fresh fruit popsicles

I've been planning to make these popsicles from Midwest Living ever since the August issue arrived a month ago. I finally found a little popsicle mold set on clearance at Target and gathered all my ingredients together yesterday. I added my own twist to the recipe and included frozen mango chunks, fresh plum slices, and frozen blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries (all the berries are sold together in a frozen mix from Target.) I followed the rest of the directions, using light apple juice and crushed pineapple.

After about 12 hours in the freezer I ended up with colorful, fresh, delicious, and healthy popsicles! A perfect treat for a hot July day.

tennessee wedding: handmade decorations

Not a whole lot of time to write today as I have a special guest in town this weekend...my sister Emily! She's had a good taste of MN summer...farmer's markets, lake walks, and hot and humid temperatures! We've gone shopping, out to lunch, had a BBQ, visited my baby nephew and relatives, scoured the consignment racks for 1/2 price bargains, poked through the many nooks and crannies of Hunt and Gather, and cooled off with delicious Caribou peach tea. She heads home tomorrow but I'm so glad she took a few days out of her summer to visit us up north!

The pictures above are of the escort cards {handmade by me} and cute initials for the guest book table {handmade by Emily}. I used scrapbook paper, funky scissors, and delicate twine from PaperSource for the escort cards. Definitely easy to create, but not so easy to make 130 of them!

Hope you're all having a wonderful (and cool!) weekend wherever you may be!

tennessee wedding:flowers

 {bridal bouquet}

 {bridesmaid's bouquet}

 {head table}

{head table flowers and glowing vases!}

Karl and I just returned home after a whirlwind weekend trip to Kansas to visit my grandmother. This was Karl's first time meeting her as she isn't able to travel anymore and didn't attend our wedding last October. After a very delayed and problematic time getting out of the airport in Minneapolis on Friday we arrived in Wichita around 2:30 a.m.! So in between visiting family and catching up on sleep I've been a bit behind on posting more about Emily's wedding.

Above are all the beautiful flowers from the wedding! The neatest thing? The groom's mother, a former floral shop owner, did these all herself! They coordinated with the wedding colors (pink and aqua) perfectly.

The last installment in this series will be photos of a little more decor, the delicious cake, and a few thrown in for fun!

Hope you've all had a great weekend and are gearing up for a great week ahead!

Tennessee wedding: bridesmaid lunch

Two weeks ago I had the chance to help throw a bridesmaid lunch for my older sister the day before her beautiful June wedding. After missing her bridal showers--the distance from MN and TN is certainly too far sometimes--I was so happy to have the opportunity to bake some delicious cupcakes and create some simple summer centerpieces. 

I used Magnolia Bakery's recipe for the cake and mixed together my own buttercream using 2 sticks of butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, and a splash each of vanilla extract and skim milk. The little cups baked beautifully and were the perfect base for the bride and groom cupcake toppers I picked up from the Clearance rack at Macy's. {Who knew Macy's carried such cute baking accessories?}

By the end of the party two of the littlest ladies {the flower girls} found a new home for our brides and grooms!

I picked up all the hydrangeas for the centerpieces from our sweet neighbor who plucked them from her yard that morning. After a few snips and trims the hydrangeas fit perfectly into several Ball jars. 

There's the lovely bride at the head of the luncheon table!

Next up...beautiful reception flowers, escort cards, and decor!

extreme blog makeover!

I am so excited to reveal my brand new blog makeover! Emily, a fabulous designer at Designer Blogs, did an awesome job creating this punchy and colorful new look. A perfect start to a long holiday weekend! Thank you Emily!