Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes with a Vanilla Buttercream

So as you can tell from these pictures, I'm a little late posting about this birthday party we had back in August!  Whoops!  Time has definitely gotten the best of me, but I have been wanting to share this delicious cupcake recipe with you all for quite sometime. 

 

So Lily and her cousin just happen to share the same birthday so my sister in law and I wanted to throw a fun birthday party that the theme could be both girly and boyish at the same time.  So since their birthdays are in August and the weather is still HOT I thought a fun nautical party would fit the bill.  We decorated using pinks, turqoise's, and reds fitting both the girl and boy theme.  The day was so much fun that I forgot to take more photos of the decorations but we just hung a bunch of lanterns from the trees and called it good.

 

The cupcakes were definitely the hit of the party.  I got this recipe from my little sister and I think I had 5 different people ask me for the recipe.  They were so good!  We frosted them with a delicious vanilla buttercream and topped them with fondant anchors and stars.  If your looking to throw a party for both a girl and a boy I highly suggest the Nautical theme. 

 

 

 

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1 cup cake flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk (I prefer whole)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Preheat the oven to *350.  Mix together all the dry ingredients in mixer for 2-3 minutes.  Add the butter and mix till dough forms small crumb like peices.  Add the eggs one at a time making sure they are completely mixed in before you add the next egg.  Slowly add in the milk and vanilla.  Fill liners 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for 17-20 minutes (checking at 17 min. with a toothpick for doneness)

Cool completely before frosting. 

 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

1-1/2 stick unsalted butter (softened)

2 cups powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

 

Mix all ingredients until smooth.  Frost cupcakes and enjoy. 

 

 

 (we also served these oreo cookies and s'more pops)

 

I think its safe to say the birthday kiddos loved the cupcakes :)









Girly Pool Party

This past weekend we celebrated my L.O.'s 2nd B-day party.  We had so much fun, despite the fact that it literally POURED RAIN an hour before the party, ruined half the decorations, and didn't allow us to have the party completely set up before the guests arrived.  Gotta love this Texas weather :)

I decided to do a pool party (cause lets face it, its so hot here in Texas I thought that would be a good way for everyone to enjoy themselves).  I wanted there to be lots of fun colors and treats but I wanted it to feel very girly.  I had my cousin take all the photos of the party so we could enjoy Lily and the Guests.  Seriously, check out her site she is one talented photographer! Thanks Hye Soo :)

If you have any questions about any of the decor or items in the photos please feel free to email me :)

Party Gifts

We celebrated my LO's 2nd Birthday tonight and we had SO MUCH FUN!  We had a little party by the pool with TONS of treats and Pizza.  We really had so much fun!  I just can't believe how fast time flies by.  It seriously feels like just yesterday we were celebrating her 1st b-day...

I had my very talented cousin take all the photos of Lily's party so we could really focus on Lily and have fun, so I will post pictures a little later this week.  However, I thought I would share with you a quick little thing I threw together for the party.  I found these Hannah Montana Tins in the clearance section at the party store for 50 cents and I thought they would work perfect for parting gifts at the party. 

Since the theme had nothing to do with Hanna Montana, I decided to change them up a bit so they would fit in more with the decor of the party.  

All it took for this project was a couple pieces of scrapbooking paper, a pencil, scissors, and modge podge.  All I did was trace out the shape of the tin, then cover the back of the paper in modge podge and place it on the tin.  And Voila you have yourself one cute, cheap, and easy to put together package for your guests at your next party.

Pictures of the party coming soon :)

Birthday Inspiration

I can't believe how fast time flies by!!! My little one is about to turn 2 in a few weeks and I can't even believe it!  It feels like just yesterday that she was born.  

So these last couple of days I have been thinking a lot about what kind of theme we are going to do for her birthday.  She loves the movie Tangled right now and the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I've contemplated back and forth between the 2 of them, however, since we are away from most of our family and friends right now, there will probably be more adults at the party then kids, so I have come up with the idea of doing a pool party with a Girly Lemonade theme.  Here are a few photos of inspiration that I have found throughout the web of colors, treats, drinks, etc. that I am thinking of using.

We are planning on having a lemonade theme at the pool.  Isn't this so dreamy?!!

I am wanting to use these exact colors for Lily's party.

Loving the simplicity of these cupcakes. 

Love how they have this ice cream stored in individual little jars

Love the colors and all of the pretty candies in this photo.

I think it would be so fun to have an ice cream parlor. I just don't know if the ice cream could handle all this  Houston heat!

 All photos via The Hostess with the Mostess.  Seriously, if you are in need of great party inspiration check out her site!  She has so many great ideas and photos from all different types of parties. 

I will post pictures of Lily's party when we have it at the end of August.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we will have good weather then so we can have it outside at the pool.  

Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Lippy Lou Shoes

Do any of you remember when I posted about these darling little girls shoes?  Well my good friend Christy is the hands behind the sewing machine that makes all these little beauties!  Isn't she so talented?! Anyways, she just got her Etsy Shop up and running and I thought with Easter right around the corner, all those cute little easter dresses are going to need some darling little shoes to finish them off! I think if you were to order soon you may get them in time for easter.  Even if your not needing any shoes for Easter I highly recommend some for every other outfit :) Go check out her Etsy Shop Lippy Lou Shoes there are so many shoes to choose from and I can promise you will not be disappointed!

