One afternoon

I saw this on Ohdeedoh and thought it looked like something my son would love to do together.

Build a tower with toothpicks, mini marshmallows and Hershey kisses. We had all the supplies. It entertained Samuel for a good while. And his favorite part? Destroying then eating it.

Back to School Party

I was looking back at old posts on my personal family blog and realized I had never posted this party! So, perhaps you'll want to plan a return to school party this week!

I threw together this little dinner party for my boys (ie, my son and husband) who were starting school. My son was starting kindergarten so it was a big year for him! My husband was starting his second year in Law school.

We ate homemade pizza, garden salad and bruschetta.

It was inspired by this and this. I love that NieNie had a theme for the school year. I haven't thought of one yet but I think I should. I like this dinner idea and hope to make it a tradition.

The theme was loosely based on Curious George.

Announcement inspired by this.

Fabric cake bunting inspiration from here. I love how it flutters in the breeze.

I think Samuel is a bit nervous because he hardly ate pizza, one of his favorites and didn't even want any cake!

Good company, good food, gorgeous weather.

Bonne Chance this academic year my little family!

J's baking birthday party

I decided to throw my daughter a baking themed birthday party clear back when I saw kid sized rolling pins in the $1 aisle at Joann's early last summer. And then I had to wait until December when she turned 4.

Always dreaming, but never implementing, the desire to add children's aprons to my etsy shop, allowed me to make them for this party. Some inspiration started with my cousin here. And then Brittany, my favorite and most inspirational party planner, from One Charming Party, threw this party! The timing couldn't have been better! (Seriously, this woman is talented. She was then featured on Amy Atlas and then the ultimate, Martha Stewart!)

So the details started to come together.

The theme: Red, White, Pink baking and confectionery delights.

Perfect for the Christmas season (or Valentine's).

Upon arriving, each girl was given an apron and handmade paper chef's hat.


The aprons were a simple cotton gathered half apron tied together with a 1 3/4" grosgrain ribbon. Satin would have been too slick and wrinkles quicker over multiple uses. I used my wood burner to trim the edges in a "v" to prevent them from fraying.


The chef's hats were made with 1 piece of white tissue paper and a trim of poster board. I pre-cut each piece and labeled each with their name in stickers found in the holiday $1 aisle at Target. I measured each girls head then stapled the poster board trim together. Then stuffed the tissue paper inside and taped and fluffed. It was easier, to note, to tape the tissue paper in before stapling.



The party activities consisted of playing with my daughter's new kitchen set, tea-set and decorating cupcakes. That was about it. They didn't need more to fill their 2 hours together.





The decorations. I let the food speak for itself. The cupcake assembly table was just a white table cloth topped with red and white striped wrapping paper placed on top (pictured above). The pennant banner I made with fabric I already had. The red and white striped bias tape was the inspiration! It's vintage! Love it!





The food was the most time consuming for me as I had to limit the amount of candy and sweets I wanted to make and buy! There were so many choices! I also had to limit the treat to cupcakes since they were already taking home so many others.

Cupcakes with handmade felt pinwheel toppers. Also sold in my shop. Recipe for cupcake found here.


Milk was served with red and white swirl straws from Hobby Lobby. I used little Avery sticker labels with their names so there wasn't any germ spreading going on.



Twirl lollipops found in the $1 aisle at Target & mini rolling pins found at Joann's. Tied with several ribbons.



Frosted animal cookies are every kids favorite!



Marshmallow pops were giant! I found them at Walmart.


Party favors were the mother's worst nightmare. Candy, cupcakes and more candy! Plus the rolling pin, apron, hat and straw. Tied all the goodies together in a large plastic cup filled with marshmallows and candies to weigh it down and finished off with some left over bias tape.





I had as much planning and hosting as the girls had attending!

Thanksgiving Turkeys

Ya, pretend it's still Thanksgiving. Without overeating again. Without having to rush to finish Christmas shopping. Just for a minute let's take a glimpse back to my November.

We made these little chocolate covered rice krispie turkeys. I didn't really like plain old rice krispie treats but covered in chocolate makes me want to gobble them up. OH, and I did!

I made these twice. Once with my daughters preschool and then again with my nieces. I think they are easier to eat when they are flat but look more like a turkey in the ball form.

The carnage.

I made two batches of rice krispies, spread thin onto one cookie sheet. Enough to make at least 10 turkeys. Cut them out with a round biscuit cutter. Then I dipped them in the chocolate. I used melting chips flavored like chocolate. Much easier than using a double boiler or trying melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Once they're covered, stick them on wax paper or greased plate and pop them in the freezer. They'll dry in 1 minute and then they are ready to eat. I wouldn't suggest storing them in the freezer because they get really hard. Enjoy!

