I love the bright colors of the paper I used!  This is the best picture I have of the whole banner.  We intended to trim the ribbon the left side but got distracted with other party prep.

Love the bright colors!

I used some scrapbook paper purchased about 3 years ago when I thought I would have time to make these amazing scrapbooks to document The Littlest Apple’s life.  3 years later, this is the first time I’ve used this paper.  (You can see more of this paper in the background of the photo in my Apple Pie Scented Playdough post).  LOVE it!

So, Ross Boss and I didn’t really measure anything.  We eyeballed all of it.

First we played “guess and print” until we found a font style and size we liked.  I think we wound up using Font Size 500.  Then we printed out all of the letters we would need.

At this point, we were having trouble figuring out how to get the letters traced onto the solid cardstock.  Ross Boss said “It’s too bad you don’t have one of those cool light table things, so we could just trace the letters onto the cardstock.” And a lightbulb went off in my head…we could use a window. It was pure genius, I tell ya.

Except that it didn’t quite work for the green cardstock.  For the green letters, I just taped the cardstock behind the paper with the letter and cut through both sheets simultaneously.

Next, we glued the white cardstock to the colorful scrapbook paper, then glued the letter on top, leaving room at the top of the cardstock for hole punches.  We used adhesive spray, which works great for projects like this (and I much prefer it to Mod Podge), but Ross Boss and I both learned the hard way that it is REALLY hard to get the spray adhesive off your hands.

I added a rectangle with stars made with a giant star punch to separate “happy” and “birthday.”  I intended to add some stars randomly to the rest of the banner, but didn’t quite get back to that.

Finally, I punched holes at the top a few inches apart (using a regular hole punch) then fed my blue ribbon through, trying to make it lay as flat as possible against the backdrop of the white cardstock.

Now that I’ve entered the world of paper crafts, I can’t wait to make something else with all of the beautiful scrapbook paper.  You know, something besides scrapbooks!

PS.  I also wanted to share a FAIL.  While Ross Boss was working on cutting out the letters for the Happy Birthday Banner, I was attempting to make a Buzz Lightyear Cake, using this cakepan…

Have you ever tried decorating a cake like this?  Well I hadn’t, until this.  I knew it would be tedious, but it was SO DIFFICULT!  I probably should have practice my technique first with a simpler design.  Also, the little insert with the directions and the photo to use as your guide is reversed from the way your cake actually looks.  A few days after this FAIL, I realized I could have rigged up a mirror or something so that the image “matched” what I was trying to decorate.  But my brain kind of imploded while I was trying to do this.  After my cake broke coming out of the pan, trying to smooth it out with frosting (which effectively removed all of the contours of the cake pan), I only got as far as the black outlines (which I kind of just made up as I went along) and filling a few areas before I threw in the towel.  It took me several hours to do that much, and I didn’t even get to the main part of piping in the rest of the colors.  Besides, that was just a practice cake…I was either going to have to do it all over again the night before the party or somehow freeze this cake for a week until the party.  Cake decorating is so NOT my thing.

Poor, deranged Buzz….

We went with hastily decorated cupcakes and cupcake toppers instead.  And they were just fine.

Have YOU ever made a banner?  Have YOU ever used a shaped cake pan like this? What was your experience like?

I am so glad to be done with 30, to be moving on to a new year!

The Picky Apple surprised me with some new shoes…

and a shirt…..

The shirt features some illustrations from one of the funniest blog posts I’ve ever read:  This is Why I’ll Never Be An Adult from Hyperbole and a Half.  This post had me laughing so hard I was crying not only while I was reading the post, but for about an hour afterward.  This is EXACTLY how I feel about cleaning, errands, guilt spirals when I don’t get it done, and many other aspects of being an adult.  Shouldn’t I feel grown up now that I’m 31, married, and a mother?  Don’t answer that.  This shirt makes me smile every time I see it, so I’m displaying it in my closet where it is always in view.  Now every time I walk in the closet I smile…which is not usually the case.

And, inspired by Kelle Hampton’s blog, Enjoying The Small Things, I suggested that The Picky Apple let The Littlest Apple pick out my birthday presents at the Dollar Store.  So here’s what I wound up with:

• Lacrosse stick
• Flashlight (no batteries)
• American flag
• Ceramic flower ball
• Ceramic bird house
• Pink Dora the Explorer hairbrush
• Reading glasses
• Pink paper cups (my favorite color is pink)
• 3 plastic spatulas
• Wooden spoon
• Dinosaur skeleton toys
• Grabber
• Gardening shears
• Small painting of an African village with elephants in the background
• Gravy separator
• Rainbow lei
• Ketchup and mustard squirt bottles

Clearly he got a few things for him (the grabber, the lacrosse stick), but he was SO PROUD and EXCITED about his selections and couldn’t wait to give them to me, along with the apple fritter they picked up from the donut shop.

