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Throwback Thursday: Mickey Wedding Invites

July 17, 2014 chantelledoll

Today marks the day we said our vows at ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’. 7 years later, my love for my husband and my love for all things Disney has not faded!

I was quite shocked when my husband-to-be agreed to the whole idea of a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding, but I am so happy he did. It was the perfect intimate venue and I was able to incorporate small touches of Mickey Mouse throughout. Can you spot the hidden mickey in my bouquet?

For my invites I wanted something clean and modern. I wanted it to say Disney without looking kiddy or cartoonish so I ended up settling on this subtle mouse ear graphic. Luckily I only had a dozen or so invites to make, so I printed, cut and assembled all the different elements all on my own.

Because it was a destination wedding and we sent the invites so far ahead of time, I also included save-the-date fridge magnets with our wedding website address.

Did you know you can “invite” Mickey and Minnie to your wedding or birthday and they will mail you back a photo and a pin? The address is:

Mickey Mouse
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-00100

And I just made the happy discovery today that July 17 is also the anniversary date of Disneyland opening which makes our anniversary date all that much more magical. We were married in the year where every other couple seemed to be getting married on 07/07/07, so our date always seemed a little dull. Happy 59th Anniversary Disneyland!

Thankfully our wedding was planned long before the days of Pinterest, and before I became really interested in party planning. I know if I was planning today I would be making a lot more work for myself via DIY projects. It was truly an amazing day and looking back there are very few things I would change about our special day.

One other fun element I did work on for the wedding was the program fans. It was a pain to hand cut all the Mickey silhouettes, but I loved the way they turned out in the end.

Thank you to my wonderful husband who continues to work hard to make all our dreams come true. I love looking back at our wedding and trip photos and can’t wait to start planning for our 10 year anniversary trip to Disney World in 2017!

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

In Summer!

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014 chantelledoll

The weather this past week has been gorgeous, which has meant plenty of opportunities to work through items on our Summer Bucket List.

Plan a Beach Playdate

We are so fortunate to have access to the private beach at Lake Summerside just up the road. It is something we do pay for by means of yearly membership fees, but it is a price well paid for the convenience. The closest beach to the city would be well over an hours drive and this lets us be at the beach in 2 minutes!

It is a beautiful area with a playground, picnic tables and nice sand for the kids to play in. It would be a shame not to share so we invited a bunch of our friends and ended up spending 6 hours at the beach. I was going to leave sooner, but the kids were all having fun and the highlight of my day was finally seeing my son in the lake with more then just his feet wet! This definitely won’t be the last of the playdates we plan this summer.

Catch Bugs

This list item was one we were able to check off completely by chance.

After Camden’s outdoor soccer game a couple weeks ago we decided to take a quick trip to the mall. As we were driving, Camden goes “Mommy, what’s that green thing on your shoulder?” So I brushed my hand on my shoulder, assuming I was wiping off a piece of leaf or grass from the park, then continued driving. “Mom, it’s still there and it’s moving!” EEK! I brushed my hand around my shoulder again and sure enough I felt it and picked off a squirmy little green caterpillar.

Camden was so enthralled with it that we put it in a small container we had in the car and brought it home. Once home, I found a different container, drilled some holes in it, filled it with greenery and we had “caught” our first bug.

The caterpillar didn’t survive long, but the kids have since found a ladybug that they chased all the way across our dirt covered backyard and managed to get in the bug container. He’s been in happy in there for the last week or so and Keira has now happily added the word “bug” to her small vocabulary.

Explore New Playground

There were no playgrounds within walking distance of our old house so last summer we got in the habit of driving to various parks in the area. We frequented a lot of the same parks, but I also tried to switch it up to keep things interesting. I figured if had to get the kids loaded in the car anyway, we might as well take the time to drive and find something new and exciting.

We have been walking to the park near our new house quite a bit just because it is so darn convenient, but I decided to set out and find us something new the other day.

I chose the park in the subdivision over because I read it had a splash park, but I honestly wasn’t expecting too much. It ended up being a fantastic park with plenty to climb and slide on, a decent little splash pad to cool down at and nice sand to play in. Even though it requires a little drive, it was well worth it and I can see me packing up a picnic to spend a few more afternoons there this summer.

