Bunny Cakes

A Christmas Tree for Baby

My older boys have a special miniature Christmas tree in their room.  It's decorated with ornaments loving made out of candy (thanks to Martha for the inspiration).  Naturally I wanted little Brooks to have his own special tree in his room.  When I pulled out what I had up in his room last Christmas I was horrified.  I couldn't believe 'that' was the best I could come up with.  Sure he was only 4 months at the time and I had just started back at work, but it still didn't seem like a valid excuse.  After I was done chiding myself for last year's disgraceful attempt I stripped down the tree to nothing.  But then I couldn't think of anything cool to do for his tree, but I put up his miniature tree anyway hoping for some inspiration.  It sat there for a while as an empty slate waiting for me to do something.  I finally wrapped the felted ball garland we used in our Christmas card photo shoot around the tree, but it was still very, very lacking.  Maybe next year, I thought.  Then one night I got the idea to use one of his toys to make ornaments for his tree.  It was perfect--easy and simple, but still meaningful since the toy used to belong to his brothers and therefore practically vintage (*wink*--does 10 years count as vintage?).

Here is the toy (from Pottery Barn Kids) prior to any alterations.  I am not even sure what it is called.

After dismantling the toy I settled in with some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (can't stop baking) and ribbon to tie through the blocks. Viola!  Done!

Here is the tree.  I never got around to making a proper tree skirt for it.  This picture was taken just before I packed it up till next year.  I hope I don't take it out of the box next year and give myself three lashings for another poor attempt.  It could still use a little something, but at least little Brooks seemed to like it (or he was just happy to finally get grabby with it).  

Happy Holidays!

-K

Our Christmas Card

I spend a lot of time thinking about our annual Christmas card.  Starting in the fall I start looking at the different card websites to get an idea of the various card designs I like (my favorite sites are Paper Culture, Minted & Tiny Prints).  This gets my mind thinking of possible compositions so when it does come time to shoot I am somewhat prepared.  Of course trying to get one single good shot of three squirmy kids is NOT easy.  For the older kids I use bribes...$5-$10 each, but only after I have gotten a good shot--they will tell you this is one of the only times I use flat out bribery.  This year I made the mistake of waking them up on a Saturday morning to get the shoot done as early as possible and to accommodate the little one's happy schedule.  As a result one of the twins looks a little bloated and red-eyed (lesson learned, I will not do that again).  Usually I do one photo session in front of our tree and one elsewhere around our house, but this year since we lost a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas our tree was not set up so I only got one session in.  Also little Brooks was not too happy at the end of our first shoot so I lost the patience to try another one.  Here is the 'behind the scene' look at our photo shoot...

Here is our our card actually turned out...I went with Minted this year despite my love of Paper Culture.  Next year I will go back to Paper Culture, their cards are just a little bit nicer plus eco-friendly.

I also got a little creative with the stamps this year and went with the ultra cool Ray Charles stamps instead of the expected holiday stamps. And I love the kraft envelopes offered by Minted.

-K

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

Easy Halloween Brownie Cookie Treats

I always try to sign up to bring soccer snacks right around Halloween time.  This weekend we brought these goodies to the team...Brownies + Frosting + Candy Corn Oreos + More Frosting + Ghostie Topper = Total Yumminess.

Here's the progression...Start with brownies baked in a mini-bundt cake pan...

Add some Halloween frosting (I used Pilsbury Halloween Funfetti)...For this layer you don't have to make the icing look pretty.  It will act as the glue to keep the Oreo on top of the brownie.

Next, add your Oreo cookie...we used the extra delicious and seasonal Candy Corn version.

Time to add more frosting...no complaints here.

Finally, add your Halloween topper.  These ghosties are from Wilton (we purchased them from Michael's), but if you didn't have these you can always use some candy corn.

Done!  Ready for the team!

-K

Martha's Halloween Hunt

Have you been playing along with Martha's Halloween Hunt on Instagram and Twitter?  Everyday she posts a new riddle, participants need to answer the riddle in their post.  Here are some our Halloween Instagrams pics (#MarthaHalloweenHunt).  Follow us on Instagram, our username is KayBeeBoo.

