Shiva's Strawberry Party

For those of you who don't know, Shiva is our Great Dane-Labrador and she recently turned two years old (that's 14 in dog years). We never meant to be one of those families who celebrates their dog's birthdays with parties but last year we hosted a family bbq and had so much fun we decided to make it a tradition. We serve hotdogs and lemonade, it's casual and fun. 

I love party-planning and my favourite place to buy my supplies is the online shop Sweet Social. While browsing through all the pretty items one day I came across these adorable baking cups and instantly I had a theme to build Shiva's party around: strawberries! Here are a few photos from that afternoon.

We decorated with my staples: tissue paper poms, crepe paper streamers, and fresh cut flowers all arranged to resemble strawberries. 

Strawberry cheesecake & strawberry daiquiri Jellybellies were on hand along with Maynard blush berries that were pretty tasty. We added some frozen strawberries to our lemonade this year and topped them with strawberry slush. Hotdogs are our traditional doggy birthday meal so we had all the fixings to compliment them. 

 

Dessert was vanilla cupcakes in those adorable little baking cups and, of course, fresh strawberries. For the four-legged guests I found these strawberry-shaped dog cookies at Bone & Biscuit in Summerside - too perfect!

 {Shiva's boyfriend, Moose, enjoying his treat}

 {the birthday girl}

A huge thank you to our family and friends who came over to celebrate our girl's second birthday. She's a lucky dog to be so loved.

For those of you who don't know, Shiva is our Great Dane-Labrador and she recently turned two years old (that's 14 in dog years). We never meant to be one of those families who celebrates their dog's birthdays with parties but last year we hosted a family bbq and had so much fun we decided to make it a tradition. We serve hotdogs and lemonade, it's casual and fun. 

I love party-planning and my favourite place to buy my supplies is the online shop Sweet Social. While browsing through all the pretty items one day I came across these adorable baking cups and instantly I had a theme to build Shiva's party around: strawberries! Here are a few photos from that afternoon.

We decorated with my staples: tissue paper poms, crepe paper streamers, and fresh cut flowers all arranged to resemble strawberries. 

Strawberry cheesecake & strawberry daiquiri Jellybellies were on hand along with Maynard blush berries that were pretty tasty. We added some frozen strawberries to our lemonade this year and topped them with strawberry slush. Hotdogs are our traditional doggy birthday meal so we had all the fixings to compliment them. 

 

Dessert was vanilla cupcakes in those adorable little baking cups and, of course, fresh strawberries. For the four-legged guests I found these strawberry-shaped dog cookies at Bone & Biscuit in Summerside - too perfect!

 {Shiva's boyfriend, Moose, enjoying his treat}

 {the birthday girl}

A huge thank you to our family and friends who came over to celebrate our girl's second birthday. She's a lucky dog to be so loved.

Khaki Green and...

I've mentioned before that I often latch on to a particular clothing trend and buy multiples in that style (stripes, plaid shirts, maxi dresses, etc). Lately when getting dressed I find I'm wearing a lot of khaki green (also known as army green). It's versatility makes it an easy substitute for more classic neutrals like black or tan. I like to wear it with prettier pieces to balance out the masculinity that army green is typically associated with but it pairs just as well with motorcycle boots or a tailored blazer.

I've been wearing khaki green and...

 pastel blue

 lace

 florals

glittery gold

 feminine dresses

Depending on how you pair it, khaki green can be worn in any season. I'm looking forward to wearing my skinny pants with sandals instead of boots, though, I'm getting really tired of our extended winter!

I've mentioned before that I often latch on to a particular clothing trend and buy multiples in that style (stripes, plaid shirts, maxi dresses, etc). Lately when getting dressed I find I'm wearing a lot of khaki green (also known as army green). It's versatility makes it an easy substitute for more classic neutrals like black or tan. I like to wear it with prettier pieces to balance out the masculinity that army green is typically associated with but it pairs just as well with motorcycle boots or a tailored blazer.

