I have so much to be thankful for this year- a wonderful family, amazing friends, and most of all, my little boys who are my whole world. Here's my sweet Sam ready for preschool with a batch of turkey cupcakes!
I think Sam has a future doing something creative... here is the cupcake he decorated all by himself!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Many more pictures and party details coming soon! I had a photographer come take pictures of the party and I should be getting them tomorrow... I can't wait to see the pictures myself!
Party snacks were set up along the buffet like a train, each snack with a train inspired name.
These adorable little candy trains decorated the tables.
The birthday banner was a huge train I cut on the Cricut... too long to get in one picture!
These train labels from Parties by Hardie were PERFECT!! They come as a pdf file so you can print as many as you need! I used them for the water bottle labels, and tags for the train shaped chocolate candies, the train cookie favors, and to decorate various galvanized tins around the party. Love, love, love these labels!!
The cupcakes were wrapped in train themed paper and topped with fondant trains from Sugar Robot on etsy.com
Party favors included these train sugar cookies that I made.
White chocolate molded train candies I made {and somehow managed to get to the party before my little Jake ate them all!! Silly boy learned how to push a chair around the kitchen to reach up and grab the good stuff!}...
And these party bags for the kids! Inside each bag there was a model train kit, a wooden train whistle, and a train lollipop, along with some other sweet goodies.
It was a fun afternoon for all of the guests who visited Evan's train station!! And now it's time to move on from trains and on to rockets... my own little man is turning five VERY soon!!
The boys and I celebrated the beginning of Fall with a Caramel Apple Party! We're still waiting for fall weather here, but ever since I first heard of this party theme last fall, I started thinking of fun ideas. To keep it fun and minimize the chaos, both of my boys chose just three of their favorite buddies to invite over.
-Bacon, Apple, Cheddar Quiche
-Apple Streusel Muffins
-Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches (with apples and pecans)
-PB&J sandwiches for the kids, shaped like apples
-Apple slices with caramel cream cheese dip
-Hot spiced apple cider
-Chilled apple cider
-Coffee (I searched for caramel apple creamer, but couldn't find it... bummer)
-100 % apple juice boxes for the kids
-Red apple cupcakes
-Green apple cupcakes
-Red apple cookies
-Red apple cake pops inspired by Bakerella
Caramel apple making was the main event. I invisioned sticky, gooey messiness, but thanks to the kids being well-occupied with the train tracks upstairs in the toy room, they came downstairs at different times so it was easy to help them make their sweet apple creations.
And no party would be complete without party favors! I was going to have them stamp their own favor bag with apples dipped in paint, but since it was too hot to do that outside and I couldn't handle having all those little ones with paint inside, the bags were plain. They were filled with yummy apple inspired treats.
And moms deserve party favors too!
How cute are these?! I got the idea from here and thought they were the cutest little cupcakes ever. I made 35 of these for another Back to School training {last month- Somehow I had this saved as a draft and forgot to publish it, so better late than never!} for the teachers at a local elementary school, along with some cute water bottle labels. It *almost* made me miss teaching... okay really, I just thought it woud've been fun to get a fun cupcake like this back when I was teaching 2nd grade! 
When baking desserts for a rehearsal dinner a few weeks back, I needed something "cute" but also quick and easy. And since it was 129 thousand degrees outside that day, I needed something that wouldn't melt in the heat. I came up with these little Rice Krispie treats on a lollipop stick. Cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and tied with a simple ribbon, these little cuties did the trick!
They each chose a few of their favorite friends (and their sweet mamas) to come over for brunch, apple craft, and caramel apple making!! I wish we could've invited more, but we're trying to stick to a budget here... something I'm infamous for being really, really bad at doing!
These adorable apple cupcakes are on the menu for dessert. I found them here and love any excuse to make them!
More apple pictures coming soon!
These pirate hat chocolate lollipops were so fun to make! 35 of them for a Back to School training for the teachers at one of the local elementary schools. Need some cute favors for your next party... ask me about these little sweet treats!
This past weekend we had the pleasure of celebrating our sweet little friend Sydney's 5th birthday at the bay in beautiful San Diego. I made these fun little cupcakes and toppers to celebrate. I'll be adding lots of cupcake toppers to my little shop soon... they are so cute, simple, inexpensive, and a great way to add detail to your next party!
The water bottles were wrapped in various jungle animal prints.
Food that matched the theme {all with cute little labels on jungle print paper}
And these cute little monkey cupcakes were fun too.
We had a small candy bar with homemade sugar cookies {giraffes and elephants} for the party guests to take home.
The take out containers for the candy were one of my favorite party details!
And the cookies were a hit too!
Even some of the gifts matched the jungle theme... so cute!
It was a great baby shower for Mandy and we're thrilled that it was a success!
I have a little wish list of all the little baking pretties I want {need}!!
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