My mom did most of the work putting this whole thing together. From the food, to the candy bar, to the hot chocolate favors to the games and more. She went all out!!! The only thing I had a hand in was the little tags on everything, the food signs, the macarons and the photo booth and props. All but the last pieces were all her idea too! It was a lot of fun to help put together and I am so happy we were able to have it in our home! I also can’t wait to meet my newest niece sometime soon!! She’ll get a cute nickname unlike her dad, we’ll call her “Little R”.

Now be prepared for a bunch of photos, mostly up close, because that’s just my style!

(please note this awesome cake wrecks where Harris Teeter spelled my sisters name wrong and wrote “It’s a GIR!”)

Oh and the above picture is my other adorable little sister and her best friend!

My camera battery died halfway through the day and I had to borrow my sisters, so the photos are all weird and different. I also messed up on photos of the adorable banner I made and the gorgeous mobile/centerpiece my mom made using tissue paper, paper lanterns, tulle and other paper goods! It was so pretty we decided to hang it in CT’s playroom afterwards.

This was the first time my mom and I have collaborated on anything, it was a fun and surprising experience!

This was the third event we’ve had at our house in the last month, and the second to last. I’m super happy to have everyone over, but I won’t lie, it will be soo nice when I can get back to normal! I miss making a huge crafty mess!!!

I know I named this post “BBQ Macarons”, and you were probably expecting macarons in the shape of a bbq, or hamburger or something else cool like that. I’m sorry to disappoint! These were just some nice, colorful macarons made for a family bbq last weekend. Well, half of them were for the bbq, the other half went to my sister who just moved in a new super cute apartment!

Now onto the details about these macarons not shaped like hamburgers… The top coral colored ones are cinnamon flavored with plain buttercream filling, and the bottom teal ones are plain almond with coconut buttercream filling. Most people seemed to like the cinnamon ones more, but the kids loved the bright teal and purple ones! Oh, and added bonus, I put too much coloring in them and they ended up staining everyone’s mouths!!! So I was totally able to see who ate what.

I had actually made a third batch too, which was maple with maple and cinnamon buttercream filling, but they didn’t come out that great in a few ways. First they were ugly and not very puffy. Then the morning of the bbq I accidentally squished them all right before I took photos!!!

I’m happy I was asked to make these, it helped boost my confidence a bit, which I greatly needed right now. I don’t really have any huge get togethers coming up soon, but maybe I should just make some more just for fun? They are gluten free, and I hardly ever get to eat sweets…

My first attempt was the swirly ones, which are plain ole almond flavored with a coconut butter cream filling in teal. I pictured something completely different than what came out, which I was totally fine with because these were still fun! Only a few from that batch came out, because it seems one of my ovens is not working properly and I didn’t figure that out until halfway through the second color!!!

The second color/flavor combo I made were the purple ones. They are cinnamon maple flavored with bright pink cinnamon butter cream filling (these are a favorite in my house! they are like cinnamon waffles!). I thought those were the only two colors I was going to make, until I figured out the oven thing and had to make a third batch! The third batch were the bright pink ones which were orange flavored with bright yellow vanilla butter cream filling! I ended up with a bunch of those!!

I was super happy with the way these came out in the end. I have finally mastered using the piping bag with no mess, which mostly means uniformed shells! I am also more confidant with how much coloring I use, so now my macarons are super vibrant and fun!

I will be making a few more batches this week for an upcoming get together and neighbor gifts, so expect another macaron post soon!!

 On a side note, I liked the first photo so much that I added it to my Society6 shop so I could have an iphone case made of it! If by chance any of you would be interested in something like that too (or a print), then just click here

The shells are flavored with orange extract, and the filling is just plain ole butter cream with orange juice instead of vanilla extract. They tasted awesome! I may make some kind of chocolate filling the next time.

Any suggestions for the next flavor I should try?

I tried something a little new with both of the batches.

On the bottom of the tray are strawberry macarons with strawberry preserve buttercream filling. These were a bit off in color and size since I used ground up freeze dried strawberries in the batter and I didn’t tint them like usual. Oh and the buttercream was just normal ole buttercream with two tablespoons of strawberry preserves blended in. Super easy! So even though they weren’t super pretty, they tasted great!!

The macarons on the top, and in all the close up photos, were peppermint flavored with peppermint buttercream filling. I tried my hand as swirly color, which came out nice on about half of them. I also made them slightly larger than I usually do, which I think made them even better!!

