Burger Cake-Fries n' Soda on the side!

I saw this post a while back and immediately thought it was the most amazing thing ever. 

I need to make this cake.

Lyndsay of Coco Cake Blog is amazingly talented and is always inspiring me..

 and making me hungry. :)

Her Burger Cake is so fun!! 

and the soda and fries......cuteness overload. can't even handle it.

plus i'm a sucker for green and white sripe. stripes in general..

every time i go to ikea i want to buy their striped fabric haha.

"Marissa asked me if I could do a burger cake for her husband Steve's birthday... her excitement and enthusiasm for the cake was matched by my own hyperness -- I love the magic of cake! Colour some buttercream, trick the eye with squiggles of "mustard" and leaves of fresh green "lettuce" and blobs of "ketchup." Roll out orangey fondant super thin and cut into squares then triangles, and you've got a cheeseburger! Personally I like my burgers a little more rare than charred... but you can blame the rich dark cocoa powder I used for the burger patty cake layer" - Lyndsay

visit Lindsay over at her blog Coco Cake Blog for more great shares!

A Personalized-Budget Friendly-Baby Shower Gift

Over the weekend I went to a baby shower for

 a friend/daughter of a client, Christina!

I wanted to gift a super cute Carter's 3 piece set..

(has the cutest blue and white striped pants!)

i LOVE shopping for boy clothes since all i see in this house is pink pink pink. :)

I used a Target $1 bin- tin bucket to hold the goodies and to be a container the mama could use in the nursery to hold things. because one thing i know is you end up with lots of "little" baby things that need a place so you stay organized! (as much as possible. :)

I also put some Target books in the tin! my favorite was the $1 bath time book.

the bath time books are the BEST when it comes to babies and books..

babies automatically try to eat everything...and these are soft and chewy!

**ignore the mess in the background. my dining room table is currently

 covered with details for the baby shower i'm planning!**

to make it special for my friend and baby I wrapped the tin with ribbon I had in my craft box, and then created and printed out a circle label. a cute little touch. 

i created a little tented card to stick in the tin as well.

it was an airplane baby shower theme so i put one on the card..why not! ;)

packaged it up in a cute bag and ready for the Baby Shower!
Using this same idea you can go as big or small as is in your budget!
and i'm sure the mama will appreciate the special touches you use!

It was really fun seeing my Pretty Paperie Printables used at a local party!
Christina's Mama did a fabulous job putting everything together! 
The party was really fun.. with baby shower games, yummy food & prizes for the guests!
her mom is a crafter so i always know her parties will be adorable!

She used circle labels as cupcake toppers, labels for the dessert table and larger circles were used on the centerpieces.

the middle row were 'brownie bites'.....uh-mazing!

she also used my circle labels as little cards for people to write their guess on how many diapers were used to create the diaper cake! very cute idea.

I've been busy during nap times and post-baby-bed-time

 working up the baby shower details..

 it's this saturday!! 

here's our dining room table...:)

My Recent Party Details Purchase

I love Shop Sweet Lulu and had to grab up some goodies for the

 baby shower i'm putting together!

Stop over to ooand ahh at the lovelies.

Gotta love the prices on these great party touches!

 Striped Paper Straws

(20 pack) - $4.00

shop sweet lulu

i purchased the apple green and yellow...love love love.

 Ice cream spoons

(20 pack) - $2.00

shop sweet lulu

My Life Lately...

My Life Lately.

1. baby snuggles and paper crafting. 

2. catching up on doing the dishes and laundry that i was avoiding.

3. blogging and working up party printable orders for clients.

4. hiding out in the mall play land waiting for a crazy hail storm to pass. 

5. sophia is fascinated with ice cubes right now..

i'm just waiting to walk into the kitchen one day and see her

 chubby little finger pressing the fridge ice dispenser with the floor covered..

it's inevitable. 

6. i remember myself being much more patient when i had just 1 baby...haha. 

they say having children causes your heart to grow. this week i've been experiencing growing PAINS. tough couple days with whiney/not wanting to sleep babies..but we get through those times and are lucky to have "wow i am awesome at parenting/this isn't too bad" moments to help us not have complete melt downs. :) although melt downs do happen.

7. Been busy creating new Patterns & Printables for my

etsy shop: Pretty Paperie Printables.

I'll be showcasing them in the Baby Shower i'm throwing for 3 girlfriends of mine!

More party details to come.

8. I'll be putting together all the fun budget friendly tutorials for the baby shower i'm throwing so you can create the same details yourself!

Hope you are having a wonderful thursday!

I can't wait to share with you more of the Baby Shower Party planning.

loving it. 

not loving the burning my finger with the hot glue gun 

because i obviously can't watch american idol and hot glue at the same time.

just not that skilled.

Spring is in the Air!- Color Inspiration Boards

Spring is finally here...

did everyone get their free ice at rita's on the first day of spring?? ;)

Here's some fabulous color inspiration boards
put together by Leslie over at decor8.
 She does a Color Me Pretty feature there..

and also has her own lovely blog, A Creative Mint.

