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Working in a company of mostly women, you tend to be around a lot of great bakers and therefore great desserts. And office workers, men or women, love to celebrate birthdays with said baked goods! The other day I came across these adorable cupcakes in the aftermath of a birthday celebration in our kitchen common area… aka I didn’t make these!
These were made by a girl named Amanda and I thought they were so cute, I took a few pictures! (before snagging a sample for myself, of course!)
Basic explanation: Yellow cupcake with green colored vanilla frosting, topped with a flower petal surrounded Oreo cookie and an M&M on top that is frosted like a ladybug. How adorable is that? Besides getting down the flower petal technique using an icing tip, it doesn’t seem that hard of a cupcake design, so give it a try!
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Just a few weeks ago, 8 girls and I flew from several locations on the east coast to Chicago for a girls long weekend to celebrate one of Allie’s last weekends as a non married woman. As most of us had not been to the windy city, I made sure we fit in lots of tourist activities along with girly group time.
While this is not a super crafty or creative post, I hope its contents might help others plan a girls or bachelorette windy in Chicago.
Tourist Fun:
Ride the Ferris Wheel! The first day we got there, it was nice and sunny and warm. I had bought tickets online prior to the ticket to tour their big tourist attraction, the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel. While I would recommend taking a ride, where you can see the view in the above photo, just buy the tickets when you get there and don’t buy them before hand. They charge you a $1 per ticket transaction fee online, and it turned out we had to wait online anyway to get the tickets, which defeated the convenience I thought we’d have.
Visit the Zoo! We stayed in the River North area of the city so with a $15 cab ride (for all of us!) we made our way to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s a nice zoo, not much difference from most I’ve been to (and I’ve been to lots!) but it was great that it was free!
Take a tour! I would highly recommend the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Signature Tour. With 14 stops, this bus system became a cheap and easy way to spend a jam packed day touring around. You could hop on and hop off at any of the stops to spend as much time as you wanted at each stop.
We used this tour to get us around to lots of the highlights: the Bean in millennium Park, Willis Tower, The Chicago Theater, the Buckingham Fountain, just to name a few. The ticket to the tour also included a coupon book, which got us free samples of the Garrett’s popcorn Chicago mix (a pretty decent sized sample!), a free cookie at The Corner Bakery and a bunch of other discounts. We also used a coupon in the book for a later night (seen below).
We went the extra step and purchased the add on option of the Sky Deck tour on the Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears tower). On top of the 103 floors were some beautiful views of the city.
There were also glass boxes where you stand out over the city below, which was a pretty fun experience for all except one who was afraid of heights.
Right outside the Tower were these yarn bombed balls and tree branches that we thought were so fun!
Restaurants:
Harry Caray’s – We had lunch at their Navy Pier location where most of our crew sipped their Wildberry Dacquris, snacked on the kettle chips and had the recommended Italian Beef sandwiches. Our crew seemed to enjoy all three!
Quartino - I had been recommended this restaurant stating it was great for group as it’s small plates that are shared amongst the table. That recommendation was dead on! We sampled and shared a bunch of Italian goodies, a delicious white wine sangria, sipped on flavorful limoncello and indulged in zeppoles for dessert! We made a reservation before hand and were seated quickly upon arrival. Our meal came out so fast that we were done before we knew it! It was super affordable to eat as a group and I’d highly recommend trying this place out for yourself!
Moe’s Cantina – This was another recommendation and since it was Cinco de Mayo weekend when we went, I thought Mexican had to be on the menu. We were surprised that we were somewhat laughed at when we ordered the Parrillada de Carnes (Rib-eye steak, short ribs, skirt steak, bone-in chicken, mixed vegetables, pineapple, Spanish rice, black beans, mini corn tortillas served on a mini table top grill), but she mentioned it wasn’t something typically enjoyed by a group of girls. Well these girls loved their meat and shared pretty much the entire mini grill it came on!
Cantina Laredo- Since we feasted on a platter of grilled meats, the girls didn’t feel like they got enjoy Mexican on this festive weekend. We enjoyed lunch here at Cantina Laredo ON Cinco de Mayo, where their Cinco Ritas (Giro Silver Tequila by Sauza, Hornitos, Herradura and Cazadores Silver Tequilas with Cointreau, lime juice and agave nectar) were only $5 instead of the usual $11.75. Get the guacamole! It’s freshly made on a cart that comes to you!
Giordanos - It wouldn’t be a true Chicago experience if we didn’t try out the famous Chicago style deep dished pizza, which we enjoyed for lunch at Giordanos along our tour.
Fun:
Howl at the Moon - Of course, I did mention it was a bachelorette weekend, so one night we all got dolled up with cocktail dresses and heels, had Allie sport a bachelorette sash and made our way to this super fun dueling piano bar. The cover charge was $10, but we had “2 free admission” tickets in our coupon book from the tour so we got in for free! They are known for this ”Howlin’ Buckets” where you share your fruity drink through colorful swirly straws.
