Second Annual Cookie Swap - an Entire Season Later.

I can't even start with my list of excuses reasons why this was not up in late December. I just thought to share a few photos from my second cookie swap. This one had more attendees, which meant more cookies. It also meant more recipe books to put together. I never actually ended up giving these out and they are still sitting on my desk - halfway done. I plan to get to these soon, but well see!

I used a beautiful wrapping paper I got from Target (don't even get me started on how upset I am about that...) as a table runner. I also used plain white dishes to hold the cookies as well as a cute tiered tray that I've had for some time now which coincidentally matched the themed signage. I actually printed these from the Creative Bag blog. Creative Bag in Toronto is a wonderful store to find great supplies for parties and gift-wrapping. I love putting together fun tablescapes and having it all tie into a single theme. 

I also prepared a very rich sipping chocolate and made a whipped topping in little mini cups for those who wanted to top off their drink. The whipped topping was quite easy - vanilla and whipping cream in your stand mixer with whisk attachment on high for a few minutes and that's it!  To balance all that sweet, I put together a cheeseboard with some spicy goat cheese, brie and of course - cheddar and mozzarella. 

The colours I worked with this time around were light blue, red, gold and white. Recipe for a quick and easy sipping chocolate is at the end of the post.

Enjoy! 

Sipping Chocolate

Ingredients

1.5 cups whipping cream

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

6 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups of chocolate chips (milk chocolate OR semi-sweet depending on how sweet you like it. I have a heck of a sweet tooth, and I love the milk chocolate, but others prefer the semi-sweet)

Instructions

Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips in a tall and deep pot.

Cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted. Stir again before serving. Garnish as desired.

Kate Spade Bridal Shower

The days are about to get longer and I can't wait! This the best time to 'Spring' forward and get a jump start on all of life's goals (okay, maybe like a few!). There are so many exciting things coming up and I thought it would be great to use my favourite time of year to start blogging, crafting and enjoying patios eating again.

Last month, one of my closest friends, (who also happens to be my cousin) had her bridal shower. She wanted something classy and elegant, yet still really fun & poppin'! So we decided to surprise her with a wonderful Kate Spade themed bridal shower.

We kept games short and sweet by doing a few 'minute-to-win it' style ones and kept the rest of the bridal shower games focused on the bride! For food, we had a yummy buffet-style menu with delicious dishes supplied by her wonderful mom and also incorporated a fun 'mimosa' bar (sans alcohol, of course). We had a really cute dessert table with fun cookies and a very beautiful & quite delicious.

We had all kinds of decor for a Kate Spade theme party. With of course all the gold polka dots, hints of pink, stripes and of course, spades. I have shared a few photos below from the event for inspiration.

We also incorporated a candy table (because who doesn't love candy), gave everyone a customized deck of cards and kept with the gold, pink and stripes wherever we could, without going too overboard.

Enjoy!

   

& some more...