We are tickled pink!.....and yellow and grey

I am been neglecting my facebook and blog over this summer but I assure you...I have reason!  Let's first say that pregnancy and summer are never the ideal combination.  I will say, I did have a great summer with my son.  Doing some pool play dates and park outings.  I tried my best to keep up with him while melting in the sun.  I can't say I am sad to see the cool breezes coming our way.  It is a welcomed change and just means we are much closer to meeting our baby GIRL! 

I've been busy this summer preparing her nursery with lots of homemade touches.  Then my computer decided to quit on me and I had to shut down my Etsy shop for three weeks waiting for it to be fixed.  I was definitely not pleased with having to wait that long for my computer to be fixed.  It's a brand new computer so it was frustrating to see it need such a big fix.  I can't say I didn't appreciate the forced vacation.  Great, quality time with my son and a chance to just slow down and enjoy the sunshine (well...enjoying it under the shade). 

I wanted to share with you all what I did with the nursery.  Pink is not my color of choice.  So, I knew I wanted to try something different but still feminine.  I saw a great bedding set at Target that is yellow and grey and knew that was it.  Love Target!  From there, I decided to throw in splashes of pink since the all yellow and grey palette was looking a little too dull. 

My grandpa had made me for me when I was younger, a white display case to look like a house. I can't remember what I had displayed so I painted tiny wooden dolls to sit in there for now until ELLA begins to collect her own little things she wants displayed.

I also made a little hoop art with fabric appliqued mary jane shoes.  Oh, did I mention I also got back into sewing this summer?  Talk about nesting!!!  I hadn't sewn in over 15 years and bought the machine, hoping I would open the box and just remember all what I had been taught....and I did!  Well...mostly.  I'm not going to show you the bibs I made!  They will work but aren't the most beautiful things out there.

The yellow mama and baby birds on the shelf match the bedding perfectly.  I was so happy to have discovered those.  I spray painted the frame pink.  Spray paint is the best!  If you find something you like in the wrong color, just spray paint it.  I also spray painted the ornate oval frame that I found at IKEA.  Add in some yellow fabric and you have a custom piece!

So....with the arrival of baby number two coming in October, I will be closing down my Etsy shop from October 1st until January 2nd.  I want to thank all of you that have supported my business over the past three years.  There is nothing like doing what you love everyday. 

Mini Desserts - Blueberry

Summer brings along its warmth and enjoyment of outdoor activities.  It also brings us so many great fresh fruits and vegetables to enjoy.  I want to do all I can to enjoy them to their fullest while they are at their peak freshness.  Blueberries and strawberries top the list for me.  Maybe its making smoothies or adding some strawberries to a biscuit with a dollop of whip cream....oh, now that is a perfect and sweet ending to a warm summer day.  Today I am bringing you some inspiriation on using fresh blueberries for those summertime desserts.  Enjoy!

Top Left : Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes Top Middle: Mini Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Top Right: Blueberry Crumble Bars Bottom Left: Lemon Blueberry Bottom Right: Blueberry Cream Tarts

Italian Bakery Birthday Party

When it comes to throwing parties, themes for little girls and boys and even us ladies, are easy to come up with.  Really it's hard to narrow it down to just one and then we eagerly await until the next one comes up.  But when it comes to our men, our husbands, boyfriends, brothers and dear friends....thinking of a manly party theme...ugh...I would rather do my taxes. 
My mom wanted to throw my step-dad a 60th birthday party and of course enlisted me to create a dessert table.  I had the hardest time thinking of a theme.  My step-dad has a Harley, but I wanted something a bit different and kid friendly as well.  When my mom mentioned she was ordering all the hot food from Mama Mia's in Plymouth....italian food...italian desserts...oh!  It came to me!  I started thinking about bakeries and their great storefronts with their striped awnings and windows filled with sugary delights.  And with my step-dad being Italian, I knew he would get a kick out of it.

