Wild ONE Safari First Birthday Party

Wild ONE Safari First Birthday

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

Wild One Safari First Birthday Party Decor

My sweet guy turned one this summer and I still can’t believe it. How is he already ONE?!?! As I was thinking of a theme for his first birthday party, I kept going back to his sweet safari decor in his nursery. So naturally, Jack’s Wild One made total sense! 

Balloon Arch

Wild ONE Safari First Birthday

I am really into balloon walls and arches these days. My rockstar of a husband is my muscle behind these projects and he is seriously such a trooper for inflating and hanging all of these balloons! You can buy balloon kits on Amazon or pick out your own balloons. If you are going to do a balloon arch, I highly recommend purchasing a balloon pump

Greenery Backdrop and Wild One Balloons 

MILESTONE SAFARI BIRTHDAY BANNER

I purchased these greenery panels from tableclothsfactory.com, spray painted them, and attached them with zip ties to create the size I wanted for my backdrop. Honestly, it was completely worth the money and effort to have this look. It made the perfect backdrop for the decor and photos. However, if you aren’t wanting to spend a little less time and money, check out these adorable and very realistic greenery backdrops

I found these adorable WILD ONE balloons in copper on Etsy! I absolutely LOVED the color! 

Monthly Milestone Banner

FIRST BIRTHDAY MILESTONE BANNER

I LOVE these sweet banners! It is so fun to see how much my sweet guy has changed in just 12 months! I made this banner with my Cricut, but you can also purchase these on Etsy. Also, if you don’t have a Cricut Maker, but love making crafts, I highly recommend the investment. I saved SO much money on this party by making my own decor! I was also able to customize everything and create exactly what I was envisioning for the party. 

Giant Balloon ONE

SAFARI BALLOON ONE

I first saw this idea on Pinterest (of course) and immediately texted it to my Jeremy, my rockstar of a husband. We bought two pieces of the 40 x 60 foam board from Hobby Lobby. I printed out the style of 1 I liked and Jeremy measured the foam board and cut it with an Exacto Knife. We then used hot glue to attach the sides of the one. Thankfully, the foam board bends really easily so that you can shape the letter. It is such a great statement piece and makes for a great photoshoot! 

Sally The Giraffe 

WILD ONE SAFARI BIRTHDAY PARTY

We just love Sally! My parents bought this as a “welcome home” gift when we brought Jack home from the hospital. She lives in Jack’s nursery, but was happy to be part of the decor for the party. You can purchase your own plush giraffe by Melissa and Doug on Amazon! 

Safari Highchair Garland and One Banner 

WILD ONE SAFARI HIGH CHAIR FIRST BIRTHDAY BANNER

This was honestly so easy to make! I purchased ribbon and tied it on string to create the hassle garland. I created the ONE banner on my Cricut Maker machine and attached it to the garland. This was one of my favorite pieces for the party! 

Safari Themed Cake and Smash Cake

Safari WILD ONE CAKE 

I just adore this cake design from Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery in Arlington, Texas! For all my local DFW friends, I highly recommend this bakery! I sent them ideas of what I wanted and they created this perfect cake and smash cake! I made the Wild One cake topper with, yes you guessed it, my Cricut Maker! 

Safari Tassel Garland 

For this garland, I created and printed the safari animals on my Cricut Maker and made the tassels out of tissue paper. 

Jack’s Wild One Safari Birthday Plates and Napkins 

WILD ONE 1ST BIRTHDAY SAFARI PLATES AND NAPKINS

These adorable custom first birthday safari plates and napkins are on Zazzle. If you don’t need them customized, check out this super cute party pack! 

Safari Themed Wild One Birthday Cookies 

WILD ONE PARTY COOKIES

For all my DFW friends, The Velvet Crumb created these gorgeous cookies! I highly recommend! 

First Birthday Milestone Sign 

SAFARI MILESTONE BIRTHDAY SIGN

I designed this in Canva and had it printed at our local print shop for about $40. It made such a fun statement piece for the party! 

Time Capsule Activity and Sign

WILD ONE SAFARI TIME CAPSULE

I think this is such a fun and sweet activity for a first birthday party! Since Jack won’t remember the actual party, this is such a fun way to show him how many people were at his party to celebrate him and who love and support him! I made the sign in Canva and had it printed at a local print shop. 

ONE Balloons With Tassel Garland 

Giant Safari ONE Balloons

I purchased these balloons from Party City and added tassels (the same one form the tissue paper tassel garland) down the string of the balloons. They were SO cute! 

Safari Stuffed Animals “Adopt Me” 

This was such a fun activity for the kiddos to “adopt” a safari friend! I found these adorable safari stuffed animal party favors on Amazon for SUCH a great price! 

Safari Party Headbands 

SAFARI BIRTHDAY PARTY HEADBANDS

These safari party headbands were so fun for the kiddos AND the adults! They looked so cute in all of our photos and added a really fun interactive and whimsical element to the party. 

Wild One Safari Water Bottle Labels 

This is such an easy and inexpensive touch to help keep the theme going throughout the party. I purchased this cute design on Etsy and used labels to print them at home. 

Safari Animal Cookie Jar Party Favors

WILD ONE SAFARI PARTY FAVORS

I found these cute jars at Marshalls and filled them with Safari animal crackers I found at Costco. I made the thank you tags on Canva and printed them on my printer at home. 

Lion Veggie Plate

SAFARI PARTY FOOD LION VEGGIE PLATE

I had SO much fun planning and decorating for this party! I hope this post brings inspiration for an extra fun and Wild ONE for your little one! 

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How to Address Envelopes With Your Cricut Maker

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

The Cricut Maker is amazing. Just AMAZING! I’ll be honest, it took me almost 6 months to finally start really experimenting with everything it can do! I was so nervous I was going to break it or that I would waste my materials because I didn’t know what I was doing! But after a lot of research, fails, and experiments, I am finally creating some fun and beautiful crafts! I am in no way a Cricut expert yet, but I hope to be very soon.