For those in Edmonton, the park we visited was in Ellerslie located at Edwards Drive and 6 Avenue SW.

For a full listing of all the Spray Parks in Edmonton, I found this great list compiled by the city: https://data.edmonton.ca/widgets/jyra-si4k I honestly had no idea there were so many!

It also had a great little treed area and fence that I am itching to take the kids back to when they are wearing more then just their swimsuits and try to get some nice photos.

And that day also happened to be 7-11’s Birthday that day so I scored major mom points by stopping on our way hope from the park to take advantage of the free small slurpees!

~~Build~~ See A (Giant) Sandcastle

One other activity we did last week was to check out the Sand on Whyte Festival. I will be honest and say that I was kind of disappointed that it was just the three sculptures, but the three sculptures that were there were pretty impressive. It was free and gave us an excuse to get out of the house, so all in all it was worth the trip down Whyte Avenue to check it out. Hopefully there will be more to see next year as the festival grows!

This week looks to be another gorgeous week weather wise so hopefully we can knock another few items off our bucket list! It is supposed to be around 30 degrees on Wednesday so I am really hoping to swing that trip to an outdoor pool.

Remember to check back to the blog for updates on all the fun things we are doing this summer.

Celebrations

Throwback Thursday: DIY Cake Smash Session

July 10, 2014 chantelledoll

I hadn’t intended to do a cake smash session with Keira, but the day after her Cupcake Themed First Birthday Party I still had the entire giant cupcake cake untouched because the guests had enjoyed one too many of the mini cupcakes before cake time. At first I was upset the cake would be wasted, but then realized it was the perfect opportunity to grab a leftover tablecloth, relocate the birthday banner from my dining room to the fence and go outside for an impromptu cake smash session with my little girl.

Keira was more then happy to have her new puppy join in on the action. We got Rumbull a couple weeks before Keira’s first birthday so he is still just wee in these photos.

And then it was time to clean-up:

It has only been a year, but it is hard to believe the difference in both my babies.

Photoshoots with the kids usually end up with both them and myself melting down, but I am always glad I took the effort when I look back on the moments I have captured.

Everyday Life, Recipes, Savory, Sweet

Refreshing Watermelon Ideas

July 7, 2014July 8, 2014 chantelledoll

Although I am nearing the one year anniversary of my blog, I still feel pretty new to blogging and haven’t had much time to sit down and figure everything out. I am trying to be a little more involved in the blog world so I was excited to join my first linky party last week.

I am a huge fan of Spaceships and Laserbeams and was excited to read Stephanie’s post inviting others to join in to the Party Time Linky hosted by herself and some other fabulous bloggers. There are a ton of great ideas on there, but because I seem to be drawn to all things watermelon right now, I have picked out these great posts from some of the other Party Time contributors.

Here are my favourite watermelon themed ideas from this past week’s Party Time Linky:

Watermelon Cake Pops from Moms&Munchkins. These are adorable, but not something I will be attempting. I have tried cake pops before and melted chocolate and I just don’t agree!

Watermelon Granita from YummyHealthyEasy. This looks so refreshing and delicious for a hot day. This recipe is extra appealing with just 3 ingredients!

Fresh Watermelon Margaritas from Flying on Jess Fuel. Watermelon + Booze! Need I say more?

Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats from Gingerly Made. These are cute and look way more my skill level then the cake pops. I am always amazed how versatile Rice Krispie treats can be and have a whole pinterest board just dedicated to different Rice Krispie Treat Recipes.

Watermelon on a Stick from One Creative Mommy. I have always thought this is such a great idea for serving watermelon at parties!

Watermelon Salsa from The Scent of Oranges. I find this recipe most intriguing and can’t wait to give it a try. I enjoy mango salsa so I am hoping this is just as tasty!

Still not enough watermelon ideas? I posted these cute Watermelon Pops from Kraft on my Facebook page earlier this week. They are on my to-do list since my kids are all about the ice cream and popsicles right now!

