Super Bowl!

So just in case you haven't heard...there is a little thing called the Super Bowl going on this Sunday. Oh and the Seattle Seahawks are playing in it, no big deal.

But seriously, all jokes aside, I myself am preeeettttttyyyyy excited about it. There are several reasons for this excitement; first of all {if you didn't already know this} I am located about 45 mins {on a good day} from the beautiful emerald city. So if you were not a Seahawks fan before this season, and have yet to jump on the bandwagon, people around here think you are some kind of alien if you don't bleed blue and green yet. The football fever has definitely take over our area!

I myself have been a pretty big Hawks fan for the past six or seven years. I'd say my love for the game and the hawks specifically, grew as I started to actually understand what was happening on the field and paying attention to who the players were. Oh, and playing in a few fantasy football leagues over the years has helped too. These days I'd say I am a pretty official 12th {wo}Man!

Now let me get to the point of all this build up. Super Bowl Sunday is one of those awesome "holidays", if you will, where it is largely centered around FOOD and lots of it. Much like Thanksgiving, this is a day we plan it eat {and probably drink ;) } much more than is typically considered acceptable. But hey it only happens once a year!! Some years if your team didn't make it to the big game, or maybe got shut down by there biggest rivals in the conference championship {I'm lookin' at you 9er's fans} then the food and alcohol are really all you have to look forward to that day.

There are so many great game day food ideas out there, and if you don't believe me check out Pinterest for a second. So I have compiled some of my favorites for you here:

1. Personal Seven Layer Dip Cups

There are several reasons why I love this option. I think the individual cup idea is brilliant and I try to use it as often as possible at events. Because its cute? Yes. Because it eliminates 30+ people scooping out of the same dish and double dipping. {ew.} Yes! Also don't let the idea of making these cups intimidate you because it seems like so much more work, as long as you aren't making 100's it's not that much harder, I promise.

*Side note* Does any body else feel like comparing your Pinterest food pics to real life food pics is a lot like comparing your self to those gorgeous {Photoshop-ed} models in the magazines? Eh, moving along...


2. Pulled Pork Sliders 

Yum! this has got to be a staple football food in my opinion. I made them for a football party two weeks backs and have another order for them this week. I typically serve the pulled pork in a crock pot and let my guest create there own little sandwiches.

3. Buffalo Chicken {Wings} or {Dip}

Another great option. Buffalo Chicken, whether it's wings or dip both are an instant hit. I have yet to make the dip myself, but it is on my list of things to make for sure. I am Franks Red Hot junkie, so anything with that on the ingredients list is a must try!

4. Taco Bar or Baked Potato Bar

This year I am catering a Taco bar for the big game. I have done a few in the past and think they are really fun. Or you can easily do a baked potato bar instead. Both great options. I find guest love to customize the food they are eating. These two are also a good option if you have vegetarian or gluten free guests coming to your viewing party. There are a lot of options, and they can simply leave off the things they don't eat.


5. Brownies or chocolate dipped strawberries.

Now, with all this good food, you have to have some fun
sweets too. Both of these options look mouth-watering to me!

Well, that's my round up of tasty Super Bowl food ideas. I hope these inspired you to get into your kitchen and whip up something delicious for the big game. I'd love to know what you are making for your party? Whatever it is, I hope you have an awesome time watching Super Bowl XLVIII!

GO HAWKS!!

365 days / 52 weeks / 12 months

What a difference a year makes. I'll be the first to admit I'm not the worlds most consistent blogger. But when I do find the time to post, I always wish I would have sooner! So what have I been working on in the last year? Well aside from a lot of learning, networking, and personal growth, I have had several successful events.

I will be sharing some of my favorites form this late year in coming posts, but today I just wanted to pop in and reestablish myself here in "blog-land". It is one of my goals for 2014 to maintain this blog and continue to share my experiences, and love for catering with my family, friends and clients. I have some big goals for myself and my business this year and a major one is stepping out of my comfort zone.

I'm sure we have all heard this saying at one point or another, but isn't it SO true?!