I’m currently creating décor for my sweet Jack’s first birthday party! How in the world is my precious baby boy one?!? I’m having so much fun planning “Jack’s Wild One” and my Cricut is really saving me so much money on décor!

For today’s project, I’m showing you how to create beautifully handwritten envelopes with your Cricut Maker! I found these ADORABLE invitations on Etsy and I want the envelopes to look just as precious. I have been practicing my calligraphy, but it would take me DAYS to finish these envelopes! Thanks to my Cricut Maker, I can work on other party décor projects while my Cricut Maker addresses my envelopes for me!

Ready to get started with your Cricut? Here is what you will need:

Step 1

Open Cricut Design Space and start a new project. Open a text box. Select “Writing” under the style box at the top of Design Space.

Select the dropdown under font and filter the fonts to only show you the writing fonts. This will display all font options that will write with your Cricut Maker. For this tutorial, I’m using the Babette font.

Steps to address envelopes with Cricut Maker

Step 2

In the text box, type out the sender’s name and address or just their name if you are hand delivering your invitations. Select the text box and select more from the tool bar, advanced, and ungroup to letters. This will allow you to connect each letter to together. Just drag and attach until you like the way each word looks. Once you like how the name and/or address looks, select all words and click “attach” in the bottom right corner. If you would like the return address to show in the top left corner, take the same steps and create a separate text box.

Steps to write with Cricut Maker

 

Step 3

Place your envelope on the blue mat and determine where you want your text on the envelope. For me, I wanted the name and address to be between the 2” and 5” mark in the center of the envelope and the return address to show in the very top left corner. Use the grid to size the text to show between the 2” and 5” mark. Once you have the correct size, select Make It!

Move your text on the mat example exactly where you want it to write on the envelope. Click continue and select Copy Paper for your material. Place your envelope in the top right corner of your grid and press the flashing “load” button on your Cricut. Once it is loaded press the Cricut symbol to start making! You are done! How easy was that? Now just repeat for each new address.

What are some of your favorite fonts for writing with your Cricut?

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Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

It’s almost Mother’s Day! This year is especially exciting for me as this is my first official Mother’s Day with my sweet guy! He was in my tummy last year, but I really had no idea how much my world was going to change once he graced us with his presence. There is really no other feeling like being a mom. It isn’t always perfect and it isn’t always easy, but it is a joy like no other and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

Mommy Newborn Photo

I know I’m biased, but I have the world’s greatest mom. So this day has always been so special to me. I now also have the world’s greatest mother-in-law and step mother-in-law, so Mother’s Day is one of the best days of the year to celebrate the many mommas in my life who love and sacrifice so much for their kiddos. 

Mother’s Day always centers around three main things in our family: Quality time, delicious food, and a creative and meaningful gift these mommas wouldn’t buy for themselves! 

There is something about a bundt cake that says Mother’s Day to me. Bundt cakes are classic and lovely, just like a mom. And you don’t have to be a professional baker to make a bundt cake beautiful and delicious! My first bundt cake pan came from my momma and my Nina (my grandmother) makes the most delicious bundt cakes!

One of my new favorite bundt cake recipes is this Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake. It is super easy and you don’t have to have the entire baking aisle in your pantry. It only requires a few ingredients to make you look like Martha Stewart at your Mother’s Day family gathering! 

Gather those ingredients and let’s bake! 

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Ingredients

Cake Ingredients:

  • 1 yellow box cake
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 cups of blueberries – I used frozen wild blueberries, but fresh will work too! 
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon zest 

Lemon Glaze Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar 
  • 1-3 tbsp. lemon juice 

Vanilla Glaze Frosting Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cups of milk 
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract 
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice 

Ready, Set, Bake! 

Heat oven to 350• F.  Prepare the box cake as directed on the box. 

Mother's Day Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Mix the lemon juice and lemon zest into the cake.

Gently fold the blueberries in to the cake and distribute them evenly throughout the bowl.

Quick Tip: If you are using frozen blueberries, make sure they are thawed before adding them to the cake. You can add the frozen blueberries to a sauté pan on low heat to help defrost. This will bring out some of their juices, so make sure to strain some of the juice before adding the blueberries to the cake. Otherwise the cake will have too much liquid from the berries. 

Add the cake batter to a lightly greased bundt pan and bake for 38-42 minutes as directed on the box.

Dessert Recipe Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

For the lemon glaze, add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and add the lemon juice one tbsp. at a time until you have the desired taste and consistency. If the glaze is too thick, you can add a little bit of water to thin out the glaze. 

For the vanilla frosting, combine all ingredients together and mix with a stand mixer or hand mixer until combined.

Once the cake is finished baking, allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan.

Place a plate or cake stand on top of the bundt pan and carefully flip the pan over to release the cake onto the plate or cake stand. 

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Recipe Mother's Day Brunch

Use a toothpick to poke small holes on top of the cake and pour or brush the lemon glaze on top of the cake. The glaze will soak into the cake giving it extra lemony deliciousness and an extra moist cake! Depending on how much lemon flavor you like will depend on how much of the glaze you use. I like to use about half on the cake and save the other half to serve with the cake for those who want extra glaze! 

Slowly pour the vanilla frosting on top of the cake allowing it to naturally fall down the grooves of the bundt cake. Like the glaze, the amount is completely up to you! I liked to use just enough to coat the top and make it pretty! I serve the rest of the frosting on the side of the cake for those who like a little cake with their frosting. I’m definitely talking about my momma here. 

Mother's Day Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Recipe

For extra garnish, zest part of a lemon on top of the cake. Enjoy!  

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Recipe

I hope this cake brings joy to everyone at your table! How did it turn out? I would love to see your beautiful cakes! Leave me a comment below or send me a picture on Pinterest here! I hope you have a beautiful Mother’s Day! 