Check out the Party Time Linky if you have a chance. I will definitely be contributing again and checking in on all the other great ideas from my fellow party loving bloggers.

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun, Uncategorized

Doll’s Aboard the Teddy Bear Special!

July 6, 2014July 6, 2014 chantelledoll

On July 4th we had the pleasure of travelling with Alberta Prairie Railroad Excursions aboard their Teddy Bear Special. We have no trips or holidays booked this summer so I booked a few months ago thinking it would be a nice treat for the kids (and us adults!). I was a little hesitant to book because of the price, but as you will see, the $200 was totally worth it for what we got out of the day.

Because we were riding the Teddy Bear Special, the kids were asked to each bring a teddy. As an activity earlier in the week, I decided to take the kids to West Edmonton Mall to pick out an outfit for their Teddies at Build-A-Bear Workshop. My son was disappointed they didn’t have the How to Train A Dragon hoodie he had seen on the website, but there was so much selection in the store that it wasn’t hard to find something he liked for his teddy. He quickly settled on a soccer uniform for his bear, while my two year old zoned in on the stuffed dogs. Luckily I was able to convince her she didn’t need yet another stuffed dog, and we went with a rainbow striped top and jeans for her bear.

We boarded the train in Stettler, after a quiet hour and a half long drive in the car from Edmonton. Thank you iPads and sleepy children! Inside they had our names labelled above our seats and the kids quickly settled in with their teddies, excited to get their tickets punched and begin the journey ahead.

I was surprised how happy my two year old was just staring out the window and watching the scenery. I thought she would be fidgety and bored on the actual train ride, but she was fascinated by the farms, vehicles and cows passing by.

It also helped that, once moving, we were able to get up and explore the entire train. It was longer then I was expecting with passenger cars, an open air car for viewing and two concession stands. As a treat, the kids each picked a Ring Pop and we shared some popcorn to tide us over until lunch time.

Our train’s destination was Big Valley. There they had a roast beef lunch waiting for us at the community hall, which we quickly ate and then set out to explore the village.

Up the hill was a beautiful historic Anglican Church built in 1916 that we were able to go in and view.

Back down main street were some neat little shops filled with handicrafts, fudge, fresh baking and ice cream.

And because our outings don’t seem to be complete without ice cream, Camden suckered daddy into a cone of Bubble Gum Ice Cream for himself while Keira repeatedly swiped dad’s mint chocolate chip waffle cone.

After a quick clean-up from the ice cream, we still had time to go for another small walk and explore some of the old farm machinery.

We were also able to go right inside the Big Valley grain elevator which I found kind of neat. I don’t think my farm raised husband was near as fascinated.

There were a couple other historic buildings and small museums nearby we didn’t get a chance to explore because it was then time to head back to the train station for the Teddy Bear parade. The clowns lead us for a small walk down main street so we could show off our bears, and then it was back onto the train for the return journey to Stettler. As an added touch, each kid received a small Beanie Baby as their prize for participating in the parade.

Back on the train, I also got a flashback to my childhood when this guy entered our train car to entertain the kids. I remember Rosco the Clown being at a few of my friends birthday parties way back when I was in elementary so I was surprised to see it was indeed him. I think he was still doing the same tricks and his jokes were just as corny as ever, but he sure knows what he is doing because he had my two kids laughing their little butts off.

It was a beautiful day for a train ride and I was surprised how much both my kids enjoyed it. The staff from Alberta Prairie Railway were amazing and everything was well thought out and planned to keep the kids entertained and happy. They run several different rides throughout the summer, with some of the more adult focused journeys even involving train robberies. The village of Big Valley had a lot more then I was expecting and there is definitely something to be found for all ages. If you ever plan to be in the Stettler area or are looking for a fun daytrip within Alberta, definitely check Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions out!

Check one more off our Summer Bucket List!

Crafts, Everyday Life, Little Hands, Two Legged Fun

Our Happy Canada Day!

July 3, 2014 chantelledoll

Tuesday was our Nation’s holiday and we celebrated the hot summer day with a combination of activities. The day before, Camden and I did a quick handprint craft so that he would have his very own flag for Canada Day. It was quick and easy and he seemed quite proud of how it turned out.

