After getting the DIY baby shower invites out the next thing to tackle was the menu and the decorations.  The mom-to-be and I have always joked that she is never lacking black and white outfits.  I figured a black and white color scheme would be perfect and wouldn’t you know it my friend wore a black and white outfit to her shower without even knowing the color scheme!!!  I guess I know my friend pretty well. =)

The brunch menu came together quickly.  Although there was definitely too many sweets in the end with a good amount of left over, but who doesn’t like left over Oreo truffles?!?!  I was pretty pleased with the variety of options for the brunch.  Everyone came hungry so there wasn’t a crazy amount of left overs.

Little Man Brunch menu included:

  • Egg Soufflé
  • Pumpkin Bread
  • Fruit Platter
  • Cheese Plate
  • French Toast Casserole
  • Turkey Meatballs in red sauce
  • Oreo Truffles
  • Cigars (aka chocolate covered pretzels)
  • Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

We kept the party decorations pretty simple.  A bunch of black and white balloons, two flower vases, onesies and then a few little mustache details to bring everything together.

Unless otherwise noted all pictures were taken by Sara from Photos from the Harty.

Initially I bought some 3-6 month onsies and quickly realized they are SO tiny the iron-ons wouldn’t look so great on them.  I used one 3-6 month onsie for the bow tie (middle) the other two are 12 month onsies.

To supplement the balloons, onsies and mustache details there were two hydrangea flower arrangements.  I feel like I somehow involuntarily collect vases so it was easy to find two that were pretty much the same.  Put some white and black decorative stones in the bottom, add water and the flowers … voila a “DIY” center pieces!

The paper straws and mustache cups were a big hit.  These were probably my favorite detail.  I’ve become slightly obsessed with the paper straws.  There were purple barbershop straws at our wedding and yellow ones for the husband’s 30th birthday party.  The truth is I might never throw another party without them hahaha.  Seriously all parties will have barbershop straws!

We played two shower games.  The first was “How big is mommy’s tummy?”.  I look awfully serious measuring how many toilet paper squares Rebecca’s belly is.  I love the picture to the right as she counts the square … all smiles!!!

Next up was the poppy diaper game.  I was surprised at how stumped everyone was trying to figure out what type of candy bars were in the diapers.  The hardest one was the dark chocolate milky way … apparently the dark chocolate really threw everyone off.  And let me just say that the butterfinger game me a run for my money.  That candy bar was HARD to melt!

Thanks to all the beautiful ladies who came to shower the mom-to-be and her little man!

I put the party favors (with the DIY tags) on a platter and placed them by the front door.  I had to remind people to take them as I didn’t want 14 lollipops for myself!  I think they were a big hit and displaying them during the party added to the decorations.

A big thank you to Sara from Photos from the Harty for taking pictures at party!!

Thanks for combing on over for this Little Man baby shower.  What’s your favorite detail?

Happy Party Planning!

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With chocolate mustaches as the baby shower favor completed all I needed was to make the favor tags.  I ordered card stock to print the tags on and started designing them in PhotoShop.  I wanted the design of the tags to be similar to the custom invitations I made so the “paper products” would mesh.

Here’s the final product:

After cutting all the tags down to size using my favorite paper cutter I compiled everything I needed on the kitchen table.

With scissors I cut a small slit in the upper left corner of the tags and threaded the ribbon through.  The the husband got to play assistant and hold the favor bags as I tied the ribbon/tag on each mustache lollipop.

Here’s the final product!

The husband and I thought it would be fun to try out one of the extra mustaches on Sophi.  She was desperately trying to lick the chocolate while we photographed her.  Doesn’t she just look adorbs with her ‘stache?!?!

What do you think of the DIY party favor tags?  Stay tuned … more Little Man baby shower details coming up soon!

Happy Party Planning!!

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It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time to share another Tasty Tuesday recipe!  Ever since I ate a sugar cookie at Potbelly’s I’ve been on the look out for a killer homemade sugar cookie recipe.  Have you ever had a Potbelly sugar cookie?  They are A-MAZING! You should seriously try one.  It is a little crunchy on the outside and complete heaven in the middle.  Yes, I know, I am completely obsessed.

During my quest to replicate this recipe I found a post on HWTM blog that resulted in a pretty good cookie.  In all honesty though it didn’t rival the Potbelly cookie, so the search continued.  Last week a friend shared a recipe from Savory Sweet Life with me.  With rave reviews I hoped these sugar cookies would meet my expectations … and boy did they ever!  Yummolious!

Not only is my quest for an amazing homemade sugar cookie over, but I can also check off cooking one new recipe each month from my new years resolution list, for the month of January!

