July Date - All About Us

I feel like it is the end of an era.  It's already time for the final inclusion in the Dates for a Year Basket!  This labor of love has been truly that...a lot of work, made with a lot of love, and really made with the purpose to continue to spark and grow the love of my sister and her new husband in their first year of marriage.  There have been some simple dates, some extravagant ones, some silly, some romantic.  I feel like I included a large range of dates so that they wouldn't get bored by doing similar things each month.  

Their final date was actually the one that I had planned first.  I wanted Kim & Larry to have an opportunity to reflect on their first year of married life, their love story, and who they have become as a couple while remaining individuals.  This month, Kim & Larry are reflecting and recording "All About Us".  

Here's what was included in the June envelope:

• Date Card
• All About Us book
• Two thin Sharpie markers

Here is the date card that was included in the envelope:

I was inspired to get this book for Kim & Larry by seeing a similar one on Amazon.  I was at Barnes & Noble one day and came across this version.  I had completed the All About Me version while I was in college, so I had an idea of the style of this book.  It's personal, serious, funny, a little scandalous, and a lot of fun.  I thought it would be the perfect way to reflect on being newlyweds and looking to the future.  This is a long book and probably something that they will not finish in just one date.  I hope that it's something they continue to do until it's completed throughout the month.  The idea for the date is for them to find a cozy spot together...either at home or out in a quiet park and begin working through the book.  I suggest that they bring a bottle of wine (I meant to write a couple glasses of wine on their card, not bottles...but whatever floats your boat) {And yes, I also realize I misspelled Sharpies}.  Then they can laugh, talk, and relax together.  I also like this book because it asks a lot of unusual questions, some they may have never even discussed before.  For a couple that has been together for about 5 years, it's hard to find questions they haven't conquered yet, but I would be surprised if they don't find something new to talk about!


This date cost me around $18.00...the book was $12.99 and I splurged to give them brand new markers instead of tossing in a couple I already owned.  You could make this an entire gift basket, and actually I think it would be a really sweet basket to give to a newly engaged couple, as a wedding gift, or for an anniversary.  Find a nice picnic basket and fill it with everything they need...wine & glasses; cheese, meat, and crackers; a nice picnic blanket; the book and pens; chocolate.  Maybe even add a picture from when they first met, their wedding day (for an anniversary gift), or special things that remind them of their relationship.  


I think the only way to make this date cheaper than what I did is to DIY a book of your own.  It actually might be fun to customize your own "All About Us".  If you search "conversation starters" or "relationship questions" on Google, you will get a TON of ideas.  There's also this great blog floating around Pinterest with ideas.  And do ya'll remember those silly surveys we used to fill out ALL THE TIME in the early 2000's on e-mail and forward to our friends?  See what I mean?  There are plenty of ways to create your own book if you don't want to shell out the cash for a published copy.  The only real disadvantage is that if you're making it for a spouse or significant other, you'd already know the questions so the element of surprise and actually thinking out the question together would be taken away.  Also...if you didn't want to spend the time researching and finding just the right kinds of questions, you could instead opt to give a journal or notebook and just plan to write your love story.  You could take turns telling and recording moments of your relationship in your journal.  You could talk about dreams/hopes/plans for the future.  How romantic?!?!  And what a great keepsake for your marriage and eventually your kiddos to have?  


I can't believe I'm saying this now, but that is date number 13 of 13!  We made it a WHOLE YEAR!  I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I have and got some great ideas for yourself or for gifting to others.  I plan to do one more post to walk you through how I planned it all and pulled it together.  


My little sister's anniversary is in just over a week.  I can't believe she's been married almost a year!

But Larry has fit right in with our family.  

Also...I'm secretly planning a new year-long gift.  Stay tuned to find out what it is!

Photo A Day (June)

One of my favorite things I've come across on Pinterest in the past year that I've been excited about trying are the "photo a day" challenges.  I'm a girl that LOVES lists.  And as you know, I love anything that gives me the motivation and opportunity to be creative.  So, in June, I finally decided it was time.  It was tough to keep up once I was working full time (and with a broken cell phone camera), but I was able to complete all 30 days for June.  The list that I found most people followed was from fatmumslim.  I loved it so much, I wanted to share it with my blog friends.  Here's the list she put up for June:

  

And here are my photos:

You can follow my photo a day and/or see the full pictures on my Pinterest Photo.A.Day board.  After taking my pics, I edited them and added the text on PicMonkey, which I love because you don't have to go through signing in and individual user steps.  Just upload, edit, and save!

