Root Beer Float Gift Tags

 
It's the month to be lucky!

I was lucky enough to find this idea on Pinterest yesterday by Making Life Whimsical.

Unfortunately the link on Pinterest led to nowhere productive.  That's unlucky.
(If you know where to find the true source, please leave me a comment.)

Luckily I had some time today to alter this very clever idea.

I needed a quick and inexpensive birthday gift for some friends that are lucky to be born in March.


Now you are lucky too!

Just click on the link and you can print your own Root Beer Float Birthday Tags.  Attach the tags and a straw with some ribbon to a bottle of IBC Root Beer.

So Lucky!

[Birthday] Evolution of a Cupcake

I had plans to meet some dear old friends for lunch today.  Friends that I haven't seen for years.  I found out this morning as I was getting caught up on a little FB, that it was my friend Ruth's birthday.  And how awesome that I would get to go to lunch with her on her birthday?  And how sneaky of her not to tell us!  I thought it would be fun to make her a birthday cupcake.  So I set to work.  First I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes. I could swear that I bought a big package of plain white cupcake papers just a couple of weeks ago.  But...apparently not.  So, I had to settle for pink princess liners.  Not ideal--but we'll make it work.  Then I decided that I wanted to do a German chocolate variation on a theme.  I quickly made some traditional caramel coconut frosting and a batch of chocolate butter-cream frosting, while the cupcakes baked and cooled.

So, this is how you turn a plain jane chocolate cupcake in a pink princess paper into a fantastic German Chocolate Cupcake Birthday Surprise!

Step One:
Cut a "cone" of cake out of the center of your cupcake.  Remove the cone.

Step Two:
Fill the void with a tablespoon of German chocolate caramel coconut frosting.

Step Three:
Replace the cake cone.  Don't worry about smashing it flat.  Just set it on top.  It actually helps to give your cupcake some height.

Step Four:
Pipe some chocolate butter-cream frosting around the perimeter of your caramel crater.  Continue piping the chocolate butter-cream in a circular motion working from the outside in.  This will give your cupcake a fun swirl on the top.

Step Five:
Hide your pink princess cupcake liner inside of a white nut cup.  I fancied mine up a bit with some washi tape.

And there you have it!

If you want to take it even a step farther, add a washi tape "flag" and package your cupcake in a cupcake box.  Don't forget the ribbon.  You know how I feel about ribbons!

Happy Birthday Friend!  Thanks for sharing a few minutes of your special day with me!

[Happy Birthday] Sweet Sixteen

I have some cute neighbor girls that are turning 16 this month.  I wanted to do something classy and special to honor their birthday.  These were easy to make and I think they turned out so fun.

First, I spent a few minutes perusing the aisles of our local thrift store in search of some lost pieces of china.  I was able to find some tea cups and saucers for about fifty cents each.  They don't technically belong together, but I think that is part of their charm.  Just find some coordinating pieces and have fun with it.

Next I made some cupcakes.  I've been experimenting with cake recipes over the last little while.  The perfect cake is still eluding me.  As soon as I find it, I will share.  This one wasn't bad, but not quite what I was hoping for. 

While the cakes were baking, I scrubbed the china clean.  Make it really sparkle!

Let your cupcakes cool.  Then frost them generously with buttercream.

My tea cups were a little deep.  I didn't want to have my cupcakes sink to the bottom, so I scrunched up some tissue paper and put it in the bottom of the cup. 

Set your cupcake on top of the tissue.

Finally, add some embellishments.  I made a little tag and tied it to the handle with a ribbon.  I also thought it needed a little pendant flag.  I made mine out of washi tape.  Did you know that if you stagger the chevron tape a little, it makes gingham?  How awesome is that?

Happy happy birthday girls!  I hope your day is fabulous!!

Birthday Party in a Can

Today is Grandpa's birthday.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Now--Grandpa if you are reading this, you need to divert your eyes.  Close your browser right now and don't come back until you get a package from us in the mail.  Sadly, I was about a day too slow in putting this little package together, so it is not going to get to you on your birthday.  But we love you.  And we miss you.  We'll call you in a bit and sing to you.  Now off with you.  Go on.

