Running away? I'll help you pack.

Suck it up Cupcake ...

2013-05-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I stepped on the scale to be down 99.8lbs oh yes the scale is laughing at me just couldn't give me the .2lbs ... hehe! I went and did a bonus exercise yesterday and step on the scale and nothing ... of course these last 14lbs are going to take their sweet time to come up.

I leave you with my new headband:

Isn't that great a nod to my bakerself and my old fluffy self.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Dad on the mend again ... We hope for good this time!!

2013-05-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

A little update on my dad. As many of you that have followed me for sometime know that August 2012 my dad was driving along one moment and then the next thing he remembers is a flash and waking up to someone trying to pull his door open. Dad was in his F250 and a lady came straight at his truck from the oncoming traffic. She hit him at such force she flipped his truck. Fast forward to present time, dad has been having tremendous pain in his leg that had the broken femur that they put a rod in to replace and stabilize the bone that was broke (the largest bone in your body).

Here's post about the accident

Yesterday he went back to the hospital to get his rod taken out since it didn't connect like it was suppose to. They went back in replaced his rod with a larger rode in length and width. It's going to be another 8 weeks of no weight on this leg. But thank God this time he won't be hopping around on a broken foot on the other leg.

The surgery went well yesterday, a lot of pain but hopefully this will lead to him able to walk around with out being in constant pain. Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts we appreciate it so much!

The old rod removed

We hope to have him home by Friday! I'll keep you posted on his recovery.

Thank you again for your prayers & thoughts!

Teacher Appreciation Gift ... Thank you for helping us grow

2013-05-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Next on my list to do is actually one that I put together for our PTF president that is stepping down. I wanted to do something memorable and something she could look back on years to come with a smile. I saw several thumb print tree's for weddings but then I came across Plum Adorable that has a FREE printable if you don't want it personalized. It is saved as a 8x10 but I took it to a print shop and had it blown up to a 11x17 since I wanted EVERY kid in the school put a thumb print on it. We have 4 classrooms (K-8) around 80+ kids. I gave each classroom a different color ink pad and then we had each kid put their init's below their thumb print.

This is off her site, two colors to choose from.

This is the FREE non-personalized version

I also purchased one with that has Caden's Kindergarten teacher's name on it. Plum Adorable was very kind and added a bible verse I wanted on there at no extra charge. (I'll show this one later when I get all the Kindergartner's thumb prints on it).

Supplies

Thank You for Helping us Grow Printable (Free or Personalized for $12)

Ink Pad

Pen to write name or init's

Frame and Mat (I found mine at Ross $14.99)

Steps

IF you don't buy the personalized one (which is mailed to you), you need to print the template. As I said above you can blow up to a 11x17 with out it looking pixelated).
Press thumb into the ink pad and then press onto the tree, we stuck around or on the flowers so the thumb's looked like leaves.
Add name or initials depending on the # of thumb prints.
You can write a note on print or the mat if you would like. (optional)
After all dry, put in a matted frame.

This really is my favorite thing I've made!

I can't wait to see the kindergarten Class one done.

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Teacher Appreciation Gift ... You've got the "WRITE" stuff!

2013-05-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

For Cole's teacher I wanted to do something that was more manly ... LOL you can only give a guy teacher so many things for the classroom. I found this easy vase glued with pencils on The Blackberry Vine. She has a free printable that is so cute but I ran out of time when I was making this, I so wish I had printed it! I also used ribbon I had on hand but her's is so much cutier but again I'm going with manly. I filled his pencil vase full of snack size candy bars.

Supplies:

Glass Vase (Pick up Dollar Store)

2 1/2 boxes Pencils (Dollar Store - Around 37 pencils)

Ribbon (You can find School themed at Micheal's or plain at Dollar Store)

Wood Dye Cut School Themed (found at Micheal's)

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

2-3 bags Mini Candy Bar's (Dollar Store has name brand candy, I've seen flowers and other things also.)

Steps:

Take a pencil and put a strip of hot glue on it and then glued it down to the vase. (I made sure the pencil label was the glue side, also make sure straight mine was a little crooked).
Once all pencil's glued on tie a ribbon around it (I wish I used a thicker ribbon).
Hot glue down some wood dye cuts on the pencils.
Fill to the brim with mini candy bars.

Another super easy Idea that is great thoughtful gift!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea ... Crayon Wreath

2013-05-12T22:17:00.002-07:00

We celebrated Teacher Appreciation week about 3 weeks ago but I was in Star War's party mode and not able to post any of these. I saw on Scrapping West a Crayon Wreath and just had to do it for Caden's Kindergarten teacher. This was a pretty simple craft to make. The only thing that I didn't do that would have been helpful was to line out the crayons to make sure I had enough. I didn't have enough crayon's at first and had to open up another 2 boxes so I had to peel off a few crayons and that wasn't pretty ... lol. I also skipped the embroidery hoops, I picked up a circle form they had at Micheal's that worked perfect and was so much cheaper too! I ran out of town and didn't get to write her name on the wood apple I put on the wreath. I may sneak into her room before the end of the school year and add it ... hehe.

Supplies:

1 -8" embroidery hoop
1 -12" embroidery hoop

Alexis Note: I found a Wire Circle at Micheal's instead.

3 boxes of 24 ct. crayons (Alexis Note: my circle was larger I used 5 boxes)
1 roll of 3/8" craft ribbon
1 wide ribbon piece for the hanger (Alexis Note: I skipped)
various die cuts ie Wooden apple cut out (Alexis Note: I found pre-painted one's at Micheal's)
hot glue gun and glue sticks
paint pens (for name)

Steps:

unscrew the screw from both hoops and hot glue the ends together
paint the hoops desired color

Alexis Note: I used a wire circle that was already green so no unscrewing and no painting!

lay all crayons on the hoop in the desired color order. This helps with placement when you begin to glue them all down.

Alexis Note: I skipped this and regretted it, make sure to do it!!

glue down each crayon. Make sure that all crayons are facing the same way, makes it look nicer.
Thread craft ribbon in and out at the top of crayons and again at the bottom. Tie a knot behind the crayon to keep the ribbon tight.

Alexis Note: I skipped the ribbon looping in and out.

Attach die cuts with hot glue.

Alexis Note: I skipped but you can laminated if you want.

Tie large bow at the top making sure you leave a long enough loop to hang the wreath. You can add hot glue for reinforcement on the hoop.

