I have a thing for gnomes. My friend Katie and I have been talking about throwing a gnome themed party for some time now. We get so excited talking about it and overwhelmed with all the details we want to include: full gnome costumes, gnome size treats, a photo taking area, costume props for people, etc. Ran across a blog called xoelle where the writer and her family all dressed as gnomes for Halloween. They all look amazing! I love the shot of them in their garden:) You can read about the whole project here. What great Halloween costumes!
This is my nephew. He likes sugar just like his mom and aunt. My sister sent me this picture recently and I can hardly stand the cuteness.
The turkey one was a close second but ultimately, I think it would overwhelm Furter's small head.
With each passing year, I love Halloween more and more! This year was my 4th annual pumpkin carving party. It is always so much fun looking at dessert recipes and picking which ones I want to make for the party. I made my first attempt at an Amy Atlas style dessert bar set up. This year I made "Buried Alive" cupcakes (modified from a Rachel Ray muffin recipe), Oreo spiders and mini eyeball cupcakes. I purchased giant chocolate dipped and sprinkled marshmallows from the bakery counter at Hallmark and popcorn from Velvet Creme Popcorn (headquartered within 1/4 mile from my house!). The "Buried Alive" cupcakes were the hit of the party! The most popular question of the night was "Where did you find all those baby doll arms?" Hobby Lobby. In fact, I cleared them OUT of their baby doll arms. 
After a potluck dinner and the dessert buffet, people carved and painted pumpkin. Lauren's was my favorite: a dinosaur with a talk bubble saying "OH YEAH." Being that she lives in an apartment, it got to stay on my porch for Halloween! All in all, a great Halloween to go down in the books.
One of my bestest friends is getting married in Mexico this coming April. I have been gifted the honor of creating her wedding suite. Just finished up the save-the-dates and look forward to shipping off the little guys in the mail tomorrow morning. She wanted to do something unique and involving candy. A match made in sugarpants heaven as far as I'm concerned.
46 tiny suitcases filled with "champagne bubbles" candy will be headed toward guests' mailboxes starting tomorrow!
Ran across this little soap shop in Vancouver where they make dessert-shaped soaps! They had their window set up like a bake shop except everything is soap. Kinda depressing when you can't eat any of the "sweets" but also pretty freaking cool! 
My favorite was the fruitcake soap! How cute would that be in your bathroom during an ugly sweater party? They also had tiny soaps wrapped up in cellophane like candies.
A few months back, I purchased the "Message-in-a-cookie cutters" from William Sonoma. I didn't have a specific occasion in mind for which I planned to use them but they were just too stinking cool to not buy and just have on hand. Surely and occasion would come. And that it did. I am a recent addition to the "Glee" fanbase after watching all of season 1 on dvd over a week long period. Let's just say I was a liiiiiiiiittle excited about the season 2 premiere. I made some special cookies for the watching party at my friend Aaron's. They were delicious and perfectly perfect for the occasion. Thank you Mr. Sonoma.
This year was another great time at the Iowa State Fair. We made our usual stops: the birthing barn to see baby animals, the FFA projects, the 4H projects, the tractor exhibit, and the food carts. After lunch I am always in the mood for some fair sweets and this year it was harder than ever to choose! Right after we'd downed ice cream at the dairy barn, I came across a new booth where they were selling "Fair Squares" which were essentially rice krispy treats on a stick. I appreciated the cute booth design and the unique idea. Maybe next year I'll save room for one.
While I am a fan of the fair sweets, Donavan is a fan of the fair meat.
1. Some color inspiration to start with.
2. 5 bowls of beautiful batter.
3. The layer that didn't quite make it to the final cake. So sad. 
4. The birthday boy's life slogan decorated the unassuming cake:)
5. Ta Dah! Color! So easy to make and so many smiles.
So I have a problem. I have been thinking and thinking and thinking for weeks and weeks and weeks to try to come up with a new name for my etsy shop. Here are some names I have come up with:
I made these little onesies for my cousin Bradley and his wife Ashley. They had twins about a month ago and she sent me a pic of them in them today. They are the cutest little guys. My day is officially complete.
I bet my nephew would look suuuuuuuuuper cute in them. I am normally not a Croc fan but just this once, I have to say that these are pretty adorable.
