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.

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!

Coffee and Champagne Couples Wedding Shower

 

 Yesterday I talked about my best friend and promised I would share photos from her couples shower. And I bet by the title you are thinking that today is the day. Well, I'm actually sharing another dear friend's shower I had the joy of co-hosting. Her name is Holly. She actually took the picture of us that I featured in this blog post.

 

We threw this little shindig at The Mister's and my apartment's clubhouse media room. There were only a dozen or so expected guests, so the size was just right. The other hostesses and I tried to keep it casually elegant and totally represent the couple. A chalkboard sign hung at the entrance to greet guests.





Here is the lovely couple. Aren't they adorable?!

 

He loves coffee and socializing with friends. She loves photography, simplicity, and delicious desserts. Both of their likes were intertwined throughout the décor. So please, take a peek at the pieces of the Coffee and Champagne Dessert Couples Wedding Shower!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

So many delicious desserts. And that awesome succulent in the frame? Yeah, The Mister and I made that. I will share the how to with you guys, so don't fret! It was a blast.

 

 

 

All the hostesses with the beautiful bride-to-be (but now she's married! Yay!).

I love all of these women. So. Much.

DIY Greeting Card Keepsake

Gift cards are given for a number of occasions and reasons. Normally, when we receive a card it is read, laughed/cried/smiled over, a thank you is written, and the card is placed in a box with all other cards. No organization, no rhyme or reason to how they are arranged. But after seeing this wedding mini album from Something Turquoise...

I wanted to change our system. And it would begin with our cards from our wedding and the wedding shower (which is appropriate because of our one year anniversary Monday).

**Please excuse my very dirty rug - Lola hair is visible, I'm embarrassed, but now I'm over that. In case you are in doubt, we do, in fact, own a vacuum.

I sorted through the box and pulled out all of our wedding cards. I also pulled out left over materials from when we made the various paper goods for the wedding, including our trusty customized stamp. Then, I just followed their tutorial, with a few changes to suit my needs.

I chose to use cardboard over card stock for a firmer cover to my mini album. But it is difficult to cut cardboard with a straight edge (and when you cut it, you see the inside form, which isn't super pretty). I sorted through and looked for the largest card to use as the stencil. At the last second, I also chose to include an invitation from our wedding, which was the largest, and therefore the stencil for the size of the mini album.

 To hide those edges, I decided to wrap the cardboard with card stock like a present. 

 

Then, some tacky glue secured the paper to the cardboard, and our stone coasters held them in place.

 

It is still a semi-work in progress. I like to sit with certain things and just tweak until I feel it is complete. There may be some aging still to do on the corners and what-not. But, for now, we reflect on all of those wonderful people and their sweet words as we celebrate a year together.

I'm participating in a link party at The Sasse Life. Click the button above to see the featured crafts and find more projects for yourself to get busy with!