This was a super easy project, just be careful you don't burn your fingers from the glue gun. And let it set up before moving it! I made this mistake and a few crayon's fell off! I had to do a quick re-glue and go!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and were able to relax some this weekend.

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Have a Wonderful Mother's Day

2013-05-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

Well my weekend hopeful will be relaxing maybe I can read a book? LOL I know I'm laughing at that one too! I'm just happy to be done party planning. Well that is until next month, I had the brilliant idea to have a End of School Year Swim party at my parents lake propery for the kids and their classmates. I'm telling myself that I won't go over board ... hmmm may want to tell that to my crazy other side of my brain that created a Pinterest board for a summer themed party ideas ... teehee!

I can't help it check out these cute Cards I found & will make this weekend.

We get out of school crazy EARLY 5/31! YIKES

I found these awesome FREE Printables on Living Locurto Website!

Oh and then July is Caden's birthday party ... hmmm well maybe I can relax in August?

Since I can't hold it in I will also be working on these Cards for Caden.

Since his party is in July I need to make cards to give to parents BEFORE school ends.

I found this idea on Catch My Party (Just a picture but I'm sure I can figure it out!)

Hope all you Mother's have a wonderful day and also Everyone give a little extra love to the Mother in your life!

I so want to make this eCard found on Mecards.com

Have a Bless Weekend!

Star War's Party ... Bring on the Cupcakes (Hold on to your cloaks we have 6 characters)

2013-05-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

I warned you yesterday that today would be a long post, we have 6 cupcakes to get through so hold on! I know stop shaking your head at the screen I can't help myself I just want to try everything and then I end up over doing it. And then of course you have to make 12 to 15 of each so then you end up with like 80 cupcakes ... hehe! I had enough to give everyone at the party one, one in the gift bags and then left overs that BOTH Cole and Caden's class got one for lunch on Monday.

I made a very simple Moist White Cake recipe found on Cooks.com for the cupcakes (click the link for the recipe didn't want to overwhelm you with recipes ... lol). I made a batch of my Sturdy Buttercream that we tinted orange, green, black and of course left some white (click the link and it will take you to the recipe I posted a few weeks back).

I bought Wilton Star War's Cupcake Liners on Amazon (50pk $4.96)

Cupcake invasion

Can you believe it took us 6 1/2 hours to frost & decorate all of them.

WHO am I kidding of course you can.

STOP shaking your head at me ... lol

My favorite Cupcake The Ewok Cupcakes

So I have to start with my favorite cupcake, just because it was so stinking cute. I found this idea for the Ewok cupcake on My Clutzy Cooking. I think our's turned out so cute and by all the kids that asked for this one I know it was a hit!

What you need:

Cupcake

Orange Frosting

Crushed Oreo's (or generic like me because I'm cheap)

Mini Oreo's

Black frosting for eyes & nose (you can use candies or brown icing)

Frost cupcake with a knife to make a smooth finish.
Crush Oreo's with a food processor (or in a bag and crush with rolling pin). Pushed some crushed Oreo's on as the face.
Pipe on hood-line (we used a grass tip to look like fringe).
Put two mini Oreo's in as ears.
Pipe some black frosting eyes and a nose on.

Next was my runner up for favorite cupcake, it really turned out fabulous! My friend April made a REALLY simple Rolled Buttercream Fondant found on food.com which was then dyed green and we used the cookie cutters I bought to cut out Yoda's. I was so going to go with one we made his face but I must say this was so cute and the fondant was so FREAKING easy. Compared to the marshmallow fondant I made for the Lego Party last year that had marshmallow goo all up my arms and hands.

First start with the Rolled Buttercream Fondant

Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, clear
2 lbs confectioners' sugarWilton's Gel Food coloring

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. Mix in the salt, food coloring and vanilla flavoring, then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
To use, roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with confectioners' sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you can. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes and smooth the sides down, or cut into strips to make bows and other decorations.

What you Need:

Cupcake

Green Frosting (I used my favorite Sturdy Buttercream I posted about)

Rolled Buttercream Fondant (dyed Green)

Yoda Cookie Cutter (I found a 4 piece set on Ebay)

Once your fondant is rolled and ready to go take your Yoda Cookie Cutter and punch out the Yoda's. We had a lot of fondant so we ended up with around 20 Yoda's ... lol they were so cute so we went with it!

April my amazing friend perfected the Princess Leia Hair and they came out so much cuter then one's I made for the classroom party. She actually added some frosting then laid the black licorice rope down, instead of trying to put frosting on each end like I did and did a hope and prayer that it would stay down (insert face palm). I also used the white melts this time instead of the almond bark and I must say they were so much smoother and nicer looking.

PREVIOUS Princess Leia Cupcakes

NEW Princess Leia Cupcakes

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcake
Oreo's - White chocolate dipped if you can find them

White Candy Melts- if you can't find the chocolate dipped oreo's

Mini Oreo's

Black Candy Melts

Wilton's Black Licorice Strings

Wilton's Edible Pens (MUST be the Candy Melt Version)

Dipped Oreo's in melted White Candy Melts (IF you can't find white chocolate coated Oreo's). Put on a silicone mat in fridge to firm up.
Dip a mini Oreo in melted black candy melts. Put on a silicone mat in fridge to firm up.
When White Chocolate is firm, Add the licorice strings for the hair. Added a dab of chocolate ONTO the dipped Oreo to hold them down and just made it look like hair.
When the licorice is set, put in fridge if you need to help firm up.
Add a dab of frosting to the chocolate covered mini Oreo. Add one to each side of the face (to resemble buns).
When everything has set up, take a edible Pen, use black to make eyes and red or pink to make the mouth (you can make a heart and it's a cute mouth).

The Storm Trooper was a super simple one to make! Well let me take that back at first I tried to use edible pens to write on the marshmallows but it sucked! So I put marshmallows in the freezer thinking that would help. It kind of helped but then my friend came up with plan C. Food Coloring + Vodka = paint! Don't worry the vodka evaporates and just leaves the food coloring! It was brilliant and it comes out looking so much nicer then the hand drawn ones! We took inspiration from the Storm Trooper picture on Kitchen Fun With My 3 Boys.

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcake

Extra Large Marshmallow (Campfire One's)

Wilton Black Gel Food Coloring (stick a knife in and grab a few drops)

1/8 cup of Vodka

Poor Vodka in small Cup
Add Black Gel Food Coloring
Take paint brush and paint on the Storm Trooper Face.
Let dry add to the top of a frosted cupcake.

