Black Friday Cookie Baking

Here are a few pictures from our annual Black Friday Cookie Baking.  Total production this year was 137.5 dozen.  We made buckeyes, maizie taizies, gobs, peanut blossoms, and thumbprints.

Cath Kidston Quilt

The quilt I started back in March is finally complete.  I finished quilting it over the weekend and sewed the binding on it last night.  Now we finally have something to put on our spare bed for the winter!

Candy Apples

Here is a fun & easy recipe for candy apples...

1. 2 cups sugar

2. 3/4 cup water

3. 1/2 cup light corn syrup

*optional = red food coloring

Heat all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to medium heat and insert candy thermometer.

When temperature reaches 300 degrees (about 20 minutes), remove from heat and quickly dip apples.  Yield = 10 small apples, 8 medium apples, or 6 large apples

Tangled

We celebrated my daughter's 6th birthday with a Rapunzel theme from the Disney movie "Tangled."  I got the idea for the Pascal party blowers (below) from the Disney website.  I also stole the idea of the jello boats (reminiscent of when Flynn & Rapunzel take a boat out on the water to view the floating lanterns).

At the beginning of the movie, Rapunzel is painting in her tower so I bought easels and paints from Michael's and let the kids get creative.  We also played 'pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider' to pass the time.

This was such a fun theme to work with and we had a blast planning all the activities.  It took my husband and I an entire evening to complete the braid that we hung from the upstairs window to the front door (but it was worth it!)

Baby Shower Tea

I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend of mine over the weekend.  Here are some photos from our afternoon tea.

I found the recipe for the "Baby Blocks" on www.marthastewart.com.  I used a white cake recipe and divided the batter to tint half blue and half pink.

I served orange-cranberry scones and lemon-blueberry scones with a choice of strawberry, raspberry and blueberry jam.  After sampling the different jams, I let each guest chose which flavor they wanted from the dining room shelf to take home as a favor.

Mickey Birthday

We celebrated my two-year-old's birthday with a Mickey cake and homemade donuts.  It was a weekend of  indulgence.

Antique Wall Planter

This is an antique wall planter that I got from my Grandmother.  I added fruit and ivy to it and hung it in our foyer.  It definitely adds charm to our entryway.