Our bumble bee-themed gender reveal party

A couple of years ago I received a special order in my small business, Little Britches Bakery, for a bumble bee- themed diaper cake, for a “What will it BEE” gender reveal party. Ever since then I’ve been thinking about starting a bumble bee line for Little Britches and Mo/Michael’s big reveal was the perfect opportunity!

As usual, I started with some inspiration on Pinterest and a board.

Then I set about making the diaper cakes, and shifted the color scheme to yellow and white rather than yellow and black. I also added some burlap into the mix, which was very complimentary.

The full spread: What a party!!

The full spread: What a party!!

I always hang some sort of a banner (here, here) and this party was no exception. I wanted something light and airy, so I opted for tissue paper tassel garland. These are pretty easy to make and the bang you get for the cost and energy is definitely worth it!

My tissue paper and washi tape banner

My tissue paper and washi tape banner

I use 8 pieces of tissue for each garland and followed the instructions here for the most part. I did not bust out my glue gun and instead created a loop and secured the tissue paper with a black glittery washi tape. This was one of the first times I’ve used washi tape and as a result, I didn’t know that it wasn’t very sticky. I added a dot of of super glue to the edge of the tape and now the washi tape is there forever. Once the tassels were created, I alternated white and yellow when stringing them on the burlap yarn.

Because of the afternoon timing of the party, we opted for a light menu focused on desserts , with several of gluten-free options for our gluten-free guests. We enjoyed: a variety of cheeses, crackers, cured meats, a veggie platter, polenta bites, bee sugar cookies with royal frosting, meringue bee hives, spring Oreos (with yellow filling!), chocolate cupcakes with yellow frosting and chocolate bees, and lemonade.

It turned out to be quite the spread:

The food spread

The food spread

Even more food!

Even more food!  Did you spot the bees buzzing the lavender bush?

What will Mo bee? A "he" or a "she"?

What will Mo bee? A “he” or a “she”?

Handmade chocolate bees on cupcakes

Handmade chocolate bees on cupcakes

Beyond the diaper cakes, the beehive cookies were the focal point of the party. They were by far the best tasting items at the party. I normally try to make — or semi home-make — all of the items at my parties but I outsourced these cookies to my friend and former colleague Robin. She only makes cookies as a hobby right now, but she could easily be in business full-time! Her skill and creativity are both exceptional! Just typing about these cookies makes me want one right now… Just delicious.

The best cookies ever! Bzzzzzzzzz....

The best cookies ever! Bzzzzzzzzz….

I scoured the internet for old wives tales related to gender prediction — ok, it wasn’t just for the party. For the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy, every time I experienced a new symptom, it was off to the internet to try and gain some insight as to whether Baby Mo was a he or a she. I created this poster, and underlined the symptoms I’d been experiencing.

Old wives tales: truth or fiction?

Old wives tales: truth or fiction?

We had our guests guess Mo’s gender and they went along with the old wives tales and guessed girl. They were also wrong!

All signs were pointing towards Mo being a GIRL! (And yes, they were wrong!) Our little one will likely look like little Brandon, pictured here: 

Guess the gender!

Guess the gender!

The actual reveal took place in the form of this beehive cake. The results of the baby’s anatomy scan were given to our local bakery and they used blue or pink frosting in the middle. We had a great time cutting the cake and finding BLUE frosting! See the full party here!  We didn’t peek, this was the reveal to us as well!

What will it bee gender reveal cake

What will it bee gender reveal cake

If this Bee Gender Reveal party looks like something you would like to replicate, you can order most of my supplies and decorations on my Etsy shop.

Bumble bee diaper cakes

Bumble bee diaper cakes

As always, please ask any questions you might have! I’m happy to answer everything from suppliers to technique questions and beyond!

We're excited to meet our "HE" joining our family in September!

We’re excited to meet our “HE” joining our family in September!

 

2015 Oscar party

I’m a bit overdue in posting this, but it’s well worth it, so make sure you read on.

"Oscar goes to..."