The R2D2 was a very simple one, just melted some blue melts into my R2D2 mold I purchased on Amazon.

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcake

R2D2 Mold (find on Amazon or Ebay)

Blue Wilton Candy Melts (Craft Store, Walmart or Target)

Cooking Spray or Wilton Cake Release

I put the melts in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes, don't let them burn! Stir them around and then put a glob in your greased mold (I use cooking spray or you can use Wilton cake release). You can put in the fridge for 1/2 to 1 hour or if a hurry like I usually am put in freezer for 10 minutes. Be careful when taking out of the mold, they can break! I broke off a few of the R2D2 legs by rushing.

And last we end with the Darth Vader Cupcake. I actually made extra when I did the classroom cupcakes that I kept in the freezer until the party date so this actually was the easiest of them all ... lol.

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcake
Darth Vader Silicone Mold

Candy Melts (black)
Cooking Spray or Wilton Cake Release

I put the melts in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes, don't let them burn! Stir them around and then put a glob in your greased mold (I use cooking spray). You can put in the fridge for 1/2 to 1 hour or if a hurry like I usually am put in freezer for 10 minutes. Be careful when taking out of the mold, they can break!

So there you have it! All Cupcakes once decorated were put into a clear plastic cup with a clear plastic bag and tied with ribbon. I hit the Dollar Tree (well actually 3 because I swear it must be the season for parties because it was slim pickings) to pick up the clear plastic cups (10pk $1), clear plastic bags (25pk $1) and ribbon in coordinating colors ($1 each). We did brown ribbons for Ewok, green ribbons for Yoda, teal ribbons for R2D2, white ribbons for Princess Leia and black ribbons for Darth Vader & Storm Troopers. The party had ups and downs but that was just because of the pool and poor organization on their end.

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is a break down of all the other items I've done for the party:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's
Edible Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies - Cupcake Toppers
Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers
Light Saber Napkin Wraps
Light Saber Fruit Roll-Ups
Pool Noodle Light Saber Tuturial
Yodalicious Apple
Death Star Watermelon

Jabba Jiggler's
TIE Fighter's
Owi-Wan Kabob-ie Fruit Kabobs
Light Saber - Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods
Yoda Soda
Light Saber - Fruit Roll-Ups
Star War's - Space Rocks or Space Fish
Darth Vader Cookies or Wookie Cookie Crumbs
Leia Rolls
May the Force Be with You Gift Bags

May the 4th be with you :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party ... The food continues

2013-05-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

A few more easy food items to show you before we go onto the cupcakes! My amazing friend April who always helps me with my crazy party planning ideas helped me made SIX yes that is right 6 character cupcakes. We made Yoda, Princess Leia, Ewok's, Storm Troopers, R2D2 and Darth Vader. I leave you with that teaser for today, that you will see all those works of art tomorrow.

Today we look at a few of the other food ideas that were easy to do and made the party! For the awesome Star War's Food Labels a big Thanks goes to I'm Topsy Turvy if you go to her FB page and become a friend she has in her top bar a option that says Star War's Food Labels were you can download them for FREE (it even comes with a blank one so you can write one she may not have on there). She also has Lego Star War's invites on there if you want! YES she rock's like that!

Now onto my food journey!

We start with Light Saber - Chocolate covered Pretzel Rods. This is a simple 3 item's to make. I used the large pretzel rods for the table and Cole little helper used the little rods that we ended up using in the gift bags everyone took home! For the table I used Red, gift bags we used blue and green. Wilton (@ Walmart - can I say again how much I LOVE Walmart carries Wilton) had a special green that was flavored Key Lime. I used that since the color was perfect!

Here's the mini one's Cole did for the gift bags:

What You Need:

Pretzel Rods (Found in Craft Stores or Dollar Tree)

Wilton Melts (I used Red, Blue & Green - Found at Craft Stores or Walmart)

Bags & Ties (if you want to give in gift bags)

Melt your Wilton Melts in the microwave, I found for that 1 1/2 minutes is all you need for a full bag but BECAREFUL as you saw in my post a few Christmas ago it IS possible to burn Chocolate! When you pull out of microwave give the chocolate a stir to make it smooth. I then dipped the pretzel rods into the chocolate and made sure all side's were coated. I put on my Silpat sheet on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge to harden up. If you're in a hurry you can always put in the freezer (I do that when I'm using the melts in molds and need a lot done). If you want you can pick up some small clear bags with ties at the dollar tree (40 pk for $1) to add the small ones to a gift bag.

Next on the list was the Yoda Soda. And like how I rolled with most of this party this is ONLY two items to make! I found this all over Pinterest but no one listed what you needed. That was until I went to Make and Take's and found this simple recipe!

What You Need:

1 Container - Lime Sherbet

1 2 litter -Sprite

Mix the two items together let melt a bit and it is yummy goodness! I put mine in a container with spout thinking it would be easier to clean up then a punch bowl with a spoon. As long as you make sure the spout is closed your good. OH yes we had a mini clean up on isle 2 (just couldn't resist the pun).

I also had the Light Saber Fruit roll-ups, that you saw on my post here (click the link for directions on how to make).

Space Rocks or can be called Space Fish. I used Space Rocks sine the label I had was already printed, this was just some colored Gold Fish ... EASY.

Edible Ewok's that is another simple one, just put some gummy bears in a bowl! I know I rock, save the applause until the end please ... hehe.

Darth Vader Cookies or Wookie Cookie Crumbs. AGAIN I used the name Darth Vader Cookies because that was a label I had already printed and I was just rolling with it. This is just some Oreo cookies crumbled, not too crumbled either broke up into half or thirds.

Princess Leia Rolls - NOW my plan was to make homemade cinnamon rolls Saturday AM. But when the AM came around I could barely keep my head above water so I used store bought one's which did make me a little crazy since I hate to use anything store bought if I could make it myself, but I had to go with what I had. And good thing I ended up throwing away most of them, no one ate them :(.

Gift Bags - Most of you who know me know I hate doing gift bags especially full of candy or crap toys from the dollar store. I did put this one together because it was simple and we had so many freaking cupcakes. It was very simple and something nice for them to take home.

What You Need-

Gift Bags (Picked up Pk 10 for $1 at Dollar Tree)

Star War's Fruit Snacks (8 pack at Fred Meyer $1)

Light Saber Pretzel Rods (gave 2 each)

Cupcake (In a cup and in a bag - for easy transport)

Put all the items in the gift bag and you're done. You can add a cute saying like let the Force be with You or you can print a Star War's Label and glue on each bag (I found a ton of free printables on Pinterest you could use).