*Note: I was not paid or even asked to promote these shoes in any way! Just loved every single pair of them and thought you all would too!  Happy Shopping!

Rental: Kids Room Design Ideas

With my husbands job, it requires us to leave our home back in Utah and move somewhere for 6 months out of the year (sometimes even longer).  I have quickly come to realize that there are good and bad things with all this "lovely" moving that we get to do.

The Good:

1. See many new places all over the country.

2. Meet lots of fun new people.

3. Well you should all know by now that I LOVE to eat; we love finding and trying new yummy local restaurants.

4. I will be honest and it may even sound weird, but I LOVE the grocery stores in all of the states that we have lived in so far! They are so much nicer than the selection we have back home (I know I'm weird, but I love when I find a new grocery store with a great produce department like this one that's right around the corner from us now)

The Bad:

1. We have to leave all of our friends and family back home :(  (well most of them)

2. Packing, Packing, Packing!

3. The drive to our location. (it was fun the 1st couple of years but now that we have a little one, not as much fun as it used to be. Poor thing hates being in the car)

4. I hate that I can't paint the walls however I want! I know that may be a dumb reason but that's what I love so much about having my home back in Utah. I can do what I want to it!  This is what leads me to my post today.

I am wanting to put my own stamp on things here cause we will be here for about a year this time; and I have been kind of stumped on my little girls room. I would love to paint the walls a fun color but I just can't, so I found some cute ideas on the web that I think just might help make the room "POP" a little!

You can make a room "Pop" just by using some fun bed linens like these(image via Layla Grayce)

These chalk vinyl prints are so fun and cute; easily removable

How cute is this vinyl growth chart; also easily removable

This is a great way to add color to a room without having to paint.  Upholster your own headboard (great tutorial here) in a fun color  and  use a bold window treatment like the one pictured here.  (image via HGTV)

As soon as I get started on her room I will share some pictures with you all!  Hopefully some of these ideas can help some of you that may be in the same predicament as we are! Happy Friday, and hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Home-made Play-Dough

Today was a slightly rainy, overcast day here in Texas, which to be honest

 with you is a nice break from the hot weather that we are already 

experiencing in the month of March.  Don't get me wrong I am definitely not

complaining over the warm weather, I am a sunny girl through and through, it

was just one of those days that was nice to have a cool breeze. Anyways... 

back to our day of fun.  We decided to make play-doh for the 1st time and we had so 

much fun with it. We will be making play-doh more often, next time I am going 

to make an edible one so we don't have this problem anymore.

(A little too salty for her taste)

Recipe:

2 cups Flour

2 cups Warm Water

1 cup Salt

2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

1 Tbsp. cream of tarter

Food coloring or a flavored fruit drink mix (Like Kool-Aid)

Mix together all ingredients in a large sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly

till the mixture becomes thick (like mashed potatoes).

You will know when the dough is done when it starts to pull away from the pan and is pliable and no longer sticky.  *Note: if the dough is still sticky keep cooking over low heat it may take a bit but it will eventually look like the photo above. 

Let the dough cool about 5-10 minutes. When it is cool enough to handle, knead the dough for a few minutes till it becomes a soft, silky substance.  Separate the dough into 4 equal sized parts (you can do more if you would like to have more colors, I just did 4 colors) 

For this next step you will need food coloring gel or liquid, scented or flavored powder, (Like Kool-Aid if you would like it to have a good smell. The purple color I did was out of Hawaiian Punch) and some gloves to keep the dye from staining your hands.

 Next, take the dough and push the centers in, squirt some food coloring in (about 6-7 drops, you can add more or less depending on how bright you would like your dough) and knead until all of the dough is one consistent color. 

(please excuse the horrible lighting/photography. Had a 1 year old waiting impatiantly ready to play)

We had so much fun and will definitely be having play-doh days more often!    

(Recipe source: Google)

Birthday Invitations

My friend Bri over at Collected is seriously one of the most talented, and creative people I may know! She came up with this genious idea for her little girls 1st birthday party. Can I just say that I am in love, not only with the invites, but the photos are the icing on the cake! (And not to mention that she is having all of her guests donate books to children in need instead of bringing gifts. Seriously so thoughtful!) Check out her site she is such a talented photographer and has such a knack for great design! Thanks for sharing your cute idea with all of us Bri!

Gumball Necklaces

Are these not the cutest things you have ever seen? What a cute and inexpensive gift idea for a little girl for Valentine's Day. Can't wait to go get me some gumballs to make my little girl one of these! I came across this adorable idea here.

Cutest Baby Shoes Ever

Ok so really the pictures say it all, these little girl baby shoes are absolutely adorable! I wish more than anything that my little girl still fit into shoes like these cause I would buy one in every color. My good friend Christy is the one that makes these little cuties and if you would like to purchase some (or all of them like I would like to) then you can reach her here.  Happy Shopping!!!