Sam's Nursery

I have been getting a lot of emails lately from expecting moms about Sam's Nursery that was featured on Baby Lifestyles last year. So I figured I would go ahead and do a non-baking related post today and instead showcase my little boys nursery and all the details that go along with it! This is honestly my absolute favorite room in our house. The fun patterns and bright colors bring me so much joy and definitely bring a smile to Sam's face every time he is in his room! I can't believe he will be ONE at the end of March. Boy how time sure does fly.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of Sam's lime, turquoise and orange nursery! It truly is a mix of old and new pieces, with a modern twist and I just love how everything came together. My goal was to create a room that reflected both mine and Randolph's personalities. I wanted a unique space, something that felt like it was created with lots of love and DIY projects. Since we live in the south and Randolph LOVES to be on the water..he will fish and go crabbing any free chance he can get I wanted to add a small touch of things that Randolph loves to do and can't wait to share with Sam some day in his room. So the crab accents in the picture frames and pillow and the fishing pole lamp turned out to be absolutely perfect.

A detailed list of all the sources with links is provided at the bottom.

 
Paint Color: Polished Sliver by Valspar from Lowe's

Glider & Ottoman: Siegel's Baby Room 
Crib: Siegel's Baby Room 
Dresser/Changing Table: Charles Phillips Antiques, custom painted by Audrey Phillips Paint and Design
Side Table: Cotton City Antique Mall, Mobile AL
Wall Frames: found at 2 local antique stores - Midtown Antiques & Cotton City Antique Mall, Mobile AL
Yarn Letters: DIY Project - bought the wood letters at Hobby Lobby and orange yarn from Michael's
Fabric: Carousel Designs
Curtains: Handmade by my step-mom (Lime & White Zig Zag Fabric)

Crib Skirt: Handmade by my step-mom (Lime & White Zig Zag, Lime Organic and Tangerine Fabric)

Quilt: Handmade by my dad (Lime & White Zig Zag and Tangerine and White Minky Chenille Fabric)

Pillows: Handmade by my step-mom (Aqua & White Zig Zag, Aqua Organic and Tangerine Fabric)
Toy Basket: liner was handmade by my step-mom (Aqua & White Zig Zag)
Fishing Pole Lamp: Gift from my step-mom, she bought the lamp at Hobby Lobby and then covered the existing plaid shade in aqua fabric to match the nursery
Baby Age Blocks: Montana Vintage Greens on etsy
ABC Print: Trendy Peas on etsy (size 16 x 20), bought the wood frame from Hobby Lobby and had the print matted in the frame at Michael's
Crab Art: DIY Project - had the white Pottery Barn Frames from our wedding, bought the wooden crabs and orange paint from Michael's
Diaper Caddy: Michael's
Green Lamp: Target
Plush Stacking Toy & Striped/Polka dot Plush Dog: gifts from Auntie Em


Hope you all enjoyed a peak into little Sam's nursery! 

Jake and the Neverland Pirates Birthday Cake

Yo ho ho! One of my favorite little guys just turned 5 last weekend! To help him celebrate such an important birthday I had the honor of creating his birthday cake for the fourth year in a row! This year he wanted Jake and the Neverland Pirates Theme! Let's just say Joshua is definitely paving the way for me and teaching me all kinds of things about what little boys like so I'll know what to expect as our little Sam gets older. We have just recently started turning on the tv for Sam to watch Disney Jr. and luckily I happened to catch a glimpse at Jake and the Neverland Pirates about a week before I made Joshua's birthday cake. I was getting a little worried that I would have no clue how to decorate a cake for a show I had never seen before! Luckily I was able to pick up a few of the key characters, Jake, Tick Tock Croc and Captain Hook at the store to use for cake toppers. In the past I have always created round cakes for Joshua so I thought it would be fun to switch things up this year and create a sheet cake to appear as both water and sand with a treasure hunt. Using some brown tinted fondant I made a map with the birthday boys name and age with a trail towards the treasure and crumbled crushed graham crackers on top to resemble sand. I had looked high and low for some gold deblumes at various stores and came up empty handed...what was I to do? Luckily Mardi Gras is in full swing right now and we just happened to go to the first parade the day before I needed to make this cake. And what do you know, the first float that comes by throws silver coins! Hooray...I finally have the treasure for the cake! I also added a strand of gold Mardi Gras beads. Joshua and his friends all loved the cake!

Hope you all enjoy the Jake Cake too!

