John Deere Party

It's the little guys first birthday!  What better way to celebrate a little boys 1st birthday who has a half Mennonite Daddy?  John Deere of course!

  

We kept it simple and just decorated with a few bunches of helium balloons.  I could not find any John Deere themed balloons so I got generic yellow and lime green balloons and wrote JOHN DEERE on them with permanent marker and decorated them with tractor stickers!  (this trick works great, I once threw the Hubby a Tom Tom party and wrote TOM TOM, LEFT and RIGHT on the balloons and it made great conversation pieces... a Tom Tom is a GPS by the way!)

 

We bought pre done invites because they were a really good deal.  I still wanted to customise them a bit so I printed a really cute One Year poem on Vellum and pasted it in.  Here it is below, I think it is so adorable!

A year's gone by

Oh how time has flown,

We can't believe

How Oliver has grown!

He's such a joy

And so much fun,

Oh my! Our baby boy

is turning One!

I also printed the info on vellum and layered it on top of the printed prefixes to make it look like it was all printed inside and then I didn't have to hand write them all!

Oliver sporting his Birthday hat!

We lucked out at a party store in Groove City when we were on a weekend trip and found everything we could possibly need for a John Deere themed party, which is also where we got the invitations and thank-you cards.  I think the table looks awesome all Decked Out in John Deere print!

Oliver's cousins also sporting their party hats!

the Dinner Table

Gotta love plastic table cloths!  I know their bad for the environment but just roll them up and gone is the mess!  And look how great the table looks with all those tractors...

the Dessert Table! YUM

Cake for the Adults!

Healthy cake for the Kiddies!

The most important part to any birthday, but especially for a 1st birthday, is the cake!  Of course! 

For Oliver and the kids I made a rice flour cake sweetened with maple syrup.  The frosting was cream cheese also whipped with maple syrup.  Click the above picture for the recipe.  I was going for a muddy tire to tie in with the John Deere theme.  Once I iced the cake I placed a cup in the centre and covered the icing with cocoa.  I used a wooden spoon handle to notch ruts around the edge.  Then I cut the same size circle out of a piece of paper and placed it on top of the cake and sprinkled the hole (in the centre) with yellow sugar sprinkles. 

For the adults I decided to try cake balls!  I did a double chocolate version, click the picture to view the recipe.  I covered them with yellow and green chocolate and drizzled some with the contrasting coloured chocolate and sprinkled the rest with various yellow and green sprinkles.  I was very thrilled with how they turned out and they were fairly easy too. 

Both the cakes were a huge success among the adult and miniature guests.  And Oliver was completely thrilled with digging his hands into a slice.

Oliver ultimately enjoying his 1st Birthday Cake!

Oliver suiting got a John Deere tractor as a birthday present from his Nana and Papa.  So I took him and the tractor to Zehrs (that was an interesting trek) and got some pictures done.  The one I used for the back of the Thank-you card was my favourite!  It really captures his charm!

So Oliver had a fantastic 1st Birthday!  We sent the Thank-you cards out and we have tons of great memories!

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Baby's First Birthday Cake

So who says you have to give your One year old a regular cake filled with tons of sugar and whatever else?  No One!  Why not make a healthy cake for your little one!

One of my favourite site that is full of great home made baby food recipes is Wholesome Baby Food by Momtastic.  They also have a great page the has a whole bunch of great healthy First Birthday Cake Recipes and icing ideas.

I prefer to make a Basic Rice Flour Cake.  I've had the recipe for a couple years and don't remember where I found it.  But here's how I make it.

What You Need:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup brown rice flour

1 tsp baking powder 

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C)

2) Grease and flour one 8" cake pan

3) Cream the butter till light

4) Add maple syrup and whip until well blended

5) Beat in egg and vanilla

6) Slowly add flour and baking powder and beat until thoroughly combined

7) Pour into the cake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean

8) Let cool and remove from pan

And that's how you make a delicious yet healthy birthday cake.  It's wheat free, dairy free and sugar free!  You can make this cake with butter instead of olive oil.  You can also use regular sugar instead of the maple syrup, but it would be much more sweet and dryer as well.  I find this cake very yummy and just sweet enough... I'm not a big fan of super sweet cakes.  The rice flour also makes a very unique texture, almost a bit like a corn meal muffin.  Which I love but some people would prefer finer flour like tapioca flour which would work for this recipe too.

