One of my NEW favorite OLD things!!!

So, I had two events that I am hosting this month... Sophie's baptism luncheon, and a baby shower. I thought about buying paper goods for each, and it seemed like a waste of money, and is not the most environmentally friendly thing to do.

I was at... you guessed it... DI the other day, and found these serving dishes and matching cups, and knew I had to have them. They had 30 matching pieces, and I was able to talk the manager into cutting the price almost in half, as I was buying the whole set. The next day, I found more trays that matched at Savers, and the next week, I found even more at another DI. I believe I have around 45 altogether.

What I like about glass dishes:

They are super sturdy, and don't bend when they hold a lot of food.
They are environmentally friendly.
They look beautiful!
They bring a different kind of elegance to a party.
Becasue they are from DI, I am not worrying if one gets broken. (Nothing did break, by the way, and we had a bunch of kids here.)
It was fun to watch people's faces as they picked them up, and were surprised to be holding a real dish!

I was too busy during the luncheon to take any pictures of food on the plate. I will try to remember on Saturday! It really did look pretty though. :)

Baptism Towel

My mom and dad got Soph this cute personalized towel for her baptism. We found it on etsy.com. She was SO excited when she opened it. You can order one here. They have styles for boys and girls. They are located in Utah, and ship quickly.

Sophie's Favorite Things

My cute friend Christine gave me the idea to serve some of Sophie's favorite foods for her baptism luncheon on Saturday. So, when I asked her what they were... this is what she told me:

Bologna sandwiches with only Mayo and bread
Peanut butter and celery
Banana cake with browned butter frosting

I figured we could serve those things in addition to a bunch of other things (adults would want to eat), so I made this little sign to display on the table, so people knew why we were serving what we were serving. I used the same fonts and colors as the invitations.

I got the frame at DI for $2, and this is how it looked before I painted it:

This is the lovely bologna display:

I spent a total of $2.75 for a dish and a candle stick at the DI.
I put them together with command strips, because I didn't want to have to keep it set up when I stored it, and it worked SO well! See the command strips below? I used three.

This is how they looked when I bought them.

I didn't want to take all the peanut butter out and put it in a dish, so I came up with this creative way of hiding the original packaging...

Tah-dah!!!

Do you recognize the paper? It is left over from the banner. It matched the table and banner perfectly!!! Not too bad for a kids food choice :)

Last but not least... the banana bars with browned butter frosting. I think I may have to post this recipe. They are fantastic!!!

I am linking up to:

Sophia Banner

So, I wasn't going to make a big deal out of this,
but I couldn't help it.
I LOVE banners, and wanted to make
a cute one for her special day.

I wanted it to be a little chunky, and chose
not to use my paper cutter.

If you want the same look, this is what you need to do...

Choose papers you like. I bought super thick ones (for the most part) from Hobby Lobby. Then I bought matching beads, and used string and tulle that I already had.

I chose thick paper, because I wanted to glue wooden letters on, for more depth.

Paint your letters, and glue them to the paper when dry. I just used regular Elmer's type glue from the dollar store, and it worked very well.

Poke small holes with a tack through your paper, and string the beads, tulle, and paper on in the order you choose. I had 3 papers that were thinner, and I ended up taping the backs, so the weight of the beads wouldn't force them to bow. Now that I have it, I think I am going to hang it in Sophie's room, or save it for a future birthday party or something.

GIGANTIC marshmallow on a stick!

Sophia wanted to give out something with a picture of her on it for her baptism luncheon, and this is what I came up with... GIGANTIC marshmallows on a stick with almond bark, sprinkles and tulle. My mom and I made them yesterday, and I think they turned out SO CUTE!!!

Seriously... what adult, or child wouldn't want one of these :)

How darling!?!

If you want to do this, you will need gigantic marshmallows. I found these in Salt Lake City at a Mexican Market. I didn't write down the name, but it is on 33rd South, just above state street, on the south side of the street, across from the movie theater.

They are so huge... I wonder how they are roasted by a campfire? They are $3.99 a bag. You get 30 in a bag. They are about half and half white to pink. I bought two bags, and made 30 sticks.

You also need wooden dowels. I forgot to take a picture, but mine are about 12 inches long, and they are from Wal-mart. Sucker sticks do not work. They are too short.

I just used crystal white sprinkles from Wal-mart. You could do all sorts of sprinkles, or nuts, or coconut. Put the sprinkles in a bowl, and use a spoon to sprinkle the sprinkles over the wet chocolate.

Almond bark. Melt in the microwave. You could add food coloring if you like. I just wanted white.

You can use all sorts of kitchen tools to apply the color. Below is the end of a wooden spoon, used to make polka-dots.

Egg strainer to make big polka-dots.

Paint brush for patterns.

Mini cheese graters for rectangles.

The side of a fork for making straight lines.

Cookie cutter for shapes. If I had known I was going to use cookie cutters, I would have bought a flower or some additional shapes.

End of a wooden spoon for dots.

Here is how they looked without the embellishments.

Finished product... SO CUTE!!!

Fun memory for a special day :)

Baptism Invitation

This is the invitation I made for Sophie's baptism. I thought it turned out pretty cute, considering I only know how to use Picasa :)

These are the envelopes and inserts. Maybe it was a little over the top...
But, that's how I roll!