Party // norah’s french inspired birthday party

January 17, 2014

I can’t believe I shared a lot of Norah’s French inspired third birthday party with you, but not the actual party!
Oh my!  And, crazy, she will be 5 this summer!
So here are a few of the party details.
I wanted to do a French theme, since one, my dad is from France, so that is a big part of our lives, and Norah’s grandma and papy came home from france right before her party, and brought along some French goodies.
We served pastries.
Ham and cheese baguette sandwiches.
Various French cheeses.
Fruit cups.
Lots of French goodies and cookies.
Another sweets table. No lack of candy at the party, that’s for sure.
I made a vanilla cake with a white buttercream frosting and filled with lemon curd.
I put rock candy crystals on the sides of the cake for a little color.
My sweet girl was in heaven!
We used some wooden cutlery for the party that I hand painted to match the yellow and purple of the party.  See the DIY dipped cutlery post here.

I made some french macaron cookies in purple and yellow.

I made some DIY tassel garland (tutorial in link)

I also made some signs for the food, as well as the invitations with a little whisk of watercolors, see tutorial here.
The drink table.

The spread.

The party favor I shared here.

I put together a few fun GIANT balloons with fringe for the birthday girl.  See the tutorial I shared, here.

We are so lucky to have our sweet and sassy little girl.  These pictures make me a little bit sad, because she has already grown so much since this day.  Makes me want to bottle her up at every stage.

Hope you enjoyed the French inspired party pictures.

See more details about the party, here.

Party Sources:
Baskets- Hobby Lobby
White Trays- Walmart, Tai Pan Trading, Target
Tablecloths- Thrifted vintage fabric
Mini art easels- Hobby Lobby
Wooden boxes- JoAnns
White Vases- Ikea
Sandwich paper bags- Zurchers
Rock Candy- Zurchers
Fruit Cups- Orson Gygi
Cake Stand- Martha Stewart for Macys
Wooden Cutlery- Etsy (painted by me)
Paper Straws- Zurchers
Eiffel Tower- Hobby Lobby
Giant Balloon- Zurchers
Fringe- Zurchers

{all photos by me, Caroline Armelle Drake}

best of 2013 …

January 16, 2014

Happy 2014!

Can you believe it is already a new year?!
I’m sorry posting has been a little sparse lately, we had an extremely busy Christmas, and sold our home in December and had to be out within three weeks. We moved the weekend after Christmas, so it was a little different this holiday season.
We are excited for all the changes in store for us in 2014 including building a new home.  So, we can’t complain!
Anyhow, I always share a post of some of my favorite things I worked on the year before, so I still wanted to share that with you, even though it may be late.
2013 was a great year!
I made a diaper wipe case activity for my active toddler.


Colorful Valentine’s with a Free Printable

Army Valentines with a free printable

Starting teaching Macaron Cookie cooking Classes at Orson Gygi

Shared a few favorite green smoothie recipes

Made an I spy Bottle for the kids (they loved to do this at church)

Striped heart valentine cake made from Airheads candy

A DIY floral hairclip

Made a DIY writing tray with sugar

Made some lucky rainbow necklaces for St. Patricks Day

Made  DIY activity construction site.

Did a DIY on dipped wooden cutlery

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

DIY doughnut Easter Bunnies

DIY Italian Soda Bar

DIY Pipe cleaner Easter Bunny Ears

Had some fun family moments at Zion National Park

Made some necklaces out of painted sticks 

Made flowers out of my children’s hand prints.

Shared my favorite trick for popcorn in a bag.

Loved partnering with Haagen Daz on their Moment for Me campaign.

DIY chalkboard pencil box

Created Banh-Mi Burger, so good!

Made several batches of our “Healthy Cookies“

Sent out a happy package.

Made an Uncle Sam Hat.

Spent time in our favorite place, the mountains.
Made a new favorite pumpkin cheesecake.
Played with our new quiet book.
And, partnered with Minted (affiliate) on our Christmas Card.
Wow!  What a year!  
When I look back on a few of these posts, it makes me tired thinking of all the work it took! Ha!
But, it’s nice to see it now that the work is all done!  There’s nothing like pushing publish on a blog post that you worked so hard on.  And, I am glad I can share that with you!
To 2014!  We are exciting for the many changes coming our way, and I hope to share them with you!
Thanks for reading!  xoxo!

Recipe // coconut shrimp

December 20, 2013

With New Years Eve just around the corner, I thought I would share with you this amazing recipe for coconut shrimp!  This would be a great addition to your New Year’s Eve spread, and they are so good!

I love to use panko japanese bread crumbs for the coating when I fry shrimp, because it gives it a much better flavor and crunch!
Coconut Panko Shrimp
1 1b peeled shrimp (I like to use the extra large 31-40 shrimp per pound shrimp from costco)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 shake of white pepper
In a bowl, marinate the shrimp for at lease one hour in the fridge with the above ingredients stirred in well.
Place 1 cup corn starch in a bowl.
Place 4 egg yolks, beaten in a bowl
Combine 1/2 cup finely shredded un-sweetened coconut with 1 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (Panko bread crumbs)
Place at least one inch of canola oil in a large based pot  over medium heat and heat up to 350 degrees.
Dip the marinated shrimp into the corn starch bowl, and coat well.
Next, dip the shrimp into the egg yolks.
Next, dip the shrimp into the coconut panko mixture, and coat well.  Pat on both sides.
Fry the shrimp in the 350 degree oil for about a minute per side or until golden, be sure to only put enough shrimp in the pot that they can still have a one inch space in between.  Also, constantly check the temperature to keep the oil at 350 degrees.
They cook very fast, so keep your eye on them!
Serve with dipping sauce!
Dipping Sauce
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon red chili sauce (sambal olek)
Pour all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and mix well.
Heat the jam mixture on the stop in a sauce pan and mix until just heated through, then remove from the heat to prevent any clumping.
Cool it down, the serve with shrimp!
Enjoy!