“Oscar goes to…”

While I rarely watch all (or any, for that matter) of the Academy Award-nominated films, I have friends over each year to watch the Oscars.

The menu is different every year– we’ve gone from elegant appetizers to a panini bar and this year everyone brought a dish, potluck-style. The potluck is definitely the way to go. It was so easy!

Our 2015 Oscar feast

Our 2015 Oscar feast

We made a couple of dishes and both were total keepers!

First, these mushroom polenta bites. I basically followed my friend Kelsey’s recipe on her blog, A touch of lovely. I opted for the tomato sauce as the spread and the chubby polenta loaf from Trader Joe’s. I threw the polenta in the freezer while I cooked the mushrooms and after a few minutes of chilling it cut very easily into perfect rounds. I followed the instructions on the package for the polenta. Our “bites” were larger than bites and they were delicious!

Mushroom polenta bites

Mushroom polenta bites

For dessert I made the Smitten Kitchen’s buttered popcorn chocolate chip cookies. I really had no idea what to expect with these — I love both buttered popcorn and chocolate chip cookies independently — and was pleasantly surprised. These cookies were delicious! I substituted Trader Joe’s gluten-free all-purpose flour and couldn’t even tell there wasn’t gluten in the cookies. Next time I would have made less popcorn and would’ve added more melted butter to the popcorn. Try out the recipe and let me know what you think!

Buttered popcorn cookies

Buttered popcorn cookies, uncooked

Buttered popcorn cookies, cooked

Buttered popcorn cookies, cooked

Each year I have guests fill out their ballots, and just like every other year, my friend Kimmy won the award for the most-properly-guessed winners. There are some great ballot designs out there and we chose this ballot design.

Brandon making his Oscar predictions

Brandon making his Oscar predictions

I basically have a party-in-a-box for the Oscars that lives in my storage room. It includes a banner, set of silver chargers, a gilded vase, a silver and gold ice bucket, and several movie-themed party plates and decor. This year I found some great ideas on Pinterest and acted on a couple of them: my own Oscar statue and gilded, glittered champagne flutes.

I’m calling my Oscar statue “Oskar” and he started off as a very unfortunate Ken doll from the Goodwill.

Oskar, as Ken

Oskar, as Ken

Oskar cost $1.99 (he came with a Barbie that looked like she had leprosy; she went in the garbage) and I super-glued his hip joints standing straight and then his feet to a wood base from Michael’s. After he was dried, I spray painted him gold. After several coats, here he is!

Our "Oskar"

Our “Oskar”

I bought the champagne flutes at Target for $1 each and the Krylon gold glitter spray paint (which I wouldn’t recommend) for ~$7 from Michael’s. I had the gold spray paint on hand. On any given day I have at least 3 cannisters of this stuff in my basement!

Bottoms up! Oscar bubbles

Bottoms up! Oscar bubbles

I started by thoroughly washing the glasses with soap and water, taped the bottom at the stem with painters tape and sprayed, sprayed, and sprayed some more.

Champagne glass taping

Champagne glass taping

I tried using just the glitter spray paint and it didn’t cover well, so I started with the solid gold. I added the glitter spray paint on the second coat. All in all I am very happy with how these turned out!

Half painted golden champagne glasses

Half painted golden champagne glasses

It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s Academy Awards! Visit my Pinterest “parties” board for about a million ideas.

Poop emoji meringue cookies

Poop emojiYou’re familiar with the poop emoji, right? It’s everywhere. I don’t think it’s possible to not know what it is. (In case you don’t know, that’s it over there on the right!)

Over the holidays I made a lot of meringue Christmas trees.

Meringue Christmas trees

Meringue Christmas trees

As I was making them, over and over again, the swirling really resonated and a genius idea came to me: these could look like piles of poop. Add a couple of sugar eyes and voila! The poop emoji.

So, I went about trying to make them. All meringue recipes are very similar: egg whites, sugar, vanilla, cream of tarter and color or flavoring. I followed this recipe for my poop emoji meringues. As opposed to coloring them brown, I used cocoa powder, so while they look like poop, they don’t taste like it.

