Mother's Day Crafts

Mother's Day is this coming up Sunday, the day after Ricky and I graduate. For all of you who don't know, my mother passed away from ovarian cancer when I was 16 years old. This past April marked six years since she left us, and it is always something I struggle with, especially since Ricky and I got engaged. Wedding planning has been fun with my stepmother, Julia, but I can't help but miss my mom during the whole process.

I have been blessed with three different mothers in my life: my stepmother, my future mother in law, and my teacher from high school. Whenever I mention my teacher from high school, I always get the weirdest looks. When all my mothers went with me to go wedding dress shopping, I got the looks there too. Mrs. Frost was the mother I needed when my mom was taken away from me. She was there for me every day after it happened, and she was my guardian angel through the whole healing process. We are still close today when I am about to graduate from college. I am close with all three of the mothers in my life in different ways. They all get me, and they are all there for me when I need them.

I always send Mrs. Frost flowers for Mother's Day; she has two older boys, and she claims me as her only daughter. I know she loves receiving flowers, so it has been a tradition since my first mother's day without my real mother. Ricky and I have not decided what we are going to get his mother, but we always think of something cute!

But for my stepmother, I decided to be crafty! I wanted to make her a personalized wreath for the front door of their house. I sifted through millions of wreath ideas on Pinterest and finally decided what I want to do. I love the wood vine wreaths the best because I love rustic chic decorations! So of course, I adore burlap and bows too!

I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and bought the following:

• vine wreath - $4.99
• regular burlap ribbon - $4.99
• patterned burlap ribbon - $9.99
• wood letter - $1.50

Of course, I used my couponing skills and did not spend that much at all!

First, I painted the letter because I knew it was going to take time to dry:

I then followed two different tutorials. They were both spectacular and easy to follow. For the burlap flowers, I followed the tutorial from this adorable blog Under My Umbrella. Then for the bow at the top of the wreath, I followed the tutorial from On Sutton Place. Thanks girls for the help!

For the flowers, I made three of them with the regular burlap ribbon and only two in the patterned burlap ribbon. Then I hot glued everything to the wreath. I did several layers of this because I wanted to make sure nothing would fall off from the wreath being on the door.

I cannot wait to give this to my stepmother on Sunday! We are having Ricky and I's graduation party on Saturday night, and then mother's day is the next day. I have not decided if I will just give it to her before the party, so she can hang it and show everyone! We will see!

I hope everyone hugs onto the mothers they have in their lives this Sunday! They definitely need to fell appreciated.

By the way...

I got engaged on my birthday, February 12th. Sorry for the delay, but me being a woman and newly engaged, I immediately jumped on the wedding planning bus and have made myself super busy.

Please disregard my old lady hands. It's still considered winter, and I did not address my dry skin before taking this picture of the ring. 

WOAH Updates

Hi there! Well let me just start out by apologizing for my huge lack of posts. There have been a lot of huge chances going on around here, and let me tell you all about them!

First off, I moved into a rental house. The apartment was having some problems that were not being addressed, so my dad and I decided it was time for me to get out of there. We quickly found this adorable house that is now my comfortable home. I am very lucky to have found such a lovely home so quickly, but it took my team of friends and family to find it!

This was taken the day I was showing my friends the place. As you can tell through the windows, it was completely empty. I remember how excited I was to finally have a house to myself. Even though the boyfriend does not live with me, we have found it much more comfortable to spend time here. We can finally invite more friends over and watch whatever we want at whatever volume we want! It's funny how the things I was used to doing at the apartment are now not even a worry. Every once in a while I catch myself turning the volume down and making sure I am not walking too loud. Psh! Now I can do whatever I want! It's so nice! I don't think I could ever go back to an apartment. I love this freedom way too much!

We also experienced a minor incident at the house after a couple weeks of living there, and my dad suggested I adopt a dog. I was surprised he wanted me to do that since he is always trying to get me to save, save, save. But I am now very thankful he suggested it and pushed me to do so... so now let me introduce you to our newest edition... Mr. Bojangles or aka "Bo"

My dog during my high school days was my absolute best friend, so when I lost him to leukemia, I never thought I would be able to love another dog just as much. My baby Bo is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am so glad we decided to go to the humane society where he was because I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is the sweetest thing! He is a corgi mix, but they are not sure what he is mixed with. They believe it is definitely a mix with a bigger type of dog because his legs are a little bit longer than a regular corgi.

He sleeps all the time but also loves to play with his daddy! He is constantly giving us kisses and snuggling right up against us. The best thing is that he is completely house broken, trained on the leash, rarely barks, gets along with other dogs, and loves kids. He is so perfect! I love having him here with me, especially during lonely nights when the boyfriend has to work late or has late classes.

Well, there you have it! I cannot wait to make this house my own, and maybe eventually I will show you a preview on here. I want to make sure it is adorable first! :)

My 22nd birthday is tomorrow (Woo! I'm old!), so we will see what Ricky has up his sleeve for activities! We have a test in the morning (Boo!), but then we have the rest of the day to go on some big adventure. I will let you know what happens! :)

hopes for 2013

Dear the year 2013,

I have a lot of hopes for you, and I wanted to let you know what they are before you actually begin, so you can be prepared and know what to expect.

I will be graduating with my bachelors degree on May 11, 2013 at 9:30AM (and I only know this because I have already order my graduation invites). I am hoping before this time I will have a job while also knowing what graduate school I will be diving into for the fall semester. Graduate school already? Sheesh. You can definitely take your time getting to the fall semester because I am not ready just yet.

