WHAT TO DO WITH THE CORKS YOU SAVE

To update my counter this spring I used this beautiful canister from Pottery Barn and fake white tulips I have had for a decade, but the stems needed coverage. The solution came to my mind when I found a bag of corks in my cupboard. Will it look nice? It did!

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BREAKFAST IN BED - WHO DOESN'T LIKE IT?

If you are bringing breakfast in bed for anyone, put attention to the details. Please, no disposable plates! I was impressed by my dear husband and kids' choices! From the plate to the arrangement of the food. Beautiful & delicious! They really put their hearts into it. Literally! THANKS!

(Pictures taken with my brand new Nikon D5000! Thanks again!)

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JUMBO CUPCAKE, a show of rainbow colors!

For my daughter's rainbow birthday party I made small cupcakes for the kids and a jumbo rainbow cupcake to sing the happy birthday and served that to the adults. The cake was beautiful to decorate the table of treats but specially colorful when cut open! It is said that people eat with their eyes... I don't know, but for the first time we had no leftover  from the kids' birthday cake!

 

I used a white cake mix (because I had made from scratch a lot of other treats) but you can use any white cake recipe. Do not use whole wheat flower or yellow cake mix, because the colors are never going to be right. Divide the cake dough in six equal parts and color using food or frosting coloring to make purple (blue +red), blue, green (blue + yellow), yellow, orange (yellow + red) and red. Layer on a jumbo cake pan (I bought it at Walmart) starting from purple and going up to red. Follow the usual instructions of your recipe for baking. You will do the same with the frosting to top after cooked. Take a look at my post on the small cupcakes with rainbow frosting. (I colored extra frosting when baking those to cover this cake). Start applying the frosting from the top (inside) and move outwards. I am not a super baker, so I didn't achieve the perfection I would like but to be honest it didn't matter!  The colors do the trick for an attractive cake anyway! I recommend placing cake on a white cake stand or decorating with white marshmallows around the cake if you do not have a white stand or serving plate. (the contrast is better and if using the marshmallows they will look like clouds!). This same technique can be used for smaller cupcakes. Enjoy!

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MAKE A RAINBOW PARTY - FUN & COLORFUL!

Somewhere over the rainbow a little girl turned 3!  

The party was simply beautiful! This is a gender neutral theme you can use for any age. All the food served was colorful and I had a table of treats (above) to die for! Since the party was outdoors, I placed rainbow colored pinwheels around the yard, planted colorful flowers on a large pot a month in advance so the pot looked more mature for the party (bellow) and even decorated with wind chimes and outdoor decor following the theme.

Here is what was served: veggie platters (broccoli, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, carrots, yellow squash and petit cucumber), fruit trays (black grapes, strawberry, papaya, mango, green grapes, blueberry, oranges, grapefruit and  kiwi), avocado, blue corn and yellow corn tortilla chips, butter popcorn, rainbow goldfish and fruit loops. Unfortunately there are no pictures of them. ;(

We decided to buy an inflatable bouncer instead of renting one and it was great! We paid almost the same and the kids have been using it a LOT! But since it was a little smaller then the ones we use to rent I bought a "paint your own" pin wheel (it is VERY windy in Texas in April) at Oriental Trading Co. So I set a few cans with markers for the kids to draw, but I wasn't sure kids would be interested. It turns out it was a huge success! Kids really enjoyed!

I paid attention to every detail... To sing happy birthday, instead of the traditional hat, I opted to each guest a rainbow lei, displayed in  a glass canister before given out (bellow). Bows of a rainbow ribbon (found at Hobby Lobby) added a little charm here and there.

But the table of sweets was the hit! I am not sure if it was because of the decoration or the delicious treats! That is why I will be posting recipes  and detailed pictures of all the sweets this coming week! So you will need to check for: the butterfly goody bags, Brazilian Chocolate Balls (Brigadeiro), Brazilian Coconut Kisses (Beijinho de Coco), Soft Mary (Maria Mole), Rainbow Jumbo Cupcake, Confetti Cupcakes with Rainbow Frosting! Yumm! We we still had Rainbow Layered M&Ms, Jelly Beans Jar and Lollipops!

I could not have done it without the help of my family who was visiting from Brazil and the wonderful work of my friends from idea studio, who made the personalized invitation, labels and thank you notes! Thanks for coming! 

Besides the butterfly bag each guest received a bag with a tag saying "thanks for coming!" (above) with little toys all with the rainbow colors, but I found the rainbow crayon at OTC.

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The Art of Botanical Arranging - FREE class at Pottery Barn

Don't know what to do after church next Sunday? Need an excuse to have a nice brunch and spend time with a girlfriend? Need to brighten up your room to welcome the warm season? My favorite spring change in the house is bringing new flowers and botanicals indoors, with real and "I can't believe is not real" plants,  and gardening outdoors!

Pottery Barn has free decorating classes every month! The next theme is flower and botanical arrangement. Classes will be held the next two Sundays, April 25th and May 2nd. You can bring a vase and flowers and they will show you how to arrange them. Click here to  RSVP to your local store.

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DON'T YOUR KIDS JUST LOVE CATERPILLARS?

I am pretty sure almost everyone recognizes the picture above! Yeah! "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by author and terrific illustrator Eric Carle. But does your child really knows what a caterpillar is? Caterpillars are the larval state of butterflies and moths. Show your kids these amazing pictures from Wikipedia! Wow! Aren't they beautiful?  Don't your kids love them? Well, they will if you grow some at home! Simply buy the Butterfly Garden (bellow) by Insect Lore and you too will love them! It is fascinating to see how fast they grow!

Think outside the cocoon! How about having a caterpillar party for your child? You can make caterpillar cupcakes, rent an inflatable crawl toy and buy stickers like these! (or go to ideastudiodesign.com, they can personalize everything paper, from your party to your life!)

Other foods you can arrange and serve as the cute creatures include cookies, crackers and mini pancakes. Basically, anything round! 

Looking for caterpillar wall decoration or paintings? Try the triple canvas one bellow! Or the button caterpillar art!

 

When looking for toys, the choices are almost limitless, but my favorite still is Gund's "Tinkle, Crinkle, Rattle & Squeak Caterpillar" available from tiny to giant!

For girl's clothes you can't beat this shirt and hair clip bellow!

 And of course you can try crafting some caterpillar with your kids by painting some foam balls, gluing pom-poms together (pipe cleaners make antennas and feet) or recycling egg cartoons like this one:

And if you are lucky to found one around, let your little scientist touch it or hold it!

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CAN SPRINGTIME GET ANY CUTER THAN THIS?

 A simple change of lamp shade can add charm to a little girl's room!

potterybarnkids.com

FREE DECORATING CLASSES AT POTTERY BARN

 

Everyone loves Pottery Barn style and most of us would like to be able to decorate just like the pictures of their catalog, right? Well, what a lot of of people don't know is that your local Pottery Barn offers free decorating classes!

• Go to potterybarn.com
• Scroll down to RESOURCES and click on "store events"
• Choose the class you want to attend and RSVP by calling the store nearest you.
• Have fun!