John Deere Themed Cake

Now to decorate!  With a healthy cake you need a health icing.  My favourite is Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.  Here's how you can make it!

What You Need:

1 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1) Take the cream cheese out of the fridge about 1 hour before you start to soften

2) Whisk the cream cheese until light

3) Add the maple syrup and continue to whisk until mixed thoroughly

4) Cool in refrigerator for about 1/2 an hour

5) Ice your cake

This icing is very delicious and goes great with the Rice Cake.  It is very easy to make and super easy to use.  Once you ice the cake you can decorate with anything you like!  This icing provides a great and sticky surface to decorate!

Disney's Cars Themed Cake

I hope you and little ones enjoy this tasty cake!  And have fun decorating it too... that's always my favourite part!

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Cake Balls

For all you cake lovers out there here is the best way to make and eat cake ever! It is becoming more and more popular and you can now even buy them in cake shops! But they are fairly easy to make.

What you need:

1 box of cake mix in desired flavor

1 tub of premade icing in desired flavor

Coloured chocolate

Sprinkles or other toppings of choice

John Deere Themed Cake Balls

Double Chocolate

Directions:

1) Bake cake as directed on package

2) Once cake cools crumble into a mixing bowl

3) Gently fold icing into crumbled cake until well blended

4) Form mixture into balls about 2 tbsp. in size each and place on wax paper

5) Freeze formed balls for approximately 15 minutes

(Depending on the consistency of the mixture you may have to freeze for longer)

6) Melt chocolate in a double boiler being careful not to burn

7) Use a fork to dip balls into chocolate and swirl gently until coated

8) Carefully remove from fork and place on fresh wax paper

9) Add sprinkles or other toppings before chocolate sets

10) Let chocolate set at room temperature

11) Drizzle or decorate with additional chocolate if desired

Note: Try not to refrigerate. The cake will cool faster than the chocolate and cause the balls to sweat.

Disney's Cars Themed Cake Balls
Chocolate Vanilla Swirl

I have made them several times now and they are quite easy to make and very satisfying to eat. Everyone raves over them when I make them. There are also very versatile, you can make them in any variation you want and decorate them in anyway imaginable.

Flavor Variations:

Double Chocolate

- Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing

Chocolate Swirl

- Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Icing

Rainbow Vanilla

- Vanilla Cake with coloured sprinkles with Vanilla Icing

French Butter Pecan

- Butter Pecan Cake with French Vanilla Icing

Spiced Cream

- Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing


Three Tiered Cake Pop Cake
Rainbow, Pecan and Carrot

If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge you can try making Cake Pops. The above picture shows three sizes of foam cylinders which I used as the form to make them look like a three tiered cake. I used BBQ spears in order to piers the styro foam, but for better structure I would recommend using the white paper sticks that you can find at your local bulk or baking store. Once you form the cake into balls, place the stick into the center and reshape. You may have to freeze them a bit longer in order for the cake balls not to fall off the stick when dipping into the chocolate. I recommend that you leave a small amount of the cake uncovered by the chocolate near the stick. If the cake it fully covered the thawing cake may crack the chocolate. Place the sticks into something in order for them to stand upright. Then decorate and let set.

And that’s how you can make your very own cake balls! It's fairly easy right? Give them a try and you'll see. You may never want to make a regular cake again!

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Mellow Yellow Baptism

I think baptism's are my favourite events!  There's always so happy and there's always a little baby getting passed around and cuddled!  I started planning the theme for my son's baptism long before he was born and ultimately before I new he was a boy.  So what better colour to decorate with then the most cheerful yet mellow yellow.



The Invites for the Baptism

I found these super cute printable invitation cards with the multi coloured foot prints around the edges.  I printed the info onto them and attached a 2" by 2" photo with foam mounting squares.