So, now that June is over it's time to start on July!  I've had a lot of fun with this, it's been a little challenging at times, and my hope is that it will help me grow into a better photographer.  If anything, I'm better about documenting my life through photos.  Why don't you join me??

Summertime Sun Tea

It seems like everyone across the country is pushing through this dreadful heat!  Nashville actually broke its record this past week by getting above 107 degrees!  In this miserable climate, we all need to stay hydrated.  I've been trying to make water a regular habit and something I crave, but I've got to be honest...nothing beats a big glass of sweet tea on a hot summer's day.  And my FAVORITE sweet tea is made with the sun!  If you haven't ever tried making sun tea, it's super easy.  I'll walk you through the steps.  It has a flavor I can't describe, besides to say it's different and delicious.  

Here's what you'll need:

• A large clear jar or container  
• Tea bags (not cold brew)
• Sugar
• Lemon (optional)

You can use any container you like, but the best option is an actual "sun tea jar" like the one pictured above.  I bought mine last summer season at Publix for $4.00, but you can get them at Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Bed Bath & Beyond...pretty much any place that sells picnic/kitchen dishes and glasses.  If you can't find one, you can certainly use a large glass mason jar, just be sure to adjust your ingredient proportions.  I haven't tried to make it in a frosted plastic or opaque container, but I don't think that will work.  The heat from the sunlight is what helps to brew the tea, and I think it would be pretty tough to get it right if the sunlight can't get through.

For the tea, you can use any kind you like.  I prefer to use either Luzianne or Lipton regular iced tea bags.  It's the most plain tea you can get, and the most traditional.  Actually, sometimes there are sun tea directions printed on the side of the box!  You don't want cold brew because the sun is going to be the heat for brewing.  You could also use green tea or another flavor, but I've never tried it myself.

Although I was born in Pennsylvania, I consider myself a southern lady.  I've lived in the south the majority of my life, and am about as ingrained in the culture as a natural born southerner.  That being said, I like my tea SWEET!  You can cut back on this amount if you prefer unsweet or less sweet tea.  For my taste, I measured out 1 cup of sugar.  This seems like a good amount because it's enough to make it sweet, but you still get that unique sun tea flavor.

Next, you'll need to prep your tea bags.  For my 1 gallon container, I used three tea bags.  Simply take each bag out of the paper wrappers and tie the strings together in a regular knot.  I try to place the knot in the middle, so that the tea bags are close together, but have room to spread out in the water.

Next, put it all in the jar!  I dumped my cup of sugar in the bottom, then filled the jar with water.  No need to stir, your sugar will dissolve in the sun and you'll need to stir later.  Next, put your tea bags in the water.  You'll need to use a spoon or other utensil to push them under so that the tea bags and leaves absorb the water.  Finally, I sliced half of a lemon and added them to the top.  You can leave this out if you'd like, but I think the lemon adds the perfect amount of citrus, fresh flavor.  

The next part is that hardest...the waiting.  You'll want to make your sun tea on a hot, sunny day and find a spot that will get direct sunlight for 2-4 hours.  Of course, you'll want it also sitting somewhere that will be undisturbed by weather, animals, people, etc.  I have a tiny patio, so I used a little table and moved it with the sun during the day.  Although this step is the hardest, it's also the easiest.  Find that special brewing place, get your full jar all comfy, and LEAVE IT ALONE!  

You will be able to watch your water slowly transform to tea over a few hours.  I remember doing this as a kid when my mom made sun tea and it was so fun to watch.  It was like magic in my youthful eyes.  So if you have kiddos, be sure to let them watch the magic of the sun!  But remember, don't move it, don't stir it, just let the sun do its thing, girl.

It is really up to you to decide how long to let it brew.  You can bring it inside as soon as you think your tea is brewed to your desired strength.  For my taste, 3 hours seems like the perfect length.  

Once it's finished brewing, bring it inside, give it a stir, and stick it in the fridge.  At this point, it's ready to drink and you can pour it over a glass of ice and enjoy!  I leave the lemon and tea bags in my jar, but I know a lot of people take them out.  I just leave them in because it's a lot less messy to dump them when the jar is empty (which for me, doesn't take very long)!  Sun tea is delicious, but be mindful that this was brewed fresh and was sitting in the sun for several hours.  So although it is uniquely refreshing and enjoyable when you pour your first glass, it doesn't stay fresh for long.  Be sure to drink it all up in about two days and then it will be time to dump what's left (if any).  

