:: Hosting Thanksgiving - inexpensive tablecloths

You might be in the pickle that I'm in.

You're hosting Thanksgiving and you have a gazillion guests that will be coming.

 {sound familiar?}

The last thing you want to do is spend a ton of money on tablecloths.

Am I right?

Well, I found these tablecloths on Amazon that will be perfect to meet my hosting needs

and they'll also be nice to use for dessert tables.

$12.99 isn't bad at all.

By the way, have I mentioned how excited I am to host Thanksgiving?!
I can finally cross it off my list.

:: Party Details - ugly sweater party

I haven't put on a party in such a long time and I knew a couples "Ugly Sweater Party"

would be perfect.

We had a hot chocolate bar with yummy treats,

some Christmas Trivia, opened white elephant gifts, 

gave a prize for the ugliest sweater,

and played Christmas Reverse Charades (which was a hit).

It was so nice to be able to create once again and to do what I love

 to do . . . put on a party!

I feel like my life has been so busy and stressful lately

so it was nice to have some fun with some good friends.

I usually like to try to design my own invites, but I was pressed for time

so I found this cute one off of etsy.

I bought these mugs from ikea for $1 each

and followed this tutorial here from DesignMom.

And here was my little helper who just had to put the jingle bells on the mug

so it could look "cute".

It was so much fun, that I plan on doing this yearly!

invitation:  YvoneBDesigns from etsy

mugs: ikea

servingware: Old Town Imports

:: Party Details - washi tape flags

For the graduation party, I wanted something cute to put on the top of the mound of cookies.

I had a lot of extra washi tape left over from the announcements, 

so I decided to make a few flags with the tape and with toothpicks.

This might be the easiest tutorial ever.

And I think the pictures are pretty much self explanatory.

Will be linking to these parties here.

:: Party Details - easter picnic printable

So, just today I realized that Easter is creeping up on us, once again.

Haven't even started sewing the girl's Easter dresses.

Instead, I decided to plan a last minute Easter Picnic for Ava and her friends next week.

This is the invitation I designed.

Oh, and I decided to make one that you can download for free!

Enjoy!

Go here to download it.

:: Party Time - frozen yogurt bar

Source: iloveswmag.com via Amy on Pinterest

Last month, my family was in Utah for my brother's wedding.
A few days before, we threw a wedding shower for my sister-in-law.
I had seen this pin above on pinterest for a frozen yogurt bar.
So, we decided to do it.

It was a hit!
We bought the frozen yogurt from the local grocery store
and then had:

- strawberries
- bananas
- blueberries
- brownie bites
- m&ms
- crushed kit kat bars
-crushed butterfinger
- crushed graham crackers
 . . . basically, the list could go on and on.

It was very easy to prepare.
And even those who were health conscious had some too!

{my sisters, sisters-in-law, mom and I}

:: Party Details - "best cake ever" recipe

So, here it is, ladies and gents.

The BEST cake recipe out there!

And I'm not just saying that.

Pin It

White Almond Sour Cream Cake
{can be found here on food.com}

2 (18 ounce) boxes white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 2⁄3; cups water

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons real vanilla

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 cups sour cream

8 large egg whites

Directions:

1. 1
   Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.
2. 2
   Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. 3
   Pour into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full.
4. 4
   Lightly tap cake pans on counter to bring air bubbles to top.
5. 5
   Bake in preheated 325° F oven until cake tests done.
6. 6
   Baking time varies according to the size and depth of pans being used.
7. 7
   I used Wilton's Bake Even Strips on my cake pans to ensure a level-topped cake which required absolutely no trimming-- I highly recommend these, or good quality professional baking pans.
8. 8
   In 2" deep pans, this recipe makes:
9. 9
   One 14" round and one 6" round
10. 10
    or One 16" round
11. 11
    or One 12" round and one 10" round
12. 12
    or One 12 X 18" sheet cake
13. 13
    or One 12" round and one 8" round and one 6" round
14. 14
    or Two 9" squares.
15. 15
    or 5 dozen cupcakes.
16. 16
    Half the recipe makes:
17. 17
    Two 7" rounds
18. 18
    or Two 6" rounds and 6 cupcakes.
19. 19
    For chocolate cake: use chocolate mixes and substitute 6 whole eggs for the egg whites.
20. 20
    For liqueur flavors: substitute alcohol (such as champagne or Kahlua) for about 1 cup of the water in the recipe.
21. 21
    For berry flavors: use frozen berries, thaw reserving the juice. Substitute the berry juice for part of the water in the recipe, and stir the berries in at the end.
22. 22
    For lemon cake: substitute lemon juice for about 1 cup of the water in the recipe, use 6 whole eggs instead of the whites, stir in 1 Tblsp lemon zest, and use 1 tsp of a good lemon extract in place of the almond.
23. 23
    For white chocolate: melt 8oz white baking chocolate & cool slightly. use 6 whole eggs in the recipe instead of the whites, temper the chocolate by stirring in a small amount of the batter, then add the white chocolate to the entire batter and stir well. Doesn't bake up quite as high as the original, so add a pinch more batter to the pans.
    
