Cupcake Stand Tutorial

These sweet little individual cupcake stands are so easy and affordable to make. They are perfect for parties and the guests can take them home as a party favor. After the party, they can be used to hold trinkets or jewelry.


Materials Needed:

Glass Candle Holders ($1 each from Dollar Tree)
Small Glass or Clear Plastic Plate (I found an 8-pack of clear party plates at the Dollar Tree)
Glue (Hot Glue, E-6000 or Gorilla Glue)
Scrapbook Paper
4" White Doilies
2" wide ribbon

1.) Start by placing glue along the top rim of the candle holder. (I used hot glue, which held temporarily. This would be good if you wanted to disassemble the holders afterwards to use the candle holders for something else. If you want a permanent hold, use e-6000 which dries clear, or Gorilla Glue which has a yellowish color when dry.)

2.) Attach your plate to the candle holder.

3.) Tie your ribbon around the base.

4.) Cut circles from scrapbook paper that are slightly smaller than the plate.

5.) Place the paper circles and a doily on each stand.

That's it! You're done! Easy, easy, easy!!

I wanted to include another option for you. I used a small wooden plaque (found in the unfinished wood section of craft stores), attached it like the plates above, spray painted the entire thing, and then painted polka dots on the top of the plaque, then painted the sides in a contrasting color.

Tea Party for Georgie's 8th Birthday

We celebrated Georgia Anne's 8th birthday last weekend. You might remember my post last month about going to a tea room for Memaw's birthday. Georgie fell in love with the whole tea room experience. She decided she wanted to have her party there but the drive to Prattville and back is 1 1/2 hours (a little too far for these kiddos). After searching in Montgomery and Auburn for a tea room with no luck, we convinced Georgia Anne that we could have it at our house and it could be just as nice and special.

She had very specific directions for me to adhere to: fabric tablecloth and napkins, real teacups and saucers, pink and green color scheme, a tiered serving piece for the cookies and sandwiches. She also planned the entire menu: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, heart shaped sugar cookies, powdered donuts, chocolate covered pretzels, ham and cheese roll-ups, cheesecake brownies, cupcakes, hot chai tea and pink lemonade (for those who might not like the tea).

She had the best time with her friends and they are at such a fun age. They were all so well behaved and polite. American Girl Dolls are a big deal to these girls, so their dolls were invited to the tea party also. They all loved the table, hot tea and food!

Georgie and I found a cute tutorial for these darling tea pot invitations. Here is what they look like when you take them from the envelopes.

Then you pull the lid and the invitation is on the inside.

Each of the take out boxes were filled with Popcorn Confetti (which I found here).

I also made a "photo booth." They had the best time taking pictures!!
Banks

Belle

Nicole

Caleb
Funny thing about Caleb. He is Georgie oldest friend. They have been together since they were about 20 months old. Georgie was going to invite him or else. I called his mom and explained the party (all girls, pink, dolls, etc) and told her if he didn't want to come we would have him over to play and they could have cupcakes and ice cream. Oh no, he was coming and didn't mind he was the only boy! He is the sweetest thing ever and he hung right in there with the girls. He had what he called an "American Jaguar."

Kiley

Alex

Emily

Kami with her American Girl Doll, Virginia Kate

Blair

Taylor

New Dining Room Table

This past summer my Dad told me he wanted to make me a piece of furniture and asked me to think about what I wanted. I immediately knew I wanted a table, but was hesitant to tell him because I knew what I wanted would be a lot to ask. Not only would it be a BIG project, but the materials, time involved, etc. were a lot to ask for. One day he asked Michael if we had decided what we wanted him to build for us and so he told him about the table. He said no problem and told us to get him drawings or a picture of what we wanted. We were both SO excited!!! I have had this table in my head for years now. One day, when we build a house, I do not want a formal dining room. I want a huge table between the kitchen and family room that is a casual, dark wood, farmhouse style table with trestle base (so you don't have to worry about someone having to straddle a table leg) that would sit 10 to 12. Needless to say, Daddy outdid himself!! The man can do just about anything, and when it come to woodworking he is so talented. He has worked on this table for months now. This was the best Christmas present and I am so thankful to him for such a wonderful gift. I look forward to all the meals, games, homework, crafts, etc. that will take place on this table. It warms my heart to think that one day I can pass this table on to one of my children, and then their children.

Here are a few pictures of Daddy working on the table along the way. I wish I would have thought to take more while he was working on it. Mom actually took these and shared them with me.
The table actually started from about 15 - 2" thick, 9" wide, 10' long oak boards!

Daddy carved this on the bottom side of the table top.

This thing weighs so much....we think it weighs somewhere around 500 or 600 lbs. We have decided that if we are ever in fear of a tornado coming towards our house we will hide under the table....because it isn't going ANYWHERE and I seriously don't think it would break if something fell on it. It really is that solid!

Once the table was done, we brought it over to our house. The top is one piece, and the the base is actually several pieces that were fitted together and assembled at our house.

The hardest part was actually flipping it over and standing it up once it was put together. Thankfully Joey was nice enough to come help us!

Mom and Dad with the finished product.

And here she is all decked out! I love it!! The chairs are actually the ones we already had. I want 10 new chairs like these, but those will have to wait until the boys are a little older and our pocketbook is a little fuller. For now these aren't bad. I do want to slipcover the seats with cotton duck that I can launder and bleach.

Michael got me this great dough bowl for Christmas. I have been wanting one FOREVER and it was a wonderful surprise.

I am also in LOVE with this china! My sister-in-law, Kami got this pattern when she got married a few years back. I have whined about how I hate my everyday china and wished I had something like hers, so she surprised me a few months back with four dinner plates and salad plates. Then I got four more of each from Memaw for Christmas. I can't wait to start adding pieces! It is Butler's Pantry by Lenox, if you were curious.