The richest, creamiest, most unhealthy but totally worth it Hot Chocolate!

This recipe is from my friend Rhonda. Thanks for sharing this addictive drink!

Washington Husky famous night before the big game Hot Chocolate

5 cups of whole milk

1 ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream

1 ¼ cup half and half

1 cup Hershey chocolate syrup

1 cup Swiss miss hot chocolate mix

2 Hershey chocolate bars

Dump all ingredients into a large pot, set on stove top and set the temp to medium. Stir frequently and bring to simmer. Simmer and stir for about 30 to 45 minutes. Whip up some heavy cream and add a touch of peppermint extract and drink with a candy cane! Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Mint or Peppermint Cookies

This is a new holiday favorite recipe, or two really. I dreamed about making these for weeks before I had a legitimate reason to make them!!!! And, oh, were they worth the wait!

Seriously.

Divine.

Peppermint Kiss Double Chocolate Chip Cookie
&
Mint Truffle Kiss Double Chocolate Chip & Mint M&M Cookie

+

OR



=


OR



Here's how to create these Christmas goodies!

Use my Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookie base and either add Peppermint Hershey's kisses to the top OR add mint m&m's plus mint truffle Hershey's kisses to the top. Or just follow the recipe below. It's one recipe that can be made into two variations, Mint Chocolate Chip or Peppermint Chocolate Chip cookies. If you want to try both you can make the batter until you get to the last three ingredients. Divide the dough, add mint extract/chips/kisses to half and the peppermint extract/chips/kisses to the second half.

Ultimate Double Chocolate Chip Cookie base
(same cookie base as my double chocolate chip recipe)
Yield: 36 cookies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened--almost melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp peppermint or mint extract, dependent on your chip/kiss flavor

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
36 Hershey's kisses, peppermint candy or mint chocolate varieties OR Ande's mints, halved
1 1/2 cup Andes mint OR peppermint chips OR Andes chopped candies (either mint or peppermint, depending on which you make. Mint chips  for the mint cookie/Peppermint for the peppermint kiss version)**See Note


Directions:
1. Cream softened butter and sugar w/wooden spoon (a hand mixer or standing mixer works well too, I just like to use the spoon, seems to make a better texture). Butter should be very soft. If you did not set it out before hand to reach room temp then place in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Add eggs.
3. Mix in salt, vanilla and baking soda.
4.  Mix in flour.
5. Mix in cocoa.
6. Fold in chips and/or M&M's.
7.Bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE!
8. Once baked and taken from the oven, let them set on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, they will continue cooking and setting. This keeps them nice and gooey for days. Seriously, they are the perfect softness. If they are cooked for the perfect amount of time they will be firm enough to hold but gooey enough without being raw.
9. After they have rested on the cookie sheet, gently remove (they still might be soft) them and place on cooling rack.
10. After they've cooled for at least another 5 minutes on the rack THEN you can gently push the unwrapped kiss of your choice onto the cookie. Let them sit without disturbing or you may end up with a melted kiss. If you are giving them away or taking them to a party, cook ahead of time! If you disturb or move these around before they are completely cool, they can break or the kisses will melt or collapse a bit. Believe me, they're worth the wait!!!!

**VARIATION: for the mint truffle Hershey kiss cookies, you can use mint M&M's OR Andes mints OR mint chocolate chips.  The M&M's were a bit bigger than I expected and I think the Andes chips would not have been so cumbersome. Just use what you have on hand because either one is delicious!

Store in airtight container. Enjoy!

Shutterly plug

I wanted to give a little plug to Shutterfly. I've been using Shutterfly since 2002! I have been pleased with their wide variety of products. From their photo development (our photo collage wall photos were developed from Shutterfly) to their photo books to photo cards. I recently accrued enough Pampers "Gifts to Grow" points (mostly using codes for free points found online) to receive a free 8"x8" photo book! Gotta love free stuff!

When my first daughter was born we created a photo card announcement (similar to these) to send out to family. I've previously made a hardback cover 8"x8" photo book and love it! I've also made calendars for my parents.

Here a few designs that I can't decide to make for a Christmas photo card this year! There are way too many to choose from! I personally like the ones that you can add one or more photos to, because I can never decide which photos to choose.

Click on the photo for a link.

I like this simple yet bold black, white, green and red design. I like the black and white photos with the simple red and green. This is a flat photo card.



These colors match better with our family photos.



But I also like their folded cards like this one.



But then I like the simple look of this single photo like this one with the simple message.



I really just love the photo for this one!

Whichever I choose I want to get 5x7" size because it can easily be framed and doesn't need to be cropped!


Which to choose? So many choices....!