{This Weekend} Sip Coffee

This weekend my in-laws are taking both of my girls for an overnight!  What does that mean?  That means sleeping in, being able to slowly sip my coffee and reading the paper at my leisure.  Ahh...I can't wait.  Of course while the girls are gone, I will miss them terribly and give them big bear hugs when they walk through the door.  How is your weekend shaping up?

Holiday Gifting: Something to Wear

Kids are constantly growing, so when it comes to gift giving, clothes are always a go to idea for us.  We are especially in love with the dapper little man look below.  The pattern on the bow tie from Simple Hands gives the look a modern feel with a pop of color.  We couldn't resist including the "mini professor jacket", yep that's what it's called.  How stinking cute is that?  Be sure to top off your dapper little guy with a driver cap.  The look will be sure to melt any grandmother's hearts. 

1. Eva Hand Made 2. J.Crew 3.Modern Moppet
4.Simple Hands  5. CWD Kids 6.Modern Moppet

Toys for Kids

 

Going off the "four gift rule", today we're covering what kids want for the holidays.  This wooden and magnetic car by Tegu allows for boys to race a car and build it too.  Miss Kittie and her little kitten reminds us of own childhood.  We're kind of thinking about buying these two cuties for ourselves.  The felt mosaic game will get kids playing and thinking at same time.  These squirrels may simply be the sweetest finger puppets ever.  Pair these mother goose spectacles with a mother goose book.  Perfect. Right?  Get a wood rocket ship baby rattle for the new baby boy in your life.  

 

 

 

The Four Gift Rule

 

I found this little gift rule on Pinterest that I thought was perfect and I couldn't wait to share it.  In a world of excess, this rule just makes sense in my household.  I know my girls get more than enough from family and friends, so I'm going to try to stick to this rule.  This four gift rule also has inspired some upcoming posts.  Would you be able to stick to this rule?



 



Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!  Are you ready?  Thankfully, I don't do too much cooking, just a couple appetizers. Everyone else does the cooking.  I start off the day with watching the Detroit Thanksgiving parade, then I will head to my parents house for brunch.  My husband and I will then head home to put the girls down for naps and then it's off to my in-laws for dinner.  The calorie count for the day?  I don't even want to know.  I will head home for snuggle and story time with the kids and my husband and I will fall exhausted on the couch for a few precious moments of alone time with our stomachs full from a day of thanks.  Tell me, how do you spend your Thanksgiving? 

(Source)

Stylish Thanksgiving Tables

Are you still trying to figure out how to set the table for Thanksgiving?  Here are some super stylish tables we found.  We love how a few simple but well put together details can change a setting, in addition to some unexpected colors like orange and blue.  Hope you find this as inspiring as we do.

1.Centsational Girl 2.The Decoist via The Studio Blog
3. Camillie Styles

Accents for the Thanksgiving Table

We're not sure what happened, but all of the sudden we looked up and suddenly it's almost Thanksgiving.  Here are some fun accents we found to dress up your tabletop.

West Elm//One King's Lane
Jayson Home//Pottery Barn//Wisteria

Designers Care

You know that we have an obsession for paper, well Designers Care combines our love of paper with supporting a great cause.  Started by Jackie Mangiolino to helps support those who were affected by Hurricane Sandy, Designers Care is a collection of stamped cards by some talented artists.  So if you should be in need for a greeting card, hop on over to the shop and stock up and support a worthy cause. 

"Left My Heart"

 

 

"Kinder"

 

 

"Love Rises Above"

 

 

 

 

 



Baptism + First Communion Party Decor Ideas

Here are some ideas to style religious celebrations and to make the occasion even more special than it already is.  Isn't the little saying with the date and the name of the child a nice personal touch to the day.  Don't forget to add a beautiful cake like this one.  We are loving the dove garland.  A great way to commemorate the day and to get guests involved is to have guests write down a prayer for the guest of honor.  Whatever way you decide to celebrate, we are sure the day will be well remembered by all who attend.

ModHMary

Say "hello" to my friend Elise.  Say "hello" to her shop ModHMary, Modern Holy Mary that is.  As I was brainstorming ideas for this weeks' posts filled with ways to celebrate baptisms and first communions in style, I knew right away that I wanted to feature her shop.  I met Elise several years ago when we worked together at a local art center.  She's a super fun person, who also happens to also be a talented artist.  Elise creates one of a kind handmade jewelry, rosaries, chaplets, prayer cards, and religious art, which are perfect gifts for baptisms or first communions.  Do you like what you see?  Well then, hop over to ModHMary to see all that Elise has to offer.   

