Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Gracie's Golden Birthday {Mermaid Inspired}

Hi All!!
I am thrilled to announce that just his week I it 10,000 views!!! I've only been blogging for about three years and this year consistently and I am just so happy to know that I actually do have some listeners out there!! So THANK YOU to all those that read my posts and stop by here and there for inspiration!!
Now back to business!
This past week our daughter Gracie had her 5th birthday, which also happens to be her "Golden Birthday" as she turned five on September 5th!!
Everyone has at least one golden birthday, its a fun little thing that my husband mentioned and I just rolled with it!
So if you know me you know I LOVE a party and more so love throwing a party. Getting things together, coming up with a theme and bringing things to life is really my passion. The one thing I have always done since Gracie's first birthday is make her birthday cake and cupcakes. I really want my kids to grow up and look back and say "Wow, Mommy went all out for us for our birthday!!" Growing older should be a joy and creating those memories should be just as fun!
This year we decided to keep it a little low key and had her party at a local gymnastics facility, but I let Gracie choose her "theme" and she asked for a mermaid cake and cupcakes (not too much pressure!).
So, without further adieu, here are some cute memories from Gracie's Golden Birthday. I will give you info on how I make her cupcakes at the end of this post!!
ENJOY!!








Cute right? The cupcakes were super easy!
The shell cupcakes were made with white Oreos. All I did was very carefully take them apart and then just used the tip of a sharp knife to draw the lines of the shell.... for the oyster shells, again I used white ores. I added some hot pink icing and a gum ball for the pearl! Then I chopped up some graham crackers to make sand!! Pretty simple, but takes patience and some time!!
Anything for my "golden" girl!!!
 


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Cupcake Family Tree

As Labor Day has come and gone I thought I would share a special cupcake family tree I created in honor of my husbands 60th Family Picnic. It's a weekend celebration that brings together more than 100 family members on my husbands maternal side of the family. It's the one time of year where we all get together, eat, drink and share stories, memories, laughter and tears all weekend long..... For us this is the "official" end of summer...
This tree took me a total of eight hours to create, bake and ice and it was worth every second! It was the least I could for such a special family!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
A little history on this family tree....
It all started with my mother in laws grandparents that migrated here from Italy. Rocco & Carmella made their home in the United States and had nine children which are represented by the nine apples on the tree....
From the "original nine" as everyone in the family refers to them, has evolved a growing family of 158 (and counting) and I am honored to be able to say I am a part of it!!
Happy "Official" end of summer!!!
How did you spend your Labor Day??