Grandpa lives far away.  Grandpa is turning 70 today.  It's a big deal.

We decided to put together a little birthday party for him.  We made some confetti balloons and some toothpick poppers.  We gathered a few noisemakers.  We made a birthday banner.  We even made a mini birthday cake of sorts--complete with candles.  And we found a cute little gift that is perfect for Grandpa.  Grandpa is a handyman.  He spends his days fixing things.  We happened upon a key chain tape measure.  Get this--it measures exactly 70 inches!  How perfect is that?  We wrote him a 70 inch birthday note on the back of the tape measure with an extra fine sharpie.  It turned out really cool.

To top it all off, we carefully tucked everything into a quart sized paint can from Home Depot.  And we mailed it off.  Is there anything better than getting fun mail from the postal carrier?

Happy birthday Grandpa!  We hope that you have a super fantastic 25,568th day of life!

Birthday Craft Party Extravaganza

The craft party was a huge success!  The girls had a great time sculpting, beading, painting, and drawing.  I pulled out almost all of my various craft supplies and let them go to town.  Crayons, markers, paints, glue, paper, fabric, craft sticks, foam stickers--does it get any better than that?

I made each guest a small container of playdough and pulled out all of the playdough toys.  We shaped and sculpted while we waited for everyone to arrive.  Truth be told, they could have played with the dough for the entire party.  Classics.  They never grow old.

Next up was stringing beads.  I saw these beads on Pinterest and had to try them.  It was a great way to use up all of those old colored pencils from school years gone by.  I won't lie to you though...it was quite a lot of work to make enough beads for ten bracelets.  The tips of my fingers are still numb from sawing, sanding, and drilling.  I was not very good at the drilling.  Hubby to the rescue!  He spent a large part of two evenings drilling.  Luckily he could drill and watch a favorite movie at the same time.  Totally worth it though.  They sure turned out cute, don't you think?

What's a craft party without a little painting?  I had envisioned something like this...

But true crafters tend to get their own ideas.  The girls painted their dragonfly/butterfly bodies.

And then things got a little crazy and very mixed media.  It involved leaves for wings and acorns and lots and lots of paint.  Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture of their finished products.  But they were fabulous.  We threw in some painted rocks for good measure.  Lots of fun.

For dessert each girl painted their own sugar cookie with edible ink markers.  This was probably my favorite activity.  They turned out so cute.  I wish that I had taken a picture of all of the cookies lined up in a row.  But they just wanted to chomp right into them and I was too slow.  Here's one of the masterpieces:

We also had rainbow jello...

and caramel apple popcorn.  Delicious!

All in all I would say it was a huge success.  Happy birthday little one!

Spinning a Birthday Yarn

It's birthday time around here!  I have a brand spanking new, hot off the press six year old.  We are prepping for a birthday party in her honor this weekend.  We are going to spend Saturday afternoon crafting with a bunch of her friends.  Does it get any better than that?  I'm still finalizing the craft plans (so many fun ideas, how do you choose??) but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at the invitations.  I wanted to do something a little different this year.  I've seen a version of this idea before on Dandee and I love love LOVED it.

I really loved the fact that I didn't have to buy anything new from the store.  All of the supplies could be found  in my craft room.  All you need is some yarn, card stock, printer, and a hole punch.  Perfect.  And what says craft party more than a ball of yarn?

I printed out all of the details on a piece of scrapbook paper.  We are inviting eight guests, so I repeated the phrase eight times down the sheet.  Try to keep the details as concise as possible...you want to limit yourself to one line of text.  I also printed a little "pull me" tab on the same sheet of paper.  I used the back side of the yellow polka dot paper you see above.  The details went something like this:

Come create and celebrate!  Time...date...place.  Bring a smock!

 Cut your paper into strips.  Mine measured about  3/4 of an inch wide and about eight and a half inches long.  Punch a little hole on the left side of your strip and tie the yarn to it.