I used a standard pastry bag and a #12 tip from Wilton for my emoji cookies. (I used a mid-sized star tip for the Christmas trees.) The raw meringue ‘dough’ is VERY sticky and you want to work fast, because once it warms up it falls flat. Carefully spoon the meringue into the bag and start swirling!

Swirl, swirl, swirl!

Swirl, swirl, swirl!

The base of the cookies are a little larger than a quarter. This is important to note, as this is where I my first batch of Christmas tree cookies faltered. If you want to do larger cookies, you’ll need a larger pastry tip.

More poop emoji cookies

More poop emoji cookies

Pipe the dough while swirling in a circle, on top of itself, leaving a little point at the top. There were a couple of cookies that weren’t perfect, but with the look I was going for, imperfect was perfect. The recipe makes about four dozen cookies, so if there are a couple of mess ups, it’s no big deal. Plus no matter how they look, they all taste the same, which is lightweight and delicious.

Poop emoji cookies

Poop emoji cookies

I added Wilton’s sugar eyes on about half of my meringues and that went over only so-so. The meringues cook for a long time at a low temperature. The sugar eyes aren’t supposed to be cooked at all, so they get a little wonky. If you want the perfect look, I would recommend adding the eyes after the meringues are cooked. I bought a white Wilton Sugar Sheet to use for the mouth, but my cookies were too small, as the eyes collapsed the base a bit during baking.

More cookies!

More cookies!

Adding the eyes makes them look a lot like emojis!

Adding the eyes makes them look a lot like emojis!

Big eyes for these little poops

Big eyes for these little poops

I hope this inspires you to make your own meringue emoji poop cookies. Once you do, share your experience here in comments!

 

 

MegAn’s Pretty Little LiArs pArty

As a blog reader, I’m sure that you know that I love TV. And this week is a very good week for TV because the shows are BAAAAACK!

I’m especially excited for some of my mid-season shows to return: Downton Abbey (last night), Pretty Little Liars (1/6), and Parks & Rec (1/13)!

Today’s blog post is about the Pretty Little Liars (PLL) premiere TOMORROW on ABC Family. I’m having my friends Liz and Emily over to watch the show and I know that many more of my friends will be watching… even if they pretend that Pretty Little Liars is for pre-teens. (Which it so isn’t!)

If you’re unfamiliar with Pretty Little Liars, here’s a quick tutorial:

Rosewood is a perfect little town. So quiet and pristine, you’d never guess it holds so many secrets. Some of the ugliest ones belong to the prettiest girls in town: Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily, four friends whose darkest secrets have been unraveling since Alison, the Queen Bee of their group disappeared. As the mystery surrounding Ali’s disappearance resurfaces, the girls begin getting messages from a mysterious “A,” who they quickly realize is out to get them. Now, after years of tormenting and numerous shocking revelations, the Liars are united and ready to kick some “A” and uncover the truth! No longer just wanting to sit by and wait for “A’s” latest cruel attack, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer take matters into their own hands and try to finally put a stop to their tormentor. As relationships are put to the test, new and old secrets are revealed and the stakes are raised higher than ever before as the Liars come closer to the truth. Will all of their sacrifices be worth it in the end?

When Liz and Emily come over, we’re doing it up in full PLL style! Here are some of my ideas for what I’ve coined as:

M-PLL-partyAn “A” food 

Autumn apple and sausage scramble

Salad with Apple cider vinegar dressing

Asparagus, Artichoke and Mushroom Saute Over Pasta

Maybe a pizza with a pepperoni “A” on it? (We do have a wood-fired oven in the backyard…)

An "A" pizza? Maybe!!

An “A” pizza? Maybe!!

Or anything arugula! (So many “A” food options!)

A PLL beverage

The Liars are all about coffee, but I’m not, so I’m thinking wine instead. Depending on what I decide for dinner plans, I’m thinking a nice Ravenswood blend, after the PLL spinoff that got cancelled (very sadly) last year.