    

    So, there you go! 

     The only thing I don't add in, is the almond extract {can't stand the stuff}, but it's still delicious without it!

    Thank you, Lesley of Kensington Blue.  

    I will be forever indebted to you!
    
    Oh, and the shabby apple giveaway ends tonight!
    Don't forget to enter! {there might be low entries}
    
    I'll be linking to these parties here.

:: Party Details - pink ombre cake

For Ava's birthday, I made this pink ombre cake.

And the recipe I used is pretty much the best cake recipe out there!

{and I don't say that about any cake}

Come back Monday for the delicious recipe.

You won't regret it.
{well, your hips might}

Yum!

:: Family Happenings - ava's birthday {party}

Sick of the birthday posts yet?  I might be.

And I still haven't even posted about Reese's party {shame on me}.

Well, this year I needed to simplify things a bit, so I decided to not do a big par-tay {like last year}.

I was definitely tempted, don't get me wrong.

And I had the PERFECT party planned for Ava.

Ideas were flowing into that crazy brain of mine, left and right.

But, this year is just not the year.

So we decided to do a smaller party with her friends and their family one Sunday after church.

All I did was . . .

make this awesome pink ombre cake,

make cupcakes,

buy 4 pink flowers,

pink balloons for the decor,

put up a cute picture of the birthday girl

 . . . and that's about it.

I made this yummy, pink ombre cake for the missy.

Really easy to do, just a little time consuming.

We then had everyone write birthday wishes on the balloons

and then the kids let them off.

Ava LOVES this birthday tradition.

:: Party Time - ava's halloween party

So, I decided I wanted Ava's Halloween Party to be simple.

I know. I know.

You're dissappointed that I didn't make halloween aprons for all of the kiddos, huh.

{yes, I'm mocking myself}

Anyway, it would be a Halloween breakfast.

I was gonna make pancakes, but that was just stressing me out.

Crazy, huh. Pancakes = stress?

Who knew?

So I just decided to go with a good 'ole fall treat.

Donuts and apple juice.

Yum.

And some yogurt and fruit was also available.

We don't have a ton of money to spend on our parties,

so I try to make do with what we have, find it on clearance, or make it myself.

And guess what? It actually works.

So, I thought I'd give you a run down:

invitations - free (made on picnik.com)

food - total of about $10-$12 (with a ton left over)

black sheets (used as a tablecloth) - bought awhile ago to be used as a photography background (. . . never slept on)

cheesecloth (on top of sheet) - bought awhile ago as a photography prop (comes in packages of 1 or 2 and are cheap)

black cakestands - made a few years ago with thrifted candlesticks and thrifted plates

napkins and plates - bought on clearance for $0.50 a pack

paper pinwheels - seen these all over and decided to do my own little version out of newspaper and cupcake liners I already had (to go with the grey/orange theme of course)

ikea glasses - I've used these for almost all of my parties cause if one breaks, it's not a big deal ($1.50 for 6 of them - - I even let the kids use them . . . while the parents are usually silently freaking out - I try to have sippy cups available though)

paper straws - found a good deal on them awhile back in grey, turquoise, pink and red (so, I try to plan my parties with at least one of those colors so I can use them - weird? possibly.)

witches cauldron and goodie baggies - found in the past years' after Halloween sale so they were super cheap

So there you go.

Who said parties had to be expensive?!

I know mine aren't.

But they're still enjoyed.

And that's all that matters.

Here's a picture of the girls before the party.

Reese's costume isn't finished so she wore this cute halloween-y outfit.

{Ava was trying to keep her still so we wouldn't have a blurry picture - -

love my photog assistant}

Did you have a Halloween party?

I'll be linking to these parties here.