Enjoy her creative color compositions while you sit giddy that spring is almost here to stay.

 These are great inspiration for home decor or party ideas! so lovely.

pink and yellow

clear blue

fresh

fruity pinks and purples with
pops of chartreuse

pink, gold, melons, black & white

we are expected to get snow on thursday?!? 

but have been in the 60's this week.. crazy pittsburgh weather.

pardon me while i wipe toddler spit off my computer...sophia just came up and gave me a wet and slobbery kiss..."i a frog".......great, pretty sure daddy taught her that hilarioussss trick...;)

Blog Update:
Things are a bit too busy here for me to
routinely post the "a day in the life" link up each wednesday.

 I don't think you should force a blog post.. so i'll be blogging as always but occasionally doing the same style of the "a day in the life" post with the round up of all my favorites. 

Of course you can link up below in a comment for everyone to check you out!

My Brother and Shanna's Surprise Engagement Party

I gave a sneak peek of the party fun last week...
now here's the whole scoop!

My brother recently proposed to his girlfriend Shanna!

He wanted to have both families together right after he popped the question! 

Party time? o yes!

 My mom wanted to make the Engagement Party Dinner really special so she called me up and we started brainstorming ideas! It was fun talking on the phone and e-mailing/texting back and forth printables I created and photos of material/ribbons etc! 
We had under 2 weeks to pull it together so we had to work fast.

We went with orange since that's the bride to be's favorite color. 

And we loaded up the dessert table with delicious treats that are family must haves, shanna favorites or ones from our local bakery at Giant Eagle that just looked too good to pass up!

We didn't know what the venue was going to look like until we showed up!
 but it was a gorgeous bright space! we brought my dishes to use on the dessert table.
My mom found that adorable ribbon and threaded it through my cake stand (it was a gift from her!)
We used small circle vases down the table filled with roses from our 
local grocery store, giant eagle. And smaller vases with votives. Both vases were from my wedding! we are still using them.. they were a great buy.
 (garden ridge i think??)
My mom found the great fabric and tall vases. 
We filled them with flowers that we already had! fun and whimsical!

 created some fun printables to incorporate throughout the party.

We kept joking that I had a pen ready in case she said maybe..haha. ;)
I wanted to use my toppers but we didn't want to do cupcakes..so we used them on the yummy rice krispy treats and pecan bars!

I created coordinating menu and place cards to use at each place setting.
 the girls had polka dots and the boys had stripes.

my brother and his fiance went to eat'n park on their first date...
so i made little treat bag tags as the party favor that read 
"All smiles on their first date! Eat'n Park 6.26.07"
The smiley cookie is their signature cookie and even though i think they taste like chalk..haha..
it was all about them and i thought it was a cute personal touch! 
My mom bought the bags at Michael's and they were just the right size.

the drink table.
arnold palmer tea(dad brought up from charlotte), water and soda.

I wanted to bring in the stripes onto the table so 
i made soda bottle wrappers that said "She said yes!" and "I do"
one of my favorite details of the entire party.



We bought a frame at ikea and put the invitation I created on one side..
and one of their favorite photos on the other!
We used it on the table and then my mom gave it to them at the end of the night.
my mom made her yummy sugar cookies..i have posted the Sugar Cookie recipe here!both families! (except my ben was off driving sleepy sienna around by this time of the night.)

there was lots ooing and aahing over the ring!! 
naturally. daniel did a great job with the bling! :)

the food was amazing!! 
we had the party at one of daniel and shanna's favorite restaurants.. Del's.
delicious food and the team taking care of us were great.


i used my circle labels in the flowers by attaching them
 to little sticks you use to light candles with!
chocolate and raspberry mousse amazingness.

we used small frames from ikea and filled them with photos from when they were first dating to more recent ones. we were originally going to put them down the center of the main tables (the frames are double sided!!) but we ended up wanting just the flowers.

my mom found a great dish that she filled with shanna's favorite candy, tied a ribbon through it, and gifted it to her at the end of the night! so cute. 

oh and we couldn't have a family get together without peanut blossoms.

 i've posted the Peanut Blossom recipe here!

congratulations daniel and shanna!! 

we love you guys and are soo excited!


Easy-Affordable Party Details that we used:
Fabric from Joann's
Ribbon
Tall Vases
Ikea Frames
Cellophane Bags for the favors
orange paper plates and napkins


Items we already had- bargain shopping in your own house!:
Platters/cake stands
Circle Vases (from my wedding)
Fun Whimsical Flowers
Candy Sticks-for the Toppers


Menu Items- a mix of bought and home made:
Rice Krispy Treats
Pecan Bars
Sugar Cookies
Peanut Blossoms
Candy: Reese's
Cheesecake
Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse
Carrot Cake


Printables I created for the party included:
Treat Bag Tags for the Favors

Menu Cards

Place Cards

Circle Labels used as Toppers & in the Flower arrangements

Soda Bottle Wrappers

If you are interested in printables like these visit my etsy shop: Pretty Paperie Printables.

I'll be listing these as an engagement party package soon!

or if you just want to talk about ideas to use in your party you can always message me.