Decor

Since we’re having a party of three (five if you count the cats!), I’ll go easy on the decor, but have to do something!

Here are some of the ideas I’ve found on Pinterest:

"A" letters throughout the house

“A” letters throughout the house

"A" cookies, pictures, letters, oh my!

“A” cookies, pictures, letters, oh my!

Handmade notes, maybe put them in fortune cookies!?

Handmade notes, maybe put them in fortune cookies!?

Maybe some homemade wine glasses are in order?! 

Maybe some homemade wine glasses are in order?!

Very special "A" shot glasses 

Very special “A” shot glasses

So many great ideas are swirling in my mind right now! I’m so excited for the premiere and our partAy!

 

2014 in review

After a nice little break from the blog, spending time with friends and family, I’m BACK!

Here is our year in review: 2014 was a great year for the us, a year full of great wine, great food, great company and a whole lot of adventure.

2014-year-in-review

We started of the year with a New Year’s Day flight north. Way north. We spent the first few days of the year in the Arctic Circle, in the town of Bettles, to see the Northern Lights. (More here.)

Watching sunrise (about 11 a.m.) inside of the Arctic Circle, in Bettles, AK. (Sun set around 1 p.m.!)

Watching sunrise (about 11 a.m.) inside of the Arctic Circle, in Bettles, AK. (Sun set around 1 p.m.!) Yes, our jackets are lines with wolf fur. No, they’re not ours.

From there, we had many more travel-required adventures for wedding celebrations: to New Orleans, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Flathead Lake, Montana, and Portland!

It wasn’t just wedding travel this year. We just returned from a pleasure trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. The trip was the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure: we tanned ourselves on the beach, snorkeled with manta rays, photographed a lot of Green Sea Turtles, opened the second-largest telescope (at nearly 14,000 feet on the world’s tallest mountain!), hiked the lava flows at the national park, and used our Northern Lights training to take night time photos of the world’s most active volcano. (I’m working on the blog post now!)

Here are some photos from the trip, to start your thinking about traveling someplace sunny and warm on this dreary winter day:

We spent the first part of our trip here, at the Mauna Lani hotel. It was gorgeous!

We spent the first part of our trip here, at the Mauna Lani hotel. It was gorgeous!

Our first sunset on the Big Island

Our first sunset on the Big Island

Sunset from our manta ray snorkel tour boat, outside of Kona

Sunset from our manta ray snorkel tour boat, outside of Kona

Sunset from almost 14,000 feet, at the Mauna Kea observatories

Sunset from almost 14,000 feet, at the Mauna Kea observatories

One of many turtles (and turtle photos) we saw on our trip

One of many turtles (and turtle photos) we saw on our trip

Black sand beach on the sound end of the Big Island

Black sand beach on the sound end of the Big Island

Macadamia nuts for days

Macadamia nuts for days

In August, I was featured as a ‘lifestyle blogger’ on one of Seattle’s morning television programs on Q13. Watch the clip here. It was another great adventure and hopefully the first television appearance of many.

Q13 tailgating segment

In addition to this blog and my day job, my part-time baby business, Little Britches Bakery, is flourishing this year. I shut down the website last spring and instead started selling via Etsy, seeing a great jump in orders this past year. Now it’s time for the shameless plug: if you’re shopping for new parents, check out Little Britches Bakery!

2014 was the year of the pizza for those of us on Megan’s Island. We finished Fatto a Mano (our wood-fired oven) in August and love, love, love it. We’ve perfected our foccacia and pizza crust recipes and will be trying out other dishes in the oven this year.

Finished pizza oven with Geroni-gnome, our watch'gnome'

Finished pizza oven with Geroni-gnome, our watch’gnome’

A wonderful shot of the flames leaping toward the pizza

A wonderful shot of the flames leaping toward the pizza

That’s about it for 2014. We’re closing the chapter on another stellar year for us and we’re looking forward to an even better year in 2015. I hope it’s a great year for you too!

