Party Planning

Three and Sweet as Can Bee

Dear Sis,

Celebrating Charlotte’s third birthday with family and friends was a joyous occasion. Josh’s parents and Great Granny arrived the night before. 

Party Game: Honey Bee Tree

Bee Hive Cupcakes

We found the bee liners and candy bees at Hobby Lobby.

The bee plates, napkins, cutouts used as wall decor, and thank you cards were also purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Charlotte enjoyed all the thoughtful gifts from friends and family!

Bee Craft

We found these wooden bees at Target over the summer.

Party Favors: Honey Bee Soaps

Thanks for buzzing by!

Love,

b

Dinosaur Fifth Birthday

Dear Sis,

It’s hard to believe William is five! We enjoyed celebrating with a nice collection of family and friends. Our decor was simple:

The banner and plates are from Target. We found the piñata at Hobby Lobby. The foam dinosaurs are from a Michaels craft kit. 

We enjoyed a simple lunch of chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, carrots, corn on the cob, and grapes. Our meal concluded with ice cream cake.

The kids made quick work of opening cards and gifts. We spent the second half of the party busily crafting.

Crafts & Activities

It was a wonderful day!

Love,

b

Birthday Visitors 2021… continued

Dear Sis,

Today was crazy busy from the start. We woke early to get dressed for a family photo shoot at a local park. After which, we returned home and made a dinosaur cake in preparation for evening festivities. 

Makers Notes: Bake a 9×13 inch sheet cake. Draft a pattern for cutting. The head, body, and tail are separate pieces. I used this series of blog pictures from Art it Out!, as a guide. Here are pictures of my process:

This was my first cut-to-shape cake. I got a lot of crumbs in my finished frost because I did not do a very thin, “crumb frost” first. Live and learn! We used a large candy eye, milk chocolate candy melts cut to a point and chocolate chips to decorate our frosted cake. 

John and Susan arrived in the early afternoon, and we all met at EnterTAINment Junction. The model train display follows the history of the train from the mid nineteenth century – today. The display has breaks in it at the play area:

The kids, Josh, and John did the funhouse too! They report that it is filled with optical allusions that mess with your balance as an adult, but don’t seem to phase the kids:)

We returned home to enjoy pizza, cake, and playtime together! It was a short, but very sweet visit. The kids didn’t know who John and Susan were before their arrival, but in just a few hours they didn’t want them to leave:)

Love,

b

Barnyard Birthday Party

Dear Sis,

I’m so glad you were able to join us for Charlotte’s 2nd Birthday Party! It was small, simple, and sweet:)

Decor

The banner, metal pig cut out, and farm animal center piece were all found at Hobby Lobby. The ceramic blue truck and fancy party hats were found at Dollar Tree. We already had the Little Blue Truck book:) It is one of Charlotte’s very favorite books we were lucky enough to snag at a yard sale some summers ago. Naturally, the party began with a lunch of all Charlotte’s favorite things! Don’t all toddler’s eat lunch at 11AM?!

Menu

Chicken Tenders

Macaroni and Cheese

Cracker Barrel Style Carrots

Corn on the Cob

Chick ‘oil a Half Cut Tea & Whole Milk

Cupcakes

Our piggy crazed girl with so excited about her cupcakes!

The cupcakes were made with the following recipes:

Beat-the-Box-Mix Funfetti Cupcakes

Swiss Buttercream Frosting

Homemade Fondant

Homemade Fondant

Simple, messy, and money saving!
Print Recipe
Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 1 (10 oz) bag mini marshmallows
  • 2 T water
  • 1 (2 lb) bag powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Pour marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl. Drizzle with water. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring, until marshmellows are melted.
  • Stir in powdered sugar a cup at a time. When it is too thick to stir kneed it in powdered sugar until smooth.
  • Wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container.
  • If too hard to work with. Microwave a few seconds on a plate before working.

Notes

If you need a single color of fondant. It is easier to stir color in before adding powdered sugar.
Keyword homemade fondant

I prepared the frosting and fondant earlier in the week, but baked the cupcakes the day before so they will be nice and fresh. Having only worked with fondant minimally in the past, I wasn’t sure how much time to set aside for decorating. It took me about three hours to make fifteen cupcakes, three of five different animals. Much of the time was spent kneading color into the fondant. I was inspired by a half dozen posts of Pinterest. I found the blog Rose Bakes and You Can Too! helpful in sourcing cutters and practical advice.

