Furious Shirley » party ideas

Picture Window

Shannon Shirley — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:04:59 +0000

I had found some old barn windows down in the barn [imagine that] and immediately knew I wanted to hang them from tree branches for the wedding. In the end, I could only hang one [well, my Uncle Don and Mike did all the hanging] because the tree branches were higher than I thought and impossible to reach even with our ladder.

We removed the few panes left in the window [they looked pretty cool, but were loose and I didn't want to risk someone slicing themselves on broken glass at the wedding], inserted a couple of eye hooks in the top of the frame, strung it with some clothesline and wrapped that around the branch. I also hung a few vintage pieces I found in thrift shops on the tree along with an iron candle holder left by the original house owners in the basement.

I was quite pleased with the outcome and everyone [namely myself] had a lot of fun taking snapshots in the window panes. Simple and pretty.

A Picnic Wedding

Shannon Shirley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:02:22 +0000

Things are coming together for the wedding plans [less than one month away!!!]. We are having a country picnic reception and we’ll be serving up cute little gable boxes filled with all kinds of grub for our guests. I found these striped candy bags [harder to find than you might think] at Fort and Field. And I just couldn’t resist ordering the paper straws – they will look really slick in the mix of vintage glasses I’m using or stuck straight into a glass soda bottle.

This picture [via Project Wedding] was the inspiration for our picnic boxes, but we are using kraft paper colored boxes and the colorful striped bags pictured above. We are also going to have little containers of salads stuffed inside and all of our packaging is eco-friendly. Please pray it doesn’t rain! XO

Shake Your Own Ice Cream Party Favors

Shannon Shirley — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:57:52 +0000

This is an AWESOME idea from Vicky of The City Cradle. GENIUS! These DIY Ice Cream Favors are perfect for a child’s birthday party … or I’m thinking maybe even my hot August wedding!

All it takes are a few simple ingredients and a little arm power [to shake it up]. She even provides you with the labels to print out! Read the full tutorial HERE. (photograph by Jackie Wonders)

XO!

Amazing Birthday Cakes Anyone Can Make!

Shannon Shirley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:52:10 +0000

My little Ava babers turned one this week – unbelievable! I baked her an organic chocolate cake with chocolate icing and spelled out “Happy Birthday Ava” in puffs – her favorite treat. I thought she would just dive right into the cake when we set it in front of her, but instead she daintily picked off one of the puffs and put it in her mouth. She wanted nothing to do with the cake. Eventually she got into the frosting when she started smashing her treats down into the cake, but there was no face in the cake like I expected … maybe next year.

I just made a chocolate sheet cake – no fancy schmancy decorations, but next year for Ava’s second birthday I plan on going all out. I found these amazing cakes that actually seem fairly simple to bake and decorate – no elaborate piping, no fondant, no ‘cake boss’ skills required. Just a little imagination and a whole lot of love!

This super cute Castle Cake uses sugar and waffle cones for the turrets and you could customize this cake in so many ways with your own candy choices. For more details, visit the Parenting website.

I found this Sledding Party Cake recipe at Better Homes and Gardens. Coconut snow, pretzel rod trees, and cute little teddy graham sledders!

I think this Cookie Crown Cake with M&M and gumdrop jewels is so pretty! Find out how easy it is at Family Fun.

The Family Fun site also has an A to Z list of cute cupcake ideas like this Mini Monster!

I found this cool site called Birthday in a Box – they have everything you can imagine to put a party together – including this awesome Daisy Cake Pan!

And this Dinosaur Cake Pan!

Have you made an amazing birthday cake?? Send me a picture and the recipe and I’ll feature it on the blog!!!