Easter Egg Dyeing

I had high hopes of doing some really creative egg dyeing and decorating this year...but, as happens so often lately, we BARELY got around to doing it the most basic way. (you know, vinegar and food coloring!)

We made it into a fun activity with neighborhood friends and moms.

I wish you didnt have to refrigerate hard-boiled eggs, because they looked divine in my cupcake tree.

the bad news:  I thought I was being so smart using my oilcloth tablecloth...ok, totally stained it! 
Any ideas???

Happy Valentines!

from Mrs. Predictable!!!

We kind of stick to the same things sometimes...


Robbies V-day box

class valentines

Just so you know, the caramel bits (unwrapped) have completely saved my life. If I had to unwrap the squares...I would never take on these kind of numbers!

White Chocolate Popcorn

We tried something new for Teachers' Valentine Presents this year. I had never made white chocolate popcorn before, and thought I'd give it a whirl! So easy...I suggest you try it soon.

You will need:

2 bags white choc. chips
2 large bags of m&m's (I did 1 peanut & 1 plain)
15 cups of popcorn (that is about 2.5 bags...low fat, buttered)
LARGE bowl

After popping popcorn, shake the bag so the seeds go to the bottom...then scoop the popcorn from the top. Melt the chocolate chips, then pour over popcorn in bowl. If you want, you can alternate pouring popcorn then chocolate in bowl to make it easier to mix. (some of the popcorn will crunch as you do this...I dont see a way around it) Add m&m's and stir. Spread popcorn mix out on parchment paper (on cookie sheets) and wait for it to set. Break it up and put it in a bag. (You can be creative with what you add to it...cranberries, raisins, nuts...I love the m&m's because of the cute colors)

VOILA!

Robbie's Comic Superhero Party!

Robbie's birthday marks the end of "Birthday Season" for me...phew!!! Now I have until the end of the year for it all to start again!

We had SO much fun planning and having Robbie's party. The idea took hold last fall in a flea market in San Francisco, where I grabbed a dozen vintage comic books.
 It was a bit crazy doing this party, with my 3 week old baby...but it had to be done before our lives get even more hectic.  SO...here it is!!!

The Invitation:

I really wanted to find a comic book artist to draw Robbie into the cartoon, but after trying a couple...I realized it wasn't as easy as I had hoped.  So My mom and I started searching comics in our nights hanging out with new baby, and found this old comic...perfect for my plan! (Read Carefully!)

Decorations and Activities:

my front door welcome sign...of course

This little number made decorating really easy!  It was a life saver, the kids loved the bounce-house/slide combo...and it really wasnt too bad to rent! (The colors were great for the party!)

 

 We really wanted the kids to just run around and play, but we knew we needed a couple of organized activities...like a pinata!  I contemplated making one because i couldnt find any shapes that i liked...but in the end we just bought a star and glued the villains on it!

As if my Mom didnt have enough to do while she was taking care of my 3 older kids, helping me with the baby and cleaning...I gave her a little project!  She painted this queen size sheet to be a backdrop for the kids!

Villain balloons.  We staked villain balloons all over the yard for the kids to aim their nerf guns at.  Just one more little thing to keep kids busy.

FOOD TABLE:

We tried to keep the food simple.  Cheetohs, Jello, Hot Dogs, PB & J's and gatorade!



I punched out comic book pictures for jello toppers.

More comic book strips for drink labels.

OK...In a bored moment, i printed off pages of comic books and cut out hot dog bun holders.  Then I hand folded the corners!  I know, I could have bought the normal red and white ones...but, sometimes when I have an idea...there is no stopping me!

I had seen these cones around, and thought it would be a fun way to serve their cheetohs.

Comic book sandwich wrappers...those vintage comic books sure came in handy!

The Cake:

As you probably know by now, Rob and I kind of have a tradition to make the cake together the night before the party.  I was thinking simple...but he had other plans.  As soon as he saw a similar superhero layer cake online, he was sold.  So...4 hours later, our cake emerged looking like this:







Favors:

During the party, we made sure each of the kids got their picture taken in front of the backdrop.

I made foam-core signs to hold in the pictures...BAM!  KA-ZAM! POW!
We let the kids pick the sign they wanted.

During the party, I printed out the pictures of the kids and put them in these frames.



I found unfinished frames at Michaels.  Painted them black, decoupaged pages from the comic books on each one and finished them by inking the edges and putting a varnish over the whole thing.  I am kind of in love with the frames myself.  It was fun to pick out pages that would look cool from the comic book.

 Overall, SO MUCH FUN!!! Robbie LOVED it!  We had fun...and like I said, my birthday season is at an end. 

So of course tonight I stayed up all night doing Valentines for the kids...on to the next thing i guess!!!

The Giving Tree Birthday Party (Jane's 2nd)

We just celebrated Jane's second birthday with a "Giving Tree Openhouse."
I knew being 8.5 months pregnant, I would have to keep it simple...but even that was a little bit of work!

THE INVITATION:
This was so fun.  It was so simple, but I loved the little boy turned into a little girl! 



DECORATIONS:
ok...so there weren't a lot of decorations! 
A big happy birthday banner, made of the pictures in the book, with big pink letters...

I sewed a ribbon across the top of the paper to hook them together...it worked really well!

I did fill a couple large jars with apples and branches...to go with the theme.

THE CAKE:

I actually ordered a plain cake white rectangle cake from the grocery store.  I just wanted a clean slate to work with.  The night before, Rob drew the little girl and the apple on some fondant, and then used drew the tree with melted chocolate on parchment paper.  I know it isnt the typical birthday cake, but I loved it!  I thought it looked kind of artsy...and being mostly black and white reminded me of a page of the book.

THE FOOD:

Since it was a later openhouse, we just had some munchies that went with our Leaves, Apples & Branches theme.

Branches: soft pretzels

apples: apple slices with a yummy dip (cream cheese, brown sugar and heath bar...YUM!)

Leaves: Lime sugar cookies (these usually are white with little specks of green from the lime zest, but I added food coloring to make really green.

Apples: apple juice & sprite

Leaves: Spinach Strawberry salad (with sugared almonds, feta cheese & poppyseed dressing)

Branches: Barefoot Contessa's cheese straws

 

ACTIVITY:

I knew most of the time the kids would be upstairs running around playing, but I did want a small activity just in case... Coloring pages of the book...how simple!

FAVORS:

I found these cute pillows at Pottery Barn Teen.  For every one purchased, a tree was planted!  Every family took one...most of them had at least one little girl that was excited about it!

Because I didnt make the caramel chocolate dipped pretzels for the Holidays, I thought I would make them for favors...and they went with the "branches" theme.

JANE'S SHIRT:

Of course at the last minute I decided to make Jane a shirt for her birthday party. 
I printed the little girl and the apple (with a 2 on it) onto iron-on paper, and ironed it on!  I love that stuff!

She was pretty proud of it...showing it to everyone!

Too Bad I couldnt get a perfect picture...thats how it goes I guess!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!