This is a great drink for barbecues, pool days, having friends over, etc.  It's not something you can make all year, and I think that small window of opportunity is what makes sun tea so special and enjoyable to me.  I hope you like it as much as I do!  

June Date - Dollar Store Delight

I'm late this month, but I'm down to the second to last envelope in the Dates for a Year Basket!  Since last month was kind of a big date and I had already purchased something special for the last date (July), this month had to be a smaller date.  Sticking with summertime fun, I thought this date should be something that gets them out of the house and excited about spending some quality time together more unique than their regular nights at home.  As I was looking for date ideas, I came across a pretty common date idea, but thought it would be fun to include for June.  This month, Kim & Larry get to create their own date with products from the Dollar Store!

Here's what was included in the June envelope:

• Date Card
• Two $5.00 bills (one for each of them)

Here is the date card that was included in the envelope:

Since Kim is in the wedding planning business, I knew it would be tough to plan a date that had to take place on a weekend.  She's usually busy with rehearsals, setting up, etc.  So this date is one that can be done pretty much any time:  morning, noon, night, weekday or weekend.  That way, they could just grab their envelope and head out when they had a free night together.  There wasn't a lot of planning for this date besides just giving them the cash and the idea.  Really, there's not much planning on their part, either...it's kind of a do-as-you-go date.  For the date, they will head to the dollar store (I suggest going to the kind where everything is a dollar so they can have a larger number of items to use).  The idea is for them to split up and come up with a random 5 items (or whatever they can purchase for $5.00) and then meet again afterwards.  They use whatever they buy to make their date!

I envisioned them buying a CD to listen to, food to munch on, maybe a game to play, scarf to wear, etc.  The possibilities are really endless.  What I love about this one is that if they split up, they will have no idea what the other one is choosing.  This will add the element of surprise and be sure to be the beginnings of a date they will never forget!

This date cost me $10.  You could certainly make this cheaper by only giving them a couple of dollars each, or better yet...give them the challenge to head to the store and collect a variety of items and have their date in the store.  Scratch that.  I'm all about a bargain, but you can't get much cheaper than $10 for a date!  You could make it more expensive by giving them more cash or gift cards.  If they have more money to spend, you could send them to a mega store like Target or Wal-Mart, even the local mall where there would be a lot more to choose from.  

You could make this a basket by doing the shopping for them.  You could put together random items and wrap them, numbering them and instructing them to open one every 15 minutes or so.  That would be kind of a fun basket to do, and fun for the couple to see how the date unravels.  It would be fun to put together for the giver, but I think it might take part of the fun away from the date, too.  

That's pretty much it, folks!  Simple, easy, cheap, and something that would be unlike any other date you've been on.  This is date 12 of 13...only one more to go, and I'll be posting it in only a few short weeks!    

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you were able to spend the day with those you love most.  I have been humbled today while being surrounded by so many blessings and freedom that others have sacrificed so much for to give me.  I am forever grateful.  

I am on vacation, but plan to tell you all about it when I return.  Happy Memorial Day!

Bridal Tea Party Favors

One of my favorite things to do when I am hosting any party is to provide favors for the guests who attend.  Personally, I think it's a simple and easy way to show your guests how much you appreciate their presence at an event you worked so hard to create.  It's also another excuse to be creative and add detail to make a party feel even more special.  

When Mom and I started deciding on favors, we were overwhelmed with so many options!  I had just joined Pinterest a few weeks before we began planning, so that is one of the places I checked when we were trying to decide on the perfect souvenir to send home with our tea party ladies.  Here are some options we thought about:

Teacups & Flowers

Teacup Candles      

Teacup Rings

Mints in Dahlia Tissue

Tea Bags

Cookies

These are all great ideas and if we had more time, more money, or a smaller crowd expectancy, we may have chosen one of these options.  Although we were gathering a collection of teacups for the tea bar, we weren't sure if we would have enough to send home with everyone.  We thought Kim may want to keep some of them as sentimental reminders (she ended up choosing a set and so did I), and also...we wanted teacups to be available for their intended use and didn't want to sacrifice that by filling them with wax or dirt.  So, we disqualified any favor that involved actual teacups.  We thought about tea bags, cookies, candies, etc. but we were already serving a lot of the things we thought about sending home and if someone wasn't a tea drinker, they wouldn't be excited about getting tea.  And although the rings were super cute, we didn't feel that everyone coming would enjoy them enough to wear them.