I also made a half batch of peanut butter macarons, but those didn’t make it to the party. They were just too good.

I feel a lot more confident every time I bake these awesome treats, so expect more posts about them. I have loads of flavor combos I still want to try. Any combos YOU think I should try?

(oh and all the photos above were taken by my sister Ashley, not me!)

I’m in the baking mood again, so I’m thinking of trying out some fruit flavored sets. Maybe strawberry or orange?

I had the idea while we were away to add little faces to some of the macarons. I had always seen those Wilton Foodwriter markers while craft supply shopping, so I thought those might work. I made sure we stopped by AC Moore after we left the airport Friday, totally cutting it close! Ha!

They totally worked! I had to be very gentle, otherwise I’d have cracked the shell of the cookies. They don’t smudge, or run. It was actually a lot of fun making sure all the faces were different. Some were sad, some were happy, and one was crazy! I really love how they came out. I made a bunch for the party, a few for my neighbors (they were awesome and picked up all my UPS packages while we were gone) and a few for my family.

The orange ones are pumpkin spice flavored with chocolate buttercream as the filing, and the black ones are chocolate flavored with vanilla buttercream as the filling. All the colors came out exactly as I pictured, and so did the little faces. I really need to find other uses for these pens, their awesome!

The craft this time around was to make little halloween themed figures, corsages or ornaments. There were loads of supplies to choose from, and we could make whatever we wanted. It was a little overwhelming, but fun at the same time. I’m usually very structured when it comes to crafting, so this was a nice step outside my comfort zone.

I made the three little guys above. The one on the left was made out of a spun cotton figure that Heidi put together ahead of time. I kinda thinks she looks like a mix of a witch and a vegas showgirl. The other two figures were made out of pipe cleaners and other random supplies, I have no idea what they may or may not be, haha.

I’m finally putting up our halloween tree this week (I know I know, I’m behind, I blame vacation) and I was thinking these little guys would make great ornaments! It shouldn’t be too hard to sew/glue some loops on the top of each one.

Anyway, as always I loved seeing everyone and enjoyed myself very much. It was a nice end to my hectic and exhausting week and I can’t wait until the next one. Thank you again to all the girls (and guy) that make these get togethers so nice. You’re all awesome!

Every crafternoon has a set project, and this months was fabric covered button hairbands. I also brought along some of those plastic bezel pieces I made a few months back to try out. You can see one in white in the photo above, bottom left corner. Anyway, it was a nice project that did not result in any injuries. We were asked to bring some scrap fabric and Heidi provided the rest. As always it was fun! The project wasn’t as intense as past months which meant everyone was able to socialize more, which is always the best part of these get togethers!

The food was great again too! I have been having issues with gluten for awhile, so when I go places I don’t expect to actually get to enjoy things. Well, thats not the case for these parties. Everyone is so thoughtful and accommodating. I was able to enjoy a cheesy potato soup (with full on fixing bar) and a piece of povlova made by Heidi, and an awesome veggie wrap using gluten free tortilla by Molly. I of course was also able to enjoy my own macarons since they are also gluten free!

I’m so glad I get to go to these things. Thank you Heidi! I’m already excited about next months crafternoon, I really enjoy everyone that attends and I almost always get to meet someone new! If you live in an area with loads of crafty people, I totally suggest trying these types of get together! Were all so attached to our computers all the time that its nice to get out and see people face to face!

This past weekend Heidi had another one of her monthly crafternoons, and I wanted to make some macarons again!

I was too busy last month, but this weekend I had more time since the get together was later in the afternoon. That meant I could make them the morning of, instead of the night before.

I got lazy and made the same flavor combo from the macaron party I threw a few months back. These smurf looking macarons are pumpkin spice flavored with vanilla chai butter cream filling! I doubled the amount of spices this time around and was very happy with the results!! I think everyone else liked them too (or they were just being very nice!). The teal color has nothing to do with the flavor by the way! I just really wanted to make brightly colored macarons. Ha.

Oh and of course I had to some some up close pretty pictures of the cookies! I have that new camera now, I better as well use it right! Haha!

and just for fun check out this animated gif I made in photoshop! I put my camera on continious shot and took photos while my mixer was on the highest speed.

Anyway, I want to make another flavor combo soon, any idea? something fruity maybe?