I appreciate you stopping by to check things out. Keep your eyes peeled for more posts coming your way. Maybe, something about a certain big game that's happening this weekend???

Seahawks FANatic!

This week is my cousins birthday and in preparation for the big day I am helping his girlfriend by making a few cup cake toppers. Mainly because I could use some more practice (and want to use me new toys!!) and because I find doing anything crafty for a guy is a little bit more challenging. Considering he is a HUGE Seahawks football fan, we're talking the season-ticket-holder-for-a-billion-years type... so picking a theme was a no brain-er! Anyways I'm super excited to show you the results!

First things first. I invested in some tools of the trade- The 2" scalloped punch and the 1 1/2'' round punch. No more sloppy cutting for me- Hooray! I purchased these two punches at my local craft store Ben Franklin for $15.99 a piece. A little pricey, but worth it in the long run I think.
                                        

(Helpful tip: using the punch upside down it the way to go, made me accuracy much better!)

                                         I designed these three different images and got to work!

                                       I made four of each patter with two of each backing color.

                           The ones with the Seahawks logo are my favorite, simple but I like it!

The next thing I need to master is getting them to sick better. The mounting tape I'm using isn't really doing the trick, but I have a few ideas for next time!

Thanks for checking out my newest collection!




         Until next time!

What's a party with out Printables?

I have been trying to add a little extra flare and personality to my events lately and have done so with different variations of printables. Like the owl you see here:

I originally ordered one similar to this off of Esty.com. I loved the idea and concept but when I got the image it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. So instead, I opened up my "Paint" and said, "Hey, I think I can make something like that!" And wa-la, cute little owl! I used them for mini water bottle party favors for a baby shower.  

When you break it down all it really is, is shapes and colors! After that I was hooked. I love that accomplished feeling even on something so small. Next I start reading different blogs about how to create your own printables. I was sure you'd have to  have some fancy editing software like Photoshop or something.....but, that's not the case. I have been playing around with a few things on Microsoft Word and Paint and have been really surprise with how much I can do.


So for my last event I made these awesome cup cake toppers:
The theme was red ombre and gold accents. I love how they turned out!

It was fun to customize them and play around with different shapes. I bought this little pack of lollipop sticks which came with 50 of them from Wal Mart.



I have since seen them at a few different craft stores as well in the baking sections and they are around $2 a pack. I love fun little projects like this that add a little POP to a party.

I noticed that most of the toppers I had seen were some what 3D so that's how I set out to make mine. I also think it is the easiest way to keep the stick in place. So here are the 2 different printables I made later bringing them together into one display

I have also found some awesome new fonts to use! This one is Honey Script, my current fave.











I like the cropped edges look, but I have to admit my cutting abilities are sub par. Well, at least each one was a true original :)

Since my first attempt at the Housewarming cupcake toppers I have come across a few things that have made the logistics of these bad boys a little easier--that I will hopefully get the chance to use soon!




Until then I'll keep playing around with ideas!

A Happy Housewarming...

Last weekend I had the pleasure of helping my good friend Sarah with her and her boyfriend's housewarming party. It was such a blast! I have known these two for many years and it is so awesome to see how far they have come as a couple. Not to mention starting a new chapter in their life, how fun! So what better reason to celebrate!  I was thrilled to be apart of this event and hopefully was able to take a little of the work load off of Sarah's busy plate.

The theme we went with was Red "ombre" (which you might remember from an earlier post) with  gold accents to match exiting fixtures and themes in the house. We also tied this in with paint chips, because really who can move into a new place with out doing a little painting. With the ombre theme it made sneaking a little pink into the color pallet easy with out getting to carried away for the guys' sake haha.

We picked a few yummy finger food items.

Like Tortilla rollers: 

These are truly one of my favorites, they bring great color to a plate (which is super important to me) along with great taste and fairly good for you too!

Then the man of the house really loves Artichoke dip so we had to have a little of that around:

Next up we had two great summer items:

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs, served with a lite fruit dip. The dip is great. A nice little bit of sweet to add to the fresh fruit. It is a simple 1 to 1combination of Marshmallow fluff and creme cheese. Be careful, its THAT good. 