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Boy’s Safari Nursery Theme: Blues, Whites, and Grays

Safari Themed Boy's Nursery

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

Decorating our nursery has been the most fun I’ve had decorating our home. When we found out we were having a baby boy at our gender reveal party we were SO excited! But I quickly realized I was going to be a BOY mom! I had all these ideas and plans for a girl’s nursery, but what did I want to do for my precious guy? 

Boy's Safari Theme Nursery Decor

I immediately started looking all over Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. I started shopping online for ideas from some of my favorite brands and stores. I saw so many cute ideas. How was I supposed to choose? I finally narrowed it down between two styles. A natural look with white, green, and a touch of gold or white, gray, and navy blue. I knew either way I liked having neutral colors with one main color pop. My husband preferred the navy blue color palette so that made my decision easy! 

I couldn’t find one specific nursery “set” that I just loved so I started piecing things together to create our perfect nursery. While this took a lot of time, it was definitely worth it! Now we have a nursery that we love and is uniquely ours! Buy Buy Baby, Wayfair, HomeGoods, Target, Pottery Barn, Hobby Lobby, and Etsy helped us complete our perfect nursery for our sweet guy. 

Nursery Furniture

The first thing we picked out was our nursery furniture. This took a LOT of searching, but we finally both agreed on the Soho Baby Hampton Nursery Furniture in Stonewash from Buy Buy Baby. You can purchase individual pieces or the entire set. We decided to purchase the entire set because we really liked each piece. 

Safari Themed Boy's Nursery

The crib is a 4-in-1 convertible crib so it grows with baby and has three adjustable mattress heights! I love the neutral color of the crib, but I wanted some fun sheets with a pop of color. We have some plain navy sheets and white sheets, but these aden® by aden + anais® Denim Wash Cotton Muslin Fitted Crib Sheet in Blue are my favorite! Jack loves to look at the arrows as he falls asleep. 

Safari Themed Nursery Changing Table and Dresser

The dresser has so many drawers for storage and makes for the perfect changing table! Just add the changing topper and you are all set! Everything you need for diaper changes, night time, and outfit changes are easily accessible with so much storage space! Our Colgate changing pad is comfy for Jack and super easy to clean! It looks so cute on our changing table with this Kushies changing pad cover! All of the drawers catch right before they close to help prevent little fingers getting caught! 

Speaking of changing pads, thank goodness for our Bubula Diaper Pail! It’s airtight lid keeps those unpleasant smells trapped inside to keep your baby’s nursery smelling fresh and clean! We liked the gray color for our nursery but they have so many color options to choose from. It also holds a LOT of diapers so you don’t have to worry about changing out the bag every day. And speaking of the bag, you can use any trash bag so you won’t be spending extra money on specialty bags. 

Safari Themed Nursery Soho Chifferobe

The chifferobe just completes the room and offers so much storage! The drawers are perfect for clothes, socks, and accessories and the shelves are great for toys and books. We absolutely love it! All of the Soho Hampton Nursery Furniture comes with hardware to attach it to the wall to prevent the furniture from tipping over. 

Nursery Necessities 

A must for any baby nursery is a sound machine. We selected the HoMedics MyBaby Portable Sound Machine in white. With 6 different baby sounds, volume control, and a timer, this is perfect for any room or situation. It doesn’t take up a lot of space in the nursery and is so easy to move from room to room or for travel. It is also a really great price! 

I’ll be honest. Jack did not sleep in his nursery until he outgrew his bassinet in our room. I loved having him right there next to me where I could see him and put my hand on his chest to feel him breathing in the middle of the night. I know all of you mommas can relate. When he was too big for his bassinet, I was so anxious about having him in his nursery. Deep down I knew he was totally safe, but I was still nervous.

Safari Themed Nursery

We received the Owlet Smart Cam Baby Monitor as a baby gift and heard wonderful things about it. I researched SO many monitors and decided this was the best choice for us. I can not rave about it enough! The design keeps it from being a total eyesoar in the nursery and they provide covers for the wire going down the wall. This is specifically a safety feature to keep baby from being able to pull on the wire but as a bonus, it helps it blend into the wall more and not have an ugly wire hanging down!

I love having the app on my phone and the sound and camera quality is amazing! I LOVE the zoom feature and that I can do other things on my phone while still hearing it in the background. You can also purchase the smart sock with the camera to track baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels. 

Nursery Baby Rocking Chair and Ottoman

Every nursery needs a comfy rocking chair and ottoman to prop your feet on while nursing and rocking baby to sleep. I wanted something comfy and pretty. This Harper Nursery Glider swivel Rocker Chair and Ottoman in flax is perfect. It is so comfortable and looks so great in the nursery. I have spent many days and nights snuggling my sweet guy in this chair.

Nursery Decor

Plush Jumbo Giraffe Safari Themed Nursery

Y’all. How much do you love this Melissa and Doug plush giraffe?! My parents bought this to have at our front door when we brought Jack home from the hospital. Her name is Sally and Jack absolutely loves her! We like to pet her and have little chats. This giraffe brings so much fun and whimsy to the room. 

Elephant Play Mat Safari Themed Boys Nursery

The second I saw this elephant play mat I knew I had to have it. It is so soft and now that Jack is older, he loves playing with the elephant while getting in his tummy time. It is also really easy to clean which is always a plus. 

Pottery Barn Elephant Rocker Safari Themed Nursery

Pottery Barn Elephant Rocker

Jack LOVES this elephant rocker from Pottery Barn. My parents bought this for him for Christmas and it is just so cute! It has also been a great way to let him practice balancing. He loves to rock on his Ellie! 

Blue and Gray Boy's Nursery Decor

As I was selecting decor for the nursery, I knew I wanted a focal point with Jack’s name. I found this stunning wooden baby name sign on Etsy and instantly fell in love! This particular shop is no longer on Etsy, but I would encourage you to look around and find something custom to fit your design! 