Hub 51 - After one of our Mexican dinner, we stopped over at the local bar from our hotel to enjoy a drink before bed. Little did we know that bringing a bachelorette along for the ride meant free Hub Bombs, a sweet shot! Share a pitcher of their sweet mixed drinks if you go with a group!
Recently, I’ve attending and/or helped throw three bridal showers, all unique and geared towards the personality of each bride.
Fellow bride Vanessa will be married in late July with a modern vintage theme. Wanting to stay within this theme, her mom chose the Cosy Cupboard Tea Room for the location of Vanessa’s Bridal Shower.
The Cosy Cupboard puts together a great event with rounds of salad, soup, the finger sandwiches seen above, and a choice of teas to sample. At one point, we were also served one of two types of scones with a discussion on the proper way to eat said scone. (tearing it in two, not cut with a knife and topped with a sweet cream and jelly pairing).
To enhance the vintage tea room theme, fellow bridesmaid, Sherryl and her business partner, put together a gorgeous coordinated candy buffet from their company Sweet Little Nothings. I asked them to share a bit about their company for interested readers:
Sweet Little Nothings, started by Sherryl Andaya and Jacky Clay, is a unique Candy Buffet business, providing themed and color-coordinated candy display for special events in the Northern New Jersey and surrounding areas. While we specialize in “tea-themed” events, i.e., young ladies tea parties, bridal and wedding events, we are available to provide high-end quality candy buffets for every occasion including birthday parties, anniversaries and charity events. Most recently, Sweet Little Nothings has been engaged to provide a candy display for the Montclair Film Festival.
Sweet Little Nothings distinguishes itself by providing customized, unique and theme-based props that will create a “wow” effect for any party. In addition to candies, Sweet Little Nothings can provide cookies, cupcakes and other dessert items in its display, at the customer’s request. Prices start at $7.50 per person, plus $200 set up (for a party of up to 50 people), design and take down fee. For further information, please email info@sweetln.com.
After guests watched Vanessa open her gifts (to which I made the Ribbon Bouquet above), and we played a few games, we enjoyed a delicious cake dessert and more tea.
As a favor, guests walked away with a tin of tea from the tea room and a heart shaped tea infuser. I created the tea bag shaped tag which we attached to the cellophane bag. (edge punch shown is Open Scallop from EK Tools)
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At Allie’s bridal shower, a fellow bridesmaid and crafty gal, Karen, made this fabulous Pink Sherbert Punch which was gone before we knew it! Here’s the details to create the yummy creation (via Paula Dean):
Supplies:
- 2 quarts of raspberry sherbert (let thaw 1.5 – 2 hours before making)
- 1 liter bottle Diet Ginger ale
- 1 46 ounce can of Pineapple juice
- Raspberries
- Pineapple chunks
Place sherbert in punchbowl first then add the other liquids. Mix.
Add the fruit items last. Sip and enjoy!
(ours didn’t have alcohol but I’m sure you could add it to spice things up!)
Partying With:
Kurtz Korner Tuesday Tutorials, Someday Crafts, Happy Hour Projects
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You may remember from this post, or this post, that my guest poster Allie loves owls. So when it came time to throw her bridal shower, we went with the themes of pink (an original color she wanted to use for the wedding) and owls!
Here’s a little snippet of her shower details:
Allie’s mom and bridesmaids alike made and bought delicious and colorful appetizers to munch on when guests arrived.
Guests sipped on bridemaid Karen’s delicious pink sherbert punch. Check back for a future post with the recipe!
One of the other crafty bridesmaids, Genny, found this post on Design Sponge on how to make fabric owls. She whipped up adorable paper versions, which we used as tags for the Martha Stewart Crafts favor bags filled with candy.
I altered my Halloween Owl Cupcakes with a more fitting color palette (using golden oreos and pink frosting). These funfetti filled cupcakes were display on a cupcake tower, mixed in with chocolate and nutella cupcakes. Allie’s mom, Karen, is not only a great cook but also a great baker. She made this moist, yummy cake which we topped with 2 more of Genny’s custom bride and groom owl cake toppers.
As a group gift, the 8 bridesmaids gave Allie and her husband the gift of time. She opened our group gift to find the above 12 wrapped gifts, each with a preplanned date for them to enjoy starting the month after their wedding. I’ll share the how to and details on each date once she starts to open them after her May wedding.