-----*Update*-----

Our picture was selected as the Week 2 Winner!  Thanks, Martha!

-K

Chevron Halloween Boo Poem

I have been biding my time till it is appropriate to start the neighborhood Boo chain.  Our family is definitely ready.  We just need to bake some brownies and wait for the cover of dark, oh yeah, and wait for it to be October.  OK, now that October is finally here we are giving a one week grace period for everyone else to get in the Halloween spirit and then we will strike.  Last year I created a new Boo Poem with some a cute ghostie Boo sign.  I had planned to use that for many years, but this year as I was biding my time I ended up creating a new version of the Boo Poem.  This version is a little more sophisticated, but still very festive.  You can download your free version of our updated *Chevron Boo Poem* here.  Here's a peek at what it looks like...

Here's the actual Boo poem (it is unchanged from last year):

*The Halloween Boo Poem* 

The phantom ghost has come to town 
To leave some goodies...I see you've found.
If you wish to make this a happier Fall...
Continue this greeting, this phantom call.

First, post this Ghost where it can be seen,
And leave it there until Halloween.
This will scare other Phantoms who may visit.
Be sure to participate, you don't want to miss it!

Next, leave treats at two doors where the Phantom hasn’t hit.
You have only two days to act, so be quick!
Deliver at dark when there isn't much light...
Ring the doorbell and run--stay out of sight!!

And last, but not least, come join in the season.
Don't worry, be happy, you need no good reason.
This is all in good fun and we are just trying to say...
Happy Halloween & Have a Great Ghosty Day!

Happy Booing!

-K

Happy Father's Day - Drunken Mess Style

We had to celebrate Father's Day early, which meant last night.  This was a good thing because the boys and I were busting at the seems in anticipation of our Father's Day celebration so we could present him with the (almost) perfect gift.  Hubby for whatever reason loves The Hangover movie poster.  Since I won't allow it to be hung in our finished basement he has a copy of the poster hanging on the inside of the door that leads to the unfinished area of our basement (and to the beer fridge).  It has fallen down a few times and he has dutifully hung it right back up, most recently with heavy duty poster tape to ensure its proper placement for eternity.  In pondering what I could do for Father's Day the idea hit me to recreate The Hangover movie poster with our kids.  I soon as I thought of it, I knew he would love it.  I picked a Sunday when he was working to be the photo shoot day.  Prior to that I gathered the props (sunglasses, baby carrier, fake blood, etc.) and prepped the kids.  The older ones were good to go, but the baby was a different story...I crossed my fingers.  On the day of the shoot I gave the older boys the carrot (fro yo) and the stick (no video games for a month) to ensure speedy cooperation.  Then I turned to the baby, he was a mess and was already rocking pink eye (and unknown to us, an ear infection).  He refused the baby carrier (darn).  He refused the sunglasses (damn).  We carried on.  I managed to get 4 snaps with the kids posed before baby B went nuts.  Luckily one shot was decent enough.  I originally planned to Photoshop one of the boys in as Bradley Cooper, but it didn't look right (damn, again).  Even with the little disappointments along the way our version of The Hangover poster still turned out not bad.  Hubby loved it (so predictable) and we loved that he loved it.  

-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

White Chocolate Easter Bunny Pops

Last year I found a sweet chocolate bunny mold at Target.  It was cute and cheap, so I bought it.  Actually I really like the Easter merchandise at Target.  They have great stuff year after year and I am always excited to check it out.  But, I digress, back to the chocolate mold...I bought the mold but didn't have a strong inclination to actually use it until the boys asked to make something for Easter.  It seemed like a perfect task for them, all we needed to do was melt chocolate and squeeze it into the molds.  The first bunnies the boys created turned out a bit messy, but by the second one they both got the hang of it.  After the bunnies hardened we wrapped them in cello bags and tied them with ribbon.  They came out super cute, the boys were really proud of their efforts.  I put the extra bunny pops in a milk glass vase with Easter grass and some faux eggs and thought it made a lovely Easter decoration.  Hopefully we can find some time to make them again this year.

-K