Baby Nursery Newborn Photos

Personalizing your nursery is a MUST! If you are currently pregnant, I highly recommend scheduling a newborn  photography session! For all of my DFW friends, Kelsey Ray Photography is AMAZING! We were in awe watching her during our session and I could not be happier with our photos. Our canvas newborn wall hangings are my favorite things in our nursery. 

Safari Animal Prints Boy's Nursery Decor

I love clean and sophisticated. I would show my husband all of my ideas and while he loved it, he would keep reminding me that this is a nursery. It needs some fun and whimsy. It isn’t an adult bedroom. I knew I wanted it to be whimsical, but not juvenile. I found these ADORABLE animal prints on Etsy from Prostoroom and fell in love! I loved that the color fit my design palette and had that whimsical bubble in Navy. I had these printed at a local print shop and put them in frames from Target. I had a specific look in mind and couldn’t find the right frames for the right price. Target had these frames with a different print for a really great price! So we took out the original print, painted the frames, and put in our adorable animal prints! 

Boy's Nursery Wall Decor

I absolutely love our frame wall! This wall started the week we announced we were pregnant. My sweet mother-in-law bought the Hello Little Love and For This Child I Have Prayed wall hangings from Hobby Lobby. At the time, we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl, but she thought they were pretty gender neutral and would be perfect. She was SO RIGHT! We absolutely love them. The animal photos on the right are photos from Jeremy’s (my hunky husband) Mimi and were hanging in his bathroom when he was a little boy. 

I had SO much fun designing this nursery and it brings me so much joy every single day. I hope it brought some inspiration to you for your future little! I would love to see your nursery reveals! Leave me a link in the comments below!

 

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How To Make A Taco Cake

Taco Cake

Who doesn’t love tacos? Taco night is definitely a weekly staple in our household. Last year, one of our best friends was having a taco themed birthday party. His wife was planning all the details and mentioned wanting to have a taco cake. I immediately volunteered to make the taco cake because it sounded like a really fun challenge. I had never made a taco cake before, but I figured it couldn’t be that hard, right? Thanks to this amazing tutorial from Studio DIY, it was honestly a piece of cake! Ha! But I definitely learned a couple of things during this process. 

How To Make A Taco Cake

The cake batter I made was enough for two 8-inch round cakes so my husband decided to make one too so that we could have a little bake-off! It was so fun y’all. We took the taco cakes to our friend’s party and had everyone vote on the best looking taco cake. So I HAVE to ask y’all, which one is your favorite? 

Taco Cake

Side Note: See the terrible grease showing on the cardboard from the buttercream? I definitely learned my lesson. See my quick tip below Step 1 to see how to prevent this rookie mistake. Face palm for sure. SO embarrassing. Lesson learned. 

Okay now that you have already made your mental vote, I will tell you that my hunky husband won the votes at our friend’s party.  We both took one different creative liberty while decorating that made our cakes stand out. As I was mixing the yellow buttercream for my taco shell, I left some specs of white in the mix to make it look more like a corn taco shell. Jeremy decided to add some of the crushed Oreos to the frosting on his shell to make it look more realistic.

While I was so annoyed I didn’t win, it was honestly so fun and we had two cakes to enjoy! We even had a request to make another taco cake for another friend’s birthday the following week! And not that I’m bitter or anything, but my husband is a dentist so he is required to have steady hands while working with hand tools on a daily basis. Again, not bitter or anything! =P I’m honestly so proud. 

Date Night!

For a fun date night, enjoy these super easy chicken tacos for dinner and have a taco cake decorating competition for a fun activity and dessert! 

Are you ready to make your own taco cake? Gather all of your supplies and let’s get to decorating! 

Taco Cake Supplies and Ingredients: 

  • 1 8-inch round baked cake 
  • 1 Batch of Buttercream (Check out one of my go to recipes from Paula Dean) 
    • I started with 1 batch of buttercream, but depending on your recipe, you may need to make half of a second batch to make sure you have enough. 
  • Red Food Coloring
  • Green Food Coloring
  • Yellow Food Coloring
  • Brown Food Coloring
  • Orange Food Coloring
  • Crushed Oreos
  • 3 Tbsp. Meringue Powder
  • 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 5 – 7 Tablespoons Warm Water 

Step 1: 

Cut your 8-Inch round cake in half. Spread buttercream on the bottom of each cake half and sandwich them together. This will act as your filling so be generous! Spread a little bit of buttercream on the flat edge of your sandwiched cake and place the flat edge on your cake stand. You should now have the shape of a taco on your cake stand. 

 

How to Make a Taco Cake

Decorate A Taco Cake

Quick Tip: As you can see, I made the rookie mistake of using a round cardboard cake board as my base to decorate. Since my cake is not round, you see SO much cardboard and it just looks terrible! And once you start decorating, there is no moving the cake without absolute disaster! This is why I recommend first placing it on the cake stand you plan to serve the cake on. 

Another Quick Tip: The birthday boy requested a strawberry cake, so of course that is what he received. However, the strawberry cake did make it look like raw taco meat when we cut into the cake. Ha! SO if you don’t have a cake flavor preference, a chocolate cake would be the most appetizing visual in my opinion. 

Step 2: 

Cover the cake in a thin layer of the buttercream frosting and place it is the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. This is known as your crumb coat to prevent crumbs from getting into your final layer of buttercream. 

Step 3:

Taco Cake Decorations

While the crumb coat chills, make your buttercream and icing paste colors. 

Buttercream:

¼ cup brown buttercream.

¼ cup green buttercream

Color the remaining buttercream yellow

Icing Paste:

Mix the meringue powder with 5 tablespoons of water to form the icing paste for the cheese and tomato toppings. You want it to be thick, but thin enough for you to pipe. Just add a tablespoon at a time until you have the right consistency. I personally needed 6 tablespoons of warm water. 

Step 4: 

Remove the cake from the fridge and cover the cake in the yellow buttercream until the cake looks like a yellow taco shell! 