Re-Cap of the Food:

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's
Edible Ewok Gummies

Jabba Jiggler's
TIE Fighter's
Owi-Wan Kabob-ie Fruit Kabobs

May the 4th be with you :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party ... Food - Jabba Jigglers, Obi-Wan Kabob-ie Kabobs & Tie Fighters

2013-05-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Well we talked about the craziness at the pool yesterday's post for the party so let's go on to the food made! Here are a few really simple recipes to make that are right on point for the theme!

We start with TIE Fighter's, 3 ingredients and you have the coolest little finger food! I found a picture on Clean and Scentsible for TIE Fighters. She had a little blurb on how to do it, I'll break it down below to give you a better idea for those not visual like me.

Items Needed:

100 calorie Oreo wafer cookie packs

mini marshmallows

chocolate

Alexis Note: I had black chocolate melted left over from Princess Leia Ears but you can use white or even any frosting.

Dip one end of a mini marshmallow into the chocolate press onto a wafer cookie. I used a small spoon (actually a baby spoon) to add another drop onto chocolate on the end of the marshmallow the is facing up (see picture). Press another wafer onto this side of the marshmallow. You have a wafer on each side of a marshmallow (see picture). Done, I told you it was easy!

Next was the Jabba Jigglers, make green jello and you are done. I know it's freaking so easy! I found a picture on Bringing up Burn's Blog for Jabba Jigglers. She had her jello cut up into small cups. I found mini cups at the dollar store that came with lids. I just poured the jello into these cups and bam ready to go and easy to transport!

What You Need:

Small Cups (Found at Dollar Tree - cups with lids 15 for $1)

Green Jello

Water (Hot & Cold according to the box)

Make the green (lime) jello according to the package. I then poured it right into the small cups added the lids, put into the fridge to set up. All done, I swear I found the coolest things that are the easiest to make!

And we end with Obi-Wan Kabob-ie Kabob's, 3 items and your darn! See I told you all super simple! Last on Sweet Craft Cakes (found on the Catch My Party) did a Star War's party for these Obi-Wan Kabob-ie Kabob's. FOR the life of me I couldn't find the post that had the picture I found on pinterest and instructions. All the ones on pinterest were just the picture no link (AND you know that is so my pet peeve ... lol). So I took the picture and ran with it.

What You Need:

Grapes (you can use green & red)

Strawberries

Wood (bambo) kabob Skewers

Wash your grapes and strawberries. Take a skewer and add grapes I think we added about 6 grapes we had some large grapes (Cole actually did all these for me, love that little guy). I then cut off the stems and added to each end (you want the point of the fruit pointing outwards (see picture). Cole was able to whip these all out in about 15 minutes. I used only red grapes, you could alternate red and green if you would like. I bought 1 big bag of grapes and 2 boxes of strawberries, and we made I think about 15.

And my friend Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate reminded me that I had the party on May 4th which just happened to be .... MAY the 4th Be With You .... hehe oh yes I planned it like that. LOL yup I take all credit.

Recap of Today's Projects:

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's
Edible Ewok Gummies

May the 4th be with you :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party has been blasted off into space ...

2013-05-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

We came, we saw, we concurred and took down Jabba! The party was a hit, well at least I hope so! I'm exhausted and need to go through all the pictures to show the last few items that were made for the party. So I thought I'd give you a recap of our party!

For you who follow me on FB know that on Monday I found out through a friend (NOT the pool) that the pool was closed. 2 days of calling and finally got a human. I was told the had a problem with the roof and it SHOULD be fixed on Thursday but no guarantee's. MIND you I rented this room about a month and a half ago the pool I did during open swim and would just pay for each person! So I called the pool on the other side of town (Both Part of Metro Parks). They had availability and if I needed to switch I would have to pay the difference for the room there. Thursday I call to see how the roof is doing to find out it was a PUMP. They installed it and the temp is not up but should be by Thursday. Oh and by the way Saturday is our FREE swim day. So I say well since I don't have to pay for the kids I'll just book the room another hour to give me set up time.

Saturday get the pool to find a LINE out the door ... oh yes everyone and their mother is there to swim for FREE. CRAP (well worse words came to mind but you get the jest). People where being turned away ... I think some of our guest may have been turned away.

I get in the room don't even get a moment to say hi to people because I'm decorating (thankfully I was able to get in there a 1/2 hour early). PLUS I still needed to tie bows on the cupcake (in a cup w/ the bag) and finish up a few other details. THANK God for my Best Friend Amy and my mom busting this out for me! 20 minutes before the pool open swim is to end a manager comes in to greet me. Odd never done this in the 4 years we've done this. WELL she then tells me someone else rented the room!! The lady is in the front screaming that I NEED to get out!!!

Come to find out they double booked the room BUT the lady just reserved it that Wednesday! I repeated over and over that I had done this in advance and I WAS not leaving the room. I had to give up some chairs and tables! I was so upset the manager made me come out there to confront this woman. They should have saw who rented first and be done with it. INSTEAD they put her in the hallway and when my guest had to walk by her guest (which they barely left a walk way) they made comments and nasty looks. OH yes it was fun NOT. I'm supposedly getting a refund, we'll see on that!

So our party was a little cramped, a ton of people didn't show up which was really a bummer but over all the food and cupcakes got high marks and everyone had smiles so it was worth it!

And some pictures!

Some shots of the food and the labels!

Kids and Food

Present time!!

And some special food made by my friend April

Yoda Apple

Yodalicious Apple...

1 Large Green Apple
1 Mini Marshmallow
Black Edible Pen
Peanut Butter
1 Tooth Pick

Take the apple and cut off the back bottom side to get it to tilt back just a bit. Save these scraps to cut out the ears, eye lids, and mouth. Shape ears using a knife. Break a tooth pick in half and attached them in the apple with that. Cut out the other face details with a knife or kitchen scissors and attach them on with peanut butter. My friend used edible pen to make the black of eyes but you could use mini chocolate chips.

We found this idea for Yodalicious Apple on Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons.

A BIG thanks to my friend April for doing this! Sorry no step by pictures I had to leave her house at 11pm after the cupcake decorating so I could get up at 5am the next morning (Saturday) for work and then get ready for the party.

Death Star Watermelon

My Amazing friend April who did the Shark watermelon last year, did a Death Star Watermelon this year for Cole. We couldn't find instructions so she just ran with the picture we found on Makezine's Website. She used a sharp knife and a few tools for cake decorating to make the carvings and the opening. I think it turned out GREAT. it was a huge hit with the kids.

