Hot Shoe of the Week

So now that my daughter goes to Mother's Day Out a few hours a week, I actually get to go into stores sometimes and browse, even (gasp) try on some shoes!! I just bought these super cute and very hot Madden Girl by Steve Madden shoes. This shoe is called the Setra. Find it on their website for $49.95. I bought mine at DSW but they were the same price. Love them, needed them, had to have them! A little celebration purchase of quiet, calm, tantrum-free shopping.

Giveaway Tuesday!

Here are this week's great giveways! Win...

1. A beautiful necklace from Sassy Glass Designs on LillyShayStyle.

2. A $25 gift certificate from Les Minis de Dongedy.

3. A set of beads from Nomad Crafts.

4. A wonderful necklace from Rose, Red Rose on Audrey's Give Away Blog.

5. A vintage messenger bag from Chin Chin Vintage on Blog Goggles.

Ribbit Ribbit....

FROGS! Are you having a frog themed party for your little one?! A customer recently requested a hat for her little one's froggy birthday and here it is...

I also made this cute matching iron on tie for the birthday boy...

We can make this hat for your little one, or a hat to match another birthday theme. Visit our birthday hat gallery, our etsy shop or email us at info@sweetnsassybaby.com

Product Recommendation: Wet Bag

I have known about wet bags for a while, at least since having my daughter. They are cute fabric bags lined with a waterproof material. You use them to put a wet bathing suit in or dirty cloth diapers. I didn't think they were necessary. I mean why not just use a Ziploc bag? Well I was wrong! I bought one and love love love it. We go to swimming lessons every week and when we're done, we never have anywhere to put the wet towel and bathing suit. If I put it back in our bag, it gets everything wet. My daughter also has water day every Friday at preschool. If they don't have any plastic bags, they just stick her wet stuff in her backpack. Yuck! Now, I just throw everything in this bag, zip it up, and throw it in our tote or in her backpack. It's great! I highly recommend them. You can find them many places. I bought mine on Etsy from Monkey Foot Designs and it is wonderful. The quality is excellent. They carry many sizes and designs and they are very affordable.

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

I'm a frosting girl. I love frosting. I usually only like cake with frosting. Well not anymore! A lady at my husband's work made a cake for his birthday and some other co-worker's birthdays earlier this week. He brought home a few pieces. It didn't look so special. He's not a cake person at all and he said it was really good. Well I would never miss the chance to eat some cake so I tried it. Well, more like I ate every bite of it. It was SO FREAKING GOOD! Here is the recipe. Super easy!

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

1 box chocolate cake mix (any kind, but I prefer to use the Duncan Hines dark chocolate)
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
1 cup butter (2 sticks) (softened to room temp)
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar or Hershey bar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Thoroughly grease a Bundt cake pan. Stir together the cake mix and pudding mix. Add sour cream, butter, eggs and vanilla. Blend until combined. The texture will be like a chocolate mousse. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove it from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

If you wish, you may dust the cake with powdered sugar or drizzle the cake with a melted Hershey bar.

You can make this cake using vanilla ingredients, but omit the vanilla chips. They sink to the bottom of the cake and cause it to stick no matter how well you grease the pan

Hot Shoe of the Week

Add a splash of color to that black dress or outfit with the Regaal from Steve Madden. The price is $99.95 and it also comes in black if you're not ready for these bright colors.

Giveaway Tuesday!

Here are this week's great giveaways! Win...

1. A kalupi/wallet "Rain of Orange"and 1 Japanese Chiyogami Glass Tile Pendant from Maya's Kalupi on Audrey's Giveaway Blog.

2. A Coffee Cup Rosette necklace and a dish towel from coffee and cream.

3. A brag book from Simply Chimica.

4. An 8 x 8 photo called "Sin of Greed" from Les Minis de Dongedy.

5. A lace scarf and headband from Lenox Knits.

6. "Etsy cash" and magnets from a variety of shops on Etsy Technology Help.

7. A prize of your choice from Blueberry Cream.

8. A green chunky bucket hat from After the Bump.

9. A $25 gift card from Quilting Diva on Salad for Breakfast.

Monkeys! Not just for boys.

So I have been posting a lot lately about monkey themed birthday parties and birthday hats. Well girls love monkeys too! Here's a recent hat for a little girl's first birthday.We can make the perfect hat for your little monkey, boy or girl! Visit our birthday hat gallery or email us at info@sweetnsassybaby.com.

How many engineers does it take...

to put together a tricyle? ONE, and this is what happens...Thank you to my father-in-law for this special moment.

Z Pizza

I often drive by a place called Z Pizza. I wondered if it was any good or just some other little pizza place that would soon close down. Well, I just read that Z Pizza is an up and coming pizza franchise that makes their pizza from healthy and organic ingredients. It was founded in Laguna Beach in 1986. They use certified organic wheat flour for the crust and certified organic tomato sauce. The pepperoni is reduced fat and MSG free. Does pepperoni usually have MSG in it? Hmm. Anyway, they use many other fresh and healthy ingredients and they offer soy cheese and gluten-free crust upon request. They have several types of pizza such as Thai, Mexican, Greek, and many more. You can also just get the usual pepperoni, mushroom, or cheese. They carry sandwiches and other menu items as well. I have not tried it yet but I plan to very soon. So, if you notice one in your area, check it out!

