Cake Do over

I think baking a cake is like any DIY project, it can turn out great or it can be a disaster.  At least that has been my experience so far. 

The few experiences I've had baking have been working out ok until this past April when Mr. 65th got this cake for his birthday....

 

It just kind of exploded:)  We had a good laugh because of it and enjoyed it anyway, at least it tasted really good.

 

I felt bad about the ugly cake and decided to try again for Fathers Day.  When I saw a camp fire cake on Pinterest I knew it would be perfect for my outdoorsy man.  The question was could I pull it off?

 

 

Well, my confidence has been restored and I was proud to present this cake to the best Dad in the world.

 

I might have taken about 20 pictures of my creation since it turned out so well.  The candy flames are just melted butterscotch and cinnamon hard candies, pirouette cookies make the logs.

 

The how to can be found Here if you want to give it a try. 



 

My Terrarium

I love terrariums and have been admiring them online for ages.  The other day I realized I had the perfect apothecary jar that I had filled with pinecones this winter.  Now that I had a container, I was inspired to give it a try.  I found a few tutorials on how to make one and headed out to my favorite nursery to buy my supplies. 

It's as simple as adding layers to your container.  The first layer is rock, mine were collected from our beach trips to Lake Michigan.  (We seem to have an endless supply in the garage)

Then a layer of charcoal to keep mold away.  I bought a small bag at the nursery where I got the moss and fairy silhouette.

Next I added a layer of preserved moss to keep the soil from settling into the rocks. 



See how easy this is?  Fun too!  The last layer is your potting soil, plants and any accessories you might want to add.  

 



 

With fairy gardens being so popular now tiny accessories are easy to find.

Someone was selling the tiny glass mushrooms at a fairy festival we went to recently.  We still believe in fairies.  See our fairy gardens here.



I took my terrarium outside to take a few pictures.  I read they need to be kept out of direct sunlight to stay healthy.  Also, learn from my mistake and don't water too much.  I have about a half inch of water sitting in the bottom of my container that I can't get out.  Turns out a plant mister is the way to go.  Distilled water will prevent the glass from becoming cloudy.

 

The possibilities are endless and they are so easy to make.  Have you made one?  I want to hear all about it. 

 

 

Ice Skating Birthday Party

Our little one turned seven not too long ago.  We celebrated with a party at the ice rink where she is taking lessons.

Of course I had to put a pretty dessert table together for her special day. 

I made the cupcakes (super moist box mix) and chocolate ice skate suckers. The skates took quite a bit longer than I had planned.  When I bought the mold I thought it would be a fast project but I decided to add a second color.

I stuck the suckers into a piece of round foam, it reminded me of a skating rink.  Mr. 65th didn't agree with me:)  Oh well, it did work well to hold them up.

One of my favorite parts of planning this party was finding the perfect invitation

Serendipity Soiree offers one of a kind designer event and holiday invitations.  Catherine was wonderful to work with and I was very pleased with the quality.

The funny part is the little one's outfit almost matched her invites.  We didn't plan it that way but it was cute!

We loved the invite so much I had to go back to her shop and buy the cupcake liners.

I had a personalized bracelet made for each of the girls from a great Etsy shop called Stargazing Lily

They were reasonably priced and came out to be just under five dollars for each girl.  So much nicer than filling a party favor bag full of candy and little junk.

 

We rented out the small studio rink so we had it all to ourselves.

The little one and her friends had fun showing off their skating skills and had a blast!

I hope our daughter will remember her 7th Birthday when she is older and always knows how very much we love her.

Backyard Ice Skating

Since we still have one more official day of winter I thought I would share our ice rink with you today.

I have always loved ice skating so building this rink was kind of a childhood dream for me.  This winter we started spending a lot of time at our local outdoor rink and the little one started taking lessons so it was the perfect time to give it a try.  I started my research right away on the best ways to build one and how to maintain the ice for a smooth finish.

Then came the part where I had to convince Mr. 65th that this was a great idea.  The weather can be unpredictable here in Chicago so we weren't sure our rink would be a success.  As you can see we went for it and started to assemble the frame.

