Vivian's Pumpkin Ballerina Birthday Party



The best part about hanging balloons upside down from the ceiling is you don't need helium...no early morning run to the party store to pick up ballons!  However, if you have high ceilings like me I would not try this unless you have a super awesome husband that is willing to spend his evening the night before blowing and hanging.  I recently saw this on pinterest and they suggested putting a bean or something in the balloons so they will hang, but I didn't do that and they hung just fine.

Last year for Vivian's birthday we did a pumpkin theme since her birthday is in October, so this year I
suggested we do something different like a ballerina theme since she was going to be starting dance class.  She kept telling me it was going to be a pumpkin ballerina party...so I went with it.  Here's what we did for her pumpkin ballerina party.  I loved the color scheme...orange, pink and green....so bright and cheery!

  

I always pre-scoop the icecream for parties with kids.  It just makes serving it so quick and easy and I think it looks cute as part of the dessert table too!

 

 If you want to make ribbon wands it is so super easy.  Cut ribbons (satin works best...do not use wired ribbon) so they are equal lengths.  Then singe both ends of the ribbon so they won't fray.  Take a 1/4 inch dowel and hot glue 2 of the ribbons to the end and then wrap the third ribbon around the other two and hot glue in place.

Photos at the Park

So lately I'm on the lookout for picture taking locations. I have this idea to offer to take different family's pictures for Christmas so I can get some more experience doing that, so I've been trying to find a location that would be great for that. I loved this park in Bothell and I noticed there were other photographers there taking family photos.
As much as I want to though, I think I might not do the family photo shoots, because I'm still not super confident shooting in different lighting situations and also because there is hardly any open time in our crazy life schedule. If you are reading this (which I don't think I have any readers yet) and you want a family photo shoot with an amateur that's trying to learn this art, please let me know.
Here's my favorites from our afternoon at the Park...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies--Gone HEALTHY!

I love the Fall and it feels so much like Fall today that I had to make one of my favorite Fall recipes. When I think of Fall I think of Pumpkin Cookies. For so many years we've been making batches and batches of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with this simple quick recipe...

1 box Spice Cake mix

1 small can pumpkin

1 bag Chocolate Chips

Bake at 375 for about 15 mins.

Yes, this really is a recipe and those really are the only ingredients. And they are so easy and so delicious.

However, I've been on a bit of health kick lately and trying to only eat whole grains and less sugar...so I created a recipe for pumpkin cookies that is VERY HEALTHY and don't let that scare you. I also think they are equally as yummy. A little more work perhaps but worth it in the long run (unless you decide that you can eat 8 cookies because they are healthy--I really think I ate that many).

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup agave nectar syrup (I buy this at Trader Joes or Costco)

1 egg

1 cup pumpkin

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)

1 cup oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

Bake at 350 for 12-15 min.

Cookie Decorating with Royal Icing

This is a technique I read about years ago in a magazine and I've been wanting to try it ever since. Then my friend K sent me a link for this amazing site http://www.sweetopia.net/. We knew we had to try it. What better opportunity than a baby shower. We learned a lot and I am really excited to try this again. I love having a friend that loves to do this kind of thing, she's really the genius behind it all! Here's how they turned out...

K also found another amazing flickr site you should most definitely look at...her work is so inspiring. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosey_sugar_palace/

The W Kids

It hasn't quite been a year since I got my DSLR Camera and I have really loved learning and getting to know how to use it and better yet, getting to take pictures. I've used my own children as models for my photography lessons almost daily (you'll probably get tired of seeing my kids over and over). However, when a friend asked me the other day if I would do a photo shoot of her kids, I was so nervous. After she left I immediately uploaded them and was so pleased to see that we got so many cute ones. What cute kids. Here's a few of my favorites.