Mid way through opening the presents, we played a really fun bridal shower game, a purse scavenger hunt. Guests paired up, grabbed their purses and ran down the list, trying to check off each item. The best part came at the end when each team has to shown their nominated “strangest item” for the bonus 50 points. Allie chose a package of articulating paper used in dentistry! We also played wedding scattegories, where the answers all had to start with “K” for Allie’s new last name. As gifts, creative bridesmaid Carolyn, purchased and wrapped 4 gifts for guests to choose from: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.
Link Parties:
Funky Giraffe, Thirty Handmade Days, Happy Hour Projects
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If you haven’t noticed from reading my blog, I love cupcakes! I think they’re cute as an icon and they’re yummy in the tummy!
Fact: I am more of a fan of the cake, not the icing.
Fact: I like cupcakes out of a box best, but I did successfully make Red Velvet ones from scratch.
This design was suggested by my good friend Allie. I already had a great selling Sweet Holidays cupcake inspired Holiday card design from a previous year so she suggested I adapt it to proclaim to all that I’m here for the cupcakes! It’s a great shirt for adults, looking for the sugary delights or the toddlers who have no idea why they’re celebrating someone’s yearly birthday except that they get cake in the end.
And wouldn’t you know, my best selling style/size is a on a maternity shirt!
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Yep, it’s Superbowl Sunday, the only day where everyone doesn’t fast forward through the commercials! We’re headed to my soon to be brother and sister-in-laws to watch the big game and focus on the new commercials. We were told to bring beer, but I also saw these adorable football inspired chocolate covered strawberries on Pinterest and decided to give them a try.
Of course, they look like I made them and didn’t buy them professionally, but I’m ok with that.
I used the same tip for melting chocolate what we used when making the Chocolate Covered Pretzels and put the white chocolate in a Ziploc with the end snipped in order to pour out the design. I’m sure I’ll be made fun of when I bring them over tonight, but they’ll still eat them and like it!
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Christmas Chocolate Covered Strawberries
This recipe was given to me by my friend Aimee’s mom. She used to make it for us in the morning after Aimee had sleepovers and it was something I always associated with their house.
It’s something that can be made ahead of time and heated up to eat, or made fresh that morning. I made it this year for Christmas morning breakfast at D’s sister’s house.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 stick of butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 containers of Grands Biscuits
- Bundt Pan
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut the biscuits into quarters and roll in the cinnamon sugar mix to cover. Put into the greased bundt pan. Tip: usually I put the cinnamon sugar in a large ziploc and shake to cover, but we were all out and I had to use a bowl. The bag makes for cleaner hands!
Pour the melted butter on top of the biscuits and put in an oven already preheated to 350 degrees, for 40 minutes. Know that the biscuits will expand when baking so don’t worry if it doesn’t fill the pan. When it comes out the oven it looks like this:
Allow to cool a bit and flip over for serving. I made this the night before Christmas and after putting in the microwave for 30 seconds, it was delicious the next morning!
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Everything Thanksgiving and Christmas we get invited to family member’s homes. As I’m not really a cook yet, I always try to offer to bring delicious rolls from our local bakery and/or a dessert item. I knew that everyone would be overwhelmed by the onslaught of cookies this season so instead I decided to try some chocolate covered pretzels!
Supplies:
- Pretzels (I opted for the mini shaped ones as they’re bite sized and I think more tempting!)
- Chocolate (We went with Nestle Semi Sweet chips for the dark color and red and white chocolate wafers purchased at AC Moore)
- Vegetable Oil (not pictured)
- Wax Paper
- Mixing Bowls
- Trays that fit in the fridge
- Toppings
- Tins (or other storage)
As per the directions, we put some chocolate in a mixing bowl and put in the microwave on the defrost setting, mixing every 20-30 seconds, until melted. Dip the pretzels into the chocolate then lay on a wax paper covered tray. Add your toppings as desired! As we filled each tray, we put them in the fridge to harden for 20 mins.
Below is a photo marking the blog debut of my FIANCE who was excited to help make these salt and sugared creations! (He thought tongs would be easier than fingers for dipping. He’s so creative!)
Tip: I read on a few recipe sites to add a slight amount of vegetable oil to the chocolate to make it easier to spread. This really helped when it came to the drizzle method I perfected after a couple of failed attempts.
After hardening, we pulled the off the wax paper, put them in the tins and were ready to bring them to our family’s’ homes this holiday! I think D had fun making them so if everyone likes them, we may do it again next year!
Linking Up With:
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Happy Thanksgiving all!
I know people who host, like my mom, spent this morning trying to figure out where to seat everyone, if there are more visitors than chairs at your kitchen table.
Last year, we broke out into a mixed second table that wasn’t all about kids. But with Mr. Blake now here, at only a few months old, I think he may claim to be king of the kid’s table.
If you have a child and a kids table at your Thanksgiving feast or Holiday dinner, then maybe he or she needs this King of the Kids Table design to wear! (get one for Christmas!)