Taco Cake

Quick Tip: Use a knife or frosting spatula to smooth the top of the taco and help create a groove for your toppings. See how the picture above doesn’t quite look like a taco? Keep working with your knife or spatula until you have more defined edges on top. I worked on this step until I was pleased with the top. 

Step 5:

Place your brown buttercream in a piping bag and cut a small whole at the bottom of the bag. Fill each side of the taco with the brown frosting about ¼ of the way up each side of the taco. Carefully coat the brown frosting with the crushed oreo pieces to make the “ground beef” for the taco. 

Place your green buttercream into a piping bag and use the Wilton 366 Leaf Tip to pipe the lettuce on the top of the cake. You will cover the remaining yellow top of the taco cake with the lettuce buttercream. 

Quick Tip: Practice using the leaf tip on a paper towel before you pipe the buttercream lettuce on top of the cake.

Step 6:

Divide the icing paste into two bowls and color one red and one orange. Add each icing color to a piping bag with a round tip. Pipe small lines onto parchment paper to make the shredded cheese. For the tomatoes, pipe tiny squares to resemble diced tomatoes. Let the toppings sit until set enough to remove with a knife or small spatula. I waited about 10 minutes.

Place the shredded cheese and tomatoes on top of the cake to finalize your beautiful and delicious taco cake! 

Taco Cake

I would LOVE to see your finished taco cakes! Please leave me a link to your post below. If you want a little more inspiration, check out this Nailed It! themed emoji cake decoration competition I had one my friends last year!

Cake Decorating Emoji Cake

Have you made an awesome cake? I would love to see your finished cakes! Happy decorating, friends!

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Staches or Lashes Baby Gender Reveal Party

Staches or Lashes Gender Reveal

Oh I just LOVE gender reveal parties! For me, this was my first baby and I was just overwhelmed with excitement and emotion. I honestly didn’t care if I was having a boy or a girl, I was just beyond excited to be a mommy and I wanted to celebrate! 

Staches or Lashes Gender Reveal

There are so many cute theme ideas for a gender reveal party. Tutus or Touchdowns, Bows or Burnouts, and the classic Pink or Blue theme. However, the Staches or Lashes theme was absolutely perfect for us! My husband has grown a curly mustache for Movember for several years and I am all about some lovely lashes. 

The Reveal! Staches or Lashes? 

Blue Confetti Cannon Gender Reveal

I wanted the reveal to be spectacular. After a lot of research, I decided to use confetti cannons. I purchased confetti cannons from Holi Cannons on Etsy. Y’all. I HIGHLY recommend this shop. The price is so reasonable and they are so impressive! I wanted our family to participate in the reveal, so I ordered 10 confetti cannons in blue and 10 confetti cannons in pink. The confetti stays in the air for a long time, so the videos and pictures are perfect. I had my doctor write the gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. I gave the envelope to my dear friend Sarah and she was responsible for bringing the correct confetti cannons to the party. For a fun little extra, she also called the bakery so that they could incorporate a blue or pink buttercream inside of the cake. 

The Gender Reveal Party Cake

Gender Reveal Cake Lashes or Staches

As soon as we had the theme, I immediately ordered the cake. The cake for any event acts as the centerpiece of the decor and I wanted this cake to stand out! I saw a few ideas on Pinterest that I liked, but nothing exactly like I was picturing. I drew a really terrible sketch of what I wanted and called Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery in Arlington, Texas. Y’all. If you are anywhere in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, I highly recommend Sugar Bee Sweets. They are so professional and their cakes taste even better than they look! After going over what I wanted for the cake, they asked me to email my sketch and created exactly what I envisioned. It was stunning and oh so delicious! I found this adorable gold glitter cake topper on Etsy and it totally completed the cake. 

The Staches or Lashes Decor

Staches or Lashes Guest Favors: How did we ever plan parties before Etsy and Pinterest? I found these super cute lashes and staches glitter pins for the guests to wear to represent their guess. 

Balloon Arch and Balloons: Balloon arches have become one of my favorite party staples. They are perfect for a statement wall and are really inexpensive to make. Check out my post on how to make your own balloon arch! We purchased all of the balloons for the balloon wall from Party City. 

Baby Gender Reveal Balloon Arch

These super cute gold confetti “Oh Baby!” balloons from Hooray Days on Etsy are absolutely adorable! We also purchased 36” clear balloons from a local party store and filled them with gold confetti. These looked so fun on the floor and some of our younger guests really enjoyed playing with them during the party! 

Staches or Lashes Banner: This glitter Staches or Lashes banner looked so great with our blue confetti and was a great prop for the photo backdrop. 

Gender Reveal Balloon Decor

Photo Backdrop: While I know this isn’t the most impressive photo backdrop ever created, it was a last-minute addition and was really fun! One of my best friends happens to be a super talented photographer and let us borrow one of her backdrop stands. We purchased a roll of black butcher paper to hang from the backdrop stand and added some fun props for guests to use. One of my other best friends had quite a few props for us to use and we purchased these really cute and inexpensive gender reveal baby shower balloons from Party City.

Gender Reveal Photo Booth

Hooray! It’s a boy! This theme was so much fun and I loved every minute of this gender reveal. 

Have you hosted a gender reveal? I would love to see your party theme and pics! Please leave me a comment below so that I can check it out!

 

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Dinner Party Theme: Nailed It! Cake Competition

Cake Decorating Emoji Cake

In honor of the FOURTH season of Nailed It! debuting on Netflix, I thought I would share a super fun dinner party night we had with our friends last year! A Nailed It! cake decorating contest!

Please note, this was definitely before quarantine, so while you can’t do this in person with a large group of friends right now, you can do this with your quarantine crew, or even try it virtually! 

