Halloween Party!

 Sophia's 2nd birthday...this was a special one!  Yes, my baby was turning two but I'm afraid it was overshadowed by the fact that Martha Stewart herself played a role in this party!!  Let me explain... 

There are a few times during the year that I don't miss a Martha Stewart magazine, show or special; and one of them is Halloween.  So, I was watching The Martha Stewart show one October morning and she had asked that "we" send in pictures of our kids wearing their Halloween costumes.  Sophia had dressed up as a pumpkin the year before (super cute) so I sent the picture in, along with some of the pictures from her first birthday party, and that was that.

About a week later, I received an e-mail from the producer asking me if I would be interested in an opportunity to talk to Martha live on her show...unhhh, YES!!

Everything fell into place very quickly and before I knew it I was chatting with Martha live on her show!  Pretty cool moment!  

Follow this link http://www.marthastewart.com/article/halloween-ornaments-from-martha-stewart-show#ooid=JwNHVlMjoOElx3A9hNu7bkNQCJvke1kW and then click on "Watch the Video" on the lower left side below the Halloween Tree.  And yes, I did make the Halloween Tree.

The Martha Tree

  

I found these Creepy Cupcakes in the Martha Stewart Halloween magazine years before I was a mom and couldn't wait for a chance to try them out!  I used a simple vanilla cake recipe and Martha Stewart's Simple Buttercream recipe to ice them.  I think it works better than regular buttercream for this type of cupcake.  It's a lot less fussy and it sort of dries out, keeping the decorations in place and the cake moist and yummy!

 

 

  

  

 

  

    

 

OK, I'm back! Sorry for the long absence

Almost that time again!

No, not back to school...time to start party planning!!

This year Sophia will be 5 years old!!!  I tend to go a little overboard with birthdays but I love it and look forward to it all year! 

I was so excited when I found out that my due date was October 24th...a Halloween Baby I thought!  Well, she was born on October 30th, even closer than expected.  Her first two birthdays had Halloween themes, but the last couple of years we've strayed from the Halloween theme and I think we might again this year.  There will be plenty of Halloween birthdays to come, I don't want to use up all of my ideas in the first few years!
Her first birthday had a bit of a "pumpkin theme", so cute!

I made these pumpkins using a mini bundt pan.  A simple yellow cake mix with some canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice added to give them a true pumpkin taste.

The birthday girl thoroughly enjoyed her first taste of cake!

Her BFF Maxx was born about 10 days later and has always been the life of the party since the beginning.

A pumpkin sugar cookie as a parting gift.

I always use the Wilton Royal Icing recipe to ice cookies.  It uses meringue powder instead of egg whites which is safer when serving to little ones.

So Cute!

Repurpose - Altoid Tin Pocket Garden

What to do with an old Altoids tin? Create a mini pocket garden! This is such a cute idea from Elizabeth Abernathy. Click here for instructions on how to make your very own.