Saturday Snapshot: Mother's Day Celebration

I wanted to share with you some of the other photos from our Mother's Day celebration.  We had my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law over for asparagus grilled pizza, salad, and cupcakes.  We all enjoyed the white wine sangria as well :)

I love this picture below- in it is a framed photo of my great-grandma, my grandma, and my mom.  It was taken in the greenhouse at my great-grandma's place.

My gift was a mother-daughter day of her choosing

I wanted to make the day special, so I dug up some old pictures with my mom and put them around.  I also decked out the table with multiple vases of flowers.  We had a really lovely time!

Me and my fur baby

Moscato Sangria Recipe

This was a tasty little concoction I made for our Mother's Day celebration.  It was super simple, and absolutely delicious!

You will need:

• Large bottle (1.5L) Barefoot Moscato
• 7Up or Sprite
• 2 cups green grapes
• 2 peaches
• 1 orange
• 1 blood orange

Chop up your oranges and peaches, and cut your grapes in half.  Add the cut fruit to a pitcher and top with moscato until the fruit just begins to float.  Let this sit in the fridge for 2-4 hours.  Then, when you are ready to serve, top with 7Up or Sprite.  Stir it up, and serve it up!

Seriously good.  Do you have a go-to sangria recipe?

DIY Cupcake Banner

Well, Mother's Day has come and gone, but this banner is too cute not to share.  And, you can make it work for any celebration!

You will need:

• Paper straw
• Embroidery floss
• Washi tape
• Paper
• Markers
• Scissors
• White glue

Cut your paper straw in half- this will be the stakes for your banner.  Then, unravel a length of embroidery floss.  Fold washi tape in half over the floss.  Use your scissors to cut a notch in the tape. You can repeat this process for the entire banner, or you can personalize it by cutting strip of paper the same length as the washi tape.  Fold the paper over the floss and write a letter or symbol on the paper.  Cut a notch in the paper, then use a dot of glue to secure.  Finish the banner off with two more washi flags.

Tie the ends of the embroidery floss  to the straws.  Then, simply place them in the tops of your cupcakes!  Such an easy way to add a custom touch to a celebration :)

How did you celebrate Mother's Day this year?

Mom: The Gold Standard

I think most people would agree with me that moms are solid gold.  So, to celebrate that, I made this fun and shiny card.  To make your own, start with a plain card that you can layer paper over.  I like this for a few reasons.  1) you don't have to worry about cutting out a perfectly straight card, and 2) you can use up the old cards that you don't like anymore :)

Using some plain white paper, draw the outlines of the letters for MOM.  Cut them out, then overlap them slightly on a piece of gold foil paper.  Trace, then cut the letters out.  And, because one layer of gold is definitely not enough for Mom, put the gold letters on top of a piece of gold glitter paper.  Glue the layers down on the plain card and add a little message inside.  "You're the gold standard, Mom!"

What are your Mother's Day plans?  How do you plan on celebrating Mom this year?

Mother's Day Watercolor Rose Card

It's been a while since I played around with my watercolors, but Mother's Day seemed like the perfect occasion to get them out again.  All I did was start with a blank card and a sheet of watercolor paper.  I painted a rose in several layers, did a little hand lettering, and then simply cut and paste the painting onto the card.

I like starting with a blank card instead of making my own because I always end up with crooked cards that just don't look right :)  I might end up adding a few more details like leaves around the edges in gold, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I'm certainly not experienced in watercolor, but I like how malleable it is- even if you goof up, you can undo most of it!

I'm excited for Mother's Day this year - we are having my family over and cooking some tasty food out on the grill (Mom's choice!).  What are you doing for Mother's Day?

Prize Coffee Cake

I'm not sure what prize this coffee cake won, but that's what Granny calls it, so that's what it must be!  I made this for mother's day and it was a tasty treat.  Since my mom doesn't like nuts, I left those out and the results were delicious!

You will need:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup soft shortening
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Streusel mixture:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine your cake mix ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.  Mix up your streusel mixture in a separate, smaller bowl.

Spread 1/2 of the cake mix in a bread pan and top with 1/2 of the streusel mix.  Repeat.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes.

Slice it up and enjoy! (I may have had seconds... or thirds)

DIY Mother's Day Cards

Here is a simple mother's day card you can make with just a few different types of paper and some metal pieces you can find at Michael's.

Pick your papers- have a common color scheme and at least one with a pattern.

Cut a series of scalloped pieces to span across the card, cut another strip to go across the bottom, and tear a third piece to cut diagonally across the card.

Arrange your papers, and then glue them on starting from the bottom layer and working up.  Use super glue for any metal pieces.

Finally, add your message :)  I think that a hand made card is such a nice way to say happy mother's day!

Scrapbook Paper Cards plus Discount Code!

Somehow, I came to own a bag full of scrapbook paper.  I don't exactly remember the chain of custody, but I am the final owner and honestly, don't scrapbook a whole lot.  But, there it sits among my other unused craft supplies, so I figured I would dig into it this week and see what I could make.  An obvious choice was a pair of Mother's Day cards, for mom and mom-in-law.  While I used these for Mother's Day, they would make lovely cards for any occasion!

You will need:

• Scrapbook paper
• Elmer's glue
• Extras: felt, ribbon, washi tape, whatever is pretty that you have lying around!

First, take a full sheet of scrapbook paper and fold it in half.  Draw your design on and cut it out, making sure you keep the two halves connected on the seam!

Next, it's all about layers.  First, cut out colored pieces of scrapbook paper to create interest, and glue them on.

Some green ground for the house to sit on, a colored roof and base, an entry hole, and some foliage

Then, add some ribbon for texture.

I added a bow and two strips of purple ribbon at the top of the bird house

Finally, add your felt for your last layer.  You can use the felt flower tutorial from my wreath post if you want to add a flower.

I decided to add an extra bow, too :)

If you use slightly different materials, the general principle here is that you go from lightest to heaviest material as you build your layers.

The rose on the tea cup is actually made from 7 layers of colored paper!

Ta da!  I made a tea cup and a bird house for Mother's Day, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out!  Any other shapes or ideas you would make?

PS, remember that bow t-shirt I made?  Well, the lovely Les Femmes Velours whose t-shirt inspired the post are offering a 50% presale discount through Friday!  Just use the code PRESALES50 :)