Going green

Everyone’s a little bit Irish on March 17th, right? Not one to pass up an excuse to throw a party, we had ourselves a bit of a get together.

I’ve been dying for an occasion to make this rainbow cake and what better time than St. Patty’s? I love, love, love how it turned out, both visually and….tastibly? What is the word I’m looking for? I can’t think. But it tasted amazing too. I might be addicted to Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting.

On the outside, just your normal, white-with-shamrock-sprinkles, unassuming layer cake.

But on the inside…..A PARTY FOR YOUR EYES!!! AND YOUR TASTEBUDS!!!

This was a really fun cake to make. A little labor intensive, but totally worth the reaction and results. Can’t wait to make it again. Just imagine all the color possibilities. And a side note….Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved rainbows. I was always drawing them, always arranging my crayons and markers in rainbow order. I loved Rainbow Brite and had sheets and pillows and dolls of her. Fast forward 15 or so years, and now my beloved color scheme has somehow been adopted by “alternative lifestyles”. Ugh. I hate that it’s been tainted, and honestly it’s the only reason I haven’t decorated my kids’ rooms in a totally rainbow theme. Coincidentally, my favorite color used to be purple. They stole that too! Sheesh!

Back to the party.

I got an idea for a rainbow fruit tray here and decided to make that, too. Love how it turned out. I made the classic cream cheese/marshmallow fluff fruit dip.

I made green glass block holiday jello from Our Best Bites. Summer loved this. I love the way it looked. Very festive.

I found a rainbow craft to do on this blog. My orange didn’t turn out as vibrant as I was hoping, but they still turned out cute, and I think the kids had fun making them. I’m already thinking of other uses for dyed pasta. (Very easy to do…soak pasta in rubbing alcohol and food coloring in plastic baggies for a couple hours, flip occasionally. Dry overnight. Mine were kind of splotchy…I think next time I won’t skimp on the alcohol and completely submerge the pasta in colored alcohol.) Once they dry, you hang them in your window…like little sun catchers! Cute, right?

Green utensils and plates, of course. And Brazilian lemonade in the pitcher off to the side. I tried to cheat and use Simply Limeade like a friend had done. Don’t do it. Not nearly as good. I also whipped up some Shamrock Shakes, a la McDonald’s.

My friend Brandy recently started a blog called Holiday Snobs and I saw a cute idea for little favors. Super cute, and under a buck (with a coupon!) All of the “Who’s your Paddy?” sanitizers were passed out, so I only have a shot of this generic green one. That subway art in the corner is from the same site, here. I just had it printed at Wal-Mart. It’s all sized and ready for an 8x10. It came out a little grainy, but from far away you can’t really tell.

And then just a shot of my mantle, which is always so festively decorated (I hope). I saw the idea for the garland on Etsy. Just felt circles sewn together. And yes, I know I need to buy 3 green candles. Just haven’t made it up to Hobby Lobby in awhile! Gasp! 

It really was such a fun little party. As you can see, I am a master copycat. I’m not the one to come up with cute original ideas, but I can copy the good ones with the best of ‘em. And I’m so lucky to have such great friends who not only put up with my crazy theme parties but always bring such delicious and theme-y treats! We were definitely treated to lots of good eats today!

I feel like I have been so cranky lately and today was just what I needed to pick me back up. Why have I been cranky? Honestly, I think it was because potty training was stressing me out so much. So thank you, ALL of you, for all of your comments and advice about what to do. As of Monday we quit potty training. I asked her if she wanted to wear diapers or panties and she said, “Diapers. No panties. Mommy change me.” That was all I needed to hear. We’ve both been much happier since then. But I do have to clarify that I started so early with her because she would tell me every time she peed or pooped, and asked to sit on the potty. So, what else what I supposed to do? At least I know she can do it for a few days, so hopefully next time we try it should go relatively smoothly.

And now it’s time for…..EASTER!!!

Oops, I did it again…

Addiction hath reared its ugly head again. This time in wreath form. I’m pretty confident that if it weren’t for my beliefs, I’d be an alcoholic stripping gambler.

My friend Lindsey tipped me off to a cute wreath on Etsy and when I found an argyle one in the same shop I knew I had to make it in green. I love all things argyle: socks, sweaters, blankets, etc. In fact, just the other day I came across a seemingly easy argyle baby quilt. Now that’s added to the endless list of things I want to make.

I love how it turned out. And now after making two wreaths out of felt, I’m sort of falling in love with it. It doesn’t fray, it’s soft, it’s versatile, it comes in lots of colors. What’s not to love? This, I can say, can be made in one evening. The longest part was wrapping the wreath form in yarn. You wouldn’t think it’s very tedious, but you have to take the whole skein and wind it in and out, in and out. I’m not ashamed to say (or maybe I am?) that my shoulders were totally hurting by the end from the repetitive movements. No wonder that chick sells them for $40!

I think this will wrap up my wreath fetish for awhile. At least until I find an Easter one I want to make….