It’s been very busy around here getting designs out and hosting a big baby shower! As with any party, there was lots to do, including finding something to send home with our guests. On Project Nursery, I’ve shared one of the favors we made: specially wrapped tea bags and a little box to put them all in. Click here to see the tutorial and get the download!
It is officially baby shower season! Next to birthdays, showers are my favorite kind of parties to throw. And I was lucky enough to get some great pictures from Missy who had this firetruck set designed just for the baby shower she was holding! I love all the little details she was able to incorporate.
The spotted plates she found are so perfect for the party. And instead of buying pre-printed cups, she chose a solid color and used the 2 inch circles to make stickers to personalize them.
And I am a huge fan of wrapped vases! How perfect for a feminine touch to a boyish party. Thank you again, Missy, for sharing your photos!
You can find the printables seen here in the shop!
While we wait for some photos for this year’s new Valentines set from a sweet shoot by Southern Belle’s Charm, I thought it would be a great idea to walk down Valentines memory lane! Last year, I designed these little valentines and envelopes for Sandra Downy at The White Library. They are a free printable, and you can download the cards here and envelopes here!
Need some inspiration? Check out Celebration at Home’s Queen of Hearts Valentine shoot. Perfect not only for your sweetheart, but if you’re throwing a bridal shower, bachelorette or engagement party!
For the younger ones that like to ROCK, this {Love Rocks!} party is just for you! Valentines Day, complete with tattoos! This is another stylish shoot from Natalie at Southern Belle’s Charm.
It’s been a fun couple months expanding the horizons a bit! I am having a ball being a contributor for several publications – both print and virtual! My very first article as Frog Prince Paperie was published in print by Yum Food and Fun for Kids Magazine in their spring 2012 issue. This is a great magazine full of fabulous ideas for crafty and cooking-type mommas. Highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself!
There’s been an article or two penned by me at CRAFTzine as well; my most recent was an organization article. (Those of you who know me can stop laughing now!) But really, it was great to put some thought into the topic I chose~organizing the multiple large bins of ribbon hanging around my office. I’m still not all the way there, but getting this ribbon organizer done and up on the wall was a huge step in the right direction! You can check out the article and the plans to make an organizer of your own here.
In my most recent post for Project Nursery, I’ve shared some inspiration for my upcoming “Baby Love” baby shower!
The Frog Prince team has also (happily) gained a new member. Erin Callaghan has joined us to help in an admin role to provide customer service and help all our wonderful customers out with their party printables.
(That’s Erin and I up there at a a friend’s wedding a few years ago.) She’s one of those globe trotting people I am always a little jealous of…but love looking at all her trip pictures when she’s home! Erin’s got a management, design and technology background and lots and lots of experience with customer service from managing several large hostels on the west coast. She’s based out of San Diego at the moment, and I’m just thrilled to bits to have her with us!
And that’s the quick update for now. I’ve got bunches of really great client parties to put up, and of course, will be debuting the “Baby Love” baby shower soon. Already started working on Brennan’s 3rd birthday for March and Maddie’s 6th for May. Can’t believe we are there again already! Until next time–
Paula
Recently I worked with Natalie at Southern Belle’s Charm to help create what turned out to be an incredibly unique and fun party. The little guest of honor’s favorite book was “I Stink” – a book by Kate McMullan all about GARBAGE.
And Natalie had a hay day coming up with all sorts of garbage-related party goodies, from book invitations to trashy wreaths, to fly shaped cake pops and trash can favors. Here are a few pictures from the party, but be sure to pop by her site to see the rest!
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This was such a cute idea for a baby shower, and I was thrilled to work with Yarah Designs on completing the printables and stationery for the event. The shower was held at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the beach. I love (love!) all the florals at this party and how the theme was woven throughout. It’s also always fun to work with clients who have a bit of a sense of humor and that little bit of wit is my favorite part of any party. For Yara, we rocked the bowtie on milk bottles against aqua/turquoise and an orangy-coral.
What a view! Yarah Designs is out of Palm Beach, Florida, and you can visit her at her blog or on Facebook!
The house has been kind of quiet since all the family left. I admit, I did like cooking and baking for the masses and a little bit of a void has been left — the two little picky eaters that remained don’t let me spread my culinary wings. Unless I’m baking sweets.
So I had this urge New Years Eve to bake, perhaps something the kidlets would be excited about. I went to my three shelves of cookbooks (ok, I horde them a little) and pulled out a few of the Southern cookbooks I have. There is just something intrinsically comforting about Southern food…it might be all the butter, but comforting nonetheless. The cookbooks I have are the best kind; they’re all those fundraiser books from the Junior League and churches and the like, which means they’re chock full of someone’s grandma’s special recipes. Of course, I have a Paula Deen volume or three sprinkled in for good measure.