It also seems like everyone around me is either getting engaged, married, or popping out babies. Does this mean I should be doing that this year too? Ricky and I will have been together for three years in March, and I am very excited. I have never been with someone this long before, and I also never been with someone this long and still feel the way I do. It's so nice to be in love with my best friend, so if he wants to be engaged soon (YIPEE!!) then that would be exciting. I cannot wait to plan our dream wedding together, and I know his mother is even more excited then we are.

I am very grateful for all the love I received with my new cake baking venture in the year 2012, but I would love for that to continue. I am doing a few weddings so far, but I would love for a few more to pop up. I did in fact receive a order today from a friend of a friend, which is so sweet to know my friends are telling others about me and my cakes! :)

My apartment lease is also ending in June, which is perfect because it will give me enough time to find a new place here in Rome. Ricky and I want to stay in Rome for now, so I want to find a rental house as my next place. I have loved my cute college apartment, but I am ready for something better (and quieter with less rules). Ricky won't be living with one another until we actually get married, so it is exciting that I get to pick the next place all by myself, but I definitely know he will have an opinion since he will be there most of the time!

Ricky and I also want to be able to find a place for me to be able to get a puppy!! We have always wanted to purchase a little pup together, but we have never been able to afford one. We can finally have the time and money to do it after our graduation, so we cannot wait! That is why I want a little rental house too; I want him or her to be able to run and enjoy this Georgia weather! 

So, now do you see how much pressure I am putting on you 2013?? Please don't let me down!

What are you hoping for the new year? Any new years resolutions?

Ganache & Sprinkles

Whew! It was definitely been a stressful couple of weeks, but it is almost Thanksgiving, which means I will actually be able to drive away from campus for several days. I get to go back to my home and spend much needed time not doing homework and catching up with family. And I also get the pleasure to bake all the desserts for Thanksgiving since my dad and stepmom are hosting it again this year! Can't wait!

I also snagged two more wedding cake orders today! Two in one day! I thought I was dreaming. One of them is next summer, and the other is next September. I immediately marked them in my calendar. 

One of the cake orders I did (today, actually) this week was one I had never done before. It was a coworker's 21st birthday, and she has tried every single cake I have ever brought to our work parties, so she graciously let me do something different than I normally do. Love her for letting me try something new!!

So, introducing Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling topped with Buttercream Icing and Chocolate Ganache, and the festive 2 & 1 on top are made out of white almond bark. 

Here's the step by step of the process, excluding the actual baking of the cake layers, of course:

Let me know what y'all think! It did take a while for this particular cake, but it was super fun to make.

Hope your weekend is going to be relaxing like mine! I cannot wait!

Roses Roses Roses

The cake I created last week was for a wedding shower. I met the bride at one of my college's alumni events, and she recently graduated this past May. She came up to my table at the event where I was selling my cupcakes, and she asked if I did wedding cakes too. I have technically only done two wedding cakes (all by myself), so I was VERY nervous when she was interested in that. I showed her the past wedding cakes I have done, and she was excited. We talked briefly about her wedding in December of this year, and it was going to be held here on our college campus. Anyway, long story short...she then later contacted me through our Facebook page about really and truly doing her wedding cake. I was super surprised but very excited!

We then decided to have a trial run cake done for her wedding shower in order for her to try our flavors and cream cheese icing. Her wedding shower cake was chocolate cake on the bottom tier, and the top tier was white chocolate. She wanted me to design it myself, with the helpful information of her bridesmaid dress color being dark purple, and this is what I created. She loved the rose design so much that she now wants her middle tiers for her four tiered wedding cake to be the rose design. I love it! It just screams bridal to me! The icing is also the cream cheese icing she wanted because it's the groom's favorite type of icing. I don't blame him!

I delivered the tiers separately because the mother of the bride was driving a ways to take it to party, so I provided support for her when she did stack the tiers at the party. I wish I could  have photographed it all put together, but I did not want to ruin the roses. I hope she remembered to snap a picture for me at the party!

I am also going to be doing the groom's cake for her wedding, which should be very fun too! I am very grateful for her giving me this opportunity to be apart of her wedding celebration when I merely met her a month ago! I love how easily people can trust. It makes my heart happy that there are people like that still out there. Thank you for letting me do what I love to do!

I cannot wait for the wedding in December. Almost there!!
Of course, I will show y'all every step of the way.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday! It should be an interesting night watching the news to see where our country will go next. I love that we have the right to decide that! Always be thankful of that! 

Just Wanted to Say I Love You

Tonight, I am having dinner with one of my best friends who has been in my life for a while now. We first met in high school, and we have always kept in touch since. We worked together for two summers at a summer camp, and she is the reason why I put up with that job! She kept me sane from all the crazy little children running around me at all times. I definitely took those times with her for granted because I really miss seeing her face every day.

I just want her to know that no matter where life may take us, I will always be there for her. She was there for me when I was going through the hardest time in my life, and I will never be able to repay her. She is such an angel in my life. She is one of those people that when you first see them, you cannot help but have the biggest smile on your face. She is such a ray of sunshine in my life and always brings out the best in me. I cannot wait to see what good she does in this world because I know (FOR SURE) that it's going to be something spectacular. She is that amazing!

I cannot wait to see your face tonight for a little dinner catch-up sesh. Thank you for always working hard at keeping in touch with me because I would be miserable without you.

I hope everyone has a happy halloween! You now know how I am going to be spending it, and I would not want to spend it with anyone else.