Someone is going to be ONE - {Party Planning}

Today my little guy is 10 months old! He is hardly a baby anymore but a toddler on the verge of walking any day now. I can't believe how much cuter he gets each day! He has a huge smile, 7 teeth coming in (4 on top, 3 on bottom) and loves to wave to the lights and say "da da da da" like crazy! With his FIRST birthday quickly approaching in 2 months, you better believe that the planning for his birthday bash is well underway! Here's a sneak peak at some of the colors I plan to use for his special day! This polka dot fabric jumped out at me and I quickly snatched it up realizing I could do so many things with these colors! And it just so happens I already had 3 cake pedestals to match!

Stripe straws are all the rage these days and I have seen them in every color of the rainbow on a ton of party planning sites online, but you'll never guess where I found these for half the price...Michaels for $2.00! Gotta love a good find like this! So I grabbed 3 bags just in case! So now that you know the color scheme...it's time to reveal the theme...drum roll please....

"Little Man" or "Lil Man" or "Mustache Bash"...not sure officially what I'm going to call it yet, but know for sure that there will be all kinds of little ties, bow ties and mustaches in plaids, stripes and polka dots for my little guys 1st birthday party! At first I was thinking about doing a beach themed party since we have a crab theme in Sam's nursery, and then I decided to explore the milk & cookie party route, but again changed my mind to the tie & mustache theme, which is the plan I'm sticking with! After all, Sam's daddy does wear a tie to work everyday and what little boy doesn't want to grow up and be just like their daddy, so I thought this would be a super fun idea!

Now it's time to start thinking about the party invitations. I've got a cute idea for a photo shoot in mind if I can pull it off! Of course I have already been thinking about all the sugary goodness that I plan to bake, decorate and serve for all the guests! And I'm sure you guessed that there will definitely be some cookies involved from the cookie cutters above! So stay tuned as I continue to plan our little Sam's 1st birthday, I'll be sure to share little peaks along the way!

Time to Get Organized - Baking Organization {Part 1}

Happy New Year! I know, we are already 21 days into the 2013, it's about time I made my blogging debut in the new year right? I've been enjoying some time away from the kitchen and instead spending time with my family. We've been working on house projects trying to give our living room and dining room a new look for the new year! We've been wanting to tackle these rooms for awhile now and finally decided it was time.

We've also been soaking up as much quality time we can with Sam these days. After taking a few weeks vacation for Christmas and now having to get back in a normal work routine, it's hard to go from seeing your baby all day long everyday to only getting to see him for about 5 hours a day while he is awake before and after day care! So of course, baking has been pushed aside lately so I can spend quality time with my little man! He's so much fun these days, talking like crazy, waving and standing on his own (I think he'll be walking soon!) He will be 10 months old on Friday! Where has the time gone?

So to kick off blogging for the new year I thought it would be appropriate to start with some organization! You see I have this little addiction with sprinkles, cupcake liners and ribbon. I have way too much of them all! The bright colors, fun shapes, and patterns, they draw me in and I can't help but continue to buy all of these baking gems whenever I'm out. My stash was getting a little out of control, so I decided it was finally time to put an end to the chaos and get my baking supplies organized!

This post is the first of what will be a multi-part Baking Organization series over the next few weeks. I've got some great ideas for organization that you won't want to miss. You'll also get to see a peek into my kitchen and the behind the scenes of all my baking supplies and props! So here we go!

Plastic bins (shoe size) are the perfect container to store your jars of sprinkles, cupcake liners and spools of ribbon in. I bought a ton of these aqua bins at Target a while back on sale and have finally found the perfect use for them...baking storage!

I grabbed a few packs of Martha Stewart's Home Office labels at Staples for easy identification of each bin.

Here is just a teeny tiny peak at my stash...there is LOTS more where that came from, trust me! Or ask my husband...he thinks I have a problem...he just doesn't quite understand that sprinkles and cupcake liners are a bakers best friend!

 

Look how nicely everything packs up in these plastic bins! The bins are clear which is perfect so you can see what you have inside, and they are stackable so they store nicely on a shelf.

Take off the lid and look how nice and visible all your spools of ribbon are!

Check back soon for more Baking Organization tips and ideas. I can't wait to show you how I store my cookie cutters!

Don't worry I've got a few fun baking ideas for Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day heading your way too! And I'm also in the middle of planning Sam's 1st birthday so you won't want to miss the big reveal of the theme for his party and pictures and the planning along the way!