I've been wearing khaki green and...

 pastel blue

 lace

 florals

glittery gold

 feminine dresses

Depending on how you pair it, khaki green can be worn in any season. I'm looking forward to wearing my skinny pants with sandals instead of boots, though, I'm getting really tired of our extended winter!

Happiness Project: Blogging

So I've been MIA in Blogland since returning to work from maternity leave almost a month ago. I've really missed it but I've had a hard time finding a moment to sit at the computer and write out my current thoughts and inspirations. I've had a few partly-finished pieces sitting in my "drafts" folder for weeks and it's time to finally get them out there. Being away from blogging has made me realize how much I enjoy it - organizing my ideas and expressing them through photos and writing has been so much fun and more than a little therapeutic. So as part of my Happiness Project resolution to "be more creative" I've decided to make time at least once a week to work on my blog. I hope you can stop by to say 'hi' - thank you so much for your patience!

So I've been MIA in Blogland since returning to work from maternity leave almost a month ago. I've really missed it but I've had a hard time finding a moment to sit at the computer and write out my current thoughts and inspirations. I've had a few partly-finished pieces sitting in my "drafts" folder for weeks and it's time to finally get them out there. Being away from blogging has made me realize how much I enjoy it - organizing my ideas and expressing them through photos and writing has been so much fun and more than a little therapeutic. So as part of my Happiness Project resolution to "be more creative" I've decided to make time at least once a week to work on my blog. I hope you can stop by to say 'hi' - thank you so much for your patience!

Ombre Cake

Ombre, the progression of a colour from a dark shade to light, is all the rage right now. Hair, clothing, and decor have all been affected by this trend and now we're even seeing it in food. I've seen lots of pictures on Pinterest of layer cakes in shades of purple & pink and thought a green ombre cake would be the perfect addition to Wesley's St Patrick's Day First Birthday Party (photos here).

I started with two boxes of white cake mix. You absolutely could make your own cakes from scratch but it would be tough to get a pure white cake, which is important for your colours to turn out, and I'm a big believer in not reinventing the wheel. I divided the batter in to 4 bowls and added gel food colouring a little at a time until I got the shades I wanted. I cheated a bit and used two different colours of green so that each layer really looked different but just one colour with increasing amounts would work too.

I used 9" round cake pans so that the layers were thinner. The trick to a successful layer cake is ensuring that your layers are level. I've read that if you bake your cakes at a lower temperature for a longer time then they won't rise to get that dome top. I've tried that and it doesn't work for me. Instead I used a cake leveler to slice off the tops of each cake which also helps to keep their heights uniform.

I froze each layer of the cake in individual freezer bags overnight so that they would be easier to frost. For the icing I used a simple buttercream frosting (recipe here), warming it slightly in the microwave to make it a little more spreadable.

The palest shade of cake is your base layer. I spread a generous amount of icing on top and then gently placed the next darkest shade of frozen cake atop it, continuing until all four layer are stacked. I then frosted the whole cake, starting with the sides, with a thin layer of icing. This is called the "crumb layer" as it traps all the tiny crumbs that tear away from your cake as you frost it. I let that frosting set (about 20 minutes) then added another layer of buttercream icing. I finished it off with a few shakes of green sprinkles and a single green candle.

Cutting in to the cake is fun when you see each layer of green cake come together, fading to the palest shade. Mine crumbled quite a bit when pulling out the first few slices because I cut them so thin (they were each 4 layers high!) but that could perhaps be avoided by using a denser cake recipe.

I received a lot of compliments from our guests and I have to admit that the cake was pretty tasty. It's definitely a fun twist on a classic layer cake and one that I will likely repeat for many birthdays to come.

Ombre, the progression of a colour from a dark shade to light, is all the rage right now. Hair, clothing, and decor have all been affected by this trend and now we're even seeing it in food. I've seen lots of pictures on Pinterest of layer cakes in shades of purple & pink and thought a green ombre cake would be the perfect addition to Wesley's St Patrick's Day First Birthday Party (photos here).