So, we came up with an idea which incorporated some of the inspiration we got from searching and finding the above options.  One of my parents' tenants actually worked at a chocolate shop where she learned (and grew a passion for) making chocolate treats.  So, with some creative thinking and her help, we came up with these:

Aren't they adorable?  We thought these were the perfect favor because they still had a "tea party" vibe without being too theme-y.  These "Vanilla Creme" spoons are perfect for adding a bit of creaminess and subtle flavor to your cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, warm milk, or even eaten by itself.  And let me tell you...they were DELICIOUS!  Mom and I tried one when we first got them, and we were lucky to have a few leftover.  We tried to spread out the remaining few to savor them, they were so yummy!  You can check out more pictures, a better description, and other things DeAnna makes at her etsy store or facebook page.  

Mom and I got the idea while we were looking around, then asked DeAnna if she could come up with a flavor for us.  We purchased the plastic spoons (that look like real silver) at GFS, but I've also seen them at other party stores, Costco, and even in smaller quantities at Wal-Mart.  We dropped the spoons off to DeAnna and picked them up once they were dipped, decorated, and finished.  She sent them back to us in individual cellophane wrappers (shown) and a simple "Thank You" tag.  

I didn't get a picture of them before I added some extra touches, unfortunately.  They were ready to be handed out as they were when we picked them up.  However, Mom and I had just been shopping at an adorable little Scrapbooking store in Destin while we were vacationing and I picked these up:

I knew we'd be doing favors, but didn't know what that would look like when I got these.  But, I had purchased a few sheets of these simple, pretty "thank you" stickers and had to use them.  Keeping with our tea-party theme, I dug through both my mom's and my own ribbon collections to tie the tags on.  Of course, I had to stick the stickers to something, so I used a 1.5" circle punch to cut out small circles just slightly bigger than the stickers to give them a pop of color and a simple border.  I used card stock to do this...half in green and half in purple.  Once they were all cut, I placed a sticker in the center of each circle (pattern side up), then used my tiny hold punch to make holes for the ribbon.  If you don't have a tiny hole punch, you can use a regular size hole punch.  

When I threaded the ribbon through the holes (using a blunt yarn needle to help them along), they looked like this:

  

I didn't worry about matching the ribbon or using a certain number of each kind, etc. (Which drove my OCD tendencies a little wild).  I think the mixed patterns, textures, and colors made the bunch of them really pretty and eclectic.  

Mom and I also loved the idea of the ring, but thought it might be better to add a charm that could be added to a charm bracelet, necklace chain, or looped onto a key ring.  We purchased an assorted set from Oriental Trading Co. and I attached these to the ribbon with a smaller piece of yarn or edging.  The set came with a slice of pie variety, but we opted to leave those out and only used the teacups and teapots.  

I think these added the perfect finishing touch to our delicious favors!

Once they were all finished, I arranged them in a round wicker basket my mom had at her house:

Then the basket was placed at the table by the front door so that guests could grab a favor on the way in or on their way out.

Kim also chose to use DeAnna for her wedding favors.  Kim's wedding had a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" touch, so she wanted each guest to have a blue Tiffany's box at their seat when they arrived at the reception.  Of course, real diamonds would be a little pricey, so DeAnna made milk and dark chocolate diamonds dusted with shimmer.  These were then packaged into Tiffany blue boxes and of course tied up with a white ribbon:

Teapot Cake Tutorial

Last time, I posted a nice preview of the teapot cake I made for my sister's Bridal Tea Shower, but today I'm going to try my best to do a written tutorial.  The cool thing about this cake is that it looks way more complicated than it actually is.  If you're a little hesitant, give it a try.  I think you'll surprise yourself.


If you've been following my blog or know me at all, you know that I love decorating cakes.  I have become "the cake lady" and am the one everyone turns to when a cake is needed for a birthday or event.  I absolutely LOVE it.  So, for Kim's tea party I decided I wanted to try doing a shaped cake as opposed to my regular round and square decorated cakes.  It was so fun, and I can't wait to try it again!  Actually, I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures while I assembled the teapot cake I came to be so proud of!

I started by purchasing a Wilton Sports Ball 3D Cake pan from JoAnn's for about $12.  There are directions included, but it's pretty much the same as baking in a regular pan besides having to balance each half of the ball on the discs included (which is really not a challenge at all).  I used my favorite strawberry cake recipe and filled the two halves 3/4 full with batter.  I saved the rest for the hydrangea cupcakes I also made that day.  Once they were done, I let them cool for about five minutes, then let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

Unfortunately, here is where my camera was forgotten.  However, I am a visual learner and as a teacher, like to provide as many channels of learning as possible.  So, please forgive my TuxPaint elementary diagrams.  I wanted to make sure you could understand what I explain.


