Swim on by our Mermaid Party!

There are so many adorable inspirations and ideas out there for a mermaid birthday party.. even if you want to avoid to total Ariel/Disney theme (which I did). I absolutely loved planning this party and kept it relatively simple by a) hosting it at a water park and not our house, and b) reusing a lot of the party materials that we had from previous years. I was also somewhat limited by knowing that I needed to transport it all somewhere, which forced me to keep it to just a few key items.

Fortunately, I caught a few pics of the decor ahead of time because the elements outside that day were not great- lots of wind and having a small amount of time to actually get all set up before the party started meant that I didn't get a lot of great pics of it all set outside. In addition to what is seen below, we also put out Pirate's booty, made a "mermaid" punch, and lots of little cups scattered around with various gummy flavors. I didn't get a pic of the plates and cups, but they were also cute mermaid theme like the napkins seen below and came as a set from Birthday Express. ETSY was as per usual my go-to for the centerpieces, favor labels, etc. The cake was actually from Target which has become my favorite easy place to not spend a ton of money and still get a cute pull-away cupcake type cake for the kids parties.

Gluten Free Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Icing

It's been awhile since we have had an excuse for some mommy-daughter baking time, so with some yucky weather this weekend combined with my feeling at a loss for more small person entertainment, we went down to the kitchen and created this little gem. I literally put this one together on the fly with ingredients that we had at the house, and then pulled some inspiration from Pinterest for a little guidance. The cake was a little dry but that was because I had to use some different GF flour than my norm to have enough for a full cake. Next time I would use some yogurt like some of the recipes suggested as well. The buttercream turned out delicious, though!

Gluten Free Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Icing

For the Cake

- Box of Betty Crocker Gluten free cake mix with required ingredients or use Betty Crocker Gluten Free Rice Flour and required ingredients to make a plain cake

- Pureed fresh strawberry added to mix (about 1/4-1/2 C)

- Bake at 350 according to cake mix directions

For the Icing

- Prepare a traditional buttercream icing with powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla

- In lieu of the milk, first add about 1/4 C freshly pureed strawberry into mix and only add additional milk if needed based upon consistency

                             

Sweet Treats from Sugarfina

Anyone who knows me well understands that I can't resist most sweets.. And throw a little champagne my way too and it's party time. So imagine my delight to have the hubby bring home both in the most adorable packaging. I was already familiar with Sugarfina's cute website, but this was my first opportunity to see one of the gift sets in person and it is truly a product that vastly exceeds expectations!

I love how witty and creative their different sets are, and can't wait to get my hands on some of the champagne gummy bears next to try! The packaging is flawless and makes you almost want to just display them rather than eat them (almost!).

A few more that look amazing and adorable from Sugarfina
Champagne Bears
Love Bites Break Up Collection
Sugar Momma
Bridesmaid Gift
Gummy Love Tasting Box

Cheers and Beers

A friend of ours celebrated her big 5-0 this weekend and I was commissioned to put together a cupcake display for a Cheers and Beers to 50 years party. Her favorite beer is Bud Light, and I saw some similar displays on Pinterest using the cans as holders and I have to say this really did turn out super cute and was not particularly difficult beyond just the tediousness of having to make a lot of cupcakes with a variety of flavors- her favorite is coconut which is not always the most popular so I had to do a couple of batches.

The Fondant beer mug toppers came from Etsy, and were adorable, as was the Cake topper.

Mini shot size solo cups with Bud Light

 

This was my first foray into Coconut flavors for cupcakes.. I combined two recipes from Pinterest and have to say, they turned out surprisingly well considering that I don't love coconut myself. Here is my recipe below (modified to be Gluten Free).

Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Cake

• 1 3/4 C Gluten Free Flour
• 2 t Baking Powder
• 1/2 t Salt
• 3/4 C Coconut milk (full fat)
• 3 large Egg Whites
• 1 1/2 t Vanilla exract
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 1 C Sweetened flaked Coconut 

Frosting

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3 C confectioners sugar
• 1/4 C Coconut milk (full fat)
• 2 t Vanilla extract
• 1/2 t Coconut extract
• Sprinkle of salt

Flamingo Me Crazy

I'm a little flamingo crazy these days. They seem to be everywhere this summer, and something about them and their pink shade just makes me happy. I am determined to find an excuse  to host a flamingo/pineapple party before the summer's end! These are some of the cutest flamingo inspirations floating around my Pinterest for summer right now..