One thing to note about this recipe is finding the sugar crystals in the grocery store is tough. Neither Safeway nor Harris Teeter carry the sugar crystals, so planning ahead is important.  I was able to locate sugar crystals at Michael’s and Amazon.com.  Since the sugar crystals wouldn’t be delivered until Friday and I needed the cookies for girls night on Thursday I went ahead used left over blue sugar sprinkles.

Ingredients

  • white sugar
  • salted butter
  • egg yolks
  • vanilla extract
  • all-purpose flour
  • baking soda
  • cream of tartar
  • salt
  • coarse sugar crystals  {can substitute regular granulated sugar}

Get full recipe here

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until it is nice and creamy.  Mix in 1 egg yolk at a time and then the vanilla extract.

In a bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, and salt.  Slowly add to the mixer until the cookie dough is completely mixed.  Scrape down the bowl to be sure everything is mixed.  Using a medium scoop, form dough balls.

Roll the cookie ball in sugar crystals and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart from one another.  Or you can use a baking mat if you don’t have parchment paper.  I suggest flattening them out just a little so the center doesn’t get too puffy (the original recipe said not to flatten them).

This recipe makes about 30 medium sized cookies.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Make sure not to over cook them.  They will harden as the cool.  I made the mistake with one batch of leaving them in too long cause they didn’t look golden brown to me.  Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

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A while back I found this blog post about chocolate mustaches.  I had been wanting to make them for a while.  After purchasing the chocolate molds on Amazon along with the lollipop sticks they sat in my cuboid waiting to be used.  I considered making some for a friend’s bachelorette weekend, but ending up making a cake instead.

Then one of my besties got pregnant AND she found out she was having a BOY!!! Finally, I offered to through her a baby shower and after a bit of research decided to do a “little man” themed shower.  Check out the DIY invitations for the baby shower.  FINALLY these mustache molds were going to come in handy!

I considered making the mustache chocolates as cupcake toppers, but decided they would be perfection as a thank you gift for the guests.  I bought the chocolate molds and lollipop sticks on Amazon.com, however I also found molds at Michael’s made by Wilton.

Here are the directions on how to create these adorable lollipops.

What you need:

Melt your chocolate as usual.  I melted the chocolate with my new Wilton Chocolate Pro that my parents-in-law got me this holiday season.  It works great and is a lot easier than trying to melt the chocolate in the microwave!  Anyways, about 1/4 LB of chocolate, makes 4 pops.

Fill the mold with chocolate using a teaspoon. Make sure it’s filed to the top, but don’t overfill the mold.  The chocolate should reach the outer corners. If you have any overflow or extra, wipe it clean.

Tap the mold gently on the counter to release air bubbles.  Push the sticks into the mold and carefully roll them until they are covered in chocolate.  Tap the mold gently on the counter again to smooth the surface.

Put mold in the freezer for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate releases from the mold when turned over.  If if the lollipops don’t come out easily put them back int he freezer for a few more minutes.

I ended up with 1/2 white chocolate and 1/2 milk chocolate.  I hope people like both types of chocolate or I am going to have A LOT of left over mustaches. :)  I’m pretty please with the final product!!

Happy Party Planning!

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I have become a big fan of citrus, specifically lemon, in my desserts as of late.  Maybe it started when we were on our honeymoon in Italy … the lemon gelto, limoncello and other lemon stuff was to die for.  Around the holiday season I found this recipe on How Sweet It Is and immediately put in on my must make list. White chocolate plus lemon = YUM!

Even the husband who isn’t a huge fan of chocolate in general, thought the lemon truffles came out great and is looking forward to me making them again.  Just a thought, but if you are making a fancy dinner for Valentine’s Day and looking for a special dessert, I do believe your search is over!!!

Ingredients:

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 drops lemon extract
the zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
white sanding sugar for coating

Recipe slightly changed from How Sweet it Is to include more lemon!

Directions:

Place the white chocolate and butter to a bowl, then microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Stir a few times, then microwave for 20 more seconds.

Add heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat just until bubbles appear on the edges.  Immediately pour the cream over the melted chocolate and butter, stir for a few minutes until combined.  Add in the lemon extract and lemon zest, mixing to combine. Place in the fridge for 2 hours.

Remove from fridge and scoop out teaspoon-size balls of chocolate with a melon scoop or teaspoon and roll into balls.  You should have enough for about 30 truffles.

Then roll them in the sanding sugar and coat completely. Put them back in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  They will get a little bit soft when you create the balls so putting them back in the refrigerator helps.  Then serve and enjoy!

These little truffles are SUPER decedent and D-E-LISIOUS.

Happy Cooking!!

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