Starting on the opposite edge of your yarn, roll your paper strip tightly.  Hold it in place and begin wrapping the yarn around and around.  You can make your yarn ball as big or as little as you like.  I used about six yards of yarn to make a ball about the size of a bouncy ball.  When your yarn ball has reached perfection, tie the "pull me" tab to the end of the string.  That's all there is to it!

I decided to package my  little ball of yarny goodness in a small plastic bag and add a topper.  And I just happened to have a bag of skittles nearby, so I threw a few in.  What six year old doesn't like Skittles?  Edible confetti equals tons of fun!

Deliver your cute little bundles to your friends.  And count the minutes until the fun begins!

  Linking up with:

Whipperberry

Birthday Cake in a Bottle

Every year, I am invited to a night at Girl's Camp.  Awesome, right?    

And I have the privilege of bringing dinner with me.   I guess by the end of the week, the girls are tired of camp food. I love to cook.  They love to eat.  It's a win win.  To make it even more fun, one of the girls was celebrating their birthday at camp, on the very day that I was to go.  So, I knew that I wanted to make a special birthday cake for dessert.  It needed to be portable because camp was nearly forty-five minutes away.  It also needed to be easy to serve and clean up.  Hmm.

Birthday cake in a Bottle!  Or in this case, mason jar.  It worked perfectly.  We were able to stack them in a cooler and transport them without any problem.  When we were finished, we stacked the empty bottles back up and I hauled them home to my dishwasher.  There was just one hitch to the whole thing.  My camera was in a duffel bag with my daughter forty-five minutes away in the mountains.  So, you are going to have to use your imagination as we go through the process. I was able to snap a few instagram pictures with my son's phone before I left home.  And I got a few more with my own camera once I arrived in camp.

First, you will want to bake a cake.  Or two or four.  Depending on the crowd.  I needed to make fifty servings, so I made four cakes.  Make your own favorite recipe from scratch, or use your favorite boxed mix.  I won't judge.  Truth be told, I used a mix.  Instead of baking them in rounds you will want to spread the batter thin and bake it in a jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with substantial sides.  It only takes about fifteen minutes to bake.  Let the cake cool completely. 
  
Second, you need to cut the cake into appropriately sized rounds.  I used a small tomato paste can to cut out my cakes.  Empty the contents of the can (save it for pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce) and wash the can thoroughly.  Then use the can as a cookie cutter of sorts.  It makes a cake round that fits perfectly into the mason jars.  I placed the rounds back onto a clean cookie sheet lined with parchment and wrapped the whole thing tightly in plastic wrap.  I made the cakes over the course of a few days, and froze my cake rounds in the freezer until I was ready to assemble. I decided to give the girls some options and made two different cake flavors...chocolate and french vanilla.

(For heaven's sake, don't discard the scraps after you cut out your cake rounds.  I tossed them into a ziploc bag and put them in the freezer.  I have been using them for weeks now, for all kinds of lovely desserts and trifles.)

Third, you will want to make a filling to go in between the cake layers.  This was the trickiest step for me.  I tried butter cream frosting and it was just too sweet.  Next I tried a homemade cream filling of twinkie fame.  Too blah.  Finally I tried a marshmallow based filling (see the recipe below) and much to my surprise it was my favorite.   The marshmallow is not overpowering at all.  In fact, most people won't even know it's there unless you tell them.  I liked it best paired with the chocolate cake.  So, what to do about the vanilla cake?  I decided to make a pudding based filling.  Whip up a batch of vanilla pudding and gently fold in a half of a tub (the smaller size) of Cool Whip.  Easy peasy.  And delicious. 

To take your little cakes over the top, you will want to make a batch of chocolate ganache.  Just dump a cup of chocolate chips (I used a mixture of semi-sweet and milk chocolate) into a bowl.  Measure and warm 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.  You want it to be very warm but not boiling.  Pour it over your chocolate chips and stir until it comes together.  It will be beautiful and smooth.  If you need to thin it a bit add 1-2 tablespoons of corn syrup. 

