Posts from — January 2014

It makes me a bit sad to be entering my last post about Tram’s baby shower. Albeit, five consecutive posts about one party is a lot, I’ve really loved sharing it with all of you and reliving it for myself.

I’ll start with the beginning, what the guests saw as they entered…

… the front doors and the burlap wreaths that I made especially for the shower. I had purchased a couple of springtime wreaths at Home Goods last year, but they were all nasty and faded before the end of summer, so into the trash they went. Once I took down the Christmas wreaths this year, I had nothing to replace them with.

I had pinned THIS tutorial on how to make burlap wreaths on Pinterest and decided, “no time like the present” to get it done! Oh my goodness, it could not have been easier! I whipped them both out in about 20 minutes. Seriously, ten minutes each! Follow the tutorial and you can make some of your own. By the way, I used an 18-inch wreath form. I will be adding some sort of spring/summer embellishments in the near future.

I found the yarn and number twos at Hobby Lobby and the baby shoes at, Micheal’s, of all places! I used clear adhesive dots to adhere the shoes to the burlap and the twos to the doors. Of course, the shoes went home with Tram.

To the right of the door was a chalkboard sign (of course!) telling guests what to do and where to go. Some people are so darn bossy!

About an hour and a half into the shower, Peggy set the Party Favors out in the same front courtyard so the guests could easily snag them on their way out.

You have to know by now that there was another chalkboard sign, with instructions. This is a school theme, after all!

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Creating a party around a theme is all about the details. The little touches that tie it all together add up to a lot.

Once the theme for Tram’s baby shower was solidified in my mind, I began scouring my house for items to build the theme around. Chalkboards, Scrabble tiles, various items with the number 2 on them, scales, globes, children’s books, etc. Then I made a list of the additional items I’d need to purchase to make it complete.

Two such purchased items were these Dr. Seuss flipbooks. I bought them at Half-Price Books and then proceeded to take them apart.

In doing so, I could use the flashcard-like pages to place all around the inside and outside of the house.

Similarly, I cut up the pages of other books to make garlands and bunting.

These were strung on just about every surface available cabinet front.

I used vintage flashcards from an ABC set I already owned to make not only the garland seen below, but…

… also to scatter about as seen on the tray that held the classes at the drink station.

Notice that many of the glasses themselves are numbered, adding to the schoolhouse theme.

Other school-type items I used were rulers and yardsticks. This one is my favorite. It is from my husband’s family’s old lumber and fuel store in Rockton, Illinois. You can see just how vintage it is by the 5-digit phone number.

Oh, but not everything was a hit.

Tram and I had decided that neither of us wanted to “play games.” But at the last minute, I thought I’d put one out, just in case anyone felt the urge to partake in a little competition.

I found a Celebrity Baby Name Game on the internet and printed it out. Actually, I found two, so I printed them both out and called the second one, “Extra Credit.”  There were no takers. I should have known better and gone with my first instinct to forgo any and all games!

Much more popular was the opportunity for guests to give Tram a favorite parenting tip. Guests wrote down their best hints and tricks. Tram, Peggy, and I read through them after everyone left. Some were funny, others were sweet and touching and some should prove to be quite helpful to the first-time mommy and daddy.

When guests first entered, there was a place to drop off the unwrapped books they brought …

… to build the twins’ library.

I started it off with a set of ten classic children’s novels. (Oh, and the book in the wagon was sent FedEx by a sweet friend who lives in Texas – so very thoughtful!)

And this is what it looked like by the time the party ended.

Over on the gift table…

… we started out with a gift from Peggy and me and a second one that a friend who wasn’t able to attend had dropped off.

Another decision Tram and I made ahead of time was to not open gifts during the shower. This sign informed the guests of that matter upfront as they dropped their gifts off.

It reads, “Time has not been set aside for gift opening. We will be enjoying our time together ‘mingling.’  If you would like to have Tram open your gift while you are here, just pull her aside.”  Tram and I were happy with the decision, I hope the guests were too.

This is what the table looked like at the end of the shower. Such generous guests!

Speaking of the lovely guests… here they are.

Emma, Tram, and Jen.

Lin Sue and Tram.

Heather, Tram, Matt, and Kacie.

Tram, Cruz, and his mommy, Veronica.

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… we’ve got it all!

We’ll start with the coffee. As I’ve mentioned here before, Tram and her husband, Steve, own Press Coffee Roasters. They have locations in the Scottsdale Quarter and at Sky Harbor Airport.

Plus … there was a very special third, albeit temporary, location in my backyard on Saturday morning.

Steve came over on Friday and set up all the fancy machinery. I do not drink coffee, I know, weird for an adult, but it is what it is.

This means that I don’t know anything about coffee, except that I enjoy the smell of it and I adore the burlap sacks that the beans are shipped in. Oh, and I love love love coffee ice cream too!

Steve knows everything there is to know about coffee. As he was setting up, he tried his best to teach Peggy and me a thing or two. Peggy “drank it up” – the info and the coffee and she loved every drop of it.

Not only did we have our own Press Coffee station, but we also had our own barista to specially brew each cup for each guest to their specific tastes and requests.

Nanda graciously spent her Saturday morning serving coffee, even though her real job is Head Roaster at the Press Coffee Roastery. Thank you, Nanda, for not only spending your morning with us but for being a great group photo photographer too!

As you can see, the guests loved their coffee!

For some strange and somewhat annoying reason, most of the coffee table was taken up with coffee “stuff” – but I did manage to squeeze out the front corner for some decor to carry through the theme. A massive vintage scale and an old typewriter.