Hot Shoe of the Week

Here's a great shoe for a wedding or other event you might be attending. Ruffles are hot and this dressy shoe fits the trend. How cute would it be with a little black dress?! It is the Fluffy from Nine West for $79.00.

Giveaway Tuesday!

Here are this week's great giveaways! Win...

1. A $15 gift certificate from Recupe Fashion on Audrey's Country Crafts.

2. A set of gocco printed blank notebooks from cabin + cub.

3. A variety of giveaways on Indie Style Blog.

4. An ecofriendly reusable produce bag gift set from FickleFaerie on Mystic Wynd.

5. A 4 x 6 glossy print from Fantasy Art of Maigan Lynn.

The Perfect Brunch Drink

I went to a brunch at my friend's house on Saturday and she had the best mimosas. I have always made them with equal parts of orange juice and champagne. These call for a few extra ingredients, and they are so much better! Here is the recipe for Blushing Mimosas...

Ingredients
2 cups orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice, chilled
2 tablespoons grenadine
1 bottle Champagne, chilled

Preparation
1. Stir together first 3 ingredients.
2. Pour equal parts orange juice mixture and Champagne into Champagne flutes.

Enjoy!

Trendwatch: Ripped Jeans

A recent poll in Glamour magazine said ripped jeans are in. You can find them everywhere right now, especially on the stars. Whether they are called deconstructed, destroyed or ripped, they seem to be hot.

So You Think You Can Dance

I don't have an extra exciting post today because I was too obsessed with my favorite show in the whole world last night. So You Think You Can Dance is back! Yes, the highlight of my summer. I LOVE it! If you like dance even a tiny bit, you must watch this show. You will get hooked! It comes on Wednesday nights at 7 pm and the results show is Thursday night. It is on Fox. Check it out! Best show of the summer! And by the way, I do think I can dance. If only I were 10 years younger...

Hot Shoe of the Week

A steal and a deal! Apparently this is a must-have shoe this season. I just can't get into this style of sandal. I think they look so cute on everyone else, but not on me. I will eventually try some on, but not yet. This is the Sanfrann by Steve Madden. It comes in a variety of colors and is on sale on their website for $44.96 (regularly $59.95). If you are like me and are not ready for this type of shoe, check out the knock off from Target. It's the Merona Eleora flat for $17.99. You can try out the trend without breaking the bank!

Giveaway Tuesday!

Here are this week's great giveaways! Win...

1. A $10 gift certificate from PURE Natural Minerals on Salad for Breakfast.

2. A vintage car key fob from Moon Mandrake.

3. An 8 x 10 print from Artgasm Design on Nature Manipulated.

4. A Mini Paper Mache from Mumbreeze on Yellowgoat.

Have a Mod Monkey Birthday!

A very popular birthday party theme right now is the Mod Monkey found on Birthday Express.A customer recently asked me to make a hat to match this party theme, and here it is! You can purchase it in our Etsy shop. **UPDATE** Click here to see our new mod monkey hat. We can also make it in pink!You can find many fabulous items on Etsy to match the Mod Monkey birthday theme. Here are just a few...

Party favor tags by Ciao Bambino...

Cupcake toppers by Burley Girl Designs...

and Invitations by Nounces designs. The owner of this shop threw her own son a super cute Mod Monkey birthday party! You can see the pics here and here for some great party ideas.

Team EtsyBaby Customer Appreciation Event

Team EtsyBaby is having a customer appreciation event through June 15th. You can find some great savings at many of the Team EtsyBaby shops. Click here to see which shops are offering discounts. Place an order from Sweet 'n Sassy Baby and save 15% on your order. Just enter the code EB15 in the notes to seller and you will be refunded through PayPal. This code is good through June 15th.

Etsy Feature: Millalove

While searching Etsy for all of the perfect birthday items for my daughter's party, I found the cutest party banners. They were from Millalove. You can choose the colors, font, and style to customize your own banner. Though her shop is in England, my banners arrived quickly, and the customer service was excellent when I emailed with a few questions before placing my order.Not only does Millalove carry these super cute banners, but you can find cupcake toppers, decorative garland, and more in this wonderful shop. Visit Millalove to add those extra special touches to your party!

Hot Shoe of the Week

I want this shoe! It is the Joleen from Nine West. You can find it on their website for $150.

Giveaway Tuesday!

Here are this week's great giveaways to enter! Win...

1. A $20 gift certificate from Tile Me beautiful on Oceanside Creations.

2. A bookmark from loriotndorr.

3. A book thong from Forest Creations from Life, Love...Yarn!

4. 1 of 2 surprise prize packages worth $75 from Dolce Baci.

If I don't say so myself...

This is one cute cake! OK, I made it so am a little biased, but I love it so I had to show it off. This was my daughter's cake for her second birthday. We had pink and green cupcakes from Sam's for the guests. The theme, of course, was pink and green camo with a little Wow Wow Wubbzy thrown in. I requested a custom Wow Wow Wubbzy cake topper from SpiritMama on Etsy, which turned out perfect, and I did the rest. If you live in Houston, I can make a similar cake for your little one! It makes a great "smash cake." Contact me at jennifer@sweetnsassybaby.com.