And the food Table!

So it was busy and a bit of craziness but Cole kept telling me thank you!

I promise food details to come tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's
Edible Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies - Cupcake Toppers
Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers
Light Saber Napkin Wraps
Light Saber Fruit Roll-Ups
Pool Noodle Light Saber Tuturial

May the 4th be with you :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Is the party over yet? Oh Wait I'm still planning!

2013-05-02T22:04:00.001-07:00

Saturday is the big day for Cole's 9th Birthday party. I've been in complete party planning mode thinking I was doing really good then tonight I look at my list and around me and I'm a little freaked! I am so excited that the pool is fixed and the party is on at the right place! A little prayer may be needed here.

List is made

Cupcake Pans are lined and ready to go!

Cake Mix is Made

Bins are getting packed by the front door

Noodle's are by the door

Mom's Toes are a pretty copper like C-3PO

to match my shinny top for the party!

And new Wedge Shoe's for mom!

Let's say a Prayer she doesn't fall.

And then I looked at the clock and thought oh crap I must go to bed!

So we will finish up tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's
Edible Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies - Cupcake Toppers
Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers
Light Saber Napkin Wraps
Light Saber Fruit Roll-Ups
Pool Noodle Light Saber Tuturial

May the 4th be with you :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Party Planning Funny

2013-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've been in full party planning mode as you most know and work is crazy too, we are going to a new system for our calls which means training and lot's of meetings so little time for me. So no long post today, thought I would give you a funny ecard instead.

I saw this one on the someecards website ... Well it was kind of like this but it had a swear word and I'm trying real hard to leave my potty mouth behind ... lol. So I tweaked it and added a different image. Now you can laugh away because you all know this is true and me to a T.

Have a GREAT day!

Star War's Party ... R2D2 and C3PO Water Bottles

2013-04-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Rick came home today so I didn't have a lot of free time to do a long project so I thought I'd get the water bottles done. This was a simple one since all I had to do was glue some paper onto the bottles. I did two different water bottles. The R2D2 FREE template was found on Pink Peppermint Blogger. I then did the C3PO FREE template found on I'm Topsy Turvy (you have to like her FB page once accepted you will see FREE Star War's Food Templates this is on the back page. I'll show the other's later).

I didn't want to waste our ink so I took the files over to my local print shop and had her print them for me, quick easy and cheap!

What you Need:

Water Bottles (You can find a 6 pk at Dollar Tree for $1)

Card Stock (to print the templates on)

Glue

I took the labels off the water bottles just made for a clean look. I took my creative memories paper cutter and cut all the strips down. Caden actually glued for me and it took a second just to hold it to make sure it is secure, then you're DONE!

I'm pooped plus I found out the pool we are having the party on Saturday is having a roof problem and may not be open. YUP just a tiny freak out right now! Did find another pool part of the same organization on the other side of the city that we can do. LORD be with me if I need to call everyone with a new location!!

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's & Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies & Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers
Light Saber Napkin Rings & Fruit Roll-Ups
Pool Noodle Light Saber Tuturial

May the force be with you :)

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party .... Pool Noodle Light Saber Tutorial

2013-04-29T22:27:00.001-07:00

We are onto the next step of our Star War's Themed party. Since we will be having the party at the local pool what better then pool noodles and heck even better themed like Light Saber's!! I saw several different pictures on Pinterest but not really a tutorial. That was until I typed in Tutorial bam ... lol. I found Fussy Monkey Business had a great tutorial and pictures to help me figure out what I needed to do. I'm so a picture person if you haven't figured that out by now ... lol

What You Need:

Pool Noodle

Knife (I used scissors)

Tape Measure

SHARP Scissors

Silver Duct Tape (I wish I used the shiny silver it was more expensive)

Black Electrical Tape (this is a must don't try black duct tape like I did at first)

You will want to measure your pool noodles and cut them in half using your knife (I used my scissors and eyeballed it, something I just give up on being perfect). Then you can begin taping. Add one piece on top of noodle (covering only half on the end - see picture), Snip to the edge and overlap, all the way around each side. Smooth bottom of pool noodle, repeat to completely cover the end. Turn noodle on it's side and begin taping around, making sure to keep it close to the bottom of the edge. Make sure you keep the edges lined up when you go around. Overlap just slightly for the next row of tape. She used 3 rows of tape, I opted for 4 rows of tape. That seemed to be the right amount for the hilt. Cut your black electrical tape. I made two rows of black on the bottom and then cut strips to put on the hilt. I eyeballed the measurements ... you can always measure them :).

I thought it would be easy to cut black duct tape into strips

OK stop laughing, it didn't work so well.

Thankfully I found electrical tape in the man cave.

This really is a pretty easy thing to do, the ONLY hard part is I bought like 11 noodles so I have 22 of these to make (you cut the noodle in half ... this is also the only site I saw that did that and I think that is pretty darn cool more bang for your buck!

Thanks for stopping by, if you're looking for more Star War's Themed items here is what I've done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's & Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies & Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers
Light Saber Napkin Rings & Fruit Roll-Ups

May the force be with you :)

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party ... Light Saber Napkin Rings & Fruit Roll ups!

2013-04-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

We are now in full on party planning mode! I am trying to make all the small things now so I can be done before Friday and only have to worry about decorating cupcakes and the things that can't be made days ahead of time! I found this awesome FREE printable for a Light Saber Napkin Wraps on Catch my party. Then when I was planning this party on Pinterest I came across Light Saber Fruit Roll-ups on A New Dawnn that she used the printable from Catch my party to make. Score 2 for 1 is what I'm talking about! I went to kinko's and printed the free printable (to save my ink at home). And this was a pretty simple project.

Light Saber Napkin Wraps

Napkins - red, blue, lime green or purple (use all one color or a variety)
Cardstock - either a medium gray tone or white
Paper cutter or scissors
Tape - regular or double sided or Glue

Silverware - this is optional but does make it easier to keep the napkins in the shape of a lightsaber

Step 1 Print lightsaber handle image on cardstock and cut out with a paper cutter or scissors. You can download the lightsaber file here (this a link to their website). There are 6 handle wraps per page.

Step 2 Place silverware in a stack about an inch from the edge of the napkin. Silverware should hang down past the bottom of the napkin. Fold the napkin over the silverware and continue flipping the silverware until it is completely rolled up. Without silverware simply roll the napkin up.

