Karen Smallbone

Every year we have a family picnic. This year it was the granddaughters turn to bring dessert. (yeah, my favourite!!!) I thought long and hard and decided that I wanted to make cupcakes. I didn’t want to make regular ones, I wanted ones that were picnic themed somehow. I searched around, and found these Hamburger cupcakes. I made them and I must say that this was one of the easiest projects I have taken on! The hamburger buns are those Nilla cookies, the burger part is a peppermint patty, the lettuce is coconut dyed green with food colouring, and the mustard and ketchup are icing. If you are planning a party or picnic, think about making these. Super easy and kids LOVE them.

I received this from Gretchen at mywedding.com. They are looking for Grooms to share their wedding planning story.

If you are a Groom that is taking on the majority of planning responsibilities for his wedding or a Groom that wants to get more involved in planning his wedding…mywedding.com needs you!
Please email stories@mywedding.com the details of your wedding including:
• date of wedding
• age of both bride and groom
• location of wedding
• a picture of the couple
Please note: This couple must be open to the idea of sharing their story through possible local and national media outlets.

Deadline: 08/15/2008

Thanks!!

Gretchen Viles
mywedding.com

Being a woman with a few curves, I know how hard it can be to find a wedding dress or a bridesmaid dress that is flattering. I ended up having my dress made because trying on a size 8 in the bridal shops just wasn’t doing it for me. You really can’t tell what the dress will look like if you can’t even fit into it.

I received an email from one of my favorite stores, Torrid, today saying that they were now carrying Bridal fashions. Torrid is a store in the US that carries fashionable clothes in plus sizes. They have an online store and also brick and mortar locations throughout the US. I often make a trip over to Buffalo just to shop there. The wedding dresses are only available on line. They also have a nice selection of bridesmaids dresses, wedding lingerie, and accessories.

These dresses would be perfect for a destination wedding, or if you are planning something more casual.

Vixen White Satin Mermaid- $180.00

Divine white lace halter – $220.00

Doll Face white Strapless – $170.00

Pink Taffeta and Sequin Foldover Dress -$120.00 (on sale now for $100.00)

I’ve finally given up the dream of having a daughter to pass my wedding dress down to. I thought that it would be nice to pass it on to someone who would love it as much as I did. If you are looking for a simple dress in a creamy white and a very long veil, just let me know. I would love for it to have a new home, not in my closet or hanging from my rafters in my room. It needs to be cleaned and steamed but other than that it is in excellent shape. There are some buttons missing from the back but they were decorative so you could take the ones that are left off. I had it made for me so I’m not sure of the exact size. I think I wore a 16 at the time so it would be around there. I am 5ft. 2in so you would need to be about that height.

Please send me an email if you are interested or have any questions. The dress and veil are free, you just pay for shipping.

Here is a close up of the top.

The skirt part has an organza overlay and the bottom has a satin band around it.

There are small fabric flowers that go around the waist of the dress.

Super long veil that clips into your hair.

UPDATE: The veil has found a new home. I still have the dress if anyone is interested!

I just recieved an email from the Wedding Chicks saying they had featured me on their blog. Thanks Wedding Chicks. I love your blog!

You have to check it out. It’s full of insipiring ideas and great design. I love the little birds, so cute.

We are very excited to have been featured in the Spring 2008 issue of InStyle Weddings!

Look for us on page 230.

If you are interested in a customized Candy tube favour for your event, please contact me karen@karensmallbone.com

I’m back from my relaxing vacation to Cuba. It turns out we picked the right week to go. The weather at home was horrible.

I thought I would share a photo of me with Benny and Luna. My friend Cindy, is in love with dolphins, so we lived out her dream and went swimming with them. It was great fun although the plane ride there was a bit terrifying. I’m not a big fan of planes that only seat 16 and have propellers. Being able to see everything the pilots were doing didn’t help either.

I’m back in the office now and working to get caught up. I will be away again from March 6-17. It’s March break and I’ll be off doing fun stuff with the boys.
If you will need something during that time, please be sure to order ahead. We won’t be answering emails or shipping orders during that week.

Last weekend we had the pleasure to participate in The Wedding Show. It was held at the gorgeous Carlu.

It was wonderful to meet everyone who stopped by. I hope that you found lots of good ideas to help you with your wedding planning.

Here are some photos of our booth that we built for the show.

I have lots of great stuff to share with you. Beautiful gowns, flowers, gorgeous cakes, invitations.. all the good stuff. I’m hoping to get those posted this week. Check back soon.

Good news! Due to the strong Canadian dollar, we are able to lower our prices on our tins and selected Take Out Boxes.

Frosted Chinese Food Containers, Striped Chinese Food Containers, and Polka Dot Chinese Food Containers now all have a lower price.

Our Slider Tins, Square Clear top Tins, Small Round Clear Top Tins, Large Round Clear Top Tins, and Mint Tins have all been reduced as well.

Thank you to everyone who entered our draw for the tickets to the Wedding Show. Our winner was Learzi from Toronto. Congratulations!

If you are attending the show, please stop by and say hi to Richard and I. We would love to meet you and hear about your wedding plans.