Tea for 2: Family Fun

Okay, last post on Cassy's party.  But I had to share a great idea my hubby had.

He had me compile all of Cassy's pictures and make them into a slide show.

Then he hooked the laptop up to the T.V. screen so that everyone could watch while they mingled.

I didn't add any music because I knew it would already be noisy with 31 people, so we didn't need more commotion.

Anyway, after I edited and deleted the not so good pictures, I was able to cut it back to 575!

I won't share them all with you, but I want to share a few of my favorites.

 This little girl really pushed me to the limit.

After 3 other babies, I faced one of my biggest fears and got an epidural.

Just after they finished the epidural, the doctor discovered she had down a flip since my appointment the day before and was now breech.  They had already broken my water, so an inversion didn't work (thought I was grateful  I had listened to the Spirit and gotten that epidural.)

They told me I was going to have to face my second and greatest fear.  A c-section.

I was scared out of my mind, but the doctors and my hubby were great.

They got me through it just fine, and it was so worth it when I held Miss Cassidy for the first time.

I know this one is fuzzy, but I couldn't resist sharing her first Easter.

I love this tender little moment.

Charly is such the little mommy!

I took all the girls' pictures in this hat

and made a scrapbook page for Daddy that said

Happy Father's Day

from you little "Deeres"

Best Buddies

 First Birthday

One of Cassy's favorite people, Grandpa Great

Mother's Day 2010

We started a new tradition of going to Temple Square to see all of the amazing flowers.  What a great photo op!

Thrill Seeker!

Fun at the park

Cassy's other favorite person, Grandpa P.

First Steps

Bein' Silly

Halloween 2010

Cassy loved sledding so much that she refused to get out of the sled and ended up falling asleep in it!

Oh how I love this little girl!

I am so blessed to have her in my life

And look forward to many more years!

Shutter Love: Hands

I knew exactly which picture I wanted to use when I saw the theme for this week's Shutter Love.

This is Charly when she was one.

Oh how I miss those chubby little hands!

I love the old baseball with her 4th of July shirt.

I am naming this photo "All American"

Tea for 2: Favors

What Tea Party is complete without some proper hats?

I looked everywhere, trying to find some cute hats.

Nothing!

Then we were at Target one day, and there, in the Dollar Spot, There they were!!!

I was so excited, I did a silly little dance right there!

Thank you Target Dollar Spot!  You are my absolute favorite!

The plan, initially, was to have the girls decorate their hats.

But I realized most of them were still too young to do it on their own, or even care.

So my older girls and I will be decorating their's later this week.

As for the younger ones, they were just happy to play with their new pretties!

And pose for the camera.

This is my favorite picture from the whole party.

My two favorite models (don't tell my other girls or their cousins).

These two are always so sweet together.

Tea for 2: Food

What a whirl wind fun day!

The kids enjoyed their own platter of crackers, cheese, and ham

While the adults had sandwiches on steak rolls.

We drank pink lemonade and Crystal Light ruby red grapefruit.

And we all enjoyed some fruit and veggie kabobs.

Here's the birthday girl enjoying a pickle.

My mom is awesome!  I wouldn't have been able to pull this together if not for her.

Thanks Mom!

I love the Pampered Chef giant tea cup.

 I put vanilla yogurt in it to dip the fruit kabobs in.

The candy buffet was a huge hit!

We had Frosted Animal Cookies

Strawberry Laffy Taffy

Sweet Tarts

Good & Plenty

Strawberry Whoppers

Pink & Silver Kisses and Butterfinger Eggs

Bottle Caps

And Pink Peeps

...on pink edible Easter grass! (Not the best tasting stuff, but it was fun to use!)

The birthday girl found a new love in the strawberry Whoppers

Her cheeks are stuffed

My favorite part was the cupcakes!

They were tea cups!

Sugar cookie saucers with a little bling along the edges.

White chocolate pretzels cut in half for the handles.

Strawberry cupcakes topped with whipped cream.

I love how they turned out!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Make a wish!

Cassy was in Whipped Cream Heaven!

Tea for 2: Flower Marshmallows

I have a confession to make.  I have a small culinary crush on Alton Brown.  I know, some people think he is annoying.  I know I did at first.  But I love, Love, LOVE him now!  He is a genius in the kitchen and makes anything look possible.  So I have been wanting to make some marshmallows ever since I saw this episode of Good Eats.

The catch was, I wanted mine to be be shaped like flowers for Cassy's Tea Party.

So I took my flower ice trays from Ikea

I sprayed them down really well with cooking spray

Then coated them with the powder sugar/cornstarch mixture for Alton's recipe.

 When the marshmallow was ready, I put it in my mold.

 The marshmallow on the left was piped in.  This was a big old mess and doesn't look very good.