Some of my very best friends in the whole wide world have been my besties since we were in 2nd grade. Thankfully, all of our now husbands are friends too (did they have a choice?) and we just know our children will be besties for life. We will find any excuse to hang out and it usually involves food! We all LOVE watching baking shows together and we especially love Nailed It!, so we decided to have our very own Nailed It! competition!

We set very strict rules and guidelines (not really) and had our husbands judge the final winner. Our husbands are also super fun and took this very seriously. They had a grading rubric, sat at the kitchen table in hushed conversations while we waited patiently in the other room, and they even walked in from outside while playing the music to The Great British Baking Show. Totally wrong show but we loved the dedication. 

Honestly, we all surprised ourselves with how well the cakes turned out and they were all so tasty! Full disclosure, we gave ourselves four hours to bake and create our masterpieces, so we definitely had more time than the contestants on Nailed It!. Here are the guidelines we used for our competition. 

Cake Decorating Baking Competition

The Baking and Cake Decorating Guidelines 

  • Bake and decorate an emoji cake.
  • Use a box cake or make it from scratch, but contestant will receive bonus points for a cake completely from scratch. 
  • Contestant must make the buttercream, but they can use store bought fondant.
  • Contestant must include a filling in your cake. 
  • Contestant has four hours from start to finish.

We had initially planned to make our cakes, frostings, and fillings in our own kitchens and then decorate and assemble together. However, one of our friends gave a super vague reason as to why she needed to do hers completely at home and just bring it over before dinner. Are you thinking we have a cheater on our hands? Because the rest of us all thought the same thing. We were convinced she was going to use way more than four hours, but we let it slide and agreed.

When she arrived for dinner, her cake was completely covered and she didn’t want to take it out until we finished dinner. We had all of our cakes lined up on the island ready for the judging. Finally, she lines all of us up in front of the island and reveals her secret cake. When she pulled the cover off, we all started screaming. Instead of making a fish emoji cake like she told us initially, she made the pregnant mommy emoji. She was pregnant! And not just pregnant, pregnant with TWINS that we would all later find out were actually TRIPLETS! Yes, TRIPLETS! This was such a fun surprise and made our night. 

Cake Decorating Emoji Cake

The Judging 

Based on the super fun surprise pregnancy announcement, how could her cake not win?! It really was so great! But our husbands knowing all of us very well, decided to award each cake something special. But let’s be honest, pregnancy announcement cake trumps all other cakes! While I enjoyed all of the cakes, I was so proud of my unicorn cake! It was a four tiered white chocolate raspberry cake with white chocolate buttercream, a raspberry filling and a sprinkle center! 

Unicorn White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

This was such a fun and inexpensive group activity and made for a great dinner party with oh so many yummy cakes! Have you had a baking or cooking competition? I would love to see your results! For more fun cake decorating ideas, check out my taco cake post! 

Taco Cake

 

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Skinny Chicken Parm Recipe

Skinny Chicken Parm Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

http://thesassysouthern.com/skinny-chicken-parm-recipe-2/

I absolutely love Italian food! I also love hosting dinner parties and an Italian dish is always one of my go-to recipes when planning for a larger crowd. However, Italian meals don’t always fit into my healthy eating plan, so I’m always looking for a healthier, but still delicious recipe! I love swapping recipes with my friends! We decided to do a recipe swap for one of our Saturday brunch sessions. One friend shared this delicious skinny chicken parm recipe that she found on Pinterest from Two Purple Figs and I have been hooked ever since! It is so easy to make and it definitely cuts down on the calories!

This recipe teaches you how to make homemade marinara sauce and the chicken cooks perfectly! This is another recipe I LOVE to cook in my Copper Chef! I promise this will become a family favorite and will be an instant go-to for dinner! Here is what you need to get started!

Skinny Chicken Parm Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 4 tsp. pesto sauce
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. pepper
  • 1 batch of homemade marinara sauce
  • 1 box of whole wheat spaghetti

Homemade Marinara Sauce Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • ½ cup fresh basil leaves, finely minced (dried basil will also work)
  • 1 32 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
  • ¾ tsp. salt (or to taste)
  • ½ tsp. pepper (or to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Let’s Get Cooking!

Homemade Marinara Sauce

  1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. 
  2. Sauté the garlic and the scallions for 30 seconds. Season with salt and add half of the oregano. Sauté until fragrant.
  3. Add half of the basil to the garlic mixture and sauté for another 30 seconds.
  4. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, and remaining oregano.
  5. Bring the sauce to a boil.
  6. Cover the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.
  7. Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and remaining fresh basil. I’ll be honest, I have made this recipe plenty of times with dried basil and it was delicious! 

Skinny Chicken Parm

Skinny Chicken Parm Recipe

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Pour half of the marinara sauce in 9×13 baking dish. If you are using a Copper Chef, skip this step!
  3. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, and oregano.
  4. Heat your pan to medium heat and add the olive oil.
  5. Sear the chicken for 3 minutes on each side.
  6. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook the chicken for another 2-3 minutes.
  7. Remove the chicken from the pan and pour in half of the homemade marinara sauce. Place the chicken on top of the marinara sauce. If you are not using a Copper Chef pan, add the chicken to the baking dish you set aside earlier with the marinara sauce.
  8. Spread the pesto on top of each piece of chicken.
  9. Spread the marinara sauce on top of each piece of chicken, making sure the sauce covers the entire piece of chicken.
  10. Sprinkle the cheese on top of each piece of chicken.
  11. Place the Copper Chef or baking dish in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  12. Cook the spaghetti while the chicken is baking.
  13. Plate as photographed and enjoy with a delicious salad and bread!

Do you have a favorite go-to dinner recipe? I’m always looking for new recipes to add to our menu!

