easter party.

i'm really late posting this party mostly because i have spent the past few weeks grieving over my photo catastrophe from this party.  i had the whole thing set up and all of my pictures came out blank.  it was terrible.  luckily i noticed before the party was over but unluckily i noticed after a lot of the food was gone.  oh shwell.  such is life!  anyways, this easter party was done for my sister-in-law's annual easter egg hunt.  it's pretty much one of my most favorite traditions and i was lucky enough to be in charge of the food this year!  so here's the rest of the party in pictures...no full tablescape one is included.  LAME!

the dessert set-up.

some of the background for the appetizer table.

the desserts were set up on an adorable vintage dresser.  the shelves on the sides had peeps and vanilla bean custard in egg shells.

my sister-in-law is expecting her fifth baby and wanted to reveal the gender to everyone at the party.  this is the reveal cake which had BLUE frosting in the middle:)

caprese salad bites.  holy shmoly, DELICIOUS!

carrot and celery sticks in ranch dressing.

cream cheese biscuits and hummus-filled cucumber.

arancini (basically a fried ball of rice with mozarella inside) w/ marinara sauce on the side.

grilled pear, blueberry goat cheese and honey bites.

bird's nest cupcakes.

lemon buddies.

 glittery bunny sugar cookies.

alice in wonderland.

this party might be my new favorite.  my best friend's little girl was turning 5 and wanted an alice in wonderland party.  it was sooo much fun to do!  i hadn't seen alice in wonderland since i was younger and decided to watch it again prior to this party.  i was so excited because it is such a funky movie and funky definitely equals fun!  so that's about all i have to say so enjoy the pics!

the tablescape:

i hung playing cards and the cheshire cat arrows in the tree behind the table.

i had these sticks and painted them green and made some roses out of crepe paper.  i was obsessed with the funkiness of these "rose bushes"!

crazy tea cups like mad hatter's crazy tea party:

shrinking potion:

cupcakes with pink and purple stripes like the cheshire cat:

mini pieces of strawberry fudge:

"eat me" cookies:

an upside down birthday cake:

little key lime mousse bites:

more tea cups because i love things to be symmetrical:

blue baby shower.

i did a baby shower for this really cute girl who is expecting a sweet baby boy in april.  this mama-to-be is from a family of sisters.  not so used to boys:) soooo, i thought it'd be good to ease her into the idea of a boy with different shades of blue and some little toy cars, boats, and planes.  to me, nothing says "boy" like blue and cars.  i had a blast preparing for this.  i made the argyle canvases by painting the diamonds on with acrylic paint and using some jute for the diagonal lines.  i love the texture from the jute!  i found the lemon sugar sticks and thought the yellow from those and the coconut cream would add some good contrast.  overall, i loved the whole tablescape.  came out just as i'd hoped!

the tablescape:

coconut cream with coconut wafers:

black forest brownie bites:

cookie brittle dipped in chocolate:

milk chocolate-dipped pretzels:

root beer float push pop cake (root beer flavored cake, root beer flavored frosting, more cake, whipped cream on top):

lemon sticks:

old wooden toys:

old fashioned metal toy car:

white chocolate-dipped pretzels:

more wooden toys:

 sparkling lemonade:

ice water:

more of the tablescape:

hot cocoa & s'mores

my husband is sooo not one for surprises.  wait, he's not one for a party dedicated to him let alone being surprised by it.  buuuuut with him turning the big 3-0, i couldn't resist!  but i was also incredibly nervous because as i said before, he hates surprises.  so, the pictures of this shindig...not that fab.  i'm pretty sure i was shaking as i took them (before he arrived) and i didn't even take pictures of most things.  but the party turned out fab.  the hubs was surprised...maybe a leeetle bit annoyed with me and then forgiving because his awesome friends made up for it:)

i had the party outside so we could roast marshmallows over fire pits for s'mores and had six different flavors of hot cocoa there.  we had suisse chocolate, raspberry, hazelnut, white chocolate, caramel, and peppermint. i also went with the color scheme of his fave team.