Once both pieces were cool, I needed to cut one of the halves so that it would stand flat and sturdy on the cake stand.  So, I cut about two inches off the rounded edge of one dome.  This was perfect because it later ended up being used as the "lid" of the teapot.  Here's an image to help you get an idea of where I cut:

Okay, if you can understand this next part of assembly...awesome!  This is the trickiest part, so bear with me.  I'm going to number these next steps to try to keep it easy to understand.

1. I took the dome that I just sliced and turned it over, so the wider part was facing up and the side that I just cut from is on the cake plate.  You may also want to add a dot of icing to your plate before placing your piece to keep it from sliding around while decorating.
2. Add your filling to the wide part of the bottom piece that is facing up.  So now you should have only one piece on your plate and filling on top of it.  
3. Next, put the other half (not cut...even though the picture looks like it is cut) on top, wider side facing the filling.  When you place this piece on top, it should look like you have a ball sitting on your cake plate with a flat bottom.
4. Like I mentioned, I created this image without taking too long to figure out how to do the top.  So, try to understand this part.  On TOP of your full dome half, put a small dot of icing.  Take the cut piece leftover from the bottom half that you cut to make the bottom flat.  Place that small part of cut cake on top of the dot of icing on top of the dome.  There will be a small gap between your top dome (half) and the small piece you placed on top.  So you should have a huge cake ball with a "hat," if you will.

Hopefully you could follow that.  I feel awful for not taking pictures this time around!  Here's a diagram to help you out:

Okay!  So, after you have assembled your cake pieces, you get to do the fun part...decorate!  Don't forget to start by covering your entire giant cake ball with a "crumb coat" or a first, light layer of icing.  This first layer will also help pin down the edges of the lid piece so you can't see the gap.  Let this dry first before doing a second layer.  The first layer also catches all of the crumbs that come off of the cake and put those speckles in your icing.  By allowing it to dry, your second layer should be near flawless.


For my spout, handle, and lid button, I used plain white, store-bought fondant.  You can find this at Wal-Mart, craft stores, or anywhere they sell cake-decorating supplies.  It is completely edible, and you can add flavor and/or color by kneading it in.  This was my first time working with fondant, and the white matched my cake, so I did nothing but take it out of the package to use it.  Once you take it out, you can pull off a chunk, roll it, and mold it into whatever shape you'd like.  It's kind of fun and reminded me of Play-Doh days!  If you are not a fan of fondant or can't find any, you could definitely use other things.  Royal icing is great for making solid shapes to decorate with, which is what I used to top the sugar cubes we used at the tea bar.  You could also bake cookies and stick them in as your extra pieces.  They're much lighter, easy to decorate, and, in my opinion, taste better than fondant.


One tip I would have for a cake this size is to make these pieces as thin and small as you can.  One problem I had is that my spout was a little heavy, so it took a lot to get them to stay where I wanted them!  Once your pieces are molded, allow them to air-dry a bit to harden.  That way, when you place them on the cake and are moving them around, you won't change their shapes too much.


So, once your cake is completely iced and your extra pieces are ready, add them to the cake.  This should be done when the base icing is complete, but you haven't decorated yet.  I did this by using toothpicks and sticking part in the fondant and part in the cake.  You will have to play around with angles and the number of picks you need to keep it sturdy.  I've learned this time to use smaller pieces next time.  I had to use lots of toothpicks.


Finally, you get to be creative!  I would recommend adding some kind of border around the edge of the lid to set it apart from the rest of the teapot.  I would also recommend adding a border around the spout and the handle to cover and imperfections or bumps from pushing them into the cake.  I always add a border to the base, too.  At this point, you can decide how to decorate your teapot.  I did small rosebuds around the middle with a polka-dot background.  You could make it fancier by doing flowers all over.  More whimsical by changing the colors and doing swirls, polka dots, and other fun shapes.  Have fun!

I had so much fun with this cake.  I am excited to find an excuse to make another teapot cake (and next time, I'll take pictures and edit this post).  Since the cake was so pretty and kind of realistic, I didn't want to write on it but did want there to be some recognition for Kim.  So, I added the words "Congrats Kim!" Straight to the cake plate.  

I got a lot of compliments on this cake.  Not only was it cute, but definitely delicious!  When I was trying to find a tutorial to help me out with figuring out how to do this, it was tough to find a step-by-step article or blog post anywhere.  I hope that my directions were easy enough to follow so you can make one, too!