Rileys 3 Ring Circus!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls! Step right up to watch the amazing Riley turn 3 years old!

What a fun party this one was! The first thing that little Riley said when he walked into the room with all the decorations was, "wow!". Eyes wide open! Made my heart melt! This is one of the funniest little men I know, and when I was able to create an unbelievably fun day for him I jumped at the chance! For this party Almost EVERYTHING is from the dollar store! My goal is to create a fun atmosphere with a small budget, and I am so happy with how this turned out! I wanted to use lots of colors in order to get the "circus" feel. I also didnt want to use too many sweets so I tried to use as many kid friendly foods as possible. Here are just a few of the pictures from this super fun day!

Graphic Designer : Greggory Bragg 

Photographer: Shauna Miller

Invitations: Lisa Stoughton (Paperflair) 

Cake: The Crimson Cake

Sweet As Hunny

I am so excited to share these pictures of baby Austins second birthday party! It is Winnie the Pooh inspired it was such a blast! Pretty much everything at the party I made myself, and all the decorations (minus the food) were from the dollar store! I only spent about 100 dollars on this party! As I say it was "cheap and cheerful!" :) I have been apart of this little mans life since he was just 3 weeks old (I'm his nanny) and I couldn't have been more excited to celebrate his birthday! Here are just a few pictures of his party!

I used brown sugar to add some color to the jars filled with candy

 These were just pom poms I got from the dollar store!

 yummy lemon drops :)

 all from the dollar store!

I used old baby formula cans and painted them brown for the popcorn!

 bee "sun catcher" craft

 Thanks for buzzing on by!

Flowers from the dollar store :)

 He loved hitting pooh! haha

 too cute!

Happy Birthday Austin! I love you! 

new events coming!

Wow! Its been so long since I've actually posted! Yikes! What a crazy summer it has been! Very exciting but super busy! :) Now that things are starting to calm down a bit I actually have time to do some more events! And thank goodness I have some awesome friends who are letting me decorate for their childrens birthdays this september! I will be doing one early september and another end of sept! So exciting! I dont want to give away too much about the birthdays but let me just say they are going to be absolutely adorable!! So I will keep you posted on my little decorations for these parties and I cant wait to post pictures of the events!! Thanks again for reading! xoxo
Courtney

Recipes

I decided that I would put up some of my favorite party planning recipes...they are super yummy and super easy! These are the recipes I used for my best friends shower! Here you go!...


Bacon Wrapped Dates: Simple, elegant, and delicious! They were a definite party favorite and went extremely fast! Be sure to get yours quick! :)

1 16-ounce package of bacon (regular thickness-not thick cut), cut into thirds
1 8-ounce package of pitted dates


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Position oven rack in the center of the oven. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil.

Wrap a piece of bacon around a date. Make sure the bacon seam is placed facing downwards on the cookie sheet. Press firmly on the bacon wrapped date, so it is less likely to unravel. Repeat until all of the dates are wrapped in bacon.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until crisp. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Makes 25-30 bacon wrapped dates.

Fried Ravioli: Delicious! 

• Olive oil, for frying
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
• 1 box store-bought cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli) The smaller the better! Bite size is always best for appetizers! :)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan 
• 1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated, for dipping

Directions:
Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.

While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.

When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain. 

Sprinkle the fried ravioli with Parmesan and serve with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Mini Italian Club Sandwiches: Easy, yummy and adorable! 

• 10 slices bacon
• 2 (8-ounce) round loaves focaccia bread 
• 1 cup purchased pesto
• 8 ounces thinly sliced turkey 
• 4 ounces thinly sliced provolone cheese

Directions

Cook the bacon in a heavy large frying pan until crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.
Preheat a griddle or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cut the focaccia horizontally in half. Place the focaccia cut side down on the griddle and cook until the focaccia is heated through and golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Spread the pesto over the toasted sides of each halved focaccia. Cover the bottom halves of the focaccia with the  turkey, provolone and bacon, dividing equally. Cover with the top halves of focaccia, pesto side down. Cut the sandwich into bite-size wedges. Arrange the sandwiches on a platter and serve.


All of these (and many more) were made by my mother at the shower...I couldnt have done it without her, or the food network! hehe. Thanks momma! Hope you all enjoy some of these delicious treats! xoxo
Court

The Finale

Well today was my very first event...and it it finally over! Whoa! Time flew by so fast! I cannot describe in words how much fun I actually had today decorating and organizing and socializing! Such an amazing first event and such a blessed day! I couldnt have done it without the help of my mother and my aunt! They seriously helped and took direction like pros! :) It was so nice to see my best friend walk through the door and see all the hard work that went into her shower and to have her feel so loved! I used Lots of "M"s here and there since the brides new last name will be Miller. Also I used hangers in the shape of the letters M I L L E R to hang things on for her to keep and bring into her new home! All in all I am very please with how the shower went! I couldnt be happier for the bride to be and I am honored I was able to do this for her! :) Well, it has been a LOOOONG day...so off to bed! hehe. Lots of love! xoxo

"MILLER" The brides soon to be last name :)

Recipe for happy marriage at the food table

Flower pen party favors for the guests!

I put silk flower petals on the cupcakes to fill them out rather than using a ton of frosting!

84 days!

xoxo
Court