lemonade {bridal shower}

I love how simple a theme this lemonade shower was and how very cute it turned out!

This was another church shower so I planned with a "committee" and my friend, Danielle, hosted at her home.

This tray was from a set of 3 that was a birthday gift from a friend. 

All the flowers were picked from local back yards... and front yards!

The lemons in the jar were real, but the one sitting out was a cute ceramic lemon I found, just recently, at Target.

The garland was my favorite part for sure! I resized a free printable I found online and then even printed a pink chevron on the back side (sorry, I have no pictures of that side)! I used my 2" hole punch for easy cutting and then sewed the lemons together at different heights on the lemon to create the slightly uneven look I was going for! Then, I just got a few yards of the pink pom poms and the yellow zig zags. Watch out! I'm pulling out the intense technical terms now!! ;)

I also loved the sliced lemons in this vase/pitcher... however, they were not so easy to do. 

For this success, I found a cylinder vase that just fits into the pitcher and I was able to do one side with lemon slices- by holding the vase on it's side, laying out lemon slices and then carefully inserting the cylinder vase. Took me waaay to long to figure that out, but it sure is a cute end result!

Now for the actual lemonade! Which of course, I didn't take a picture after we filled the dispensers with regular and pink lemonade... but I think you'll get the idea.

The lemonade sign was inspired by the adorable letter stickers from Hobby Lobby. Which I then layered scrapbook paper, added ribbon, ribbon holes and a few cute flower stickers I had on hand to snazzy it up.

All the lilacs smelled wonderful!

I printed the lemon printable on white sticker sheets and used my 2" hole punch just like for the garland. The straws I had from a party store in Houston... they were too cute to pass up when I saw them last year!

The food table was super cute as well!

bacon ranch cheese ball and crackers

Above and below are the other 2 cute trays from my 3 tray set 

{a gift to me, but from Sam's Club originally}

Girl Scout "lemonade" cookies and the invite from this Etsy shop.

Chocolate coated oreos on a stick, sitting in lemon heads... can you say adorable? :)

Mini chicken salad cups... yummy and pretty!

And pinwheels to complete the snack foods for out 2pm shower!

Here's my pinterest board for more ideas.

I could really use a tall glass of ice cold lemonade about now...

limoncello cupcakes

Don't these just look absolutely dreamy???

trust me... they are!!!

lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream

I'll repeat: lemon love, love lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon, love, love, love :)

Limoncello Cupcakes

cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick butter

2 oz cream cheese

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoons limoncello

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup lemon juice

zest of one lemon

Beat softened butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the limoncello and beat until well mixed. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add flour and buttermilk to butter mixture. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest just until combined. Pour into prepared cupcake pans (it made 18 cupcakes for me) and bake at 325 for about 17 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

lemon curd filling:

1/2 cup lemon juice

zest of two lemons

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Mix lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar of medium heat until boiling. Whisk egg and egg yolk. Whisk lemon mixture into eggs off the heat (to temper). Add all back to sauce pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. Cool completely.

Use a melon baller to scoop a hole into tops of cooled cupcakes. Fill with cooled lemon curd.

lemon buttercream icing:

1/2 stick butter

6 oz cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons limoncello

Beat butter and cream cheese. Add limoncello and beat until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar until desired icing consistency is obtained. Ice filled cupcakes. Garnish with lemon slices.

They are so pretty and so yummy! Especially to someone who enjoys lemon as much as I do!

A perfect summer treat!

 (and even though it's only March, since the weather has been between 70 - 85, I'm in full summer mode)

Recipe origionally found here (I adapted the buttercream to my taste)