colorful fun in the tub...

Oh bath time. It's kind of one of my favorite things...not just for my kids but for me too. I LOVE baths; I actually take one every.single.night. Some people don't understand that, but it's just something I do before bed. It's my "wind down time".

Anyways, now that I gave you some unwanted information about my bed time routine here's some information you might actually want to know...bath time can be just as fun for your kids as it can be for you!

Here's how:

Take a shallow pan, fill it up with a little milk, and than add a few drops of food dye. Give the kiddies a popsicle to eat in the bath, and when they're done they can use the stick to swirl the milk around. 

It makes for a beautiful display of twisted tye-dye colors. Then, just when you think the fun is over they start painting the tub walls and themselves (which normally, I'd be a little OCD about but since it's in the tub I couldn't care less). When they're done, it's a simple scrub away from being clean again; including their little bodies. We've been using this new soap and love it!

Early Bday Party for our little Cozy

A couple weeks ago my dear friend, Melanie from Caravan Shoppe, called me to see if I wanted to throw a "fake bday party" for a photoshoot using all of their newest Happy Birthday Printables.

I was beyond excited to help out under one condition, if I could bake the goodies, which she happily agreed to.  I wanted to try out this ombre cake I had been thinking about since, I swear, six months ago. Maybe I shouldn't admit that?!
 

It was perfect timing since my little Cozette turns TWO years old in just a couple weeks (how is that even possible?!). I'm a firm believer that any excuse to throw a party is a good excuse; so it seemed fitting to celebrate Cozy's upcoming birthday! 

Party included:
- Caravan's Draw Together B-day Set

-4 layered Buttermilk Cake topped with this ombre cream cheese frosting (see below for frosting how to)

-mini-decorate-yourself, rice crispy treat cakes (also see below for the how to)

-small cups of decorating ingredients (chocolate chips, sprinkles, teddy grahams, cocoa puffs)

-a whole lot of art supplies

-and best of all...a table full of the cutest girls you've every seen

Mini-Rice-Crispy-Treat-Cakes

-Make a batch of rice crispy treats. 

-Fill small and medium bowls tightly with the crispies (I've found that if you get your hands a little wet, it wont stick when you push down on them to get it in there nice and tight)

-Let them sit in the fridge overnight

***when they're ready to frost, microwave them for about five seconds that way you can take a knife and scoop each one out. Than set a small one on top of a larger one to give the effect of a cake, and lastly frost it with store bought (or homemade if that tickles your fancy) frosting. The little ones LOVED decorating these! 

Buttermilk Cake with Ombre Frosting

I used this cake recipe but I used four small round pans to make it a bit taller

***For the frosting you split your frosting into four bowls. Add about ten drops of whatever coloring you want into one bowl. Than take two TBS of that frosting and add it into another bowl. Than take 1/2 TBS of the lighter frosting and add it to the third bowl. Leave the fourth bowl white. Frost from darkest on the bottom to lightest on the top. 

Fireplace Makeover...

Last week, as I was sitting at my kitchen table eating breakfast I was looking outside at my patio area thinking "it looks so drabby".

Than I had this bright idea to paint my "drabby" white fireplace so that it added a bit of color to the space. I went out and grabbed a few (okay like fifty) swatches and chose my favorite ones to tape up on the fireplace.

Some of you might be thinking "there's no way she was going to paint it bright pink..." oh but I am serious when I say heck yes I would have if my husband didn't live with me. However, that isn't the case and it's a good thing b/c I'm sure a bright pink fireplace would get old after a while.

Anyways I taped it off, bought a slanted bristled brush and paint...and went to work.

Color choice:  Rich Navy by Glidden Paint

 ^^^my trusty sidekick...don't let that look fool you^^^

^^^ this was taken after the first coat...I did two more after this...^^^

 ^^^ voila...like a whole new patio! Plus the ficus trees and pots helped a little :-) ^^^

^^^Then I pretended to be a good housewife, with a pie that my mom made, and take a picture outside with it ...but really I just wanted everyone who was there to admire the beauty of my fireplace that I toiled over! But let's be honest my moms pie was way to good to notice anything else :-)

The Brand Market Workshop....and a lot of color!

A few weeks ago I attended a little workshop for bloggers and entrepreneurs in LA. It was a fun day of meeting new people and getting some good advice and ideas! We had it at Kelly's studio where she painted her whole space white and then decorated with color. I was in love at first site! Here are a few pics from the day...

sidenote:  About 45 minutes after the studio (and being in ridiculous bumper to bumper traffic) I get a call telling me I left my laptop. I wanted to scream and cry all at the same time. So I had to flip around, drive the 45 minutes back in more traffic, retrieve my laptop and than flip around and drive it all over again. Oh happy, happy joy joy.

Moral of the story: LA traffic is seriously the ultimate worst thing known to man. It's just not good for the heart I tell ya. :-)