove

Add brown sugar and Malibu

Now let this all cook down int a syrup..

Next you will want to poke a bunch of holes in each cupcake. Be careful not to punch through the liner. This is going to let the Malibu syrup really get into you cake. 

Cover each cupcake with a generous amount of the Malibu syrup and let them sit until the are completely cool be for frosting them.

Now on to the frosting.

4c powdered sugar 

1c crisco

pinch of salt

1tsp vanilla

1 tbsp meringue powder

2 tbsp whipped cream vodka

2 tbsp pineapple juice + or - to get the consistency you want. 

I threw in 1/2c coconut at the end just to give it a little more flavor but thats up to you. you can add as much or as little as you want.

Once they are completely cool frost each cupcake and garnish them how ever you like or leave them as is. I chose to garnish with a piece of pineapple because well there is never enough pineapple! 

So why a drunk cupcake?? I figured this was a good trial for my moms night out and it was a safe use of the liquor for me. This way I dont go crazy and throw out all the calorie burning I did tonight. I say safe because, and I know this may sound weird, I hate cake. Just not my thing but I sure do love to make them!! I did have a few taste testers try them out and so far so good.. so try them out and let me now what you think! 

Look whoooo's One Party Theme.

Who doesnt love to plan a party??? Picking a Theme is the hardest part. Some years the theme is just obvious and other years we struggle. As I start to toss around ideas for Miss Belle's 2nd birthday I figured I would take a look back at her first birthday. 

Now when the child is turning one more often then not you have full control over the theme. Now thats not always the case but with Bella, that was exactly my luck. I tossed around a few ideas but I kept coming back to one... OWL's. I started looking around and I found that Birthday express had a cute "Look Whoo's one" themed set. I was sold.  

Now let the creativity begin. I started with the pre made item from Birthday Express. I ordered the typical napkins, plates and they had cute little tumblers that I had to pick up as well. Throw in a few balloons and hit the check out button. Next I just had to crochet her a hat that matched her theme. I found a super cute pattern on a blog and had to try it out. Although I did make some alterations to the pattern you can find the original Pattern on daisy cottage designs if you want to give it a try. 

Here is what my finished hat looked like.

With the hat complete I threw it on my daughter and took a few snap shots of her in the back yard and started to design her invite. I wanted that as the main picture but I also wanted her picture from us leaving the hospital one in a tutu dress we made her and one from a family photo session with Avery Grace Photography. That did not work out so well. Thankfully I have amazingly talented friends. My friend Erika (who is 3000 miles away) jumped in and offered to put one together for me. All I had to do was send her the party info and the pictures . Now if that wasn't awesome enough she had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl yet she had the time to do this for me, I couldn't have been more grateful.

Here was the amazing invite she made that was the perfect match to our theme. 

Now I printed them on on the computer on 5X7 photo paper and off it went in the mail.

Next on the planning list was her one year cake smash and portrait session with the AMAZING Avery Grace Photography out of Dayville CT. Now anyone who knows me know I have become a little obsessed with her work and I book a session when ever I can. Any excuse for pictures done by her and I'm there.  If you are local you have to check her out!!! 

So with my photo session booked I needed an out fit. I made a tutu easy enough but the shirt was another store. I got to looking around and I found one in the Etsy shop AllRibbonedOut that had an owl that matched the theme perfectly. Only problem was it had the kids name on it and I didn't want one with her name on it. So I emailed the shop owner and she was able to make me a custom shirt with my theme "Look whoo's One" in place of her name. It was perfect!  So I baked and decorated a giant cupcake and off we went. Here are a few of my favorite Pictures from the photo shoot. 

The fun inside owl themed set up

Next we moved out side to snap a few pictures and make a huge mess 

                                                   

Here is the picture she took of the cake I made                      

Let the smashing begin 

                                          

So proud of the mess she made 

I was hand washing that Tutu I made for days trying to get all the cake out so she could wear it again on her birthday. Boy did she do a good job of hiding it in there! 

With that all done it was time to work out a few details. I made some water bottle labels and thank you tags. Last I had to design and make her cake with the help of my mother in law and sister in law. I didn't go too crazy with this party seeing as how she was just turning one and I was still in the throws of morning sickness but it was an amazing day and tons of fun.  Here are a few snap shots of the party itself. 

Here is her cake and smash cake set up on the table

water bottles with the lables I designed. I alternated them showing the front and the back. The thank you cards read:  Thanks for making my 1st birthday a real HOOT Love Isabella. 

 The tumbler party favors for each of the kids

Napkin wraps

We started the party in the tutu

But had to lose the tutu so we could bounce

Getting ready for cake

Her super cure Owl clip also from the same Etsy shop I got her shirt

Bella with her cake before we cut it and served it to the guest

She wasn't sure what to make of the candle and the singing

 Happy Birthday Miss Belle's 

BBQ Smores...can we just say yummy!

We all have that one friend that makes us look like epic failures as a party host. You know the one who always has even the simplest BBQ full of fun crafty kids activities. Even a  moms night in to watch the Oscars comes complete with a candle lit red carpet as you walk up to the house, signs everywhere, a photo op, food galore and a table covered with wigs and jewelry so you can bling up your outfit... yes you know what I'm talking about. For me that's my friend Carin. She is my go to girl for any and all party fun that's for sure. So over the holiday week we went to her house for a kids play date/ BBQ and she comes out with theses BBQ Smores for the kids. Can we just say Genuis. 

 So what is a BBQ smore? Its a waffle cone filled with gooey goodness wrapped in tin foil that you throw on the grill to melt. When Carin made her smores she mixed Chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, banana and strawberries together. I happen to be allergic to bananas so I didn't get to try them but the kids couldn't get enough and they looked delicious. Of course I had to steal the idea and try it out with all the kids at the camp ground this weekend. So off to the store I went to pick up some supplies. Here is what I got....

 A box of waffle cones

Mini marshmallows

Semi sweet chocolate chips

Peanut butter chips

Strawberries 

Blueberries

Next add all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together

Stuff each waffle cone and place on a piece of foil

Now wrap them up and throw them on the grill. Be sure you do it over low heat and give it time to melt. If its to high you will burn the waffle cones.

Once they have melted together unwrap them and ta duh..... we have BBQ Smores. Just look at all the melted goodness....YUM! 

Now at the camp ground I let all the older kids make there own cones how ever they wanted. We just threw the supplies out on the table and let them dig in. This way each one was perfect for each child. 

Here are a few snap shots of the kids making and enjoying their cones

                       

                           

Now feel free to use what ever you want in your smores and be creative. You  can throw in toffee bits or nuts (it really doesn't matter) just be sure to have fun, make them your own and enjoy!!!