Play Dough Table

I made homemade Chocolate Play Dough. A single batch is plenty for a half dozen kids to play with at once! We also used our Melissa & Doug Wooden Farm and Tractor Play Set and some of the trees from our train set.

Opening and Playing with Gifts

We got Charlotte her very own yoga mat so she will no longer be underfoot when William and I try to do yoga:) I found this pink kitty toddler sized yoga mat in the dollar spot at Target.

William gave baby sister her own backpack, so she will quit trying to fun off with his on school days. It was filled with goodies he picked for her at Dollar Tree and the Charlotte’s Web 1973 DVD. The Great Aunts got her serval wonderful gifts, but in this picture they are figuring out how to open the Buzz ‘n Cut Play-Doh Barber Shop.

Mama Jenn found a crochet pig! Charlotte was instantly taken with “Baby Pig.”

Craft

I found these wooden piggy banks in the dollar bins at Michaels months before the party. We used pink, brown, and ivory acrylic paints and sponge brushes to paint them. 

Thanks to all our friends and family for a truly wonderful birthday gathering!

Love,

b

 

 

Fabulous Fish Party

Dear Sis,

It’s hard to believe that Evelyn is three already! She looks amazing in her Fabulous Fish Party Dress. It was nice that we had a half dozen kids to craft, snack, and play together. A proper big girl birthday party!

Crafts

Paper Plate Fish Bowl Craft

We started with teal colored paper plates. I squeezed out a bit of white school glue on the bottom of each plate and the kids arranged dry beans in it. Then we taped, pipe cleaner, seaweed down with scotch tape. Finally, the kids added foam stickers. I found these particular stickers at Michaels. 

Painted Wooden Whale

I found these wooden whale cutouts in the dollar bins at Michaels. I gave each kiddo a squirt of gray and blue acrylic paint and a sponge brush. When they were finished painting, I let them dust it with silver glitter. Here is a picture of our little artists at work:

Sand Art

I purchased kits to make this craft at our local Dollar Tree. 

Menu

Fish Sticks

Seashell Mac n Cheese (recipe below)

Cracker Barrel Carrots

Cake and Ice Cream

Cake inspired by Fish Cake Tutorial on My Cake School

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

b
Creamy dreamy homemade macaroni and cheese to bake, slow cook, or freeze for later.
Print Recipe
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound medium shell pasta cooked al dente
  • 3 c medium cheddar shredded
  • 1 c gouda shredded
  • 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
  • 3/4 c mayonnaise
  • 3/4 c sour cream
  • 1 t onion powder
  • 1/2 t dry mustard
  • 1/2 t ground pepper

Instructions
 

  • Rinse cooked pasta in cold water. Combine all ingredients.
  • To bake: place in a large casserole dish, cover with foil, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.
  • To slow cook: place in the crock of a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1.5-2 hours. Stirring as needed.
  • To freeze for later: portion in foil pans, cover with wax paper, wrap in foil, and seal in a ziplock bag. Thaw and bake when needed.

I got this recipe last fall from my neighbor Nina. It is now a family staple!

 

Happy Birthday to a very special niece!

Love,

b

Thanksgiving Book Club

Dear Sis,

Today we enjoyed a Thanksgiving themed book club. One of our childhood favorites, Cranberry Thanksgiving, has become a household holiday reading sensation, that now we’ve shared with our friends.

Book

Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin

Craft

We found a craft kit at Michaels that contained 6 boy and 6 girl scarecrows. Foam sticker crafts are an affordable kid friendly craft, I oven resort to for parties and book club meetings.

Game

Free Thanksgiving Bingo by Homegrown Learners

Snack

We recreated the meal from the book. It included: Turkey, Corn Pudding, Peas, Turnips, (which none in our group had tried before, but many discovered they enjoyed), Cranberry Jelly, Pumpkin Pie, and of course Grandmother’s famous Cranberry Bread. The recipe is in the back of the book. I substituted dry cranberries for fresh, so that it would be more child friendly. 

Song

This is the original 1857 lyrics, written by James Lord Pierpont. Although Thanksgiving was not nationalized as a holiday until 1863, it was widely celebrated, and this song was written as part of the festivity of the season. 

The moms sang the verses, the kids chimed in for the chorus and manned the bells. We found hand bell straps at Menards for $1.00 each.

Printable Jingle Bells Lyrics

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

b