Three ABC flashcards added a pop of color to all that industrial-looking black.

Behind the station, on the kitchen window, I hung a couple of book page baker’s twine buntings. The book pages were taken from a nursery rhyme songbook that I found at a second-hand store.

On to the cocktail…

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Many of the guests at Tram’s Baby Shower had expressed interest in the recipes for the brunch food I served.  In fact, Tram commented that yesterday’s post was a “Cliffhanger” since so many of her friends were hoping for the recipes and I said that the recipes would be coming tomorrow.

That actually made me laugh. A Cliffhanger? Me?

No, I just have so much to share about the shower that I have to break it up into a week’s worth of posts. So, today I shall give you all the recipes!

It sounds more daunting than it actually is because all but one of the recipes have already been posted here on the blog. See, no Cliffhanger to be had. Most of them, I made exactly as previously written and a couple of the others – have a few tweaks. Let’s get to it!

First up, The Granola Bar.

I made a double batch of my Glinda’s Wickedly Delicious Granola. It is my take on a recipe from my friend and colleague, Gwen Ashley Walters.

To accompany the granola, there were bowls of fresh blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries, plus lemon curd, low-fat vanilla yogurt, and, my favorite store-bought yogurt of all time, Greek Gods brand Honey yogurt.

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… after nearly a week off, I’m back to share all the glorious details of Tram’s babies (twins) shower with you. In all honesty, I don’t know where to begin.

I don’t know if I should start by thanking Tram for being the most appreciative and gracious guest-of-honor, EVER! (I love this photo of Tram with her friend and colleague, Lin Sue. It so beautifully shows off her ever-growing baby bump on her tiny frame!)

Or by thanking Peggy for being the best friend and assistant party setter-upper and co-hostess that a girl could ever deserve, hope, wish, or dream of having!

Or maybe I, tell you all about the theme and show you a bunch of photos from the perfectly perfect day.

Let’s start there – at the beginning. This is how it went down.

Tram and Steve came over to our house before going out to dinner with the supposed reason of seeing our new back patio. The true purpose was to tell us that they were expecting… TWINS! How exciting is that?!

The very second after Tram told me she was expecting twins, I said, “I have to throw you a baby shower!”

I first went to Pinterest and started a new board for the shower. The theme was solidified in October when I found this vintage Fisher-Price toddler desk at Sweet Salvage.

Theme:

• School
• Books
• Vintage Toys, flashcards, and blocks
• ABC
• 123
• Chalkboards
• Pink & Blue
• Globes, Rulers, & Crayons
• …and the Number 2

One of four centerpieces … at a table for 10.

Table for eight.

Table for six.

An intimate table for four.

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I’m taking a break from party planning to put up a quick post about a kids’ recipe contest. It’s super time-sensitive – so here are the details…

The submission portion of the contest began on January 1, 2014 and ends on January 22, 2014 – that’s only 2 weeks from tomorrow!

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I want to give you a heads-up  – my blogging abilities are going to be compromised for the next week.

Yesterday, I began putting away Christmas. The tree is down and the New Year’s Eve tablescape and decor, that I’m about to show you, are put away. I hope to get the rest of the house “untrimmed” and “defrocked” today.

Then, Saturday the real work begins.

Fun work!
The work I love to do!

The sort of thing I live for…

Decorating. Shopping. Cooking. Making lists. Organizing. Setting up and Planning… for Tram’s baby shower.

Hence – very little time to blog. You may hear from me, or I may go “underground” and you might not. Either way, please know that I am in my element, experiencing joy and happiness and that I’ll share all the glorious details with you… after the fact. I don’t want to ruin any of it for my sweet friend, loyal blog follower, and mama-to-be, Tram!

For now, back to New Year’s Eve, from here out, referred to as NYE.

See that huge clock?

Isn’t it grand!?!  I bought it years ago at a cool store in the Scottsdale Airpark that, sadly, no longer exists. It is five feet in diameter and it is heavy! I put it out on the front patio for NYE and it was still there yesterday, when Chip, my landscape architect extraordinaire, came by with his crew to install more lighting in the front yard.

Chip asked me about the clock and I told him that when I bought it, my intention was to hang it in the front room. But I feared it was too heavy, so I’ve just had it leaning against walls in various rooms over the years. Most recently in the guestroom, better known as Marissa’s bedroom.

He said, “It’s so cool! Where do you want it to go? I’ll hang it for you.”

Hey, you don’t have to make a generous offer, like that, twice!

Quickly, before he could change his mind, I said, “OK!”

So I got the stud finder, nails, some wire, a hammer, and a ladder. He got his right-hand man, Roy, and another ladder. They wired it up and went to hang it… and the wire snapped. (I told you it was HEAVY!) Thankfully they were still holding on to it when that happened!

They got some “better” wire from their truck and tried again, and voilà, the clock is finally hanging where I wanted it to be hanging all along!

I really am going to get to the tablescape… but first a couple more photos of the front patio/entrance leading to the NYE dinner party.

Happy New Year. Do you see it?

Now you do!

Come on in.

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I served this dip on New Year’s Eve. It is my version of a recipe from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.

It is good!

It may not be the prettiest thing ever, but what do you expect? It’s bean dip!

If eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is lucky, then it must be lucky the other 364 days of the year too.

Plus you only need to use and wash 2 measuring cups, a bowl, a fork, and a baking dish to make and serve it. Lucky … and as easy as can be.

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I would like to wish a happy, healthy, joyful, and prosperous New Year to each of you.

“May your troubles be less and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door.”  Traditional Irish Blessing

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