My parents started a tradition long ago of getting me an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  Mint chocolate chip with chocolate cake.  The tradition has been carried on by The Picky Apple, too.  This year’s cake was particularly cute, with mini ice cream cones on top:

And that was just the beginning of the birthday celebrations…it continued today with cupcakes (about 10 different flavors from local bakery Ooh La La) and homemade vanilla ice cream with my parents, brother and sister-in-law.  And there’s another celebration with The Picky Apple’s family next weekend.  I am so fortunate to have all of my family nearby for celebrating birthdays!

The directions are simple: Stick the flag toothpicks in the foam wreath until the wreath looks full and fluffy.  That’s all there is to it!

(In need of a better wreath hanger for the front door….)

The wreath took me about 2 hours to complete and I found the repetitive nature of the task to be a nice little stress-reliever.  I used around 600 toothpicks on mine (they came in boxes of 120), and there are some places on the sides of the wreath that could still use more.  I would advise starting with the inside of the wreath, instead of the front as I did.  I think this would be fun for older kids to do on their own (maybe on a smaller wreath), and I let The Littlest Apple poke a few toothpicks into my wreath.

Isn’t this fun and easy?  A cute and festive flag wreath to use for July 4th, Memorial Day, Flag day, and any other time you feel like breaking out some patriotic red, white, and blue!

I’m sharing this post with….

Spicy Garlic Nuts

adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

• 4 cups unsalted nuts (I used equal parts peanuts, almonds, cashews, and pecans)
• 2 tablespoons garlic oil (I found roasted garlic oil near the olive oil on the baking aisle)
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Pre-heat oven to 250°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Place all nuts in a large bowl and toss well to combine.

Pour the garlic oil and Worcestershire sauce over the nuts and toss to coat. Mix the dry spices in a separate small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the oiled nuts. Again toss well to coat. Use a silcone spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl so that there are no pockets of oil.

Spread the coated nuts on the parchment lined pan. Bake the nuts for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir well with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the nuts are mostly dry to the touch. They will continue to dry as they cool, so be careful to not overbake.  (Picky Apple Note: I baked mine 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for because they still seemed a bit wet.  Next time I might reduce the oil to 1 1/2 teaspoons, bake them an another 5 minutes, or both)

Remove nuts from oven and let cool on baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired and serve. Store any leftovers airtight at room temperature.

Candy Glazed Nuts

from Gooseberry Patch Christmas All Through The House

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. nuts (the original recipe calls for pecans only, but I used a mix of pecans and almonds…not everyone loves pecans as much as I do!)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Arrange nuts in an aluminum foil-lined 13×9″ baking pan; set aside.  Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar, vanilla, salt.  Stir one minute; remove from heat.  Continue stirring until sugar dissolves; pour over nuts, stirring to coat.  Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 to 35 minutes; stir every 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from oven; spread on wax paper to cool.  Store in an airtight container.

PS. If you’re wondering what I got for The Picky Apple for Father’s Day, we simply exchanged cards/thoughtful notes this year.  He got a homemade card from The Littlest Apple (made by me) with a list of 25 Things I Love About Dad.  Many of them are inside jokes that would take an entire blog post to explain.

What did you give the dads in your life this Father’s Day?

Since we made the Handprint Lilies before I started sharing crafts on my blog, I’ll try to walk you through the instructions.  Sorry I don’t have a photo tutorial!

What you’ll need:

• White cardstock
• Green cardstock
• Yellow pipe cleaners
• Green straws
• Tape

Trace handprints on white paper (pink or lavender would also be lovely!), adding a little “wrist” to the bottom of each handprint, and cut them out.

Cut out 2 green leaves for each lily you are making.

Cut a yellow pipe cleaner into 2 inch strips.

Wrap the “wrist” of the handprint around the end of the straw, leaving about 1/2″of the straw sticking out, and tape in place.

To add leaves, you can punch holes in the end to slide them over the straw, and tape in place, or simply tape in place.

Fold the 2 inch yellow pipe cleaner in half, and put the doubled up end into the end of the straw.

Curl the fingers of the handprint back over a pencil, and style as desired.  My mom put her handprint lilies in some of those vase filler rocks.