Veggie Cups: I love the grab and go easy that I always seem to be talking about, but its really the best! I also add a little ranch to the bottom of the cups for dipping. I have to confess, I usually make my own ranch dressing for these but didn't for this event. Normally I spoon the ranch from my large bowl of it into the cups (usually getting more on me and my surfaces than that cups!) but due to forces outside of my control (don't get me started) my normal "day of event" didn't go quite as planned and I ended up buying some Hidden Valley Ranch from the store. Shame on me. However I did get it in a squeeze bottle. Woah! Whole new world. It was such a breeze filling these cups! I had a total why-didn't-I-think-of-that?! Moment.  I hear by swear to always put my home made ranch into a squeeze bottle, especially for filling these pesky cups! There is always a silver lining people.

Next up, Personal 7 layer bean dip cups. Again here I go with the grab and go easy but come on, it's awesome. I always make tortilla chips to go along with these. Which is so simple but serving fresh chips makes a huge difference. I just buy a bag of my favorite corn tortillas and cut each one into 8ths and throw them in the fryer for about 3-5 mins per batch. Having a few fryers at my disposal is always handy and considering we only cook with rice oils I don't feel quite as guilty. The chips are always a hit!

We also made Ombre Cupcakes, I found a great recipe for them on good ol' Pinterest. I also made the cup cake toppers! I am SO excited about these. I know they are not all that great but for my first try I am pretty pleased with them. I will go into more detail another time, but it feels great to tackle a new project and have it turn out how I want. 

Now aside from the food I love doing all the detailed things that just make an event POP. For example the guest book and welcome sign:

 Keeping the Ombre/Paint chip theme alive in a whole different part of the home really helped pull the event together as a whole. I also love giving my clients little things they can keep forever, like a guest book! They had some very sweet comments from friends and family. And heck- you only move into your "First Home" once :)

Every space counts so we didn't forget the deck or the beverage area, they had to have their own flare too!

I've been waiting for a chance to order some fun paper straws and I finally found my opportunity! These were just too cute to pass up!

   

In this shot I love the fresh flowers you can see. I'm not event 100% sure I remembered them there during the event but it really gives the room a nice fresh look and I'm sure the guests picked up on it. Simple touches even like that are awesome. This was Sarah's idea, what a great call. They even pop up on the buffet and welcome tables. Especially when flowers are more affordable and in season during the summer months why not give your table that extra touch.





Like I mentioned above the decor spilled over to the out door deck. These poms looked great swirling in the light summer breeze. I hung them with fishing line to give the allusion that they were floating and it turned out just how I was hoping!

Even inside framing the chandelier they gave
off the perfect vibe. For how affordable and cute they look I'd say they stole the show, decoratively speaking anyways :)

I had such a blast working on this Housewarming! I couldn't have asked for a better hostess to work with, from bouncing ideas off of to magically wrapping yarn around vases haha, Sarah was such a sweetheart to work for! Congrats again to this awesome couple on the huge accomplishment of home ownership, their pride shines through with all the hard work they have already put into the place.

Hope you've enjoyed a look into their event!

*Also, photo credit....Me! This was my first time photographing my own event. It was a great learning experience, I have a long way to go but feel like I am off to a good start :)

Til' next time!

It's time to upgarde

That's right! I'm upgrading (and not just a little, but kind of a leap!) 

I am the proud new owner of this beauty, The Canon EOS 50D! Thanks to my amazing big sister of Garden Gates Photography  who sold me her old camera, "Jr.", as she calls it. She too needed an upgrade to something much more photog savvy. But for me this is going to be perfect.