My husband has had the week off work to work on the yard. He had been making good progress on the patio pad and retaining wall, so he went back to work first thing in the morning before the sun got too hot. The kids and I “helped” by pulling out the camping chairs on the new patio pad to test out daddy’s hard work.

Around noon we decided to make our way down to the private beach in our community to check out the Canada Day activities they had. After waiting in line for some fun in the bouncy castle, Camden made a cute headband craft and we enjoyed a picnic lunch. Then it was down to the sand so my little beach baby could enjoy some time in the water! The beach wasn’t nearly as crowded as I expected and I love that we can be at the lake with just a quick drive down the road. Camden is not a huge fan of the water, but Keira would spend all the day at the lake if we let her.

To wrap up the day, both kids got the chance to see fireworks for the very first time. Check one more item off our Summer Bucket List! I wasn’t sure they’d hold out that late, but they were still awake at 10:30 so we got them into their jammies and loaded up them in the wagon to make our way back down to the beach. To avoid crowds we didn’t actually go into the gated beach area this time, and found the perfect spot in an empty house lot directly across from where the fireworks were being set off.

Both kids seemed to enjoy the fireworks (from the safety of mom and dad’s laps) and it was the perfect ending to our Canada Day.

Celebrations, Parties, Recipes, Sweet

Giant Peanut Butter Cups and Birthday Banners

July 1, 2014July 9, 2014 chantelledoll

We celebrated my husband’s birthday over the weekend. He says he doesn’t really care whether or not I do anything for it, but I do like to try and make it special. It is especially hard since I go all out for the kids birthdays and that leaves them expecting something spectacular every time there is a birthday in the house to celebrate.

I have tried planning parties/get togethers for him in the past and it has always been a big bust. This year it was just our family of four and my brother and new sister in law who joined us for one final dinner before they head off across the country for school in Halifax. My original plan was to try go-karting, but the weather wasn’t very cooperative and my silly husband preferred to spend the day hauling rock, raking out sand and laying the patio in our backyard. We ended up just having a really nice barbeque dinner and I surprised him by making a giant cake version of his favorite chocolate bar:

Inside the chocolate shell of his giant peanut butter cups were layers of chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache. With that combo I knew it was going to be good, but I was still surprised how delicious the final result actually was!

I didn’t really follow a recipe.

The cake layer was a boxed mix, baked in the bottom section of my giant cupcake pan to give me the right shape.

The peanut butter frosting was actually some leftover buttercream I had frozen from doing my brother’s wedding cake at the beginning of the month. Once thawed, I whipped it in my stand mixer with a couple giant spoonfuls of peanut butter.

The outer shells were simply melted milk chocolate chips I spread with a spatula into the cupcake base section of the same giant cupcake tin. I did it in two layers and once hardened in the fridge they were fairly easy to pop out of the pan in one solid piece. This is a method I had done before for my daughters giant cupcake birthday cake so I was fairly confident it would work out.

The chocolate ganache layer on top was a basic ganache recipe made by melting the same milk chocolate chips with some whipping cream. I did mine in the microwave to keep it easy.

I had the basic idea in my head and was very happy to discover this great instructional video on youtube. I could post a recipe and directions, but MyCupcakeAddiction does such a great job that you might as well just check out her Make a GIANT Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup video! Hers is prettier then mine, but in the end I was pretty happy with my results.

I don’t decorate for my husband’s birthday as I would for the kids, but I do like to throw up a birthday banner to recognize the day and add a festive feel to the house for the kids. I ended up finding some baseball themed paper plates and napkins at Michaels, so my 4 year old and I decided to go with a bit of a baseball theme since lately daddy has been really into watching the Toronto Blue Jays play.

Do you recognize the letters in the birthday banner? It is repurposed from Keira’s Snow White Picnic Party we had back in May.

I loved the simplicity of this birch birthday banner I came across from scoutmob.com and was looking for an easy, inexpensive way to replicate it for her party.

