Bunny Cakes

Our Foxy & Fresh Thanksgiving

Here's a look at our Thanksgiving starting with the kiddie table.  This year we featured paper foxes made by the boys and I (from a Paper Source kit) with pastel pumpkins and gourds piled high on our kid's table.  Our kiddie table used to be non-existent, but thanks to Oliver & little Brooks we have some new inspiration.  The paper table cloth is from Mari Mi (available at Target) and is a remnant piece I just never threw away--I love the sweet little polka dots.  The gold utensils (West Elm) and gold leaves give the kiddie table a touch of sophistication, which is good because my sister sat there for most of the meal.

 I initially created the centerpiece below for our main Thanksgivng table but I ended up using it on the dessert table.

Instead I went with the bright and fresh clippings from our camellia plant which just happened to be blooming.  I can never predict when it will bloom, but when it does it is always a treat because it is usually long after summer has past.  The camellia blooms were tucked amongst orange, yellow and green variegated gourds.  I opted to go without a tablecloth and instead only used cloth green and white toile napkins.

Our Thanksgiving post wouldn't be complete without a picture of the beautiful and tasty turkey prepared by Chef Miles.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-K

Our Easter

This Easter we had a nice and relaxing late brunch.  We kept our menu simple which added to the relaxing atmosphere.  For our table I reused the daffodils and just displayed some of the bright eggs the boys made.  A few more colorful touches with the salad plates and glasses rounded out our Easter table.  We also celebrated my Mom's birthday with a surprisingly delicious & lite trifle made with angel food cake, lite cool whip and rainbow sprinkles (sorry no pictures)--it was a major hit.  This was the first year little O (my nephew) was an active egg hunt participant which made it a lot more fun as he delighted in finding each egg.  I am looking forward to when all 4 boys will be out there hunting for eggs.  Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend...I always give my Mom plants for her birthday and the beautiful cupcakes were made by our neighbors.

-K

Glittered Eggs

Martha [Stewart] is the queen of many things--glitter included.  She has the best glitter selection out there.  I recommend her glitter collection packs, which give you a wide selection of colors that you can mix and match as you desire.  Also, her new florescent glitter collection offers a bunch of fun, bold colors.  This year I thought it would be fun to glitter some eggs to add some bling to old Easter favorites: daffodils and candy.  Glittering eggs is pretty easy.  To start with you can either paint or dye your eggs (I would paint them if they're fake or dye them if they're real).  Then coat with craft glue and sprinkle on a heavy coat of glitter and shake off the excess.  Plan to glitter about half your egg at a time...this way you can get a nice even coat.  Finally enjoy!  You can embellish your eggs further by adding stickers or ribbon.  If you are going to place your glittered eggs with food be sure to sit them in cupcake liners.

For the treat tower below the boys helped me make jelly bean carrot favors (idea from Martha) and then we layered in mini chocolate bunnies and carrots with our glittered eggs.  I used stickers (from Martha) and ribbon to add a little extra to the display.  The cake stands are also from Martha via her Macy's line.

My second use of the glittered eggs was to add some interest to Spring daffodils.  I first layered some sheet moss down at the base of the daffodils.  Then I nestled in the glittered eggs and some colorful glass flowers.  I attached a glass hummingbird to a skewer so he could hover amongst the blooms.  I also tied gold elastic around a few of the eggs to complement the glitter.

Happy glittering!

-K

Fuschia Thanksgiving Table

This year I went with a fuschia color scheme with orange and blue accents for our Thanksgiving table.  As always the color scheme was inspired by the flower centerpiece.  Since I usually wait until the day before Thanksgiving to get the flowers I never really get to plan out what the table will look like.  On the day of Thanksgiving the first thing I do is put together the flower arrangement and then go from there.  Since I don't have to do the cooking (thank you Chef M!!!!!) I am afforded the luxury of time to focus on the fun stuff.  I even had some extra time to decorate the kiddie table.

The napkins are a Liberty print I picked up in London...just kidding,they are actually from World Market.  They have pretty tiny pink, orange and blue flowers on them.  And because of the blue on the napkins I decided to introduce the blue glasses.  I only wish I had some fab gold flatware to set out as well.

