vintage simple birthday

My oldest asked for a vintage themed birthday. That I can do! I don't go all out on birthdays..I try to make them as simple as possible while still making my kiddos feel special. We have dinner and cake with family and friends. I usually make their cake (which, sometimes isn't simple for me), and I decorate the table. That's it! I always love the way tiny details make things special. Here's some shots of the details...

The cake lace is edible..and a big pain lol. I bought the mix and the silicone mold at Hobby Lobby. I think the key to simplicity would either be use non edible lace or have a large mold that you could make several lace pieces at a time. The plan was to have more lace, but simplicity took precedence here.
Filigree cupcake wrappers: Amazon
Gold embellished plates: Hobby Lobby
Paper flowers: Hobby Lobby
Everything else, including the lace and doilies was just something I had laying around the house and in the studio.

Grandma always seems to show up at birthday parties..we miss her dearly, but I'm happy to have any little reminders of her. The pink dish was hers <3

hodges hedgehog birthday brag

So, I will soon be blogging about much more than just my client images. It was in my plans over a year ago when I redesigned my site. As you may have noticed, this is the first non-client post ever :) The 'bragging' part of the title is not bragging on my mess of a cake, but bragging on my Quincy. She specifically requested chocolate cake (which I never make for birthdays) because her Aunt Savannah doesn't like white cake. This request made my heart just a little mushy. Then, while opening gifts, Q let the littles open her gifts for her = more mush!
At least 3 times a year (once for each child's birthday) I bake and decorate a cake. As you can see, I am no professional, but I enjoy making them for the kids. It doesn't take much to impress or satisfy them when it comes to cake. Quincy requested hedgehogs, so we ended up with a woodland theme.
Hedgehogs: doughnut holes with sprinkles and mini chocolate chips for the eyes and nose.
Edible Acorns: mini Nutter Butters, Hershey Kisses and mini chocolate chips
Banner: Target dollar shop, then I added the felt leaves from another banner also purchased from Target
Mini Sparkly Banner: Hobby Lobby
Wood design plates: Target
Leaf napkins: Target
Non-edible mushrooms: Hobby Lobby
Wood stump Cake stands: cut by my dad and step-dad :)

This image is of the apron that my Grandma Jean made for me. It hangs in my kitchen as a remembrance of her. As I was taking some shots of the cake I turned and noticed how it played well with the colors and textures of the party. Made me smile :)

katie + spencer {engaged}

I got to spend several hours with these love birds. Katie had several ideas and we managed to successfully cram them all into one session :) Looking forward to this wedding! Congratulations you two!

GROOVIN' TO 2016

I love it when I have clients that live outside the box! When discussing ideas for his shoot, I said, "I feel it may be necessary to find a vintage Volkswagen van." And what do you know!? Kent and his mom happened to know someone with not just one, but two of them! Thanks so much to Renei and Charles for entertaining our creative needs :)
Kent's style totally called for the van, don't you agree?! My goal is to create images that reflect my clients as well as create something original. Goal accomplished!
And for your listening pleasure..here's a little ditty from Simon & Garfunkel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBvcJAXwu4

momma em

I've been lacking in the blogging category lately. I find myself spending all of my time just trying to get caught up on the basics, ya know, like getting clients their images, orders etc. So blogging always goes on the back burner. I've found myself less than inspired lately as well, and if I'm not inspired, I definitely don't blog it. Anywhoo..I will be making some changes to Hodge Podge in the near future to accommodate opportunities for inspiration as well as accommodate my family, which I feel has also been neglected for some time now. I'll fill you in on those changes soon, but for now take a peek at my sister's very last minute mini maternity session. Sweet nephew Kendrix arrived just a couple of days after I shot these.