Fourth, assemble your cakes!  Let's do the chocolate version first.  Drop a chocolate cake round into the bottom of your jar.  (Make sure that your jars are washed and completely dry!).  Drop a tablespoon of ganache onto the cake round.  Top with a mound of marshmallow filling.  I scooped my filling into a disposable cake decorating bag and snipped off the end about an inch from the tip.  Then I just squeezed a dollop onto the cake.  Next you will want to drop in another cake round and push it down gently.  Finally, add another cute dollop of filling to the top and sprinkle it with...sprinkles!

For the vanilla cake version, drop a vanilla cake round into the jar.  Add a generous dollop of the pudding on top.  Drop another cake round into the jar and push down slightly.  This time, add the ganache to the top of your vanilla cake round.  Finish it off with some sprinkles.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I needed to be able to put the lids on my jars for transport.  But if you don't mind the last layer peeking out of the top, you could add a third cake round. 

Fifth, decorate your jars.  Not necessary, but definitely fun.  I added a simple paper topper to the lid and tied it with some variegated pink yarn that I had in my stash.  I thought it added the perfect touch.  Don't forget to pack some plastic spoons or forks!

 

The girls loved the birthday cake!  The chocolate version tastes a lot like the Hostess Suzie Q's.  Remember those?  (I am probably showing my age.)  The vanilla version is similar in taste to a Boston cream pie.  It was hard to decide which one I liked the best.  Give them a try and tell me what you think!

*****
Marshmallow FIlling
(King Arthur Flour The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook)

1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup marshmallow cream

Beat together the shortening, buttter, salt, vanilla, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the corn syrup a bit at a time until well blended.  Beat in the marshmallow cream until just blended. 

[Birthday] Pull-String Pinata Part Two

Finally.  Our pinata is completely dry.  I am so excited to decorate it and stuff it full of goodness.  Shall we?

I was in a bit of a hurry and neglected to take some pictures of the next few steps.  But, I'm sure that you will be able to picture it in your mind. 

1.  As you can see, I decided to spray paint my pinata bright pink.  I didn't want the newsprint showing through.  I would advise you to not paint it in the garage unless you want a bright pink garage floor.  Yeah.

2.  Pop the balloon.  I just grabbed the elastic string that I left intact, pulled on it a little and snipped off the end of the balloon.  (It makes the weirdest noises as it pulls away from the paper!) By the way, the hole left behind by the elastic string will become the top of your pinata.  This is important.

3.  Cut a "trap door" on the bottom of your pinata using an exacto or a utility knife.  I cut a circular door leaving only an inch or two uncut on one side for the hinge.  (Don't forget to pull out the old shriveled up balloon)

4.  You will need a ribbon to hang your pinata from.  A two inch wide grosgrain ribbon would work well.  I cut mine about two feet long.  Tie your ribbon around a popsicle stick and thread it through the hole at the top of the pinata.  You know, the hole the elastic string used to go through.  The stick will prevent the ribbon from pulling loose. (see the picture in step 6)

 
5.  Prepare your candy or toys for stuffing the pinata.  I opted to stuff mine with individual treat bags instead of loose candy.  Put all of the goodies inside your pinata.  I also put lots of confetti inside of mine.  You should know by now that I love confetti!

6.  Poke a hole in the bottom of your pinata.  Tie another ribbon around a popsicle stick and thread it through this hole.  You could tape the stick to the inside of the trap door if you want.  This will be the "pull-string" that opens the pinata.  Once again, the popsicle stick prevents the ribbon from pulling loose.

7.  Seal the trap door closed.  You don't need much.  A few strips of tape should do the trick.  You don't want the door to open on it's own, but you do want it to open when the pull string is, well, "pulled".

8.  Decorate the outside of your pinata.  I considered lots of techniques.  I loved this one and this one and this one.  But I wanted to do something a bit different.  Really girly and pink.  I decided on ruffles.  I used two different shade of pink crepe paper streamers.

