Vera's First Birthday Party

Vera turned one year old last week and we celebrated with family and friends at our home. I chose flowers for the theme and a turquoise, peach, and gold color scheme.

I made tissue paper tassels and hung them over the table along with a paper star I picked up on clearance at my local craft store

Vera's monthly photos were displayed inside the panes of two old windows and decorated with felt flowers.

I made felt flower hair clips for the kids and a bee finger puppet for Vera's only "boy friend" at the party (poor guy was way outnumbered).

I also made my first fondant covered cake using this cake recipe and homemade marshmallow fondant. It's pretty tricky to get the fondant to look smooth and I ended up with quite a few imperfections. I hide most of the flaws with a few strategically placed flowers and think it turned out pretty cute. I also made cupcakes and decorated them with fondant flowers.

I couldn't find a large package of gold polka dot balloons anywhere so I cut circles out of label paper (using my circle cutter) and stuck them onto the balloons.

Vera's #1 corsage...I didn't get any close-up photos of her actually wearing it.

Time for cake!

The best part of the party...

We adapted these plans for the Deluxe Kid Wash and made Vera her very own walk through sprinkler out of PVC pipe! We also had a sprinkle mat out. Both were a big hit with the kids.

Vera's great grandparents (far right) traveled all the way from Kansas to celebrate with her!

Cinco De Mayo

Thanks to all my family and friends for all the warm birthday wishes you sent my way! Here's a little run down of my day...

My coworkers took me to Mandola's Italian Market for lunch, where I had a caprese sandwich (tomatoes, mozzarela, and basil). On my way home from work, I stopped by the farmer's market and bought a dozen fresh eggs from Smith and Smith Farms.

When I got home, Zach was there to greet me. As usual, he did a great job picking out my gift. He got me a lovely bouquet of flowers and a gift card to the Sewing Station! I'm sure it won't last long!

Then he handed me a large wrapped box, which he said was from my mom. I assumed he'd picked something up for her since she wouldn't be here, but it turns out she brought it with her the last time she came to visit, and Zach managed to hide it from me until my birthday. Before I reveal what was inside, it requires a bit of a back story...way back...back before I was born. My parents received a set of glass stemware as a wedding gift, and I ended up with it when I went to college. A few months ago during a visit to Houston, my mom and I were browsing a local antique shop and came across a set of the same glassware, except in a larger size. Zach was studying in the car (yes, zach would rather study that go into an antique store) and I drug him inside to see my amazing find and try to convince him that we needed the larger set of glasses to go with the small set we already had. Zach, always the voice of reason, reminded me that we already had a ton of glassware and didn't need any more. So we left the store empty handed.

I'm sure by now you've guessed what was in the box...

After I opened my gifts, we went to Cafe Bleu out on Lake Travis for dinner. It was a nice birthday.

Adam's Birthday

My brother Adam turned 26 last week! We went down to Houston for his birthday party and got to spend time with a lot of family and friends that we haven't seen in a while.

Me, Zach, my brothers Ryan and Adam, Mom

Zach gave Adam a few extra inches of height for his birthday... and took him to a haunted house, which I declined going to.

Happy Birthday Adam, we love you!

Chenille Sweets

I came across a super cute pattern for chenille cupcakes and ice cream by Ric Rac Sews on Etsy. My niece turned three this month so I made her a set.

Happy Birthday Zach!

S: On behalf of Zach's 26th birthday, I would like to share some embarrassing cute photos:

Love you dear!

Birthday

glass orb + pebbles + soil + moss + tiny bench + tiny old couple = hanging terrarium!!!




Zach got me a hanging orb terrarium from Etsy for my birthday! We put it together as soon as we got home from work. It was a little difficult getting all the materials in through the small hole, and I was afraid I was going to kill the moss, but i think it will survive. It came with a tiny park bench and a little old man and woman, who are now seated comfortably in the moss. Eventually the moss is supposed to bloom with small white flowers. The care instructions are pretty simple: indirect light and water every couple of weeks. I checked on my little people last night before going to bed and this morning before I left for work. They looked like they were doing well.

Zilker Botanical Garden

S: Zach took me out to brunch and to Zilker botanical garden as an early birthday surprise! Very thoughtful of him, since I had mentioned a long time ago that I wanted to go to the botanical garden. We went today since my birthday is on Tuesday and we both have work that day. We had brunch at Gypsy Italian Bistro on Barton Springs. Zach had potato mushroom quiche and I had eggs benedict. Both were delicious, and came with bottomless mimosas. We will definitely be back to try out their dinner menu.