October 27, 2014

 

Sweet Treats Book Launch



Saturday I drove up to Washington to attend the book launch of my dear friend Party Pinching's first book. It poured the whole way up and back but it was worth driving through. Plus being from Oregon, we're born with rain boots, it's just liquid sunshine. 
Seattle from my car as we were stopped in traffic
 The book signing was at Wight's Home and Garden Center. My friend, a local celebrity. I know a CELEBRITY!!! How cool is that?! 

How cute is this display! Everyone who bought a book got a goodie bag filled with a coupon for Wight's, a cookie, a bag of sixlets, a book mark, and a cute mini cupcake charm. 
 The Purple Pug's Sweet Treats banner was a perfect touch for the table display. Candy tree and house available at Wight's. 
 Sweet Works provided candy for attendees to enjoy. 

 When Party Pinching contacted me to make tulle rosette's for her book launch I was honored to be a small part of it. They look so festive on her goodie bags. 
I'll take that snowman please :) I have a slight snowman obsession
Here she is, the author and sweets celebrity, my friend, Party Pinching!  If she lived closer we'd get into so much party trouble ;)
 So exciting! The author signing my book :) 
Sweet Treats for the Holiday's SOLD OUT at Wight's on Saturday. You can get a copy on Amazon. This book makes a great holiday gift.  All the adorable creations inside are all made with store bought food and  are easy for kids to make. 

October 24, 2014

 

Pumpkin Everything II

Pumpkin Everything is back!

Trader Joe's flyer for Pumpkin everything came out so you know I HAD to make a trip there. When I checked out the cashier said, "pumpkin everything trip I see". You got that right.

I'm not a big cereal bar fan but this is PUMPKIN people! and yes, they are tasty. The cashier told me they were one of his favorites.
 My friend Carole called me and told me about these. She said her kids devour a box as soon as she brings them home. I'm not a chocolate cookie fan and I didn't notice the filling wasn't pumpkin until I got home. But I tried them anyway. Meh. I took them to work for my co-workers. 
 I know, these aren't pumpkin either but the Glo Balls look like pumpkins! They are my FAV Hostess treat. The Twinkies are filled with S'cream filling so I had to pick those up too. I'm telling you, I'm a sucker for seasonal food items. 
 Move over Cheerios, Pumpkin O's are in town. These are very good. In fact, I need to stock up before they're gone. They're better then Cheerios in my opinion.  
 Yep, another non-pumpkin item snuck into my post. Notice it's a ghost shape and remember my inability to pass up seasonal food items. I was disappointed in this Twix though. I like Twix. However, this one had too much cookie for me. And it's not even shaped like a ghost. Not really. Looks more like an egg.
 Oh, this cream cheese is SO good. The bagels are very plain. Not much pumpkin flavor. Until you add the cream cheese. mmm. The cashier told me the cream cheese is super good smeared on pumpkin bread. 
Green tea is my go to morning drink. Until pumpkin season and then it's pumpkin spice chai.  I'm going to have to bring some milk to work because I've been mixing this with water and it's not as good as if I were to mix it with milk. 
See anything you like? I'd love to hear what you want to try or have tried. 

October 22, 2014

 

Pumpkin Carving Party

 This weekend I had a few friends over to carve pumpkins.  I kept it low key this year. Very low key. I'm talking a simple table, take-out lunch and all store bought treats.

I always keep the guest count small. It's easier to carve pumpkins when you have a small group of people. I only invite 4-5 friends. We watch a Halloween movie, eat lunch, enjoy some treats and carve up some pumpkins. This years movie choice took us back to our Jr high school days,  Children of the Corn.  We always pick a movie that we've all seen so we're watching but not WAtching, if you know what I mean.
My bathroom decor
I told you I was very low key this year. I didn't bake a single treat and I bought lunch. A delicious Hawaiian fare of pulled pork and shuyo chicken with rice and pasta salad from Roxy's Island Grill.  It was delish! Pumpkin spice candy corn, pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses and pumpkin spice M & Ms. This gave my friends a chance to try these seasonal candies.

Pumpkin Oreo's, Trader Joe's Jo-Jo's and Caramel Apple Oreo's.  The pumpkin spice Oreo's are good. Nice mild flavor. I bought the Jo-Jo's on a recommendation from a friend. However I didn't care for them. I'm not a chocolate cookie fan. The caramel apple Oreo's were a hit with my friends.

I displayed the Mingle magazine issue my party was featured in and then forgot to brag ;) to my friends about it. What was I thinking! Cake pops in the photo by 4 Kids Cakes.

 Low key again, no baking here. Trader Joe's pumpkin macarons. I drew the faces on with edible ink. Note-when drawing faces on these macarons you want a light touch or they crack. As you can see.

