Ana's Advent Baptism Brunch

I can't believe that it is already the end of January and Ana is already almost 4 months old!  Today I an finally getting around to blogging about Ana's baptism brunch which happened in the middle of December.

When Lyla was baptized I held a brunch at our house after the service and you can read more about that in this post:

This time around I decided to make the decor and cake Christmas themed since the baptism was during Advent.

I had a hot chocolate bar similar to the one from this Baby It's Cold Outside baby shower.  I used a cake stand and a tray that I already had decorated with some Christmas decor that I had on hand.

I served the hot chocolate in my Cocoa Latte dispenser.  This appliance is no longer made but I love it because it keeps the hot chocolate at the perfect temp and stirs it too.  I also served water with orange slices.

I decorated the table with these simple vases wrapped in velvet ribbon.  I found the fake pine bouquets at Joann Fabrics.  I served three types of breakfast sliders and a hash brown crockpot casserole.  The sliders are so easy because they use King's Hawaiian buns.  I didn't really use a specific recipe.  I just looked at a few and made my own.  I served three types: bacon, egg and cheese, ham and cheese, and mushroom, spinach, egg and cheese.  Each slider had a different glaze on top.  The ham ones were topped with a butter, honey and mustard mixture.  The bacon ones were topped with a butter and maple syrup mixture.  Finally the vegetarian ones were top with a garlic herb butter mixture.

I made this cake topper using my Silhouette Portrait and gold glitter card stock.

This cake was my absolute favorite part of the whole brunch.  I usually am not very successful at making cakes pretty but this one was pretty and extremely tasty.  The cake was a vanilla cake with mascarpone frosting and a cranberry cherry filling.  I used this recipe for the cake and frosting.  I used this recipe for the filling.  I made sugared cranberries using this tutorial and decorated the cake with sugared cranberries and sprigs of rosemary.  I used a mesh strainer filled with powdered sugar to sprinkle powdered sugar onto the rosemary sprigs to make it look like snow.

Here is what the cake looked like when cut.  It was seriously so tasty and I think this mascarpone frosting is my absolute favorite cake frosting ever.  It was not too sweet which is just the way I like my frosting.

I'm not sure what my next blog post will be since things have gotten really busy since I've gone back to work but hopefully it won't be too long before I post again!

Handmade Holiday 2017

Happy 2018!  I wanted to write a post on some of these things prior to Christmas so that they might be the inspiration for some last minute gifts but time got away from me.  I guess they will have to be next year's inspiration.  I have had so much fun making gifts for Lyla since she was born and now I get to do the same for Ana as well.  

First up: Christmas PJs.  Now the pajamas weren't actually Christmas gifts but I made them for the girls to wear on Christmas.  It is so fun to see Lyla getting to wake up Christmas morning and see her Santa gifts while wearing a cute pair of Christmas pjs.  

I made Lyla a pair of Movie Night Pajamas by Sew A Little Seam just like last year.  

This year I decided to make them entirely out of the deer fair isle Christmas fabric from Girl Charlee with the exception of the cuffs on the sleeves and ankles.  I seriously love this pattern so much and plan to make tons more of these babies.  In fact, I may never buy the girls any pajamas as they get older.  Here is a picture of my cutie in her Christmas pjs on Christmas morning:

Of course I couldn't leave Ana out of the Christmas pj fun!

I decided to make her a pair of Lullaby Line Snap Pajamas from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.  I really liked this pattern too.  I did make one mistake when I was sewing the gusset.  I was using my serger to sew the legs together and I accidentally cut right through the gusset.  Oops!  They still look cute though!  I don't have a picture of Ana wearing hers on Christmas because she blew out her diaper right away!

I did get a picture of her with her Christmas headband that I made when we had her snuggled into her carseat to head over to my parent's house.  I used this knot bow pattern and tutorial from Coral + Co.  It was a quick and easy sew.  

Here are my sweet girls together in their pajamas:

Next I will share with you the gifts that I made for the girls. 

For Ana I made a bandana scarf and a pair of harem pants.  For the bandana bib I used this tutorial and pattern from See Kate Sew.  It was a very easy project and I LOVE the mini pom pom trim.  Also this mustard dot fabric is the best.  Unfortunately Girl Charlee no longer has this fabric.

These harem pants from Made By Me Patterns was seriously the easiest pair of pants that I have ever made.  So simple and so cute!

Now for Lyla's present:

This adorable soft structure baby carrier is called The Mini and it is by Sew Toot Patterns.  Sew Toot makes patterns for actual baby carriers that are so amazing.  If I had the time I might just try my hand at the real thing!  They also have a pattern for a baby nest like a Dock a Tot which would be fun to make too.  The instructions for the pattern were so easy to follow and this really came together quickly.  I had so much fun sewing it and I think I might make a few of these to sell in my Etsy Shop. I made the carrier with grey canvas fabric and this lovely Michael Miller print for the accent piece. The Michael Miller fabric was on clearance at Hobby Lobby which made it even more awesome!

Lyla had fun wearing her new Thundar stuffed animal on Christmas day.  Go Bison!

I hope you feel inspired by this round up of handmade holiday items!  Hopefully I will get a chance to write a post about Ana's advent baptism brunch soon!