Subtitle: A Control Freak’s Guide to Hosting Brunch

Easter Brunch went off without any major hitches yesterday.  We certainly had plenty of food to eat!  I had an ambitious menu, including five new recipes.  (Since it was family, I didn’t mind doing a little experimenting.)  I was pleasantly surprised that ALL five of those dishes turned out great!  I’ll be sharing those recipes and more food photos in the next few days.

I’m already looking forward to hosting another brunch!  I felt like things were so much smoother this time around.  Usually I’m a complete wreck in the minutes before everyone starts showing up.  This year I was calm and collected, aside from one little snip of “Do SOMETHING!  Don’t just stand there!” to my husband about 30 minutes before guests arrived, which I promptly apologized for after realizing he couldn’t read my mind and didn’t know what needed to be done.

Today I thought I’d share some tips on how to have a successful brunch.  Or at least how I managed to get it all done, as well as some notes to myself on things I could do differently next time.

Brunch is a tricky meal to host since it typically starts before noon, leaving you without much prep time the morning of the brunch.  Organization, planning ahead, and prepping the day before are crucial.

Planning your brunch menu:

• In my opinion, it’s called “Brunch” not “Breakfast,” so there should be a mix of breakfast and lunch items.  I still tend to lean heavily toward breakfast dishes, but there are many things that can serve double duty (ex: you can eat a croissant and ham for breakfast or make it into a little sandwich later for lunch; coffee cake can be a breakfast sweet or an afternoon dessert).
• Include some brunch basics. Pick a dish from each (or most) of these categories, or several dishes that combine a few of these categories (ex: a dish with eggs, potatoes and breakfast sausage) and you’ll be all set:
  • Egg Dish (ex: Scrambled Eggs, Migas, Breakfast Burritos)
  • Potato Dish (ex:Potato Hash, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Cheddar Chicken and Potatoes)
  • Bacon/Sausage/Ham
  • Breads/Rolls/Croissants/Muffins (ex: Allspice Crumb Muffins, Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping)
  • Something sweet: Cake/Bread Pudding (ex: Glazed Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake, Chocolate Cinnamon Bread)
  • Fresh fruits
  • Lunch-y things like Salad, Appetizers, Dips (ex: Warm Goat Cheese Toasts with Rosemary, Pecans and Honey, Grilled Chicken Lettuce Wraps)

• Decide whether you want to do potluck or tackle it all yourself.  You’ve got two options:
  • You prepare everything yourself.  Pros: Fellow control-freaks, rejoice!  You can do everything your way! (Ha!)  Have the dishes you love most!  Best suited to smaller groups (15 people or less: any larger, and you’ll definitely need help).  Cons: Potentially a little more costly.  More for you to do.  You won’t get to experience some dishes you might not otherwise try.  Your guests might not get to have some dishes that they like most.
  • Or you can ask guests to bring a dish.  Pros: This will most certainly cut back on your responsibilities.  It might save you a little bit of money.  You get to try some new foods.   Guests get to bring some of their favorites.  Cons: Probably best suited to an event with family or close friends, since you’re making your guests work!  Also, if you’re a control freak like me, asking guests to bring a dish can create a bit of stress.  (Control freaks, keep reading!  The rest of you can move on to the next bullet point!)  I try to find out ahead of time what everyone is bringing, but getting people on MY planning schedule doesn’t always work out so well.  Also, be prepared for general responses like “muffins.”  I would want to know what KIND of muffins?  If they are lemon crumb muffins, then I don’t want to wind up make a lemon cake, too.  (I’m pretty good at stressing about this stuff and over-thinking it, in case you haven’t noticed.)  So you have to let it go if you’re expecting guests to help by bringing a dish.   If you really have your heart set on certain types of food, then you either need to speak up and request it (“Hey mom!  Those potatoes you made at Christmas were great!  Would you mind bringing those?”), assign categories (egg dish, bread/rolls, fruit, dessert) to guests, or resolve to make those things your self.  This is part of the reason our menu this year was so lengthy.  The Picky Apple really wanted Breakfast Burritos and something lemon-y, meanwhile I wanted shrimp and salad.

The Pyrex measuring cup is full of Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing waiting to be poured as the guests arrived...I didn't actually use it as a serving dish, I promise!