For the kiddie table I started with a kraft paper base and then layered on gourds, turkeys, decorative corn and fall-colored jewels.  The table was fun enough to keep little O occupied for a while.  The turkey clip art is from Darcy Miller.  If you tape the turkeys to skewers then you can almost add them to anything!

-K

Garden Elements - Boxwood

Every Spring my mind turns green while dreaming up possibilities for our landscaping.  We have a small backyard with a high sloping hill at the halfway point.  With two energetic boys we want to devote most of the space to a grassy play land.  This leaves the boarders of our yard and around the exterior of the house for planting.  Even with such limited space I still love to drool over inspiration pictures and dream of what could be.  To me the perfect landscaping includes at least these three elements: boxwood, hydrangea and roses.  

I love boxwood for the form, structure and greenery they provide.  They add a classic look to anything.  The other bonus to them is they are versatile, you can pot them, hedge them or use them to create amazing shapes.  They are also evergreen, so they will keep your garden green all year round.  Here are a few more reasons why I think boxwood (or any evergreen shrubs) are a must...

I could truly go on and on, but hopefully I have made my point.  If you want to see more you can check out my Pinterst 'Garden Inspiration' Board.

Our Easter Table

When setting up our Easter table I usually let the flowers dictate the color palette, so I am always at the mercy of our local flowershop (aka the grocery store).  I count on ranunculus being available at this time of year and I am usually not disappointed.  They are the perfect spring flower, bright and colorful with buds that look like they will burst open at any moment.  I cannot walk away from them.  This year I combined two bunches of ranunculus (light and dark pink) with two kinds of tulips (a parrot tulip and a soft baby pink tulip) to create our Easter centerpiece--total cost: $33.  I used our pink glasses and white & pink table runner to pick up the dark pink of the centerpiece and grounded everything on a soft blue linen table cloth.  A few bunnies and washi paper easter eggs finished the table.

The selection of ranunculus at our grocery store...check out the new maroon & gold variety and the spikey green variety!  The peachy color in the bottom picture is dreamy, I may have to use those next year.

-K

Turkey Day 2011

We had a very lovely *Thanksgiving*.  We stayed true to our family traditions and only veered slightly.  We went sans tablecloth (loved it, no last minute ironing) and because I missed out on making sugar cookies for Halloween I had to make some for Thanksgiving.  I added our guests names to turkey cookies and had intended them to be place-markers, but my icing script needs some work so I saved them for the dessert table.  We also made mini turkeys, fall leaves and flowers with the extra cookie dough.  This year's centerpiece was my favorite from last few years.  It consisted of four flower bunches from our local grocery store (salmon colored roses, orange and red berries & greenery) with some red leaves from our yard and peasant feathers added in to complete the look.

Little O had his first meal and year ago last Thanksgiving and he surely enjoyed his Thanksgiving meal again this year!  In this picture he looks so much like my sister as a baby.

-K

Pinkberry

All the rain has made our bushes explode with berries!  Right now the berries are various shades of pink.  I couldn't help snipping off some branches to bring their loveliness inside.

 

-K

Another Year

Today I turn 29 again.  I remember when the boys were real little, I used to feel old because I was a parent.  Now the boys actually make me feel younger.  They are at the age now where we can laugh together and joke around; its so fun.  I am looking forward to lots more!  Here are pictures from the birthday brunch this past weekend.  

-K 

Blue and Pink Non-Baby Shower Brunch

For the past 6 weekends, I have either been hosting a brunch or been out of town.  This weekend we had an intimate brunch to celebrate a friend's pregnancy.  Our friend was firmly set against a baby shower, so we came up with a brunch alternative with a very selective guest list.  The table was set with a baby blue, white and pink color palette.  She's having a boy, but since the brunch was for her I wanted to keep a feminine vibe.  I would have totally used peonies and ranunculus again for the center piece, but there were no more ranunculus to be found.  So instead I went with fuchsia peonies, green and white hydrangeas and pink lisianthus.  I loved how it turned out.  The colors were perfect, both soft and cheery. 

 A day after the brunch, I swapped out the table cloth for a few of the Calypso St. Barth for Target votives in pink (love them!).

-K