As with most of my projects, the solution was found within the aisles of Dollarama. I came across these wooden letters in the craft section and grabbed a few bags to give me the letters I needed to spell out “Happy Birthday Keira”. I needed a way to attach the letters to my twine, so I picked up a bag of mini clothespins at Michaels and decided to hot glue those to each of the letters. As I was doing this I had a bit of an AHA! moment and realized that the clothespins would make the letters totally reuseable and reconfigurable.

For the Snow White themed banner I picked up some apple wooden shapes at Micheals to fit in between the words. I loved the little extra touch they added so I decided to add baseball’s to daddy’s birthday banner. They have all kinds of great painted and unpainted wooden shapes at Michaels (pirate ships, puppies, lady bugs, cupcakes) so it wasn’t hard to find something that worked with my theme. To attach them, I hot glued the same mini clothespins on that I had used for the letters.

And just to show how versatile this idea is, here are the same letters strung across the cake table I did at my brother’s wedding. (Which I still need to do a full post on!)

The possibilities really are endless for spelling out everything from Happy Birthday to Merry Christmas or Happy Easter. The ribbon or twine can easily be switched out to match your party theme and the inexpensive wooden shapes help add that little extra touch. This is a great item to have in the party cupboard and mine has already gotten great use just in the two months since I made them.

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

Summer Bucket List 2014

June 25, 2014June 25, 2014 chantelledoll

I love the idea of a summer bucket list. It allows me to get down in writing everything I want to do with the kids this summer and will give my 4 year old an idea of what to look forward to in the upcoming months. On days we don’t have playdates or planned activities, we can refer to our bucket list and decide how to make the best of our sun-filled summer days. I tried to have a good variety of quick, easy activities and some more involved daytrips to mix things up.

So, without further ado, here are all the fun things we hope to do this summer:

Watch in the upcoming weeks for posts (and lots of pictures of my two cuties) as we make our way through our bucket list!

Celebrations, Parties, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday – Jones Soda Baby Shower Favors

May 29, 2014 chantelledoll

My old coworker and friend is expecting a baby any day now and recently posted facebook pictures of the adorable Jones Soda bottle favors her sister made for her baby shower. It reminded me of the Jones Soda favors I had created for my own shower and prompted me to have my own Throwback Thursdays on Dolled Up Design to feature some of my older projects.

My baby shower was less of a shower and more of a meet-and-greet, taking place a month or so after Camden was born. My sister was kind enough to come up to my house to host it, but I wanted to be involved so I ended up making the cupcakes, cookies and favors for it. I think this was the first glimpse into my insane party planning that was to come!

The theme was a Boy Shower, playing off the classic poem “What are little boys made of? Snips, and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails”. It was co-ed and my sister served up boy-friendly foods such as chicken wings and sliders. There was also plenty of beer for the male (and female) guests!

For the favor bottles, I incorporated the rhyme as the ingredients portion of the Soda bottle labels and used the nutritional information section to include my little guys birth stats. Once the template was done, it was pretty quick to edit so I ended up doing 3 versions for the 3 different flavors of Soda I had.

To create the labels I simply printed them onto photo paper using my home printer, and then attached them to the bottles with strong double sided tape.

This is such a fun and versatile idea! I have seen it used for everything from weddings to first birthday parties. Since her baby isn’t here yet, my co-worker’s featured pictures of her husband and herself as babies. Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to picking images and changing label information and even choosing a soda type that color coordinates with your event!

Celebrations, Parties

Keira’s Snow White Picnic Party

May 26, 2014March 27, 2017 chantelledoll

This party was so much fun to plan and execute! I love planning parties for my son, but there’s just something about the opportunity to use ruffles and bows that is that much more exciting for me.

The inspiration for her second birthday party came from some of Keira’s favorite toys – her Fisher Price Disney Princesses and Playsets. I am not a huge fan of a lot of the Disney Princess merchandise out there, but I love the Little People versions because they are just so cute! Santa brought her the Disney Little People Castle for her first Christmas and her auntie Erin ended up buying her the adorable set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to go with it. This past Christmas they came out with a Dwarves cottage and Ariel playset so she ended up getting the cottage for Christmas and she was excited to get the Ariel set from her brother for her 2nd birthday.

Continue reading “Keira’s Snow White Picnic Party” →