Hadley's Fairy Fifth Birthday

It has now been fourth months since Hadley's fifth birthday party and I am finally getting the time to blog about it. Better late than never I guess! If you know Hadley than you know how much she loves all things flowers and fairies. Since she is getting older now I let her choose all of her party accessories. I have linked as many items as I could still find below. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. Before we know it I will be typing out a blog post for Evangeline's second birthday. My oh my how time flies. Thanks for following along!

This was our first year having the birthday train and we loved it! It's such a unique piece of art and is beautiful to display after the party as well.

Birthday Train

Pictured above is the floral crown I made for Hadley. I used Eucalyptus stems, floral wire and some various flowers I found at Trader Joe's. It was very simple and she loved it!

These lovely wrapping items are by the very talented Mrs. Mighetto. 

Wrapping Paper

Paper Butterflies

Birthday flatlay, one of my favorite things to set up. The napkins Hadley chose were very hard to find but I finally was able to find them on Amazon. Link is below.

Fairy Napkins

Number Candle

Hadley's presents. 

We could not wait to give her this beautiful doll house. She loves playing with her Maileg mice and they needed a bigger home to move into. She also got this large ballerina bunny and she absolutely loves it!

Dollhouse

Ballerina Bunny

Our little fairy.

We had so much fun taking these pictures. She loves dressing up as a fairy and she absolutely adored her new wings! The dress she wore is now sold out as it was a spring item but it is by Noralee. They have the prettiest dresses for any occasion. Hadley's fairy wings were one of her birthday presents that we had custom made by a lovely small shop. I will her shop below!

Fairy Wings

Hadley chose a chocolate cake so we also ordered some vanilla cupcakes from a local bakery that we love. Her cake had edible toadstools, butterflies and a beautiful fairy door. Below are some more images of her special day!

Evangeline's Once Upon A Time Birthday Party

Evangeline's birthday weekend was wonderful. On Saturday we took her to indoor playground for the first time and she loved it. Then we ventured on over to the Disney store so she could pick out a present. We've done the same tradition with Hadley ever since her first birthday as well. We then ended the evening with ice cream, one of her favorite treats! On Sunday we had her birthday party with just a few immediate family members. When Hadley turned one we had a large party with lots of friends and family but circumstances are so much different now and with having some family members that are considered high risk we didn't feel comfortable doing a large party. Her party was cute and simple and I loved it more that way I think. 

This blog post is going to consist of a few different things. Below I have shared all of the links for the balloons and decorations. I have also included the recipes for the homemade banana zucchini smash cake and the punch that we served at the party. If I am missing any details that you would like to know, please feel free to message me. 

The balloon garland was pretty easy to make, I purchased everything on Amazon. I know of some who like to use a balloon pump but we didn't and it still didn't take too long to make. The most tedious part was pulling the balloons through the arch strip, my hands got a bit tired LOL. This was my first time making an arch so I was unsure if I should follow a pattern or not but I just made up my own and it seemed to work out alright. For this arch I followed a pattern of blush, brown, cream, rose. 

CREAM, ROSE & BROWN BALLOONS

BLUSH BALLOONS

This is an assorted mix of pastel balloons. I used the blush color out of this set for the arch.

GREEN IVY BALLOON STRING

BALLOON ARCH KIT

EVANGELINE'S PARTY DRESS

FABRIC CROWN

  WOODEN STAR WAND

The cake was made by a local bakery that we've used several time now and love! I sent them a picture of the mouse party wrapping paper and they used it as inspiration to decorate the cake. Evangeline's smash cake was a banana zucchini cake I made for her. The recipe will be posted below. 

CAKE STAND

#1 CAKE TOPPER

WOODEN BUNNY

ZUCCHINI BANANA CAKE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

Cake

1 1/2

cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

1

cup granulated sugar

1/2

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1

teaspoon baking powder

1/4

teaspoon baking soda

1/2

teaspoon salt

1

cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)

1

cup shredded zucchini (1 medium)

1

egg

1/2

cup vegetable oil

1

teaspoon vanilla

Frosting

4

oz cream cheese, softened 

4

tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2

cups powdered sugar, sifted

1

tablespoon milk

1

teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 350° F. Spray 8-inch square pan with cooking spray; line with cooking parchment paper.
• 
  

  In large bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In medium bowl, mix bananas, zucchini, egg, vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until combined.
• 
  

  Spread batter in pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cake just begins to turn brown on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan, about 1 hour.
• 
  

  In medium bowl, beat Frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly on top of cake. Cut into 3 rows by 3 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cake.

Mice Party Gift Wrap

Above is the link for the wrapping paper, unfortunately it is out of stock now but maybe they'll get it back.

Happy Day Gift Wrap

                                                                                                                             

Rattan Basket

Peach Dress

FIRST BIRTHDAY GIFT GUIDE

 I am still in shock that I will soon have a one year old. This year has been such a joy getting to watch Evangeline grow and develop such a special personality. Here lately she has started showing interest in Hadley's toys so deciding on what to get her for her birthday was kind of difficult. Also since we just had Christmas less than a month ago finding more presents was not easy LOL. Evangeline's go to toys are baby dolls so we got her another baby doll, this time one that is very life like! Most of the other toys are miscellaneous things that I found and thought she may enjoy. She really likes to stack toys so I found a really neat set of wooden blocks that sort of click together, I think she'll really like them. I am a HUGE Disney fan so buying something Disney related is always a must! Overall, I kept the presents small because we gave her so much at Christmas. All the links will be provided below. Send me a message if you have any questions. My next blog post will be posted sometime next week and it will have all the birthday party details and photos, including a recipe for a zucchini banana smash cake! Thanks for following along, have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