Figure out what can be done ahead of time and write out a schedule of what to do when:

• Start with the day of, and work backwards.  Certain dishes need to be served piping hot or ice cold.  Those will be the LAST things you make.  For me, this was the Brie Kisses and adding the dressing to the Chicken Poppy Seed Salad.  Other dishes, like Breakfast Burritos, need to be made the morning of the brunch (though even these could possibly be made the night before), and kept warm in foil or reheated just prior to the event.
• Plan on spending the day before prepping.
  • If you’ve got kids, enlist your husband to help keep them entertained.  I wouldn’t have been able to get anything done without The Picky Apple keeping an eye on The Littlest Apple.
  • Baked goods like Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bundt Cake or muffins can be made ahead of time.  So can dips, fruit and vegetable trays.
  • Some things MUST be made ahead of time, especially if they need to marinate over night, like Spicy Pickled Shrimp and the chicken for the salad.  I actually marinated the chicken on Friday night then grilled it on Saturday and added it to the salad on Sunday.
  • It’s also important to think about components of dishes that can be prepped ahead of time, instead of using “all or nothing” thinking about your dishes.  Yes, the dressing can’t be added to the salad until just before the party, but you can prepare the chicken and sugared almonds the day before.  I cooked the breakfast sausage for the Breakfast Burritos the night before, and that saved me about 10-15 minutes the morning of the brunch.
  • Get out your tablecloths, dishes, glasses and silverware the day before (or earlier).  Lay out your place settings, if you’re doing a more formal brunch.
  • Prepare your centerpieces.  I actually purchased the flowers for the centerpieces on Friday.
  • Prep the drink station the day/night before.  Get out your glasses/goblets and coffee cups.  Name tags for drinks are helpful, especially when there are lots of people and a limited number of glasses!
  • Lay out your serving dishes with post it notes labeling what will be served in each dish.  I used this tip for a 50 person wine & cheese party when I needed LOTS of serving dishes.  It can be such a lifesaver!  Don’t forget the serving utensils!
• Finalize your menu 5-7 days in advance.
  • If you’re asking people to bring dishes and want to know what they’re bringing you’ll need to give them a deadline and start early with your invitation, if at all possible.
  • Shop for your groceries at least 2 days before the event.  That way you’ll have time to run back for anything you forgot.  Keep in mind that most stores will be closed on the big holidays, so plan ahead or do without!

Things to work on for next year:

• Lower centerpieces.  My flower vases were too tall and got in the way of conversation.
• I set out napkins and silverware at the place settings, but kept the plates by the food.  Place settings work best if everyone arrives at the same time, or if you wait to eat until everyone arrives.  As it happened, the dining room table went unused, and I swiped the silverware from the dining room to use at the more centrally located kitchen table for those that arrived later.
• Buy more dessert plates, use disposable (not my favorite option), or be prepared to wash dishes mid-party.
• Less food?  I like to have lots of options, but we did have way too much stuff.  The control freak in me is having trouble with this one because I feel like I need to roll out a restaurant-quality buffet.  (Note to self: You are not a restaurant.  You are one person.  And your name is NOT Martha Stewart.)
• Favors.  I attempted to make the Un-baked Cookie Nests again, but they didn’t harden up like they were supposed to.
• Put more thought into decorations.  Ties/ribbons on chairs, place cards (maybe one that does double duty as a favor), hanging lanterns.
• Takeout containers to send leftovers home with guests.

Even with all of those suggestions for next year, I was still extremely pleased with how smoothly things came together this year.  Maybe I’ll lobby to host Thanksgiving, too!

What are YOUR favorite brunch dishes?  Any other tips for hosting a successful brunch?

image from HGTV.com

Easter Brunch 2010

Breakfast Burritos

Bacon

Quiche

Hash Browns

Scones

Assortment of biscuits, rolls, croissants

Tropical Fruit Muffins

Honey Baked Ham

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

Brie Kisses

Spicy Pickled Shrimp

Veggies and Ranch Dip

Fresh Fruit Tray

Apple Cream Cheese Dessert

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bundt Cake

Mystery Cake

Sparkling Sea Breeze Punch

Un-baked Cookie Nests

from Kitchen Simplicity

Makes: 12 large

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• mini chocolate eggs and coconut, for decorating.

Bring sugar,  milk and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well incorporated.  Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups (or use un-greased silicone muffin cups for easier removal). Using the back of a spoon press the mixture down in the middle and up along the sides, forming a nest. Allow to harden.  Using a knife, loosen the edges and gently pop out the nests.  Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.  To decorate: sprinkle with coconut and fill with mini eggs.

Even The Littlest Apple, who has trouble staying focused on crafts sometimes, enjoyed putting the glue on the egg and sticking some of the buttons on. I think this is a perfect Easter craft for the younger preschoolers! These turned out so cute, don’t you think? PS: I made the green one, in case you couldn’t tell.