Flamingo Pool Float

Straws

Flamingo Tote

Earrings

Ice Molds

Art Prints

Glitter Toppers

Devil's Food Cake with Marshmallow Creme Cupcakes

I keep saying that I need to stop baking, but then I seem to keep finding good excuses to get right back to it. I made these for a work party, and they turned out super delish. To make these, I pulled from a couple of similar Pinterest recipes and then free styled a bit.

Recipe
Prepare one box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake mix and divide easily (I find that this mix makes for around 16 cupcakes). I bake mine usually for a few minutes longer than directed since I do them at 325 degrees. I cheated for the icing and went with pre-made whipped milk chocolate to keep things easy with a few white chocolate chips for garnish.

The Creme Filling
Mix together the following and then spoon into a scooped out center of the cooled cupcakes.
1 container marshmallow cream
1/2 C softened butter
1/3 C powder sugar
1 T water
1/4 t salt

Every time I have used this mix people comment on how incredibly moist the cupcakes are. I love all of the Betty Crocker Gluten Free mixes and find that they are easy to modify for new flavors and really don't taste noticeably different from standard baked good mixes. Having these mainstream mixes be so readily available in normal grocery stores is huge for someone like myself with Celiac, but honestly I would recommend these mixes for anyone.

The Jameson Room

This post is inspired by our sweet Cockapoo Winnie's recent Insta fame compliments of Z Gallerie and Z Gallerie Pets!

I recently tagged an Instagram pic of Winnie relaxing on our newest guest room bed, the "Jameson" from Z Gallerie after I discovered that they love people's pictures of their furry friends among their products. Imagine my delight to see that they re-posted it on their Instagram feed, as well as a Pinterest link! Eek! People were both in love with the bed and the dog, which delighted me since I get really excited about home decor- both my own, and seeking inspiration from others. Last check, the picture had over 5500 likes!

Winnie's Insta fame pic

When we decided that it was time to go ahead and furnish our second guest bedroom this spring, we wanted to do it without spending a huge amount of money. I looked around at some less expensive beds that I had seen some interior bloggers recommending that were either tufted or with the wing back headboard, but some variable reviews and questionable fabrics steered me back to Z Gallerie for another bed. Our first guest room has the Jacqueline in the Bella Grey and it is sophisticated and a great color. Both bedrooms have Sherwin Williams Practical Beige for paint. so the grey pops out very nicely against that neutral. I hesitated about getting another grey bed worried about the matchy factor, but in the end the styles are distinctly different and you can't see them in the same eye line with the way the rooms are situated. Now it did take us three beds to finally get one in the Jameson that wasn't damaged, but the Z Gallerie customer service was very good throughout that process.

Since we opted for the slightly more expensive bed, my mission for the rest of the room- which is quite small- was to find some accents and decor that gave it a finished enough look without spending a ton more money. The bedding I got on final sale clearance from Pottery Barn, and the throw blanket was a steal on sale from West Elm for $10. I knew that I wanted a mirrored side table like we had done in the other room and tried to find a deal on one, but couldn't really beat the quality of the ones from Lamps Plus.. I started with a cheaper option from Overstock which arrived completely shattered so ended up spending the extra just to get a decent piece. The lamp was a clearance item at Home Goods, and then I picked up the mirror at Target, which in person has a bit more of a champagne silver finish than would appear from online and worked well with the lamp.

The acrylic tray and flowers are also Home Goods. Originally I was going to do yellow for a pop of color, but in the end I preferred the softer hues after seeing the room coming together. I've become a little obsessed with the tray on the corner to the bed after seeing some super cute styling of them on Pinterest and the like. I used ours to set out bottled water and little treats for our guests this spring which helped to create an inviting welcome!

There is a large open wall across from the bed that could use a little love one of these days to better finish off the space. My dream is for an original piece from Erin Gregory. I'm not always such a fan of the still life genre, but the colors she uses are just stunning, and I absolutely adore them.

For a guest room wall that can't really be seen unless laying on the bed, I'm not sure that I could justify the price point for one of her originals, so I might be willing to settle for a reprint on canvas like this one below that One Kings Lane carries.