Ice Cream, Cupcakes and {Pie}!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and got to celebrate in whichever means you prefer. We enjoyed a nice quiet 3 day weekend here at home, grilling out and going to the pool each morning. Our children are not fans of fireworks which caused bedtime issues each and every night as our neighbors chose to ignore North Carolina's law on fireworks. Thankfully it is just once a year.  Last night, after the BBQ's and before the Fireworks we hosted a dessert party. I was very inspired by the neighborhood fun of this great party thrown by Buckets of Grace. Oh wait, don't click over there yet b/c my party will not live up to anything she had going on over there. So wait, look through my photos, then scroll back up and click the link. :)
Of course Mother Nature had other plans for the party. I started setting up the tables outside around 5:30 and while I was back in the kitchen frosting the last of the cupcake the winds picked up, the clouds rained down, and the lightning and thunder gave us their own version of July 4th fireworks. Well, we hadn't really planned on anyone coming in our house past the front powder room, so we were in a mad dash to clean the house and hide some of the toys that make up our living room, just in case people still decided to come over. Good thing we did, because we still had 10-12 people show up! It was very nice to get to know many of our neighbors a little better. So here are the photos from the night. Besides the pies, I made all the goodies myself (well obviously I didn't churn my own ice cream in that great of quantity, nor did I make my own sprinkles or mini M&M's). I downloaded some great printables from blog land (Landee See, Landee Do , Pen N Paper Flowers & Barn Owl Primitives)  that I printed out at home and put in some white frames I had. I also used some of the great printables from Lauren McKinsey's July 4th collection to give the room a little color and fun.  (Oh, and I created the invitation myself).
So enough rambling, here you go (and keep in mind it was storming out and I was taking photos inside w/ no flash)!

Sweet pods from Polka Dot Market

Gumball Pipettes from Polka Dot Market