Hill Homestead

My sister-in-law, Catherine, got married this December. We have not had the pleasure of anyone in our family marrying during the winter months. All of our siblings (including Andrew and I) had summer weddings. A Christmas wedding provided the bridesmaids with the wonderful opportunity to throw a winter themed bridal shower. While researching ideas for the shower, I fell in love with the clever idea of a Hot Cocoa Bar! It is cute, delicious, and a huge hit!

You will see pictures from two different bridal showers in this post. 




Adults and children alike love a Hot Cocoa Bar. Christopher Morley’s poem Animal Crackers describes the joy of having a steaming, thick, creamy cup of hot cocoa during any occasion.


Animal Crackers and Cocoa to drink That is the finest of suppers, I think, When I am grown up and can have what I please, I think I will  always insist upon these. ~Christopher Morley




Right now is hot cocoa season, so it is a great time to talk about a Hot Cocoa Bar. You will find everythi…

It doesn’t get much cuter than little boy birthday parties. I cannot believe John is a 1 year old! To celebrate his first birthday, we decided to throw a little lumberjack themed first birthday party. I told myself that I was not going to go too extreme with the party, but as my mom and I began planning (and shopping at Hobby Lobby), we couldn’t help but go all out. John only turns one once, and a little lumberjack themed first birthday party was just too cute. We had so many fun ideas we wanted to do.
I am so excited to share this post with you!

In this post, I will out line everything you need to throw a successful Little Lumberjack Themed First Birthday Party.

Items found at Hobby Lobby: Well where did all of the party planning begin? Hobby Lobby of course! My mom and I went to Hobby Lobby at a very dangerous time.  All of the Christmas items were 80% off! We had a blast and found some great deals, including the farmhouse metal tins used for the Trail Mix Bar and the plaid plates …

Why was he born so beautiful? Why was he born at all? Because he had not anything to do with it at all! Singing Happy Birthday with my in-laws is a lot of fun! The song above is sang at every males birthday party. So my son John, who turned one in January, was no exception! To celebrate John’s first birthday, my mother and I threw a Little Lumberjack Themed First Birthday Party and I made this beautiful Bear Cake. It was a blast to make and pretty simple to do.



I love this Bear Cake design because it truly has so much potential and is fairly easily to do. You could easily make it into a pig, a bunny, a cow, or many other animals with just a few modifications.
Ever since one of my cousins introduced me to the show Cake Boss, there has always been a special place in my heart for cute cakes. I actually prefer to watch The British Baking Show over Cake Boss due to it being less dramatic, but sadly, from what I have seen, The British Baking Show does not have the amazing cake creations…