Cheers to 2015! Thanks for reading!!

3-D Husky tailgating cake

I kept a lot of you in the loop via Facebook and Instagram but for those of you who only follow me here, I wanted to show off this year’s tailgating feat: My husky cake!

Woof! Here's my University of Washington Huskies cake

Woof! Here’s my University of Washington Huskies cake

It didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but I was pretty pleased with the final product. (This cake was for the University of Washington football game against UCLA. Unfortunately the rare November Seattle sun turned the purple cake Bruin blue. Totally not cool. 100 percent Wilton food coloring fail!)

And now it's a Bruin cake!

And now it’s a Bruin cake!

This was the goal cake and I followed the instructions very closely. Unfortunately I didn’t have a large enough plate, so I had to freehand the shape, hence the squatty pup.

The original inspiration

The original inspiration

Here are some photos of the progress of the cake. Please excuse the poor lighting:

Baked cakes!

Baked cakes!

Frosting, I mean glue, I mean frosting!

Frosting, I mean glue, I mean frosting!

Cake progress!

Cake progress!

Huskies cake: assembled but not frosted!

Huskies cake: assembled but not frosted!  It’s 3-D!

Might I suggest you try making this cake for the Cactus Bowl on January 2? Gooooo Huskies!

Woof! Here's my University of Washington Huskies cake

Woof! Here’s my University of Washington Huskies cake

{Wine Wednesday} Holiday wine crafts

WineWednesday

Last week, I asked you to save your bottles for this very post and the great ideas I am about to share. These ideas are for all-things wine and while I haven’t actually done any of them, I plan to before Dec. 25! All of my wine-related crafts can be found on my “Respect the Grape” Pinterest board.

Without further ado, here are the ideas:

Cork crafts:

Santa corks 

Santa corks

Gingerbread cork man 

Gingerbread cork man

Wine cork tree 

Wine cork tree

Snowman corks 

Snowman corks

Snowman wine tag 

Snowman wine tag

Glass crafts: 

Mr. & Mrs. Claus wine glasses 

Mr. & Mrs. Claus wine glasses

Gingerbread wine glasses 

Gingerbread wine glasses 

Christmas light glasses 

Christmas light glasses 

Naughty or nice? Pour accordingly with these glasses 

Naughty or nice? Pour accordingly with these glasses

Snowman wine glasses 

Snowman wine glasses

Bottle decor:

Gnome bottle covers

Gnome bottle covers

Christmas wine tags 

Christmas wine tags 

Happy crafting and happy wine Wednesday!

My new AstroTurf “W” wreath

One of my most favorite crafts to date: An AstroTurf W!

One of my most favorite crafts to date: An AstroTurf W!

My dear old glue gun made it halfway through this very special project. I wanted to finish it so badly that after the literal glue gun explosion, we rushed to Lowe’s to pick up a new one.

I started with this “W” letter from JoAnn’s. It runs $2.99 and stands 9.5″ tall. Perfect. And, you can use this technique for just about any letter or number combination.

You’ll also need that giant roll of AstroTurf that I convinced you to buy a couple of months ago.

I flipped the AstroTurf over and traced my letter, leaving about an inch of overhang. From there, cut it out and get that glue gun ready.

Flip and glue. And glue and glue and glue

Flip and glue. And glue and glue and glue

What I didn’t do on my first go-around and will do in the future– and you SHOULD do your first time, add a wire or a tie of some sort toward the middle of your “wreath” before you glue on the facing layer of AstroTurf.

Start gluing. It’s important to go from one side to the other of the facing of the letter and to go with quick speed, since hot glue dries pretty quickly. Specifically, I glued in three main sections (left, right, middle), one section at a time. First, the fully covered “front” side, then I wrapped the overhang around the back, being very careful not to burn myself. On the backside, I pulled the turf tight and added cuts with the X-acto knife as needed.

Two sides done, just one to go

Two sides done, just one to go

I added some felt flowers to give the wreath that extra Husky feel, using leftover felt from a new coaster project I’ve got up my sleeve. (I tried a variety of designs for the flowers with this technique, for the most part.)