I told my husband how I thought it would tie the whole table together to have an awning on the table...but how to do it?  Thankfully, he is one clever (and helpful) husband!  We went to Lowes and spent about $7 in PVC piping to erect the frame.  I was not able to find any red and white striped fabric so I purchased two yards of a red gingham fabric and hot glued it to the plastic frame.  My husband attached the piping to a scrap piece of wood we had in the basement and then we clamped it to the table.  Very easy and such a great idea if you are planning a party with an ice cream theme.  I actually gave it to a guest at the party who will be using it for her son's circus themed party. 

I ordered most of the sweets from a local italian bakery.  We kept the birthday man in mind with ordering a carrot cake (a personal favorite) and I included some black licorice jelly beans.  Also a personal favorite of his.  His mom saves all the black jelly beans when Easter comes around and give them to him.  They are too cute!

Chocolate covered oreos, personalized with '60' were a big hit with adults and kids.  Since not everyone is a carrot cake fan...including myself, adding in the oreos and some chocolate whoppie pies, it was a table sure to please everyones sweet tooth.

Chocolate Oreos Pops from Sweeties by Kim

In keeping with the Italian theme, I added in some 'Happy Birthday' flags in Italian.

I could have eaten all of these...

No Italian bakery is complete without cannolis!

Expecting!!!

To all my dear followers...you may have noticed some radio silence in the past 6 weeks or so.  I have neglected my blog and my facebook page so I can keep with up with my Etsy shop and the day to day of life.  It's been a little bit more to handle the past six weeks mostly due to the fact that I am expecting baby number two this fall!!

Keeping up with my day to day orders, my two year son and trying to get dinner on the table has just been about all I have been able to find energy for lately.  But I feel like things are improving.....today was the first day I didn't feel the need to crash on the couch for two hours!  The grass is growing, the sun is out and the windows are open!  All good signs that I am ready to get back up to speed and start showing myself around here more.

I hope you all are having a lovely Spring and gearing up for some fun Summer times ahead.  I have lots of parties designed in my que that I look forward to photographing and showing off in the next couple of months.

Baby number two is coming the end of October and I am not sure of the impact it will have on my business.  I absolutely love what I do and I love that there are those of you out there that love it too!  I'm not sure if I will be hiring anyone to fill in while I take a maternity leave for the last three months of this year.  But until then, I hope you enjoy what I am able to bring to you for the next five or so months.

Thank you all for your support!

Five Years Ago....remembering my wedding

Well, if you live in the Northeast, you know it's been a long and very white winter.  We eagerly await Spring and what comes with it - green grass, fresh flowers and warm breezes.  I love the first week of March.  Though it's still Winter, I feel like Spring is just around the corner.  It's also a great time for me as I celebrate both my birthday and my wedding anniversary.  I decided to go through all my wedding photos and couldn't stop staring at all the photos of the flowers!  I have a little collage below of some of my favorite details shots. 

If you can't tell my the name of my shop, I obviously I have a thing for the color green.  I had green hydrangea, ivory roses and bells of Ireland for my most of the my flowers.  For the centerpieces on the tables, I had white and mint green carnations in metal tins.  When carnations are bunched up together, they actually look really nice and not so....well... carnation-y.  I had carnation wreaths hang from the chairs my husband and I sat in.  We had a very small wedding of only about 50 guests.  So no head table and the wreaths were a perfect touch to show where the NEW Mr. and Mrs. would be sitting.

My husband deployed to Afghanistan two weeks after we were married.  We wanted to get married before he left so the wedding was planned in record time (6 weeks!).  Thankfully, it being winter, finding vendors and a venue wasn't too difficult.  But with not much time to get things done, I wasn't allowed the luxury of researching and taking my time to think out each detail.  But I knew I wanted LOTS of fresh flowers and I was not going to go cheap on them.  I found an awesome florist and I think she leaped into my head because when all the arrangements arrived, it was exactly how I envisioned everything. 

When it came to my dress, I wanted to look very simple.  I wanted to look back at photos and think "I could wear that again."  So, after trying on several wedding gowns, I thought, maybe a gown wasn't what I needed...maybe I needed a dress.  So I tried on bridesmaid dresses!  I picked an ivory bridesmaid dress and a very long veil.  Perfect! 

Here's a look at us on that very day.  Happy Anniversary, Danny!  Five years of complete joy!