yes, amelia’s birthday was in december. i’ve been staring at these photos on our hard drive since then. they nagged me constantly, but again i wanted to save them to appear on our new blog along with the other ‘winter in review’ photos we’ve posted. i’m gonna warn you – there’s lots of photos! but i hope they provide for some fun inspiration!

also, this is a HUGE milestone for us – our daughter turned ONE! how could we NOT post this?!?

i’ve always loved DIY projects. i like being inspired and seeing my creations come to life. a lot of the details we used to decorate, we made, found second hand or all ready had as decor in our home. time consuming? sometimes. but it’s what makes me happiest with the results + i enjoy it [ a definite must if tackling a bunch of diy projects].

one of the first things i tackled was the invitations. i found some different printable paper online for the invitation and envelops, some scraps of fabric, a sewing machine, paper punches + photoshop to design the text.

the cake. yup i saw a ruffle cake online [probably pinteresting] and had to figure out how to make one myself. 3 or 4 batches of icing + hand cramps later …. et volia! [it was actually pretty ease - so for anyone who's baked a few cakes in their live time, just go for it!]

the party took place in the eady hall – a local hall that had the feel [and room!] to really make the decorations i had worked so hard on look great and come together. it’s one of those things that you don’t really notice when it looks good, you know? the super cute robot family stamp i was telling you about, also from doodle bug design! The robots each have an initial ‘K’ ‘A’ and ‘V’. love.
this party hat and the pinwheels were made following the tutorial from ruffles and stuff. the girl behind the blog, disney is SUPER creative and come up with the cutest things! Her blog is filled will great tutorials that are easy to understand. Her personality leaps from her posts – she is the sweetest + i feel like we are kindred spirits who have never met! [and i feel slightly creepish about that since she doesn't know i exist! but i think that's a huge compliment and testament to how real and well written she is] check it out! the cake! i think the final result turned out pretty good for this amateur! food! what is a party without great food! i am always finding recipes to try – so many + so little time! the list for her party was HUGE and had to be narrowed down, but we made some of our favourites and i would highly recommend any of these!

cinnamon pita chips + fruit salsa. i’ll have to get my mom to share her recipe. it’s delicious.glittering sandwich cookies from anthrology magazine. yum! the almond flavor is delicious in these.cake pops! my sister in law gave me the cake pop recipe book by bakerella. it’s amazing! with this i could be ‘that mom’ in elementary school that brings the coolest deserts for holidays. yup. totally think about that. haha.layered jello. ill have to post the recipe sometime. its super easy just takes a while for each layer to set. mac + cheese pies from a curvy carrot. delicious! this is now my go to recipe for mac + cheese. it’s got a bit of spice and a cheesy crispiness that is making me drool right now thinking of it. check it out. make it tonight. : )pepperoni pizza monkey bread from confessions of a foodie bride. it’s such a good party finger food! i made it with turkey pepperoni [a little health swap that still takes great!] the birthday girl! sooooooo cutttttttteeeeeeeeee!!!! she was so precious eating her cake and opening her birthday presents. such good memories for us in these photos! and now she’s almost 17 months old!