Step 3 With the napkin edge facing up, place the printed lightsaber handle half way over the napkin and wrap it around the bottom of the napkin. The bottom of the handle should cover the bottom of the silverware.

Next on my list to do was the fruit roll up which was was pretty darn easy!

Light Saber Fruit Roll-ups

Fruit Roll-ups (make sure the full length my first box was the mini's)

Red Crepe Paper

Tape or Glue

Cardstock - either a medium gray tone or white
Paper cutter or scissors

Step 1 Wrap each fruit roll-up in red crepe paper starting at the top all the way down to the bottom.

Step 2 With a little trimming place the printed lightsaber handle at the bottom of roll-up and close with a little glue or tape.

I was hoping to get the Light Saber Pool Noodles done but ran out of steam, so those will have to go up on Tuesday's post.

Recap of today's projects:

Links to what has been done so far:

Light Saber Invites

Yoda RSVP's & Ewok Gummies

Princess Leia Cookies & Chocolate Darth Vader - Cupcake Toppers

May the force be with you :)

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Walking Path .. Let's All Get Along

2013-04-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

I try to go walking 6 times a week, I like to get 3 to 4 miles in during those days. I have a walking buddy that meets up with me a few times. We have been talking about common courtesy that seems to have gone out the window. A few things we have noticed!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Field Trip ... The Seattle Aquarium

2013-04-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

I was a chaperon for Cole's class to the Seattle Aquarium. I also drove 3 BOYS to there, I swear they talk more then girls do! I think the dad that rode with me was going to go crazy with me. The hour long drive was one of arguing, sing and very few quiet moments .. hehe. Each chaperon only had 2 kids (only 18 kids in the class 3rd / 5th Grade) so it actually worked out great. I had a very nice 5th grader that went with me and Cole. We had a fun time and lot's of pictures! Just a quick post of some pictures, I'm too pooped for anything else!

Seals & Otters

Marine Talk & Feeding Time

Seals & Otters

Touch with one Finger

& Lunch

Octopus time

& Special Talk for just our class

Underwater dome!

Sharks & Scuba Divers

We End with Class photo ... Lot's of smiles

Hope you have a great day!

Star War's Party ... Princess Leia Cookies & Chocolate Darth Vader - Made into Cupcake Toppers

2013-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

And we end this week of treats for Cole's class with the cupcakes made. NOW don't worry we still have the actual party to come and that will be more post of we have Light Saber Napkins, Light Saber Fruit Roll ups, Light Saber Pool Noodles, Light Saber Pretzels, Wookie Cookies, Storm troop Cupcakes, Jabba Jigglers, Space Ship Watermelon and whatever else I can fit into these next two weeks.

So now on to the cupcakes made for the class. I thought it would be fun to do two different kinds one for Boys and one for Girls. I bought a Darth Vader mold of amazon so I had that already to go for the boys cupcakes. But for the girls I saw really cute Princess Leia Cookies on Favor's by Lauren's on her Etsy site. Now her's totally rock and look professional, mine are cute for a class party ... lol. Let's just say I have to master my skills on this one. I do plan on making them again for the party in 2 weeks so we'll see how those turn out.

I made the homemade yellow cake mix recipe I'm not going to put it here again since I've already done 2x you probably are sick of seeing the recipe ... hehe. I took half and dyed it black and left the other the white/yellow. I wanted to do a black and white cupcake kind of like the good vs evil.

What you Need:

homemade yellow cake mix recipe (or your favorite or boxed)

Black Gel Food Coloring (Wilton's)

Cupcake Liners

Fill cupcakes 1/3 with white/yellow and then top with a 1/3 black. Mine came out a little funny looking but hey it's still fun!

Next on the list to make was the chocolate Darth Vader's. This one of the most simplest things I did for these cupcakes. I swear by Wilton's Candy Melts, you can find them at Walmart, Target or Michael's for around $2 to $2.50. They melt the best and easy to work with.

What you Need:

Darth Vader Silicone Mold

Candy Melts (black)

I used the Darth Vader's on top of the cupcakes I frosted with the white so they would pop.

Next on the list was my most challenging one yet! These Princess Leia cookies look so easy. WELL that could be the case if you found white chocolate dipped oreo's which I DID NOT. Then the darn hair was a pain in the butt! I think the more I practice the better mine will look. But for a first attempt I say not bad!

I also made a version where I just drew the hair on

SOOO much easier and I think she is cute :)

What you Need:

Oreo's - White chocolate dipped if you can find them

White Candy Melts / Almond Bark - if you can't find the chocolate dipped oreo's

Mini Oreo's

Black Candy Melts

Wilton's Black Licorice Strings

Wilton's Edible Pens (MUST be the Candy Melt Version)

Dipped Oreo's in melted almond bark or White Candy Melts (IF you can't find white chocolate coated Oreo's). Put on a silicone mat in fridge to firm up.
Dip a mini Oreo in melted black candy melts. Put on a silicone mat in fridge to firm up.
When White Chocolate is firm, Add the licorice strings for the hair. I added a dab of chocolate to hold them down and just made it look like hair.
When the licorice is set, put in fridge if you need to help firm up.
Add a dab of frosting to the chocolate covered mini Oreo. Add one to each side of the face (to resemble buns).
When everything has set up, take a edible Pen, use black to make eyes and red to make the mouth (you can make a heart and it's a cute mouth).

Here is step by step. LOT's of steps!

Click on picture to enlarge and help :)

ALEXIS Notes: NEXT I will use white melts instead of almond bark, melts nice and looks cleaner. Also NEXT time I will use some gel food coloring to make little swirls on the black mini Oreo's to resemble the buns in her hair.

There you go it was a lot of work but the kids really did enjoy them and it helped me do a practice run for the actual party. I did the cupcake in the clear cup (dollar tree 10 for $1) idea again and put it in the clear bags I found at the dollar tree (25 pk for $1). I have come to the thinking that this is the best way to serve cupcakes for parties!

Here's a recap of what I did :).

Again click the picture if you need it will help to see details.

For the invites and RSVP's I made click HERE

Have a GREAT day!

May the Force be with You!!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party .... Yoda RSVP Cards & Ewok Gummies

2013-04-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

We continue our Star War's party. For Cole's class I wanted to do the light saber invites I posted yesterday. Well then I looked at them and saw that the RSVP part was cut off when I had Kinko's print ... ugh! So I needed a RSVP, so I made one up real quick. I thought it would be fun to do a Yoda card.