Why did I want to upgrade? Well,  I have always loved looking at  great photography especially my sister's. It is another form of creativity that I'd love to learn more about. As my events grow I think it would be fun to start taking some of my own pictures here and there mainly for fun but also when I can't get one of my favorite photographer friends to take pics that day. This is going to take a little work, so bare with me. I've never used more than a point and shoot camera (except for in my brief time as a yearbook aid in high school haha) or smart phone camera. With the help of some Instagam filters I like to think I'm a big bad photographer too, but then I wake up and remember that I am FAR from it. There is such a vast amount of things you need to know to be a great Photographer it's a little overwhelming. Since that isn't really my goal I try to take deep breaths and only try to tackle a few things at a time. Hey- with this great new equipment it can only get better right!? So look forward to some upcoming posts with pictures by yours truly!

The over due.

Okay so remember the "wild" baby shower I was all hyped up about? It was amazing! I had such a blast planning it! I am really sorry for the cliff hanger however and the fact that the baby that shower was for is now 7 months old. Shame on me. Anyways here it is now...

First off...The decorations:

Tissue paper garland lights. These were a fun and easy project for me. I love what light can do for an area it really sets a good ambiance and adds great detail to an arch way that other wise might have been over looked.

Baby food jar tea light holders...These were adorable on all the tables. I used animal print scrapbook paper as the place mat and spruced up the baby food jars. The contents of which we used for a game. You'll soon find that I love jars. I can't ever throw one away, there has to be something I can  use it for, always! 










The welcome table (does the diaper cake look familier!?) I found the frame at Marshall's... my go to store for frames. I think it was a whopping $5.99. It really glam-ed up the table I think. I also bought a plain note book to be transformed into the guest book with some leopard print paper and ribbon to make it go with the theme. We also used the extra pages to record what gifts she got and from who to make writing thank you's a little easier.

Here is the receiving blanket cake we made, this time with Zebras! Again this is a Ty Beanie Baby put to good use after years sitting in the closet waiting to be worth "lots of money someday". The receiving blankets had fun striped and polka dots on them a few had monkeys and tigers to tie in with the safari theme. Although I am not a mother yet there is one thing I've been warned of; you can never have to many receiving blankets.

I loved these party store balloons. I's usually not a huge fan of predesigned "comes in a set" type stuff because I'd much rather make my own. But these were kind of a must have!

Then of course every good party has to have yummy treats.

I love love love dessert tables. (looking back I really could have done a lot more with this but it was a start! ) Here are some more of my beloved jars- a little fancier than the baby food ones haha. I made chocolate dipped Oreo's with blue melting chocolates. The mother-to-be's favorite cookie of all time is Oreo's so it only seemed right we had a few around.

And we have to balance out all the sweets with something a little more healthy. Wa-la! Veggie cups. I'm a big fan of the grab and go style foods. Like these...all you need in one little cup, no need to go back to the buffet table for some more dip that everyone else is dipping their carrots in too.

This is the oh-so-wonderful Veggie Pizza. My sister introduced me to this recipe a few days before this event and now it's one of my most popular items. We use the Pillsbury croissant dough (need I say more) and add a ranch/sour cream mixture and some veggie for this colorful and yummy snack. For the full recipe and many great others by Pillsbury click here.

Alright enough with the veggies right-- We served some delicious meat products too not to worry. On the left is sweet and sour meatballs and on the right teriyaki chicken skewers. YUM!

From the start I knew I wanted a beautiful flower  bouquet on the buffet table and this was just the look I was going for (Thanks, Young's Floral.) surrounded by the fruit waterfall containing strawberries along with green and red grapes. The strewn about on the table look was exactly what I was going for kind of artistic and safari like I guess.

One of my favorite motto's is- it's all in the details. So event the golden silverware had to be wrapped in some twine. Kind of a fun look!

And last but not least- tortilla rollers! I love the color these bring to the table and they are easy and really pretty good for you too!

All in all this is event was one of my favorite. I love being able to take a theme and run with it. Incorporating all the elements is a lot of fun. I have to give a big thank you to my cousin, the mommy to be, for letting me kind of go, well wild, with all the details. But hey it was for the first new baby in our family in many years, so completely justified!

He has been a little (well maybe a lot) spoiled from the start. But like my grandma always said- you can't spoil a good thing!

Until next time-