tira's bow tie shower

ashlee, brittany, judy (tira's mother-in-law) and i threw tira a little man baby shower and it was a blast. tira is having her 3rd boy! her 2 older boys are twins and are turning 5 next week.

 the decor: we chose a blue and yellow bow tie theme for the shower.

 

we used ikea navy striped fabric for the table cloth

 

 judy made this cute banner to match the baby's room

 

 for the favor i made up a bunch of mini bow tie  in a yellow dot and blue/white stripe. ashlee and i assemled them into hair clips and clipped them onto a baggie of goodies.

 

i made some bow ties to dangle from the chandelier. i also made 2 functional bow ties for tira's little guy and we used them to wrap around this picture of tira's husband brian and the water decanter.

  

brittany made a number of yellow and blue banners and some ruffle garland. she also did the little bow tie skewers for the food.

the food: we served brunch

i made this limey fresh fruit salad and served it in large nut cups. all you need to do for this delicious dish is cut up your choice of fruits (i cut them quite small so that i could fit more into the cups,)  squeeze fresh limes over the top and sprinkle with sugar. i use 1 lime + 1 1/2 T. sugar for every 6ish cups of fruit. thanks to my sister-in-law tanya for cluing me in on this great salad.

ashlee picked up these ham and cheese croissants from k sandwiches. they are serious goodness. if you live in SD, you should definitely try some of their yummy croissants...i like the chocolate ones, of course. 

 

ashlee also made this amazing apple cake. i will definitely be making this in the future. 

Madeline Cake - Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook

Serves 12

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 extra large apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4" thick slices

2 tablespoons, plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 10" spring-form pan.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, combine the apples, 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon, and the lemon juice and toss to coat the apples evenly.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the 4 tablespoons butter and cream cheese until creamy.  Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the vanilla extract and continue beating for 1 minute.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing well after each addition until fully incorporated.  Fold in the apple mixture, mixing gently to combine.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to spread it evenly.  In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter.

Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, the top is lightly browned and the edges are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 55 minutes.  Remove the oven and let the cake rest in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.  

Remove the pan sides and slide the cake onto a serving plate.  Serve warm.

 

brittany made these maple espresso glazed cinnimon rolls using this recipe for the glaze. definitely gives your traditional cinnimon roll a new twist. yum.

 

we had fresh tangerine juice (my new obsession) from costco.

 brittany brought her juicer and we all brought a selection of citrus that could be juiced on the spot.

 

judy made this ham and swiss strata, another recipe i will be making sometime in my future...so yummy.

Ham & Egg Strata

Ingredients:

16 slices white bread (crusts removed) cut into cubes

1 lb. cubed ham

1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

1½ cup swiss cheese (cubed)

6 eggs

3 cups milk

½ tsp. onion salt

½ tsp. dry mustard

3 cups crushed cornflakes

½ cup butter (melted)

Directions:

Grease pan (9x13)

Spread half of the bread in dish

Add all the ham and both cheeses

Cover with remaining bread cubes

Mix eggs, milk, onion salt, and mustard and pour over bread

Refrigerate overnight

Combine cornflakes and melted butter for topping

Bake at 375° for 40 minutes

  

and here is the lady herself! isn't tira looking cute?!?

 

the onsie project: judy headed up the craft project this time. we had each guest design a onsie using some templates that we created as team...if you have interest in the templates, let me know and we can make it happen. judy and tira selected fabrics and applied heat and bond to the back. all the guests needed to do was cut out the design they wanted, peel off the paper backing and iron it in place. judy will finish them up by zig-zag stitching around each design. don't they look adorable!

UPDATE: here is the link for the templates we made.

the gifts:  tira got a lot of great gifts, many of which were hand made...the best kind! this baby will be set.

here is what i made for the little man. in addition to the previously mentioned bow ties i made this gnome hat, little booties and a lion pillow inspired by anna maria horner's lion pillow

our bellys: there was a little pregnant lady photo shoot at the shower. it has been fun being pregnant concurrently with 2 of my good friends. i am a bit behind them, but i think we all look pretty pregnant here! i cannot wait to see their new little babys in the coming days/weeks.

 ashlee-due march 15, me-due may 8th, tira- due march 29th

 eek! my belly button! don't anyone show this picture to my grandma!