I started with two boxes of white cake mix. You absolutely could make your own cakes from scratch but it would be tough to get a pure white cake, which is important for your colours to turn out, and I'm a big believer in not reinventing the wheel. I divided the batter in to 4 bowls and added gel food colouring a little at a time until I got the shades I wanted. I cheated a bit and used two different colours of green so that each layer really looked different but just one colour with increasing amounts would work too.

I used 9" round cake pans so that the layers were thinner. The trick to a successful layer cake is ensuring that your layers are level. I've read that if you bake your cakes at a lower temperature for a longer time then they won't rise to get that dome top. I've tried that and it doesn't work for me. Instead I used a cake leveler to slice off the tops of each cake which also helps to keep their heights uniform.

I froze each layer of the cake in individual freezer bags overnight so that they would be easier to frost. For the icing I used a simple buttercream frosting (recipe here), warming it slightly in the microwave to make it a little more spreadable.

The palest shade of cake is your base layer. I spread a generous amount of icing on top and then gently placed the next darkest shade of frozen cake atop it, continuing until all four layer are stacked. I then frosted the whole cake, starting with the sides, with a thin layer of icing. This is called the "crumb layer" as it traps all the tiny crumbs that tear away from your cake as you frost it. I let that frosting set (about 20 minutes) then added another layer of buttercream icing. I finished it off with a few shakes of green sprinkles and a single green candle.

Cutting in to the cake is fun when you see each layer of green cake come together, fading to the palest shade. Mine crumbled quite a bit when pulling out the first few slices because I cut them so thin (they were each 4 layers high!) but that could perhaps be avoided by using a denser cake recipe.

I received a lot of compliments from our guests and I have to admit that the cake was pretty tasty. It's definitely a fun twist on a classic layer cake and one that I will likely repeat for many birthdays to come.

50 Shades of Green

Saint Patrick's Day has long been my favourite holiday of the year. My friends & I used to meet up at the pub around 9 am and stay there all day long drinking green beer & Baby Guinness shooters, watching Irish dancers, and staying out way too late. Since the birth of our son, March 17th will be celebrated in an entirely different manner so for Wesley's first birthday we decided to combine the two holidays and throw a green-themed birthday party.

 {the invitation}

 

I made two banners: a name banner for the mantel and another tissue paper tassel garland for the kitchen (tutorial here), both strung up with Divine Twine. My sister helped make a flower arrangement using spray mums and pale green mini carnations. My other go-to decoration, the tissue paper poms, dangled from the chandelier in the front entryway along side a GIANT green balloon, weighed down by a bag of dried peas. I arranged some more balloons into little groupings trying to create an ombre effect.

 

 

One of my goals for my last month of maternity leave was to print & frame some of our favourite photos of Wesley. For his party we decided to display them along our mantel so you could see how much he's grown in a year's time. 

 

In keeping with tradition, our guests were asked to wear green. The birthday boy wore an aqua polo and green pants from H&M while I wore my mint corduroys with a white blouse and my 'W' necklace. 

We maintained the green theme with the food, serving guacamole, salsa verde, & spinach dip along side green grapes, honeydew melon, cucumber, & snap peas. In addition to St Patrick's Day staples like Guinness and Bailey's we had Stewart's lime cream soda & lime slices in water for the non-drinkers. 

To satisfy the sweet tooth, Rice Krispies treats drizzled in green chocolate and an assortment of green candies were on hand. It's hard to say 'no' to candy when little wooden scoops pour the perfect little portions. 

{the cake, served with mint chip ice cream}

As guests left they were treated with shamrock sugar cookie favours (which my husband spent much time icing for me) and Baby Mum Mums for the littles. I had so much fun planning the details of this party and it was exciting to start some new traditions. I love colour-themed parties and this one worked out perfectly. Our house is still decorated and will stay that way until the enormous balloon in the front entryway drops and it's time to pack up all of the green - until next year.

While most the decorations were built by me, I did have some help as well. The 36" balloon, paper straws, mini wooden scoops, & Divine Twine can all be found at sweetsocial.ca, among many other beautiful party supplies.