 

We saved the top tier of our wedding cake for a special occasion.  Yes, most people take it out on first anniversary but honestly who can eat that much cake between two people? 

I love the colourful jelly beans in the picture their so cheerful.

 

For the favours, what better way to thank our friends and family then with some yummy homemade chocolates.  I invited my Mom, Nanny (Mom's Mom) and Sister over the Wednesday before to make teddy bear chocolates... I think we made about 100!  We made dark chocolate and white chocolate teddy bears with yellow chocolate bows.  My sister also made the "O" and the "H" to add to the cake out of yellow chocolate.

My Hubby and I both have large families so we needed extra space.  We set the tent up outside with some tables and chairs.  Covered them with white table cloths and yellow satin overlays and hung some yellow paper lanterns for extra colour.

You can have tables without centrepieces!  So I used some cylinder vases I had acquired from an earlier wedding, stuck some large calla lilies with yellow orchid centres in some river rock and used orchids leaves as filler.  For the buffet table I added some lemons for even more yellow fun!

The baptism was a great success!  Very cheerful and everyone was so happy.

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Wedding Thank-You Cards

So I did it!  I made about 100 thank-you cards within the first two months after our wedding!

A while back I lucked out and found these super cute square folded cards from IKEA.  They're made from recycled brown fibber card stock with black printing in a striped motif and a damask.

To embellish I tore white and green paper and layered them over the bottom half of the card.  I added thin teal ribbon with a black paper punch.  My Critter Cutter worked very hard to cut out 100 ''thanks'' out of silver paper.

The teal ribbon from the front I wrapped around and tucked under the photo which would be held in place with silver photo corners.  My favourite stamp in my collection in the ''Happily ever after'' which I stamped under the picture.  Than I stamped ''thanks so much'' in the bottom portion with black ink.





The picture I used on the inside of the card.

I can never leave the back of the card ''naked''!  So to finish it off a overlapped a green and teal punched flower.  And because I love the stamp so much I used it again on the back!  It's so suiting!

So that's our Thank-you cards!  Hope you liked them!!

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My Wedding Bouquet

For our wedding I tried to come up with a different idea for the brides maids dresses.  And on the other hand, I couldn't decide on one colour either.  So I decided to go with a different colour for each brides maid.  The groomsmen would then each wear a coloured vest that would correspond to the girls dress that they would be standing with.

So I picked out a custom dress style from a shop owned by a good family friend.  She could make these dressed in an array of different colours as well as make matching full piece vests for the men.  We picked out 5 colours that were all very different but went nice together and then I just needed to tie the colours into my bouquet.

So we went with a base bouquet of a combination of whitish flowers and tried to pick a Gerber daisy to match each fabric.  We were able to find the pink, yellow and green Gerber daisies but the blue and purple were a bit tricky.  We finally went with a purpley blue poppy which was great because poppies have some what of an importance in our family.

The Finished Product

All in all I was and am delighted with how the bouquet and the dress colours worked out!

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Our Wedding Invites

Our wedding invitation adventure....

It was a long tedious venture but with the final product it was all worth it!

I had purchased the DIY kits from Micheal's

It Included:
- willow green scroll motif background card stock
- vellum inserts
- willow green ribbon
- willow green scroll motif card stock response cards
- invitation envelopes
- response card envelopes

I of course decided to make my life harder and wanted to print the invitation information on the vellum.  Three printer attempts later and we finally were able to use my Mom's portable printer if we individually feed through the vellum and layered each piece out to dry.  In hind sight, make sure you have a working laser printer on hand when you decide to print on vellum!

Once the info was printed we stamped with silver ink a scroll stamp beneath our names and added a silver double heart charm dangling from the ribbon.  The ribbon was feed through the pre punched holes in both the card stock and vellum.  Each end is feed through from front to the back and then pulled through from back to front through the opposite holes... sorry I don't have pictures to show this better, hope that makes sense.

The response cards we made into reception cards.  They were drastically easier to print on since they were card stock.  Once the printing was done we stamped them with the same scroll stamp but with willow green ink.

One hundred invites layed out on all the tables in my parents house.

An invite and reception card that I kept for my self and put into a shadow box.

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