Handmade Olive Wood Boho Bracelet //Guardian Angel Print

Handmade Rosary in Brown Tones and Gold //Noah's Ark Fine Art Print

 

 

Baptism Announcements and First Communion Invitations

This week here at Cupcakes & Confetti we are focusing on some religious celebrations.  Why you ask?  As I mentioned here, my nephew was recently baptised and also this coming spring, my daughter Ellie will be having her first communion.  Today, we are going to cover stationery that can be used for either baptism announcements or as first communion invitations. 

 

1.Brown Paper Goods  2.Tiny Prints  3.Pear Tree
4. Biplane Press 5.Ana de Roux

Bridal Shower Gift Wrapping Idea

This weekend my girls and I are having a girls' day.  All three of us are going to a bridal shower of a dear friend and it just so happens that my daughters are going to be flower girls on the wedding day.  We're all super excited because it's so wonderful to share these amazing occasions with friends.  I wanted to share with you the special way I wrapped the gift.  I can't take credit for this idea that I got from my sister-in-law.  Since the tradition for a bridal shower is to collect bows from the party and create a bouquet that the bride uses during the rehearsal, my sister-in-law started to put some artificial flowers atop bridal shower gifts so that the bride would have more than just bows in her practice bouquet.  So, taking off with her idea, I wrapped this gift with some special embellishments for my dear friend. 

{Sweet of the Week} Feather Cake

We have to admit that we're not fans of feathers on cake.  It makes us think that somehow we might ingest one of the feathers and that doesn't sound very tantalizing.  Anyway, enough about us and on with the cake.  For some reason this cake by Lael Cakes is the exception to our way of thinking.  We love the feathers dipped in gold and you know we're loving geometric details right now too.  We also adore the slight ruffles on the cake.  So we guess you can say that we are more than ok with this feather cake.

 

 Lael Cakes via Half Baked - The Cake Blog
Photography by Our Labor of Love and Samm Blake

Autumn Dinner

Taste the warm and rich flavors of fall with these delicious finds.  Start your meal with a harvest salad with a warm maple bacon vinaigrette.  This harvest pasta e fagiole soup with parmesan crisps will ward off any cold chill.  Of course a lovely cocktail like this pear cinnamon spiced martini makes any evening better.  Finish off your autumnal meal with a spiced apple pie seen here from Chelsea's Culinary Indulgence.  Happy eating friends!

1. Simply Scratch/2.Yummy Mummy Kitchen
3. Inside the Lovely/ 4.Chelsea's Culinary Indulgence

Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

My oldest daughter Ellie wanted a Wizard of Oz themed party this year for her 7th birthday.  I think that sometimes you can go a little overboard with the Wizard of Oz theme because there are so many design elements that you could incorporate.  I wanted a simplified version of the Wizard of Oz, so I stuck with a palette of red, blue and yellow.  Here's how it turned out.

 

 

I happened to have a painting of poppies that my father-in-law painted, and I thought the art work would give that little touch of the field of poppies from the film.  I included on the dessert table a yellow runner, that Dara and I made to remind guests of the yellow brick road.  The mini hay bales of course are an ode to Dorothy's farm in Kansas.  Dara and I made ruby red slipper cookies and simple round cookies in the colors of Dorothy's dress.

 

We made another runner in some material that looked liked Dorothy's dress, then we added simple red ribbons to each end.  My daughter Ellie had a little Toto look alike in her toy collection and Dara found the perfect sized basket to put him in.

 

 

I asked my talented friend Bridgette to make a simple round white cake with just the yellow brick road running across it.  When I went to pick up the cake, much to my surprise she made this amazing confection.  She added to the top of the cake the Emerald City and the yellow brick road wrapped around the entire cake.  She completed that cake with the iconic images of the characters including; the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and of course dear Dorothy, who are all fast asleep in a field of poppies.  Bridgette also add elements of the Wicked Witch of the West including her hat, broom and the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East.  How could anyone not love this cake?    

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Notes - Family Time

Is it Friday already?!  Halloween really made the week fly by.  I was busy all week doing last minute Halloween prep and in the middle of it all, I nearly forgot to carve the pumpkins.  And suddenly I find myself in November and still on a sugar rush from October. 

With November we celebrate Thanksgiving.  We stop to give thanks, well all this week I have been thankful.  I am thankful to have power and an undamaged home and that my family is safe and sound.  My heart breaks for everyone who is affected by super storm Sandy.  She left much devastation in her wake and I pray that the lives of everyone who was affected by her wrath will quickly get back to normal.

This weekend will be a time for family.  My oldest daughter has a big social studies project that needs some attention, which really means homework for Mom and Dad.  My nephew will be baptized this weekend and my husband and I have been given the honor of being God parents to this little person.  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and I hope you take some time to be thankful and take some time to hug someone you love.  Hugs to all of you!