Felt flowers made out of extra AstroTurf coaster fabric

Felt flowers made out of extra AstroTurf coaster fabric

The project didn’t take too long and I think the finished product was well worth the time. I’m going to wager that this wreath and its presence at our game watching parties are the reason the Huskies are winning! (I hope I didn’t just jinx them!)

Anyway, happy Purple Friday and GO HUSKIES!

(YES! There is still time for you to grab the project pieces and make one of these to celebrate UW Homecoming on Oct. 25! You know I’m going to make a couple more!!)

 

RIP hot glue gun

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already heard the news: I lost a dear old friend a few weeks ago: my hot glue gun.

RIP my dear old friend!

RIP my dear old friend!

This wasn’t just any hot glue gun. This gun has been by my side, my crafting companion since I was in middle school, many, many, many years ago.

In fact, I used this very glue gun when I worked on several years of Milk Carton Derby boats, gluing the milk cartons and jugs shut, so they were airtight.  I still remember that each gallon jug displaced 8 lbs of weight in the water. I’ll check with my parents for some of the old photos. We had very elaborate themes and boat designs.

Thankfully the glue gun held on through it’s big break on Q13. When it’s time did come,  it went out with a bang — literally — with a loud pop and a plume of smoke.

At least it made it on TV!

At least it made it on TV!

Here’s the new glue gun. The jury is still out on whether it’s a comparable model. It does a fine job gluing but it doesn’t have the same finesse as my old one. Don’t worry, I’ll keep on crafting… and I have a great project to share with you soon! Need a clue? AstroTurf!

My new hot glue gun: names needed!

My new hot glue gun: names needed!

{Wine Wednesday} Wine barrel cocktail table

After we did our big remodel last summer we moved our table from the deck to the lower patio. In doing that, I noticed a lack of horizontal surfaces on the deck. I’ve been thinking long and hard about different options and settled on a wine barrel cocktail table.

Finding the barrel was the hard part. We go to Woodinville a lot, and I’ve had my feelers out for awhile. Finally we found one! Efeste had a barrel available for purchase. We bought our other barrels at Efeste too and their price has gone up. This barrel cost $65.

Our wine barrel table -- the "before" photo

Our wine barrel table — the “before” photo

Barrels are heavy. We hauled the barrel up the back stairs and that was enough. Not only was it going to be a pain to move around, it also dented the decking a bit. I had envisioned adding wheels on the bottom for convenience, but quickly realized it was a necessity to preserve the deck.

We used three 2″ rotating wheels (without brakes) from Lowe’s. They fit snugly in the rim of the barrel and provide about 1″ of clearance. It looks like the barrel is floating over the deck.

Three 2" wheels, screwed directly into the barrel

Three 2″ wheels, screwed directly into the barrel

The underside of the barrel -- evenly spaced wheels

The underside of the barrel — evenly spaced wheels

The barrel had some gross black spots on it (which were more of a stain and less of a black mold), so I knew I needed to clean it up. I started with a good soapy-water scrub. From there, I used a sanding block to continue scrubbing. It got a lot of the black out.

I’m pretty experienced in staining and had all of the necessary tools on-hand: a latex glove, sponge brush (I only ended up using one 1″ brush), paint can opener, and plastic drop cloth. Not pictured and totally necessary: a stain-removing cloth. We use Brandon’s old undershirts for this purpose.

Barrel staining necessities

Barrel staining necessities

Once the barrel was clean, I used the “Provincial (211)” 8 oz Minwax Wood Finish stain and stained, stained, stained.

No stain, no gain!

No stain, no gain!

What a difference!

What a difference!

You can still see some of the black underneath the stain, but all in all, I love the way it turned out.

Final product!

Final product!

Look at that grain! Ooooh! Awww!

LOVE this new cocktail table!

LOVE this new cocktail table!

Have a great Wine Wednesday! Enjoy the last few days of Washington Wine Month!