colored cupcakes baked in baby food jars!

A while back I saw rainbow cake baked in a mason jar and fell in love.

At that moment I knew for my sister's baby shower I would attempt to bake cake in baby food jars. How appropriate!

Bright Pink, orange, and blue are her colors and with the help of the new neon food coloring on the market (gasp! sorry all-natural food coloring, you just didn't work for this party!) I was able to achieve just that. It was actually quite easy. Spray the jars with a non-stick baking spray and fill with batter. I layered my colors but didn't pay too much attention to being perfect. I wasn't looking for stripes just colorful fun cake. It's important to fill the jars just shy of the halfway mark to ensure that it doesn't rise up and leak over the sides while baking. That wouldn't be so pretty. I used 4oz jars which is the perfect snack size equivalent to a cupcake. After filling the jars, place on a cookie sheet, or in a cupcake pan, and bake. After they have cooled completely top with a dollop of frosting.

I like that the whole sweet treat is contained in the jar. You could even put the lid on, cover it with a coordinating piece of fabric, tie a ribbon around it and use it as a cute baby shower favor!

Ours were placed on the dessert table next to a pile of bright orange spoons (you need a spoon to eat the cake out of the jar) to enjoy while watching the big present-opening-event.

from baby shower invitation to quilt: alphabet and critters sitting in a tree!

My very talented mom has made it her "thing" to transform our baby shower invitation into a quilt for the new little one. She did it for me back in 2009 with an owl quilt that is fantastic and bright and really outdid herself this time around, too! Look at this quilt she made for my sister. We hung it up at the shower as part of our decor. Amazing!

She changed the cat to look like my sister's cat. Very clever, mom!

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b is for baby! super cute baby shower invite with an alphabet theme

I searched everywhere for the right invitation for my sister's baby shower. I knew what I was looking for and I just couldn't find it.

I wanted to make it myself but I lean more towards cutting and pasting of actual paper and that just wasn't going to work in this case. I needed computer design skills.

Sadly, it is a language I do not speak.

Then I thought to myself, hmmm, hold on a second here, I have a super cool graphic designer lady living right next store. Maybe she can help.

Yay! I am so lucky to have Bethany Ng as a neighbor!

She turned my general sketch of a tree with the alphabet "growing" from it with a few cute critters into a sweet reality that was even better than I imagined. It was so nice to work with her.

Check out her website and blog here.

This was the top portion of the back side of the invite. The information for the party was listed underneath.

It's next Saturday, so I'm geared up for my east coast trip and getting all of my baby shower ideas together:

Alphabet theme (as you can see!) in bright hues of pink, orange, blue and green, cake pops as favors, colored cupcakes in baby food jars, A-Z necessities for the new parent, cookies, a fantastic party decoration that I found online that has to be kept top secret until the big day, and a few other treats for my very prego sis.

These images belong to Bethany Ng. Copyright 2011. Be nice. Don't steal. And be sure to give credit where credit is due!

happy meal

This amazing crocheted treat was made by Kate Darnall in Portland. It definitely puts a new spin on fast food. Seems so much healthier when it's hand crafted of yarn.

She donated it to the art benefit in honor of our friend, Kevin. Clementine's eyes lit up when she saw it on display.

Now, it's ours for the little miss to serve up in her kitchen,

a mom approved happy meal!

For those nifty crocheters out there, ahem, mom, yes, you're one of them, here is a page of free food patterns from the wonderful world of crafty bloggers.

a ranch wedding

We packed up the car with our western gear and hit the road this past weekend.

Themed weddings can be really fun!

The little miss enjoyed all of her accessories, especially her hat and horse, and of course, the fringed leather satchel that she could keep her lip balm in.

Our fabulous babysitter looked super cute dressed in a vintage square dance dress that I found on etsy.

It was one stop shopping for me at Lodekka, where I found that amazing vintage gunne sax and sweet pair of red boots!

Yee Haw!

the bunny whisperer

We went camping this past weekend on the coast. S'mores, of course, were a highlight but so were the hundreds of bunnies that roamed the campground. It was very strange.

one of the many things i love about being a mom

A warm sunny day by the kiddie pool seemed like the perfect place to drag out the good ol’ crayola washable paints. I love that smell! It really brings me back to the elementary school art room.

I purchased a roll of white kraft paper, taped a large piece to the fence in our little yard, and poured out dollops of paint on plates as the little miss eagerly watched.

In my mind this was going to be a wild washable paint extravaganza! I imagined her covered from head to toe, pressing herself against the paper and then running into the kiddie pool to wash off,

BUT NO, Clementine has to wipe her fingers off in between colors while finger painting! She hates getting her hands “dirty”, which is definitely not a trate inherited from me! Hopefully she will outgrow it. Until then, she’s really into the different brushes; it was her first time using them and she knew just what to do.

She was so happy as as she painted for a bit, splashed in the pool, took a ride down the slide and then back to her ‘masterpiece’ she went, smiling from ear to ear.

Finally, she dipped her hand in a color and pressed it on the paper. She was slightly hesitant, but once I showed her that Weezie could do it she was more at ease.

Then came the feet! She had absolutely no qualms about stepping on that plate of paint and kicking her little legs up. She thought that was great!

Next time, I think I’ll put the paper on the ground and let her have a colorful, one tiny person dance party.

Yes, this is what it’s all about!