Tool Shower - Wedding Fun for a Man

Have you ever heard of a tool shower for the

prospective groom?

My friends Ann and Sue Ellen have given 

 the men in our family a tool shower when

they have gotten married.

(From left to right Mike and Ann and Sue Ellen and Steve - 

ours hosts.)

I think this was a tradition in Ann's neighborhood

growing up and she has brought it to our neighborhood.

It is such a fun idea because the wedding focus always

tends to be on the bride - and a man does need some tools!

The theme was men's tools.  I just loved this little twig

tree decorated with tools.  Notice the runner on the counter?  Doesn't it look like peg board?

No, this wasn't dessert, this was a darling centerpiece for 

the table.

Magleby's sheet cake was for dessert.  Sue Ellen's 

family owns Magleby's restaurants - yes I have

very influential friends (if you are from around here

you know how wonderful Magleby's is, especially

their chocolate cake.)

There was also pasta with blackened chicken and

a choice of red or white sauce and these wonderful

cheesy rolls that Ann made.

They not only got spoiled with good food, 

but he got spoiled with fun tools. 

Why shouldn't the man have some fun 

with wedding preparations too.

                           The guy gets to invite his family and friends

to shower him with tools that he might need

-----

everything from hammers, to rakes, to screwdrivers

and more!

We chose to give him BBQ tools to go along

with his new gas grill that he got for his birthday.

Really a fun idea for your next wedding.  I bet nobody

will have been invited to a tool shower before.

Thank you to such wonderful friends

who would spoil us like this.

A little after that we just had our final shower

 for family

and as the Bride's Dress made of

cupcakes was such a hit at the neighborhood

shower, I thought

I would try to make one this time.

I made the cupcakes the day before

and covered them with plastic wrap to keep

them moist.

Then looking at a picture of the 

number of cupcakes for each row I

laid them out on a tray.  Then I frosted each

one using a 1M tip.

So easy to make!  I made the frosting and frosted them

in about half an hour.

Almond Frosting Recipe

1/2 C. softened butter (no substitute)

4 C. powdered sugar

pinch salt

1 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

3-4 T. water

Place the butter, sugar, salt and flavoring in a mixing 

bowl with the whip attachment.  Add 3 T. water and

begin to beat the frosting.  Add more water if needed.

The amount of water differs greatly depending on the

humidity in your air.  Let the frosting beat about  5 min.

The frosting should be fluffy and creamy.  

Place it in a large pastry bag with the 1 M tip.  Begin

at the center and pipe a little mound then circle 

around and out until the whole cupcake is frosted.

Frost all the cupcakes and pipe in stars or an

extra row around the cupcake to fill in any gaps.

Use jewelry to decorate dress.  This was a

bejeweled ribbon I had and a brooch.

I will be posting with

Seasonal Sunday

Perfect Bridal Shower Cake

My dear, dear friend Sharon

made this lovely Wedding Dress Cake

for my daughter's neighborhood bridal shower.

It was the hit of the evening.  

We had seen several of these on Pinterest and my friend

Cricket posted it on Facebook saying that it made her

think of me.  Sharon volunteered to make it.

It was so beautiful that no one wanted to destroy

it.  Sharon made the cupcakes following my

recipe for Lemon Supreme Cupcakes

(which was my very first blog post!)

but substituted almond yogurt and almond flavoring.

She had extra cupcakes that she brought on

a platter that people did eat.  Sharon even tried

to encourage people to eat the cake by removing

one of the cupcakes to the side and someone

came and replaced it - no one wanted to

be responsible for destroying perfection!

I can see this dress cake being used for so many parties.

It could be for baptisms, in pink for a little girl's birthday

party, for a princess party, etc.

Thanks Sharon.

(I don't know who came up with this original

idea, but I thank them too.)

I will be posting this with

On The Menu Monday

Foodie Friday