Buttery Crust and Yummy Fruit

My best friend got married. I shared the engagement pictures of I took of them and a couples shower I helped host for them. Now, I want to share something I baked for her wedding. My beautiful friend, Lauren, wanted to have a whole lotta pies. Her man loves a good pie, so what better way to incorporate him and his loves than by having a pie bar?

I made about 2 dozen cherry and 2 dozen strawberry pops. They were so cute! And something super fun to make. You can make these as time intensive as you like. Make the crust, buy the crust. Make the filling, buy some preserves. Just cut out circles, fill about 1/4 inch from the edge, drop a sucker stick, put on top crust, crimp edges, apply egg wash, bake!

For display, I brought along an old box with some floral foam. To hide the foam, we but burlap over it. The bride made little cards that labeled each pie and said who made them. It was such a sweet little arrangement of treats. Grandparents made their signature pies. The guests ate them up. Seriously. The pies were GONE very quickly. And, as I expected, little hands enjoyed the pie pops.

At it again...





You are not in the twilight zone. I didn't sustain a brain injury that caused me to forget what I have shared with you. This project just keeps coming back around. I am talking about the hutch . I have talked about it here and here and here and here. I have shared our list... and now the plan with what we are actually going to do with it also keeps changing.

 

But for now, we knew it needed to be repainted... because of a certain situation where my clumsy self spilled stain. We picked another shade of white, but this one is a bit more crisp. It's called toasted marshmallow from Behr. I really like it. And funny story... I dropped the pain can, too. I was able to flip it back over before all of the paint spilled out, but the splash radius was huge. It got everywhere. Seriously, I cried. My sweet husband held me and told me over and over again that its ok. So I got to cleaning and apologizing. And when he saw I was ok, he told me I am no longer allowed to hold paints or stains or anything like that again.

As the hutch is finished and we decide what to do, I will definitely share. But I think whatever we decide, the furniture will be a beautiful piece.

Couples Stock the Pantry Shower

My best friend (remember her?) asked met to be her MOH. Huge honor. I was so thankful. Then, my mind went in to overdrive. I had to plan things. BIG things. First on the list - a bridal shower. It was so. much. fun. Here some details and some highlights from the day.

I ordered the invites from geldesign on Etsy. Loved working with Galen. She is super fast, very flexible, and wants the design to be exactly what you are looking for. Plus, she is very reasonably priced. These invites came with matching recipe cards that I showed you guys when I also shared the recipe card box I redid.

 

 

This tiny table came from my moms house. It greeted guests with a precious scale I picked up from a thrift store in town. The "guest book" was actually a plate with a pretty basket weave pattern on the edges that guests signed so Lauren could display it in her kitchen. Pictures of the couple were on each table. Flowers were in recycled bottles and wrapped in pretty paper. I made some wax paper poofs to round out the little decor touches.

 

  

Favors were green tea that I wrapped in some parchment paper envelopes I made with a heart cutout that said "love is brewing."

 

 





A game that had many guests scratching their heads was "Name the Herb" which also included 2 spices. The most head-scratching herb? That last one. It was chocolate mint.  The other 2 herbs were basil and cilantro. The 3 guests with the most correct picked an herb and took it home. The bride-to-be took the 2 spices (cinnamon and cumin).

 

Tables were decorated with white table clothes topped with brown kraft paper. More flowers in recycled bottled wrapped in pretty paper adorned the tables (and some more poofs). Pictures were everywhere. There were also little cards that had trivial questions about the couple (like where did he propose and what their favorite snacks were). It was a nice little thing for table conversation.

 

 

White balloons of different sizes were pinned above the gift table, just to serve as a fun little piece of interest. And look at that tablecloth! For the main tables (gifts and food), I put brown craft paper over lacey tablecloths. I think that was my favorite touch.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there are my second favorite touch - those big tissue paper poofs over the food table. Sweets and finger sandwiches with fruits and veggies were arranged on different platters and bowls on the table. Silverware was displayed in jars. Those 2 cookie jars held donut holes in 1 (for the groom-to-be and his love for donuts) and fortune cookies (to represent the proposal in China). Little chalkboard made an appearance in a few different places, but silly me was running around being a hostess so few photos were taken before people arrived. Sorry! I wish I would have captured a few more details for you guys.

 

I had a lot of fun planning it and am so grateful for the help of  the other bridesmaids. But truly, I just hope it was what she wanted. Love you, La!

Conscious Thankfulness

This season of my life makes me feel like I am on this ride I remember from the county fair. The one where the walls spin and spin and the force sucks you to the wall while the floor drops. There are moments that my mind is full of excitement and enjoyment, but then there is a point that I just want it to end and move on to the next ride.

Working nights is just not my thing. My body will only let me sleep in 4 hour increments now. Simple tasks of life take a lot more planning (like going to the grocery store, doctors appointments, and spending time with friends). I've had to be way more intentional with planning my time wisely.

The Mister and I have really been embracing the time we do have together. It is so difficult when days go by and we have only exchanged a couple short phone calls and a handful of text messages. At first, I would spend the moments thinking of how I hated that we didn't have more of them. But I have been consciously putting myself in a better place.

Instead of praying that the Lord just open the doors so that I can have a schedule that allows me to see my husband, I am trying to remember His goodness in this season by providing me with a job that I do enjoy, a husband who has an ocean of patience in this season with his sleep deprived wife, and some amazing women who go to His throne with me just asking that His timing and will be done in my life.

These pictures are from a picturesque day that represent me and The Mister so well.  He fishes. I read. And we just enjoy being together. Praise you, God, for this man, this season, and these difficult growing pains that I know are for my good.