Taylor, Author at TaylorMade

White Wine Sangria

August 11, 2011 By Taylor 6 Comments

As promised, White Wine Sangria. I figured if you had to come to a two year old party, the least I could do is serve Sangria, right? And its just too hot for red wine so, White Wine Sangria it is!

This batch I made was simple, refreshing and low cal because it is made with Fresca. This recipe makes a ton so you can always cut it in half. Add more or less wine to make it as strong/weak as you like.White Wine Sangria:– 1.5 L. Bottle White Wine (I actually used Chardonnay)– 1/2 L. Fresca – 1 can peach nectar-1/2 c. limeade-fresh fruit (I used lemons, oranges, strawberries and peaches)

A Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party

August 10, 2011 By Taylor 42 Comments

It’s a Party, It’s a party for my Finn.This past weekend, we had a few of Finn’s friends over for his 2nd Birthday.

Brobee and Muno were there in cupcake form :) I didn’t want to go too over the top with decorations because he is only two and how can I out do myself year after year? So, I kept it pretty simple. My best decision was ordering pizza instead of trying to cook and heat my kitchen up. I also made some White Wine Sangria – tutorial HERE.

Like any good hostess, I enlisted help. My amazing mom did such a great job on the cupcakes. She didn’t just draw on a face with icing, everything was made from real food. Muno’s teeth are pieces of banana chips. Couldn’t you die over the Brobee one?

In my opinion, you can’t have a party without streamers and balloons. They are cliche for a reason.

We had to have some healthy snacks for the kids so they were too sugared up from the cupcakes.

I saw these fancy fruit ka-bobs on Pinterest. These are just cute for life, I don’t need a party to make these again.

Another Pinterest find… these DJ Lance Rock Radio party favors. The radio is a free printable from NickJr.com and you just tape it to a box of animal crackers. Yes please!

I came across a few birthday banners with the YGG faces but I changed mine a little and had just used their eyes.

I also made the Birthday Boy a shirt. Which didn’t stay clean or on for long. Tutorial HERE.

(on his new trampoline)

I would say it was a great time. Any party that ends with eating a cupcake in your underwear is a success in my book.

Margarita Pie

July 27, 2011 By Taylor 6 Comments

I had you at Margarita right? If you know me at all you know how I feel about Margaritas. Not only do I love Margaritas… I also love anything made with Greek Yogurt. So, I whipped up a pie. The recipe is from Oikos (the Greek Yogurt lid), I just added some Triple Sec :)

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust

8 oz low fat cream cheese

1 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Margarita Mix

3 Tbs. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

1 Tbs. Triple Sec Liqueur

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, lime juice, margarita mix and Triple Sec and stir. Then, fold in the yogurt. Pour into a pie crust and freeze a few hours or until firm. I added sliced limes on top for funsies.

On the topic of cold food… anyone have any good recipes for “cold” dinners. I can’t think of anything to make lately because it is so hot here that a hot dinner sounds… hot. All I can think of is Greek Salad which we had tonight by the way. I can’t live of Greek Salad every night… ideas anyone?

Binky Bag

July 25, 2011 By Taylor 9 Comments

Is it baby/wedding shower season for your too? Our calendar is packed over here with showers and weddings (and I like it).

A common phrase at my house is… “where is the binky?”. So, I actually though about making something like this months ago for Clyde and his Binky Love (more of an obsession that I will regret later). We were invited to a diaper shower a few weeks ago and I always like to add something handmade. So I made a Binky Bag.

It is so easy I can barely even call this a tutorial- but I will :)All you need is:– a small piece of fabric (mine was 14″ x 10″)– small piece of boning-a ribbon

Basically all you do is create a pocket that is sewn on 3 sides and a 1″ hem on the 4th side so you can insert your boning inside and your bag will always be open. There are a ton of ways to modify it, here are the bare bones of the Binky Bag.

1. My piece of fabric was 14″x10″ and I folded it in half, right sides together, and stitched around 3 sides; leaving an entire side open2. On the open side, serge around the top (or sew a hem)3. With the bag still turned inside out, fold 1″ down4. Sew around the fold leaving an opening5. (the opening)6. This is the boning that you will insert into that opening7. Flip the bag right side out and pin a ribbon to the top of the bag8. Make sure to leave a gap (about 1″) on the back of the bag so the ribbon doesn’t touch9. Sew the ribbon to the bag