Ash & Trey’s Baby Shower

ashtrey_babyshower_001Last weekend my husband and I hosted a baby shower in honor of my little sister Ashley and her husband Trey (who wanted a nickname like CT, so I’m going to be lazy and call him TN).

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!

ashtrey_babyshower_002ashtrey_babyshower_003ashtrey_babyshower_0045ashtrey_babyshower_004ashtrey_babyshower_006 ashtrey_babyshower_007(please note this awesome cake wrecks where Harris Teeter spelled my sisters name wrong and wrote “It’s a GIR!”)

ashtrey_babyshower_008ashtrey_babyshower_009ashtrey_babyshower_010ashtrey_babyshower_011Oh 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!!!

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BBQ Macarons

bbq_macarons_001 bbq_macarons_002 bbq_macarons_003I haven’t blogged for about two three weeks now, I just wasn’t in a sharing mood. Why not make a blogging comeback with some photos of macarons?!? Ha!

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…

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Super Colorful Macarons

This months Crafternoon was Easter themed (as I mentioned in yesterdays post), so I wanted to make macarons that were as colorful as Easter eggs!

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

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Orange Macarons

This past weekend I made orange macarons for this months crafternoon. (I think they kinda look like breakfast sandwiches) I had this huge plan to make peach, lemon, orange and raspberry macarons, but I got a bit sidetracked with my quilt and only ended up making the orange.

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?

 

 

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Birthday Macarons

CT really loves when I make macarons. She always steals a few off the counter before and after I fill them. So of course I would make some for her birthday party!

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!)

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Thanksgiving Macarons

For both Thanksgivings I made macarons, of course. The orange ones are pumpkin spice and the brown ones are maple. I was told the maple ones actually tasted like pancakes. They are my husbands new favorites!

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

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