Party favors! Recognize those coffins and pumpkins? Pumpkins by Danielle's Sweet Side , coffin box's from Michaels

So I did bake something for the party, pumpkin bread.  I used Wilton  coffin baking box's, added the Wilton zombie hand and crushed up Trader Joe's Jo-Jo's to make the dirt.

Inside the bags I gave my friends the pumpkin bread in the coffin, a pumpkin spice tea bag and Halloween socks.  My guests love the socks! I'm telling you, if you're thinking of hosting a small Halloween party next year pick up some socks at 50% off and give them out next year. Your guests will love them.

Where's the pictures of the pumpkins we carved you ask? well, we had so much fun laughing, talking, eating good food and watching cheesy old Halloween movies, I forgot to take pictures of the carved pumpkins. Now that's a sign of a good party.

Related: Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

October 20, 2014

 

Coffee Fest

 Coffee Fest came to Portland, Oregon and me, a non-coffee drinker went. Why did I go if I don't drink coffee? Read on my friend and I shall tell you.  Coffee Fest is a trade show for anyone in the coffee business. Coffee Fest was held at the convention center which is just over the river from where I work. So I hopped on the MAX on my lunch break and headed over.
This is the reason I went to Coffee Fest, Nashville Wraps! I was there to meet representatives from the company.  Recently I partnered up with Nashville Wraps on a special project I'm doing for the BASH Conference   VIP bags. I'll be using some of their gorgeous products. The Nashville Wraps booth was packed with people wanting to talk to their representatives. I was glad I went on Friday when the Coffee Fest first opened or I may never have had a chance to talk to them.

These coffee cups were HOT! The booth was packed with people interested in these cups.  They're insulated so you don't have to use one of those sleeves. And the colours are popping on them. Look at that pink. Makes me wish I had a coffee shop or a bakery just so I could use these cups.
 It was great to see the products in person.  Nashville Wraps has you covered for any packaging your business may need. I am loving those gourmet window treat bags.  I may need to order some of those.
I have just the project in mind.

October 6, 2014

 

It's in the Details Dessert Cups DIY

Over 110 Fabulous Halloween Ideas Shared by bloggers. #halloweenideas #halloween
Halloween is absolutely one of my FAVORITE holidays and to celebrate I gathered together the creative minds of some of my talented blogging friends to bring you over 110 fabulous Halloween ideas! From costumes to parties, crafts and home decor, recipes and free printables, we have so many fun ideas to share! I guarantee you'll find a project (or 10!) that you would love to incorporate into your Halloween festivities. All week (Monday through Saturday) myself and my blogging friends will be sharing our fun creations with all of you. Each day will include approximately 20 Halloween projects you can "hop" from one blog to another to check them all out. For my project, I'm sharing how to dress up a plain dessert cup into something your guests will oooh and awww over. Details catch the eye. Look at this boring dessert cup. So plain. I filled mine with Jell-O which added some color but it's still...plain.
Take plain boring wooden spoons,
Grab a stamp, any stamp with a great design will do. I used the edge of this one and black ink and stamped right onto the handle of the spoon. It gave the spoons a great spooky look (see last photo)
Now, lets add some great spoooky ghosts! I love little details like this and your guests will too. Pick yourself up a bag of Jet-Puffed ghosts, aren't they cute! and some edible markers. Draw fun ghost faces on them.
Add some jewel stickers to the cups, fill with Jell-O or any treat you like, add the spoons and the ghouled up ghosts and look how much better those plain cups look! I guarantee your guests will love all these little easy details you added. But don't tell them how easy it was to do (wink wink)
Now, are you ready for more fabulous Halloween ideas from my blogging friends??? Have some fun and join in on our blog hop! Simply click on each of the links for the Halloween projects you'd like to see and it'll take you right to that post with details on how to create it. Have fun and pin away! Over 100 Halloween ideas to help you celebrate Halloween with style! #Halloweenprojects #halloweenbloghop 1. No-Sew Fairy Halloween Costume 2. Free Halloween Print: Frankenstein Wall Art 3. Candy Corn Layer Cake 4. Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Party Decorations 5. Free Happy Halloween Print 6. Halloween Toilet Paper Roll Candles 7. It's in the Details Dessert Cups DIY 8. Printable Halloween BINGO cards 9. Ghoulish Glam Halloween Wreath 10. Creepy Potion Bottles (with Free Printable Lables!) 11. Easy Trick or Treat Basket 12. FREEBIE :: Halloween ART PRINT 13. Mercury Jack-O-Lantern 14. FREE Halloween Printables 15. Glittery Glue Spiderwebs 16. Halloween Metal Punch Night Lights 17. BOO, It's Claytime Playtime! 18. Washi Tape Halloween Frame 19. Zombie Facials

Follow our Fabulous Halloween Ideas Pinterest board for even more inspiration!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another 20 awesome Halloween ideas!

Thanks to all 110+fabulous bloggers participating! We'd love for you to visit their blogs and see what else they're up to!

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