Skinny Chicken Parm
Serves 4
This skinny take on Chicken Parmesean is easy to make and will definitely be a family fave!
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Ingredients
  1. Skinny Chicken Parm Ingredients
  2. • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  3. • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  4. • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  5. • 4 tsp. basil pesto
  6. • ½ cup grated paremesan cheese
  7. • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  8. • ½ tsp. salt
  9. • ¼ tsp. pepper
  10. • 1 batch of homemade marinara sauce
  11. • 1 box of whole wheat spaghetti
  12. Homemade Marinara Sauce Ingredients
  13. • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  14. • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  15. • 1 ½ tsp. dried oregano
  16. • ½ cup fresh basil leaves, finely minced (dried basil will also work)
  17. • 1 32 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
  18. • ¾ tsp. salt (or to taste)
  19. • ½ tsp. pepper (or to taste)
  20. • 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Homemade Marinara Sauce
  2. 1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
  3. 2. Sauté the garlic and the scallions for 30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt and add half of the oregano. Sauté until fragrant.
  4. 3. Add half of the basil to the garlic mixture and sauté for another 30 seconds.
  5. 4. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, and remaining oregano.
  6. 5. Bring the sauce to a boil.
  7. 6. Cover the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.
  8. 7. Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and remaining fresh basil.
  9. Skinny Chicken Parm
  10. 1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  11. 2. Pour half of the marinara sauce in 9x13 baking dish. If you are using a Copper Chef, skip this step!
  12. 3. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, and oregano.
  13. 4. Heat your pan to medium heat and add the olive oil.
  14. 5. Sear the chicken for 3 minutes on each side.
  15. 6. Lower the heat to medium low and cook the chicken for another 2-3 minutes.
  16. 7. Remove the chicken from the pan and pour in half of the homemade marinara sauce. Place the chicken on top of the marinara sauce. If you are not using a Copper Chef pan, add the chicken to the baking dish you set aside earlier with the marinara sauce.
  17. 8. Spread 1 tsp. of the basil pesto on top of each piece of chicken.
  18. 9. Place 2 Tbsp. of marinara sauce on top of each piece of chicken, making sure the sauce covers the entire piece of chicken.
  19. 10. Sprinkle the cheese on top of each piece of chicken.
  20. 11. Place the Copper Chef or baking dish in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  21. 12. Cook the spaghetti while the chicken is baking.
  22. 13. Plate as photographed and enjoy with a delicious salad and bread!
Adapted from Two Purple Figs
Adapted from Two Purple Figs
The Sassy Southern http://thesassysouthern.com/
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Floral Baby Shower Party Décor

Baby Shower Paper Flower Decor

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

Pink and White Floral Baby Shower Decor

I love planning baby showers. There are so many creative décor themes and I love finding new DIY crafts to conquer. When I’m asked to host a baby shower, the first thing I like to do is ask the mommy-to-be if she has a certain vision for the shower. This is such a big day for the mommy-to-be and daddy-to-be, so I always want to make sure that it is what they want. If they don’t have something in mind, I will usually suggest three themes that I am envisioning and we will go from there.

The Baby Shower Theme

Floral Baby Shower Decor Crafts

For today’s featured baby shower, the floral baby shower décor was not difficult to select. This sweet shower was for precious baby Lily. I talked with the mommy-to-be and asked what colors she was doing for the nursery. I wanted to make sure that she could incorporate any of the décor that she wanted to keep into the nursery. Since she was doing pinks and whites for the nursery, I used those colors for the majority of the décor.

The Invitations, Thank You Notes, and Guess The Date Calendar

Designed by Forever Your Prints

Baby Shower INvitations by Forever Your Prints

I had so much fun searching for the perfect invitation! The invitation for a party sets the entire scene, so it is important to make sure it is absolutely stunning! I found so many beautiful invitations on Etsy! I decided to narrow it down to three and let the mommy-to-be choose! She finally decided on this gorgeous design by Forever Your Prints on Etsy!

I also love diaper raffles! When you order the invitations, make sure to also order diaper raffle cards! Include the diaper raffle card in the invitation. If guests would like to participate in the raffle, ask them to bring a pack of diapers to the shower and their name written on the raffle card. As they arrive, collect the diapers and drop all diaper raffle cards in a jar. During the game portion of the shower, draw a raffle winner and award them with a really fun prize! Just remember to make the prize extra special since the guests are bringing an additional gift! I love diaper raffles because guests don’t feel obligated to participate and it is a great way to collect a nice stash of diapers for the mommy and daddy-to-be!

I also ordered thank you notes in the same design! I had a station at the party next to the guest book and I asked the guests to please fill out their address on an envelope. This saves the mommy and daddy-to-be a lot of time and makes thank you notes a breeze! Also, don’t forget to keep track of who gives what during presents! That list will be very helpful when it comes time to send thank you notes! 

Guess The Date Calendar

This adorable shop also makes Guess The Date calendars! For those who are not familiar, a guess the date calendar is for guests to guess what date they think the baby will arrive! I purchased a butterfly stamp with pink ink and had all of the guests guess their date!

The Baby Shower Décor

Baby Shower Paper Flower Decor

I wanted everything to be covered in flowers with a show-stopping backdrop for the mommy-to-be to sit in front of during the shower activities. I found these beautiful paper flower templates on Etsy by Paper Flora. They are SO EASY to make and you can make multiple sizes from the same design. I chose my two favorite designs and purchased stock paper in the colors I wanted for the shower.

Paper Flower Baby Shower Decor

I made multiple sizes so that I could create a floral arch on the wall and I used fake leaves that I had left over from a Tropical Themed Baby Shower that I hosted to add a pop of green to the flowers! I purchased the Hangman Products PCR5 Poster & Craft Tape, 5′, Roll, White from Amazon to hold the flowers to the wall and it worked beautifully! This is the same tape I like to use when I make a balloon arch!

Floral DIY Wooden Block Letters

I purchased these adorable wooden block letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them white. I then glued small fake flowers to the bottom and up the sides of the letters. I LOVED how they turned out and so did the mommy-to-be! She has these in sweet baby Lily’s nursery now! 