9.  If you want ruffles too, follow this tutorial to ruffle your crepe paper streamers.

10.  Hot glue your ruffles onto your pinata.  Turn your pinata upside-down and work your way towards the top.  A helper comes in really handy for this step.  Make sure your ruffles don't prevent your trap door from opening!

11.  All that you have left to do, is to glue some more ribbons to the bottom of your pinata.  (you can kind of see them at the bottom of this photo.)  These are the fake pull-strings.  It adds to the suspense.  Trust me.  I used a bit of hot glue on the tip of the ribbon and it worked just great.  You want these to come off with a gentle pull.  I glued the same amount of ribbons as girls that would be attending the party.  Each girl was able to pull a string in the hopes that it would open the pinata.  But only the true "pull string" worked!  And amazingly the true pull string was the last one to be pulled!  ( I never was one for swinging the bat haphazardly around)

 And there you have it!  A bright pink ruffly girly pinata.  Does it get any better than that?

Did you miss Part One?  CLICK HERE

[Birthday] Pull-String Pinata-Part One

 
A favorite young person of mine had a birthday last week!  She turned twelve--one of those hallmark birthdays in my opinion.  In honor of the big day, her friends hosted a surprise party, and I wanted in on the action.  I volunteered to do a pinata.

I can only remember making a couple of pinatas in my life.  The first one was in the seventh grade.  Spanish class with Mrs Calzadillas.  I think it was supposed to look like a llama.  It definitely didn't.  The second time went much better.  My oldest was maybe three or four.  We made some miniature pinatas and decorated them like easter eggs.  That was fun.  And they actually did look like easter eggs.  They had a cool string around the circumference of the egg.  When you pulled it, the sugary candy contents came spilling out.  He loved it!

So, this was my first attempt at a full-size birthday pinata.  I'm not gonna lie to you.  It was fun.  But it does take some time.  This is not a fifteen minute craft.  The other thing you need to know...once your kids witness the fun that is pinata making.  They will want one for every single birthday in the foreseeable future.  Consider yourself warned.

Let's make a pinata.

Supplies:

one large punching balloon
old newspapers from the recycling bin
glue
large bowl
small bowl
a cute little helper or two

1.  Blow up your balloon to the desired size.  We went for BIG.  Place your balloon in a large bowl to keep it still while you work.
2.  Cut your newspaper into thin strips.
 

3.  Dump your glue into a small bowl and dilute with water.  We decided to use up all of the almost empty bottles of glue from the past twelve school years that have been floating around the house.  You can also make a homemade glue with flour and water.  Have your little helper stir the water/glue mixture well.

4. I decided to leave the elastic string of the punching balloon exposed.  This came in handy when I needed to hang the pinata to dry.  So, I taped down the knotted end of my balloon.  (Can you see the knot poking out between the strips in the photo below?  It's actually taped down.  It made a little bump.  But not too bad.)

5.  Dip the top of your strip into the glue, then use your forefinger and your thumb to squeegee the glue down to the bottom of your strip.  The excess glue will drip back off into your bowl.

6.  Apply the strips to the balloon.  I started at the knotted end and worked my way down.  It took me fifteen to twenty minutes to paper half of the balloon.  That was one BIG balloon!

7.  Clean up your drippy gluey mess and let your balloon dry.

8.  Turn your balloon over and paper the other half.

9.  Repeat the papering steps until you have three or four layers.  I oriented the strips differently with each layer, to give the pinata extra strength.  On my final layer, I applied the strips in a basket weave pattern.  It seemed to work well.

As mentioned, I applied the paper strips half a balloon at a time.  Then I would leave and go do something else (laundry, dishes, whatever).  It takes a long time for the newspaper to dry.  I was in a bit of a time crunch.  So, I enlisted the help of a hair dryer.  It still wasn't completely dry and ready to decorate and stuff until the next morning.

Moral of the story:  You can not make a pinata in a day.  Repeat that to yourself at least three times.

*****

CLICK HERE for Part Two