Freckles & Bones

I am all about making sure the parties I throw follow the basic Andrea party rules, this first birthday would be no exception:1. Party should have a theme 2. Invitees must have a great time (have activities) 3. Must serve great food. 4. Make sure party stays on schedule so people can leave if needed! Overall, I think I acheived my own expectations and surpassed many peoples expectations of a baby’s first birthday!

The theme came to me when I saw a friend’s little girl was having an Alice in Wonderland tea party. I thought that is brilliant but I have to make it my own, thus Ainsley in ONE-derland was born! I knew exactly what the picture should be, the classic Alice at the tea party. And the parTEA had to be ONEderful! I figured since Chris and I didn’t have a large wedding, why not have a GINORMOUS birthday celebration for Ainsley Jane!

We used Stillwater’s own Peacock Productions for the amazing invitations, and they were fabulous to work with. They had the white rabbit on the return envelope and a watercolor pic on a gorgeous light blue card that opened like a flower.

The CAKE: I made the cake from scratch and used the Wilton boxed icing sets for the icing & fondant. The chocolate cake was fabulous but the vanilla was too dense. The cakes were to be two mushrooms and a grassy area. I ran out of time but overall they were cute and creative! I used frosted rice krispy treats to cover the columns that the mushrooms rested on.

The FOOD: Part of the menu was with the help of Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine, the rest was my own & friend’s recipes. The open face toasts were: Ricotta with grated lemon peel, basil, & local honey on french baguette, Pesto, Buffalo Mozzerella, & basil on sourdough, Capers, Roasted Peppers, Kalamata Olives in a red wine vinegrette on french baguette, Roasted Garlic & Goat Cheese with an olive tapinade and red onion on french baguette. All the toasts were labeled with Alice in Wonderland characters announcing the ingredients for the inquisitive! The table was stuffed with other goodies like; Shortbread cookies that read “Eat Me”, a veggie tray with ranch(from Mazzio’s of course), peanut butter cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, playing card covered chocolates, ginger peach cold tea, pomegranate & earl grey hot tea, coffee, & sherbet punch.

The DECOR: Themed decorations included: An Alice in Wonderland tablecloth, tea pots and tea sets of all shapes all around the house and main table, heart shaped fans, plastic flamingoes, a croquet set, large mushrooms, giant flowers, fun kiddy toys to play on, and a Cheshire Cat on our playroom chalkboard welcoming everyone in! Other decorations were the actual invitations, a ONEderful wall of pictures of Ainsley’s first year, and many brightly colored balloons!

The FAVORS: Favors were by age group: adults received hand stamped Alice tea cups or bowls with tea and cookies, big kids got a Mad Hatter TOP HAT filled with coloring books, candy, stickers, and a fan, little ones got felted wool balls, board books & a sun protection hat for summer time.

The BABY: Ainsley was dressed in her custom “Alice” dress and looked adorable. She smiled and was so excited while the whole room sang to her for her birthday! She LOVED the cake, well really loved the fondant and wanted to eat all of it. I had to keep peeling it off and throwing it out for fear she would have a complete sugar overload! She received amazing presents and had awesome party guests! Her grandma & Aunt Mandy drove from Indianapolis with cousins Elijah & Katie. Great Great Aunt Helen drove from Bartlesville & many other friends and family members spent their Mother’s Day helping us celebrate!

I was so blessed to get to throw a party of this magnitude and I thank everyone (especially my husband & his mom & sister & my friends Tori & Heather) that helped me clean up afterwards and set up before! It was a ONEderful Party and Ainsley will love these pictures when she is older!

-Freckles (aka: Andrea)

The Best Year so far …2009

// March 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby, Family

January 2009

I became a mother this year and that make this the best year of my entire life.

No matter the pain, weight, stress and other factors this year had I will always remember when I became a mother!

Thank you Lord, thank you hubby Chris, and thank you Ainsley Jane you’ve made my dreams come true! I look forward to all the years to come and hopefully all the brothers and sisters for Miss Ainsley Jane!

Hello New Year! Goodbye Fat Freckles!

// March 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby, Family, Friends

I don’t have fat freckles, I am becoming fat Freckles (AGAIN)! I need to change that. I would like to conceive again this year after Ainsley turns one, and this time I would like to be in shape! I also want to be healthy just to live longer and be a better wife, mother, and daughter!

My Challenges: The biggest change is that I need to become healthier! And as mentioned above I would like to be blessed with another baby after Ainsley turns one!

My husband Chris is always up for supporting me through whatever I want to do, and when it involves more fun outdoor activities he loves it!

My Accountability: I of course have my husband Chris, daughter Ainsley, my mom and dad, and I have enlisted a new Canadian Twitter friend Julie to be my comrade. She is a new mom as well and we will be guest blogging on each other’s sites! She runs a great cloth diaper store out of her home in British Columbia (Little Monkey Store)! She has a son that is two weeks older then Ainsley and we definitely rely on each other for mommy tips and trends.

So that is that! Challenge and Accountablity.

Next step the plan. It’s real now!

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