So I went to plan B.  The 'mallow on the right turned out much better!

I just coated my hands with some oil, then scooped out some marshmallow with my fingers and squished it into the molds.

I sprinkled the top with more sugar/cornstarch and let them sit over night.  They came out so easy!

These would be so fun in lots of colors for a Spring or Easter party!

Stay tuned for the rest of the Tea for 2 Party!

Tea for 2: Tea Party Skirt Tutorial

I haven't taken a sewing class since I was in th 7th grade...about...gulp...12 years ago!
And that class was only a few weeks.
So I am by no means a highly skilled seamstress.
But, with some tips from all you amazing bloggers out there who are wonder workers on the machine, and the few things my aging brain has retained from that short class, I set out to create a one of a kind outfit for my little munchkin's birthday.

It turned out even better than I imagined, and a few of you have asked for a tutorial, so here it is!

 For the skirt, I started with:

• 1 child shirt (large)
• 2 yds. coordinating fabric (I'm not sure what this fabric is called.)
•  Matching thread
• 1 inch elastic (not pictured)
• There is matching elastic ribbon in the picture.  I used this for the headband, not the skirt.

Cut Shirt to fit skirt length of child.  I did mine 12" for a size 2T.

Cut one side of shirt off, leaving you with the width of your child + 10" for gathering and .5" for seam.

So mine was 20"+10"+.5"= 30.5"

Cut 3 - 16"x43" strips of fabric.

Fold Each strip in half lengthwise and pin raw edges together, but don't iron the fold!

Measure every 7" at 2" from the raw edge on the first strip.

Create a cross with two pins at each spot to show where to begin sewing your cinches.

Sew from cross pins to the end (folded side) with your stitch length long and your tension tight.

For my machine, I set the length to 4 and the tension to 9.

For the next strip, I measured in 3", did my first cross pin, then measured every 7" for the rest.  I wanted the cinches to be offset.

For the last strip, I measured in 2", then measured every 7" for the rest.

As you finish each strip, be sure to tie off all the ends.

When you have sewn the scallops into each strip, it's time to cinch in the top.

Fold your top raw edges in 1/2" and iron.  Sew a running stitch with the same settings on your machine close to the edge of your ironed seems.  This will cinch in the length of your strip to about the length of your lining piece.  Be sure to leave a long length of thread on the ends so you can adjust the length of your strip if you need to.  Tie your ends off with a double or triple knot and cut off excess thread.  Repeat all three strips.

Sew bottom strip 5" from the bottom of skirt lining.  Be sure to sew just below your cinching line.

(Make sure you change your stitch length back to your normal settings)

Sew the second strip 2 1/2 inches from the lowest strip.

And the last strip 2 1/2 inches from the middle strip.

Now to turn the pretty strip of frill into a skirt!

Fold the top edge forward (toward strips) 1/2 inch.  Iron fold.

Now fold the skirt in half widthwise,with the skirt lining on the outside (right sides together.)  Pin.

Change your machine to a zigzag stitch. I chose M on my machine.

Stitch the edges together, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.

Turn right side out.  Fold the waistline down, until it just covers the stitching of the top strip.

(sorry for the lack of pictures for a little bit here.  I was distracted with a little one :) )

Pin down, then iron your new fold.

Change your stitch setting back to the straight stitch.

Begin sewing at the bottom fold about 1 inch from the skirts back seem.

Stop sewing one inch from the other side of the back seem.

Cut elastic 2 inches shorter than child's waist measurement.

Lace through waist band with a large safety pin attached to the end.

Overlap your elastic about an inch and sew together.

Sew the opening closed, then adjust the fabric evenly around the elastic.

Step back and admire your work.

If this tutorial made any sense, you have a sweet skirt that is perfect for Tea!

***Please let me know if you run into a problem with this tutorial.  I've gone through it a few times, but I have this fear I missed something.  I will fix anything that is pointed out.***

For a great tutorial to make the shirt go to My Own Road.

For the flower, I cut several circles in graduating sizes, and pinched them while I hand sewed them together to ruffle it a little bit.  Then I sewed some silver beads in the center and sewed it to the shirt.

I used the same technique for the headband flower, then took apart a silk flower to make the pink flower stand out more.  I decided the white needed a little something, so I lightly rubbed the edges of the back flower with some hot pink ink.  Then I just sewed it to the elastic ribbon.

I bought these hats at the dollar spot at Target.

Knowing she wouldn't wear the hat long, I made the headband so that she could wear it on the hat, or just as the headband.

Whew!  This is a long one!  Even for me!

Hope those of you that lasted to the end enjoy all the pink frilly-ness!

More to come this week on party prep!

*To see more of the cutie in her dress, go here.