1. Princess Play & Go Castle

2. Push & Click Stacking Blocks

3. Baby Doll

4. Gathre Mat

5. Happy Day Bunny

6. Board Book

7. Shape Sorter

8. Toy Car

9. Woodland Animal Puzzle

10. Wooden Baby Bottle

11. Little Sister Mouse

BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

 This time last year I was VERY pregnant and was kind of hoping that Evangeline would come early in time for Christmas. As you have probably already guessed, that did not happen. I am thankful she came in January after all because now her first Christmas is going to be so special. My favorite thing is watching little ones open presents. I can't help but film every second of it. The excitement they have and the look they get in their eyes just melts my heart. With Evie's birthday being less than a month apart from Christmas I struggled deciding on what to get her. I kept her presents fairly simple and tried to steer away from toys that her big sister already has. A lot of what is listed below you can find at small shops. Supporting small shops has always been some I'm very passionate about. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog, I'm so glad you're here!

 

 

 

 

Click on the items below for the direct link. 

1. TEDDY LOVEY 

2. MUSHROOM RATTLE 

3. WOODEN PUZZLE 

4. RATTAN STROLLEY 

5. LELE DOLL

 

6. WOODEN BABY RATTLE

 

7. WOODLAND TOYS

 

 8. BABY DOLL 

9. WOODEN BUS

10. CAT TEETHER 

11.STACKING GARDEN FRIENDS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young Girls Gift Guide

I am still in shock that we are less than a month away from Christmas! Holiday shopping is a bit different this year with the pandemic so most of my shopping has been online this year. I love online shopping but I do really love to stroll down the isles and see the things I want to buy before purchasing. Let's hope next year is a bit different! For now though I did most of my Christmas shopping online. Below I've shared some gifts that we bought for Hadley this Christmas. She is four years old and very much so a "girly girl". Her favorite things are art, ballet, dolls and puzzles. She also loves to play outdoors but I save those kind of toys and things for her Easter basket since she can't really use them in the winter. I love supporting small shops so I've included some of those below as well. I hope you all enjoy the gift guide, I can't wait to give them to Hadley Christmas morning!

Click on the items below for the direct link. 

1. HOPSCOTCH MAT

2. CASTLE BLOCK SET   (the pink set is out of stock, but I linked something similar.)

3. BALLET BARRE

4. RATTAN MUSHROOM BASKET

5.MAILEG TRIPLETS 

6. CIRCUS PUZZLE  

7.BALLERINA DOLL

8.PLAY DOUGH SET

9. DOODLE IT BOOK

10. TREE PUZZLE

11. PIANO MAT 

Christmas Home Decor

I can't believe its that time of year again but I am so ready for it! One of my favorite things to do is decorate our house for the holidays but Christmas has always been my favorite! I switch things up almost every year. I like to use things I've collected throughout the years and then add a few new items. I typically buy my Christmas decor from Anthropologie, Target and Pottery Barn. In the image below, I've shared some of my top picks this year that I've purchased and our new Christmas tree that I know several of you have requested I share :) Hope you all enjoy it, happy shopping!

1. HOLLY POMMED MONOGRAM ORNAMENT // 2. SANTA // 3. PRE-LIT CHRISTMAS TREE // 4. GINGERBREAD HOUSE // 5. SANTA JUICE GLASS // 6. DISH TOWELS // 7. STOCKING GARLAND // 8. COOKIE JAR // 9. TREE COLLAR // 10. TABLE TOP TREE // 11. BOTTLE BRUSH TREE // 12. SANTA DOORMAT // 13. PLAID SERVING TRAY // 14. CHRISTMAS TREE MUG

 

 

 

Caramel Apple Crumble Pie

 

 

 

There's nothing better than the aroma of a hot apple pie baking in the oven on a crisp fall day. Make it a caramel apple pie and that aroma somehow got even better. I've said it before, I don't like apple desserts. So why do I keep on making them?... so that I'm not tempted to eat them and I just love the smell of them. After getting several message requests for the recipe I decided it would be easier to just share it here. Again, I did not make this recipe up... believe me I am not that talented lol. I did tweak it a bit and I will share all of that info below with the recipe. I loved seeing how many of you made the apple pie cookies and I can't wait to see if any of you make this pie. Be sure and tag me if you do, I love following along with others! 

 

Here are a few behind the scenes pictures of Hadley and I baking the apple pie.

 

Ingredients

1 box of refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box (I used 3 crusts total)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I always add a little extra cinnamon to everything)

5 cups thinly sliced peeled apples (I ended up using more like 4 apples, my pie pan wasn't very deep)

1/2 cup caramel apple dip (I used more like 3/4 cup- 1 cup of caramel)

2 tablespoons milk (add a splash or two more of milk if you add more caramel)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

 

Directions

• Heat oven to 375°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie plate. In large bowl, mix granulated sugar, 1/4 cup flour and the cinnamon. Add apples; toss to coat. Spoon apple mixture into crust- lined plate. In small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons caramel apple dip and the milk; drizzle over apples. 

   
•  In medium bowl, mix 1 cup flour and the brown sugar. With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over filling. 

   
• To make lattice top, cut second crust into 1/2-inch-wide strips with pastry cutter. Place half of the strips across filling in pie plate. Weave remaining strips with first strips to form lattice. Trim ends of strips even with edge of bottom crust. Fold trimmed edge of bottom crust over ends of strips, forming a high stand-up rim. Seal and flute. 

   
• Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. (My pie dish was very shallow so mine only needed to bake for about 40 minutes.)  Cool 10 minutes. Drizzle remaining caramel apple dip over pie. Cool at least 2 hours before serving.