DIY Floral Craft Letter Initial

I really love monograms and initials, so I purchased this giant cardboard L from Hobby Lobby and stuck fake flowers all over the L. I cut the flower off of the stem and just left a small part of the stem to stab into the cardboard. It worked perfectly and looked so pretty!

Shopping Tip: #HobbyLobby marks all of their flowers 50% off every other week! #DIY Click To Tweet

Floral Balloon String

I LOVE these gorgeous 36” balloons! They make such a statement when you walk in the room! For this floral themed baby shower, I decided to add flowers to the balloon string to give it a little extra glam! I took small flowers and leaves and hot glued them down a balloon string. The morning of the shower, I tied the floral string around the balloon and cut the actual balloon string off of the balloon. It turned out so cute and the shower guests were asking where I bought it! Purchase your own pack of 36″ Balloons on Amazon! 

Pro Tip: Party supply stores charge as much as $15 to inflate a 36” balloon with helium. Instead, take it to the floral department at your local grocery store. I took mine to Kroger and they only charged me $2 to fill this giant… Click To Tweet

Hot Air Balloon Floral Centerpiece

I wanted something extra special for the floral centerpieces on the buffet table! I saw this adorable hot air balloon flower box craft on Pinterest and I had to make it! It was so easy and looked amazing on the table! Here is what I used to make it:

Diaper Cake

Diaper Cake Floral Baby Shower

While diaper cakes don’t sound at all appealing, they make for fabulous baby shower décor and it is a great hidden gift for mom and dad! For this diaper cake, I decided to go with a black and white striped fabric and then use giant pink peonies to make it pop! Check out my blog on how to make a diaper cake here!

Pro Tip: Purchase diapers that are larger in size for the diaper cake. Most people purchase infant sized diapers for the shower. This will help mom and dad already have diapers for later! Click To Tweet

Mommy Milestone Wine Crate

Mommy Milestone Custom Wine Label Basket

I always love to include this with my gift! While all of the gifts are to the mom and dad, they are really for baby! This is a creative and fun gift that mom and dad can enjoy together to celebrate after the baby is born! I found these adorable Mommy Milestone custom wine labels on Etsy by Lush Label! Each wine label celebrates a different occasion after baby is born and includes a cute poem! You can have the babies name on the bottom to make it extra special! Check out my blog post on how to make a mommy milestone wine basket here!

Hospital Door Hanger Wreath

Floral Hospital Door Hanger

Help mom and dad welcome baby into the world with a beautiful hospital door hanger! This is a great way to show off sweet baby’s name and their official birthday as the loved ones visit the hospital! This also looks amazing at the shower! Check out my blog post on how to make a hospital door hanger!

Baby Shower Guest Book

 

 Baby Shower Guest Book: Guess How Much I Love You

Special moments like a baby shower go by so quickly! I always like to include a guest book for mom and dad to look over and remember their sweet friends and family who showered them with love and support. Instead of a blank book that may end up stuffed on a shelf, I like to buy a favorite children’s book for the guests to sign and leave sweet messages. Each time mom and dad read this to sweet baby, they are reminded of the love and support from their friends and family! As baby gets older, they will be able to read the sweet messages of love and support and know how much they were loved before they were even born!

Baby Shower Games


Munchkin Bristle Bottle Brush
I love playing baby shower games where my game supplies can also act as a gift for the mommy and daddy-to-be! The Price Is Right is SO much fun and mom and dad end up with a lot of necessary items for baby! I pick out 10 necessity items listed on their registry for the game. I give each guest a piece of paper with each item numbered. I introduce each item to the guests reading them all of the necessary information. For example, if one of the items were a baby bottle cleaning brush, I would include that this particular brush is BPA free, has a suction cup base and a flexible neck for easy cleaning. Each guest would then write down their estimated guess of the price of that item. Once I go through each item, each guests adds up the total of all items and the guest with the closest estimated total to the actual total of all 10 items wins! Mom and dad take home all of the items for the game and the guest leaves with a fun prize! Target gift cards are always a popular prize!

Baby Shower Food

Baby Shower Food

For this shower I went with a brunch theme. We had a donut cake, fruit tray, veggie tray cheese, crackers, coffee cake, quiche, Danish, and pigs in a blanket! For the beverage station, I had a coffee bar, juice bar, hot tea, iced tea, and water. There were very few leftovers!

If you are still trying to select the perfect theme for you shower, check out my tropical themed baby shower décor ideas!

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FREE Printable Wine Labels

Printable Wine Label

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

Happy National Drink Wine Day! As many of you already know, I love custom wine labels! They make for a very personalized and thoughtful gift and they are great for parties! One of my favorite ways to use personalized wine labels is by gifting a bride a groom a year of firsts with a wedding milestone wine basket! We received this at our wedding and we had SO much fun enjoying the different bottles of wine for each new milestone in our marriage! I also love to give a Mommy Milestones wine basket at baby showers for the mommy-to-be and daddy-to-be to enjoy after the baby is born!

Wine Bottle Labels

Printable Wine Label

Free Printable Wine Labels

While custom wine labels are perfect for these types of occasions, you might want to dress up a wine label without having to order custom labels! Well thanks to FTD by Design, you can wow your party crowd with a custom bottle of wine in just a few minutes! All you need is a printer, double-sided tape, and a bottle of wine! It was super easy and it turned out beautifully! 

Wine Label Gift Tags

Visit FTD by Design’s blog post for their super easy instructions and to download their 6 free printable wine bottle labels for special occasions! They are all so adorable, but I think my favorite label has to be the Sip Sip Hooray! It’s hard to read that and not want to cheer! You can apply them directly to the bottle, or print the hanging label that you can easily hang on the bottle! You will never want to show up to a birthday party, dinner party, or family gathering without these show-stopping wine labels dressing up your delicious bottle of wine! If you love these gorgeous Mikasa Cheers Red Wine Glasses as much as I do, they are very affordable and are perfect for a romantic dinner or a party! Cheers! 

 

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