I went to Google and found a Yoda picture and added some fun sayings and done!

Will the force be with you?

Attending

Or Will you Turn to Dark Side?

Can’t Attend?

Either Return this RSVP

RSVP Info

Name, # etc

Next on the list was a quick goody bag for the classmates. This was by far the easiest thing I've made so far! I saw on several sites Gummy Bears or Sour Patch Bears for Ewoks. I couldn't find a free printable I liked so I created one. I went to Google found a Ewok picture and added the wording Ewok Gummies using the Star War's font I downloaded. Simple and easy and I think so so cute!

What you need:

Small Clear bags - 40 count Dollar Store

Gummy Bears - Huge Bag at Walmart

Card Stock

Printer

Stapler

I put a heaping handful of Gummy Bears in a bag and added the card I made and stapled it shut!

Hope you give these a try! I have Princess Leia Cupcakes and Darth Vader Cupcakes to show you tomorrow.

May the Force be with you!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Star War's Party ... Light Saber Invites

2013-04-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

We have entered into party planning time here at the house. Cole turns 9 tomorrow! With Rick gone we had to push the party out an extra week which gives me a little more time to do all these fun things I saw on Pinterest! I first started on a search for the perfect invite and a template how to do it. I loved these Light Saber invites I kept seeing but they were on a site where you had to buy them. You know me I rather make them! After 1 1/2 hours of searching I stumbled across The Purple Patch who was so great and gave you a template you can print for FREE. I love as you know these amazing people who offer templates!

Now I tweaked it a bit to fit my needs and also my time! I had around 40 to make and knew that would be a LOT of cutting!! She gave a template for the button's circle and square. They are much smaller then mine. I decided to use my Cricut with the font that came with it (Cricut® George and Basic Shapes Cartridge) and cut out a circle and square. YUP that is ONLY after I went to THREE Micheal's and TWO Walmart's looking for punches to make these! For the lines on the back of the light saber I tried a few of the rectangles on the Cricut but ended up using the I ... I know brilliant huh?

I used her template for the front (Black with Stars) and added my own wording. I went on a search for the best wording. I also downloaded a Star Wars font, but when I went to print at Kinko's it some how came out with normal writing.

A Long time

Ago ...

In a galaxy

Far, far away ...

A future Jedi

Was born.

His Name?

(insert Name) Skywalker

Please Join us

For his graduation from Jedi Academy

(Name) (bday #)^th Birthday

Date

Location

Will the force be with you?

RSVP Info

I printed the backs at home on Grey paper. I didn't use a shiny grey paper since I'm cheap ... lol I used just normal paper. I cut the black circle button's on the cricut and the red square also on the cricut. I printed the light saber's on green, red, blue and purple. I then had to cut these out along with the front and back (this takes a LOT of time, if your doing a large amount plan on a cutting party).

What you Need to do:

Head over to The Purple Patch to get the printables HERE
Take the Black with Stars I cut & copied her template putting 3 per page in a word document and added the wording above. I printed at Kinko's to save my ink.
Then at home I printed the grey, the light sabers, the circles, squares and the lines.
Take the grey put tape all around except the top (so the light saber an stick out and it's suppose to be able to move up and down)! NOW my black and grey didn't line up just right so I did have to do a little trimming to make it perfect (but I'm also a little nutty).
Add a light saber and top with the black part of the invite.
I then added the lines, square and circle. I used a tape gun for most of the job when it ran out I did use glue. The light saber is suppose to go up and down. I found with my gluing that it didn't always allow for that. But hey they still look cool.

These are time consuming but I think they turned out so cool! I hope you give them a shot! More fun Star War themed things to come, the next two weeks I have a lot to do and show!

May the Force be with you!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Spring hasn't Sprung ... So we add color to me

2013-04-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

Spring just isn't feeling like it right now and I just needed a pick me up! My amazing cousin is a hairdresser on on her day off she let's me come over so she can do my hair. With Rick gone the boys were able to play while she did my hair. Of course 4 kids always lead to no peace but we made it through it. So I gave myself a new blonde do and for fun we added some peek a boo pink on the side! I thought it would be fun, heck I work at home so I don't have to worry about a dress code why not?

Here are some shots of my new do. Ok so this is late at night and most of my make up was washed off from rinsing my head in her kitchen sink.

Side with just a pop of pink

Front mostly blonde

Side view with more pop of pink.

the back

(yikes my bathroom mirror needs to be cleaned)

Look I'm popping my collar ... lol

What the heck ... hehe

This is how I wear my hair most days so

I can walk with out hair in my face

you can really see the pink.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I'm Zooming up in the world ....

2013-04-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

HEHE I couldn't help being cheesy! I'm so excited my friend Robin at MassHole Mommy is on vacation this week and she asked if I would guest post. She asked me to send a few of my favorite post to choose from and she picked my Motorcycle Diaper Cake that I made a while back for a friend. It turned out very cute! I hope you will stop by and say hi on my guest post.

A Sneek Peek of what the Diaper Cake looked like:

(Now go check out my guest post)

My Guest post is here on MassHole Mommy.

I'm so excited to meet new people!

Birthday Party Must ... Race Car Themed Cupcakes (All the tips I've seen on Pinterest wrapped into one CUTE package)

2013-04-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

I'll apologize up front this is going to be a LONG post! The recipes I used will all be featured so you can weed threw and find the one you want to make or make all the recipes to make these super cool cupcakes! As you may have remembered I talked about in my post last Thursday, that I volunteered to make cupcakes for the cakewalk at the boys school Spring Fling this past weekend. I was going to make 200 mini cupcakes, but then I heard some ppl would be donating cakes etc and thought that wouldn't be fair if one person got a pie and one got a mini cupcake. So I switched to regular sized cupcakes. I used a few cool tricks I saw on Pinterest. I made red and white cupcakes (I took inspiration from Cookies and Cups picture). For the dual frosting I found an idea to do two pipping bags on Blog Confetti Couture but my amazing friend who helped me decorates cakes and she just use one bag and put one color on one side and the other color on the other side (see picture below). I also saw a great idea to put cupcakes in a clear plastic cup and clear bag and tied with a bow, I've seen it several blogs but I'll give credit to The Crafting Chicks. The other recipes and links are below with recipes.

I first started out the homemade yellow cake mix that I showed on Friday's post.