We used left over cement board siding for the frame and used wooden stakes to keep the boards strong. 

Next we used clear plastic from Home Depot as a liner and started to fill it up with our fingers crossed.  Our yard is not level so we ended up adding another board on the back of the rink by the playhouse, that way we had at least three inches of water in the shallow end.

While everyone was taking their Christmas lights down after the holidays we were decking out our backyard for night time skating ambiance.

This is where I was planning to have a hot chocolate station but we always went inside for cocoa to warm up.

Mr. 65th lacing up for a skate under the moonlight.  Of course we had to have Van Morrison's dancing in the moonlight playing that night. 

We used a pool noodle where we got on and off the ice to protect the plastic liner from a toe pick tear.

After the little one went to bed one night we dug out the old baby monitor and had a date night skating under the stars, it was very romantic.

 

After skating we would drag the hose out from the basement and put a thin layer of hot water on the ice to smooth it out.  We did this at night when the tempeature was below freezing and there was no snow in the forecast.

The little one is turning seven next week and decided to have an ice skating party at the rink where she takes lessons.  I found the cutest invitations from an Etsy shop that I will share soon.

Her request seemed appropriate considering how much fun we had skating this winter. 

The ice melted and we took the rink down this weekend.  I'm sad to see it go but I'm ready for winter to be over and for the nice weather to be here. 

Christmas at our house 2012

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief because everything is wrapped and the house is ready for the holidays.  We are having our traditional Christmas Eve party tomorrow night, then we stay home in our jammies and play all day on Christmas. 

Instead of making a wreath this year I bought a swag at whole foods and put our initial on it like I did
last year.

A nursery close by was selling tree tops for five dollars so I bought a couple for the outdoor urns.  Then I used leftover Christmas tree branches and some store bought greens to fill in all around it.  Simple and so easy!

For the little urn I replanted a little boxwood that I had in a clay pot this summer and then I used leftover greens again to fill in all around it. 

I went with real evergreen garland this year and it makes all the difference.  You can see before and after pictures of the exterior transformation here.

Let's head inside for a look around....

I kept the snowflakes going from our Christmas card photo shoot but changed the words.  We are really wishing for snow this winter. A white Christmas would be even better!

We always head out to the tree farm to hunt for the perfect tree. This year we were wandering around for over an hour looking for just the right one.

This guy is on the skinny side because I was a little traumatized by the size of our tree last year, he blocked out all of the sunlight it was so big!

 

 

Our big tree has special ornaments that have been collected for years.  The Eiffel Tower is new this year from Pottery Barn. 

I went with white and brown craft paper again and dressed them up with pretty ribbon. 

 

 

I am loving these chalkboard tags from Martha Stewart, chalk markers help your message stay put.  You can even erase and rewrite using a damp paper towel. 

More chalkboard on the faux mantel in the dining room.

I picked up this fun and quirky fox lamp at Target this fall.  I think he fits in with the natural vibe we have going on here. 

I had fresh garland hanging around the old window but took it down when it wouldn't stay put so I replaced it with a fresh evergreen swag.  

The little dresser in the hallway got some lovin too.

Remember the five dollar tree topper I talked about for the outside urns?  Well, I had a genius idea to use one as a table top tree.

I popped one into a galvanized pot held in tight with florist foam and got decorating.

Here it is all decked out in a woodland theme sitting on the buffet in the kitchen.  As you can see I gave it a good spray with some "snow".

A few new ornaments like these acorns mingle with garage sale pinecones. 

 



And cute homemade mushroom ornaments. Tutorial found here.

 

I put together a Yule log using a birch branch, moss, acorns and a mushroom ornament from Target.  The center is hollowed out a bit to hold the moss. 

 

 

The squirrel is new this year too, I love his sparkly tail!





I will end this very long post with a couple bokeh pictures I had fun playing around with.  I was inspired to try it out after reading this post from Honey We're Home.  I was so excited it worked!

 



From my family to yours, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!


Sharing with the Nester for her famous Christmas Tour Of Homes.