It's going to be a great 2013 and I hope share in this journey with me!

Peppermint Ice Cream & Chocolate Dipped Crushed Candy Cane Cones

What do you do with all those left over candy canes now that Christmas is over? Make Peppermint Ice Cream and Chocolate Dipped Crushed Candy Cane Ice Cream Cones!

This recipe is truly the easiest no fuss ice cream recipe I have ever come across and you don't even need an ice cream maker! Why is it so simple? It only involves 2 Ingredients! I know it sounds crazy, but it is absolutely true and perfectly delicious! I have seen "2 Ingredient Ice Cream" on several blogs before and it's been on my "to try" list for some time now. Well with an abundance of candy canes left over from Christmas I thought peppermint ice cream would be the perfect cool treat since I've done my fair share of eating cookies and cakes these last few days! And since you can't have ice cream without a cone, well of course a chocolate dipped cone with crushed candy canes is a necessity!

So grab some chocolate and melt it in a bowl. Dip the top of each cone in the melted chocolate.

Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of each chocolate dipped cone.

Simple. Festive. Delicious.

I'm thinking white chocolate dipped cones would also be equally amazing!

Now that the cones are made, let's focus on the ice cream. All you need is 2 ingredients: heavy cream + sweetened condensed milk. Beat the heavy cream until stiff and then fold in the condensed milk. Stir in your favorite toppings - crushed candy canes & peppermint extract is what I used. Freeze for 6 hours. It really can't get any easier than this and honestly still tastes rich and creamy like any ice cream you would find at the store or from your favorite ice cream shop!

 

Scoop ice cream into a bowl and sprinkle with more crushed candy canes!

 

Or serve with a chocolate dipped cone!

2 Ingredient Peppermint Ice Cream
(inspired by Eagle Brand)

2 cups heavy cream
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
20 crushed mini candy canes
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1. Place heavy cream in bowl of stand mixer. Using whisk attachment beat on high for about 1-2 minutes until stiff.
2. Fold in sweetened condensed milk.
3. Add in crushed candy canes and peppermint extract. (Or any other mix-ins you prefer)
4. Place ice cream in a plastic container with a lid and freeze for 6 hours.

Chocolate Dipped Crushed Candy Cane Ice Cream Cones

1 box sugar cones
8 oz chocolate candy bark
10 crushed mini candy canes

1. Place chocolate candy bark in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 90 seconds and stir. Continue microwaving at 15 second intervals stirring after each until chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. Dip top of sugar cone in chocolate.
3. Sprinkled crushed candy canes on top.
4. Place dipped cone on a piece of wax paper to harden.
5. Serve with Peppermint Ice Cream.

Hope you all enjoy this recipe! This is definitely one that I will be keeping on hand to try with different mix-ins! What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies

There's still time to squeeze in one more Christmas treat and these are so super cute and easy and something your kids will get a kick out of! These may look like your normal gingerbread men cookies...

but with the addition of a few candies...eyeballs, mini M&M's and candy canes...

and turning them upside down...Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer comes to life! I first saw the idea for these "upside down" gingerbread reindeer cookies when a friend posted a picture on her Facebook page. The picture she posted had the reindeer antlers and face created using all piped royal icing. Instead of recreating the same look from the picture I saw I thought it would be a lot easier to just use some simple candies, one of which I'm sure you all have on hand this time of the year, mini candy canes. You will need a little bit of royal icing to attach all the candy to the cookies.

Here's step-by-step photos to bring Rudolph to life.

Aren't these the cutest Reindeer you have ever seen!

I used Bridget of Bake @ 350 Gingerbread Cookie recipe out of her new book Decorating Cookies: 60+ Designs for Holidays, Celebrations & Everyday. This recipe is delicious, and produces a thick and chewy cookie! I'm a long time follower of Bridget's blog and was so excited to get my hands on her new cookie book! Her cookie recipes are delicious and her decorating skills are beautiful. Her book is packed full of some amazing and unique cookie decorating ideas. One of the best parts is that her book shows step-by-step photos for decorating all her cookies. She really helps guide you through the decorating process from start to finish so you can create some beautiful cookies.

I packaged up these cookies and passed them out to all the kids at a local preschool I was volunteering at for their holiday party! If you are still looking for the perfect last minute treat to make with your kids this Christmas, these Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies are perfect!

 

Wishing you and your family a Wonderful Christmas!