Since I made 98 cupcakes I tripled this recipe. I made one that was doubled and kept it the white color. Then I made another batch and used Wilton's Red Gel Icing Color to turn it that beautiful red color. I thought red and white cupcakes would be cool for a race car themed cupcake along with those are two of the three school colors.

Homemade Yellow Cake Mix

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and non-fat dry milk.

Add water, vanilla, butter, and eggs. Combine with an electric mixer then beat two more minutes. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan. Bake at 350-degrees cupcakes — 12-15 minutes.

For the two colors I split the batches and colored one.

The finished Cupcakes

Start with Mix, Add the wet ingredients, Dye one part and Bake them!

How to make the cupcakes

After the cupcakes came out and cooled down I took them to my best friends house to help me frost and make them pretty. I first started by making the frosting, I found this AMAZING Sturdy Buttercream Frosting on Coleen's Recipes. My friend tasted it for me and said it was excellent not too sweet and let me tell you it was so sturdy and easy to work with. THIS will be the frosting I use from now on. AND as a side NOTE always use butter when it calls for butter DON'T be cheap and try to use the cheap non butter. FROM personal experience you get goop ... it doesn't come together it separates and you end up wasting money!

Sturdy Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup white Crisco shortening
1 cup butter (room temperature)
6 to 6½ cups of powdered sugar
½ cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (important)

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, whip the shortening and butter together for about 3 minutes on high. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar, the extracts and whipping cream to the butter mixture and whip ON HIGH for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Depending on climate, you may want to add an additional ½ cup of powdered sugar.

Once you frost your cake, put it in the fridge to let everything "set". Remove your cake from the fridge about an hour before serving.

ALEXIS NOTE: I used just almond instead of vanilla and almond (I personally prefer the taste). I found this to be the best and putting in fridge is perfect to hold up for the next day or in my case 2 days later and they were still in perfect condition!

I made a double batch of the frosting and kept it white. Then I made another batch and dyed that black with the Wilton's Gel Food Icing Coloring (I HIGHLY recommend using this instead of food color you buy at the store, taste better and color is better! I buy mine at Walmart in the decorating section).

Mix the Black in

Remember at first it will be Grey GIVE it a DAY

Now that frosting is done we go on to making the black and white swirled frosting. My friend who does an amazing job at decorating cakes. Did the pipping for me, she used one pipping bag with two colors. NOW at first I was going to do Red & White ... But then I thought about the flag for the race is black and white how cool would it be to top with black and white to tie the cupcakes all together .. PLUS the school colors are Red, Black and White so I captured them all in the cupcake.

Cupcake with Black & White frosting

While my friend was doing the pipping I started to work on the Car themed Cupcake pick's. I found this super cute design for Fuel up up on Vinnie Pearce's Blog. She had them as stickers, I took her design copied and put in a word document to I could print 20 of them at a time. I had this brilliant idea that every cupcake needed one! YUP so I ended up printing and cutting 98 of them (well 100 in case I had any oopps). Let's just say cutting out that many my fingers were hurting! AFTER they were all cut out I took a little glue and glued a toothpick onto the back. Then we added a cupcake pick to each cupcake!

And to finish off the look, I picked up some clear cups at the dollar store. I got a pack of 10 for $1! I even found clear bags 25 pack for $1 oh yes it was a score day!!! Each cupcake fit nicely in the cup with out squeezing or knocking any frosting off ... PERFECT. We then put a cupcake in a clear cup into a clear bag and tied with a bow either black or red. My friend and Cole helped making all these looking pretty! Thank God for them or I would have been up way past midnight!

Cupcake in a Clear Cup

How to Make Pretty

The Finished Project!

The Finished Cupcake

The finished look of both!

Phew .... that was a lot of work! It ended up costing me around $60 to make these 98 cupcakes for the school. BUT I got so many compliments, people actually thought they were bought from a bakery and I was told yet again that I need to go into business (one day my friends). This would be fun for a Race Car / Car themed birthday party. You don't have to make as many as I did and can make them for around $20 to $30 for a normal party and just think that is what you would have spend on a crappy Costco or Walmart cake. With a little love and thought you could have these! You know me I rather make them then buy.

Thanks for hanging in for this super long post!

I hope you make these!

A recap of what we did:

Hope you have a great day, sorry I haven't been around I promise I will soon!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Birthday Gift Ideas ... Another version of Sweet 16 Survival Guide (New Driver Kit)

2013-04-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

A while back I showed you my Sweet 16 - New Driver's Survival Kit. Well my bosses daughter turned 16 and I wanted to make something for her. It would need to be something I can ship. I thought of my kit I made before and kind of scaled it different to fit in a USPS box. She got the cutest red BMW for her birthday, so I just had to make her something to go in it!

What you Need:

Bin

Hand Sanitizer

Box of Band Aids

Box of Pain Reliever

Bottle of Lotion

Pack of Tissues

Hair Bands

Crackers

Pens

Pad of Paper

Gum

Cough Drops (because my mom says you always should have them)

Pack of Wet Ones (they get anything out)

2 $5 Bills (pinned to the side for emergency) - Totally forgot to pin this in!

I took this great bin (actually found at the dollar store!). Arranged the items inside and pinned the 2 $5 Bills to the side (which I forgot for this bin). I then went to my Cricut machine to make a cute sign. You could do this by hand but I think it added a little something using my machine then added the letters to spell out "Sweet 16 Survival Kit". I even added a few little flowers! It took me less than 10 minutes to put together but it turned out so cute and it was the perfect size to be put in our car for all those moments when you may just need it.

Another twist on my previous New Driver Kit!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Birthday Gift Ideas ... "The Night In" Birthday Gift

2013-04-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make something for my bosses birthday. I saw a gift for the beach lover on Mrs. Jones blog. Someone repined and added a note about switching it up to a blanket and hot chocolate for Christmas. That gave me and idea!! Why not make something for a night in! I know my bosses (they are a husband and wife, it was the wives birthday) like to stay in with their kids and have family nights together. So I came up with the Night In Gift idea.

What I came up with:

Fluffy Blanket

Box of Tea

Bag of Chocolate

Movie (I found a true story)

Book (Another true story)

The blanket I found at Target actually came with a ribbon band so I didn't have to buy ribbon. I used the ribbon on there to be my "glue" that holds it together. I took the cardboard out of the blanket and shoved the book, movie, tea and chocolate in there. Tada it was done and I think it was a pretty cool gift!

This is a great gift for mom or anyone that you know that loves to snuggle up with a good book or movie. Hope you give it to someone special.

Let me know what you think?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.