The recipe I decided on, French Chocolate Cake, is from Best of the Best from Mississippi – Selected Recipes from Mississippi’s favorite cookbooks. I can’t leave anything alone, so I made these single-serve cakes using a whoopie pie pan. I though the rum sauce might be a little too much for cakes this small, but it ended up working out ok and the flavor was a great extra layer in what might have been an ordinary chocolate cake. I baked them for 22 minutes vs. 30 in my oven, but make sure to adjust for your own equipment.
FRENCH CHOCOLATE CAKE
RUM GLAZE:
CREAM FILLING:
TOPPING:
Grease 2 9-inch pans; line with waxed paper and flour pans. Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler. Add egg yolks. Slowly stir in buttermilk. Mix well. Cook until thick. Cool.
Cream together butter and brown sugar. Sift flour with salt and soda. Add this to butter mixture with the coffee. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla. Bake at 325 degrees about 30 minutes.
Mix ingredients for rum glaze. Cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over warm cakes. Let stand in pans until cool.
Mix chocolate chips and evaporated milk. Stir over low heat until smooth. Do not boil Add one whole beaten egg. Mix well and chill. (if sauce is too thin, add a beaten egg yolk.)
To assemble: Remove cakes from pans and generously spread a layer of filling between the layers and on top. Whip the cream and ice the entire cake. Shave chocolate over the tip of iced cake.
It has been an amazing, incredible year here at Frog Prince Paperie. The little business I had so I could stay at home didn’t end up so little at the end…and I had a fair share of pinch-me-I-can’t-believe-my-name-is-really-in-there moments with Martha Stewart, Southern Living, Yum Food and Fun for Kids and Project Nursery. There were parties. LOTS of parties–both big and small.
I now have an amazing support staff in Ashley, Renee and Erin, and of course I can’t forget all the support I constantly receive from friends and family. My husband is a saint, trust me. I am grateful for every single press, blog and social media mention, every set of eyeballs that lands on my work, and every single person who reads along with what writing I dole out on occasion. It’s a lucky thing to have such support, and I really know it and am thankful every day I have it!
So here it is, a big giant HUGE THANK YOU to all of you.
And now on to what you really come to my blog to read…a little party inspiration! I put together a quick shoot for a celebration you might do at home with your kids (or just your honey!) to mark the New Years Eve occasion. No printables here this time, just paper, scissors and a little bit of hot glue.
I love glitter–I do not love glittering. It coats every surface of my house for weeks after! If you haven’t seen it yet, they make this really cool paper that comes already glittered–and I was so excited to see that it now also comes in glittery polka dot flavors in addition to solid colors. I cut out cupcake wrappers and the numbers 2012 and made toppers with them. I used a fairly neutral palette that ranged from white to silver to silvery blue to make everything tie together. And that’s my bedside table that I took the pictures on. (Always try to use the things you already have first!)
I made a few party hats by cutting shapes out for the front and adding bands to the back, adjusted to the kids’ heads. Martha Stewart also had a neat article on how to make these party blowers that I gave a try. They worked perfectly with some of the billion striped paper straws I have laying around.
And what party is complete without a little dessert?? I love parfaits because they are easy to make, easy to serve sugar free, and easy to make look really fancy. Presentation is everything here — being able to eat dessert out of a champagne glass is just going to make my kids feel extra extra special this year.
It doesn’t take much to make a memorable time, and even the little ones like to celebrate the passing of another year. Small touches like these are perfect for small celebrations!
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Hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season, and that your 2011 was simply spectacular. Thank you again, and I look forward to the year to come with you all!
Every once in awhile you run into a recipe combination you really just have to shout from the rooftops. Lucky for me I have a blog instead and can just post it here. The cupcakes I made yesterday are so worth sharing!
I was a bad mom and didn’t style/decorate/plan the classroom gingerbread party today. Instead, I actually (gasp) made some cupcakes FROM SCRATCH. I almost always buy my cupcakes. And I am thinking maybe I should do this more often, as these turned out to be roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head good. Like, couldn’t believe I was bringing them for 5-year-olds who wouldn’t truly appreciate them good. I had planned to dip the tops in ganache before the marshmallow frosting–definitely will do that next time.
For the cake part, I used Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe. This turned out so rich and moist. The batter seems really thin, and I filled the cupcakes 3/4 full instead of the usual 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or so for cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your tins to make 24 cupcakes.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
And while I usually go running when I am required to boil something to make frosting, I stuck it out this time and made this Marshmallow Frosting from Martha Stewart’s site. I made meringues with what I had left over.
They really mean that use immediately part. Last night the frosting was far better than it was today. So there you have it — my sugar rush for today, and a 5 star recipe to try if you have the time for some scratch baking!
It’s one of my very favorite things to get pictures from cool client parties, and it’s even more incredible when those clients are colleagues that I admire! Melissa at Buckets of Grace thought on the Gingerbread Christmas Cookie printables for an entire year before she hosted her family gingerbread house party. And I just love all the details she came up with!