Saint Patrick's Day has long been my favourite holiday of the year. My friends & I used to meet up at the pub around 9 am and stay there all day long drinking green beer & Baby Guinness shooters, watching Irish dancers, and staying out way too late. Since the birth of our son, March 17th will be celebrated in an entirely different manner so for Wesley's first birthday we decided to combine the two holidays and throw a green-themed birthday party.

 {the invitation}

 

I made two banners: a name banner for the mantel and another tissue paper tassel garland for the kitchen (tutorial here), both strung up with Divine Twine. My sister helped make a flower arrangement using spray mums and pale green mini carnations. My other go-to decoration, the tissue paper poms, dangled from the chandelier in the front entryway along side a GIANT green balloon, weighed down by a bag of dried peas. I arranged some more balloons into little groupings trying to create an ombre effect.

 

 

One of my goals for my last month of maternity leave was to print & frame some of our favourite photos of Wesley. For his party we decided to display them along our mantel so you could see how much he's grown in a year's time. 

 

In keeping with tradition, our guests were asked to wear green. The birthday boy wore an aqua polo and green pants from H&M while I wore my mint corduroys with a white blouse and my 'W' necklace. 

We maintained the green theme with the food, serving guacamole, salsa verde, & spinach dip along side green grapes, honeydew melon, cucumber, & snap peas. In addition to St Patrick's Day staples like Guinness and Bailey's we had Stewart's lime cream soda & lime slices in water for the non-drinkers. 

To satisfy the sweet tooth, Rice Krispies treats drizzled in green chocolate and an assortment of green candies were on hand. It's hard to say 'no' to candy when little wooden scoops pour the perfect little portions. 

{the cake, served with mint chip ice cream}

As guests left they were treated with shamrock sugar cookie favours (which my husband spent much time icing for me) and Baby Mum Mums for the littles. I had so much fun planning the details of this party and it was exciting to start some new traditions. I love colour-themed parties and this one worked out perfectly. Our house is still decorated and will stay that way until the enormous balloon in the front entryway drops and it's time to pack up all of the green - until next year.

While most the decorations were built by me, I did have some help as well. The 36" balloon, paper straws, mini wooden scoops, & Divine Twine can all be found at sweetsocial.ca, among many other beautiful party supplies.

One

Yesterday was a big day for us. Our little St Patrick's Day baby celebrated his first birthday and we celebrated one year of parenthood. We're so lucky that Wesley has so many loving people in his life - it really does take a village to raise a child. I still feel, and probably always will, that he's my little baby but now when I look at him I definitely see a big boy. He's a sweet & tender guy with a very adventurous spirit who loves to climb on anything and everything but will hug any and all stuffed animals he comes across. It's been amazing watching him grow & change, teaching him & learning from him. It really has been the best year of my life.

 {newborn}

 {one month}

 {two months}

 {three months}

 {four months}

 {five months}

 {six months}

 {seven months}

 {eight months}

{nine months}

 {ten months}

 {eleven months}

{one year}

In the excitement and chaos of his birthday party I forgot to take a 'one year photo' of Wesley - sigh - so instead his Baby Book will have a picture of him stuffing green cake in to his mouth. It really captures what the day was all about anyway.

Happy Birthday Wesley!

xo Mommy

Yesterday was a big day for us. Our little St Patrick's Day baby celebrated his first birthday and we celebrated one year of parenthood. We're so lucky that Wesley has so many loving people in his life - it really does take a village to raise a child. I still feel, and probably always will, that he's my little baby but now when I look at him I definitely see a big boy. He's a sweet & tender guy with a very adventurous spirit who loves to climb on anything and everything but will hug any and all stuffed animals he comes across. It's been amazing watching him grow & change, teaching him & learning from him. It really has been the best year of my life.

 {newborn}

 {one month}

 {two months}

 {three months}

 {four months}

 {five months}

 {six months}

 {seven months}

 {eight months}

{nine months}

 {ten months}

 {eleven months}

{one year}

In the excitement and chaos of his birthday party I forgot to take a 'one year photo' of Wesley - sigh - so instead his Baby Book will have a picture of him stuffing green cake in to his mouth. It really captures what the day was all about anyway.

Happy Birthday Wesley!

xo Mommy