Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Easy Flag Cupcake for the 4th of July!




Hey long lost friends!!

I am back from the lap of luxury and right into the 
swing of the sweetness of life. 

It was good to go, but good to be back.

Here is an easy flag cupcake topper that you can pull off
for the 4th of July with ease and flair. 

4th of July Flag Cupcake



I used a Nilla Wafer and cut it with a kitchen 
scissors in the shape of a rectangle. 

After smearing it with white frosting, I applied the stripes
with red as you see here and if memory serves me right, I used a size 3 round wilton tip for the stripes and 22 for the blue flower. 

I had white sugar pearls on hand so it seemed like a good idea 
that one go in the center as you 
see here but you can pipe the flag anyway you see fit!  

I used wilton premade tube frosting in the blue
and red colors and my standby oh so yummy buttercream recipe from My Cake School!!

After placing the flag cookie on the cupcake
I finished it with a lollipop stick, cut to size.

VIOLA!

Have fun!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Vacation Cupcakes ~ Beach Themed!!



TURKS & CACIOS TREATS!!! 

Hmmmmmmmm let's see what have 
I been doing the past few months...

Finished a course of chemo for annoying brain tumor (blech!!)
Developed a pesky cardiac arrhythmia (fyi...not fun).
Had my heart burnt, then frozen to get rid of pesky condition.
Got bill for chemo and above cardiac procedure. (WHOA!)
Worked my day job.
Worked my night job as mom and wifey.
Worked my side job and friend, daughter and sister.
Co-chaired the first big fundraising event at my daughters school that hosted over 200 people & raised about $70,000 buckaroos
all the while letting my blog slide into an oblivion.....

I need a VACATION (and a cupcake)!!




And THAT is just what the doctor (me) ordered.....

10 days in Turks & Caicos with my family!!




oh Heaven......................

I am a tad excited.

These Cupcakes and Nutter Butter Flip Flops
are getting us in the mood for tropical bliss.

See you all when I get back....(IF I get on the return flight that is..)



The cupcake was made by using a vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla buttercream
and coconut flakes.  For the palm tree I used a pretzel stick and kiwi. This was tricky and
not as easy as it looks. I would not suggest making a bunch of these because the kiwi is not
very secure on the top of the pretzel once you cut the slits in it to make it look like a palm tree.
. I could have trimmed it up a bit to make it more stable, looking back. I would suggest pressing it into a paper towel to dry the kiwi out as much as you can before placing on the pretzel.  I secured it to the pretzel with a dab of frosting but royal icing might have been better..just want to give you the best insight if you decide to make these for yourself!  The flip flops were super easy and made with milano cookies and decorated w/ frosting, small fondant flower and sugar pearls as you see. The "sand" was crushed up graham crackers!!! Oh FUN! Let me know if you make these!!


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Monday, June 4, 2012

Rice Krispie Treat Paint Brushes Plus "Minute to Win It" Games for Kids!



School is out and summer has begun here in MN...we are
so excited around here for all the fun to begin!!

I have a fun snack & some easy games
to share this week to kick off summer.

Rice Krispie Treat Paint Brushes




EASY. I used premade krispie treats and
wilton chocolate melts in rainbow colors.
Just place the small popsicle stick in the
treat for the handle and dip away in 
melted chocolate....so fun!



A friend of mine thought of me when she saw a picture
of this idea on the internet & so she forwarded it to me. 

I could not find the original post (it was from Pinterest) but
it looks like it might have been inspired from 
this one at Snack Picks!

Now on to the GAMES!!!!



Another GREAT idea for kids this
summer is to compile your own
"Minute to Win-it" games for the home.

Whenever Sophia has some friends over
it is always a hit to pull these games out
and have them go at it to win their "prizes"
which is usually a quarter or some tootsie rolls!

NBC has a great website (here) that shows all of their games
but I thought these sites did a great job
of summarizing the games directed for kiddos.



Our Family Favorites!

Bucket Head:  Catch three soft balls in a bucket on top of your head.

Defying Gravity:  Keep two balloons in the air. I usually have them work in teams for this or one person tries to keep one balloon in the air for younger kids.

Breakfast Scramble:  Assemble the front of a cereal box that has been cut into eight pieces.

Elephant March:  Knock over bottles using a baseball bat hanging from panty hose worn on the head.

Tissue Toss:  Using both hands, empty a tissue box.

Play it By Ear:  Place five cans with varying quantities of pennies in the correct order.  (With a sharpie, place the numbers on the bottom.)

Separation Anxiety:  Separate a pile of 25 multicolored chocolate candies into five separate containers in a set color order. (I have them do this as a team with one kid blind-folded and their partner guiding them to the right container with directions, very fun!)

Tweeze Me:  Players use tweezers to relocate five Tic Tacs from one bowl to another.

Cotton Blow: Players take a straw and try to relocate cotton balls from one bowl to another by sucking on the straw to hold the cotton ball while you move as many as you can to the target bowl. 
You can also do this with the Tic Tacs and M&Ms work as well.   

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST..OUR FAVORITE


THE "PIE" EATING CONTEST! 
Player makes "pie" from whip cream 
& pudding (we use sugar free) & then whoever eats the most
pie in a minute is the WINNER!! 


I got most of the supplies to have on hand
at the dollar store and these games are always a hit! 


Thanks!!


CRAFT/RECIPE AND SWEETS BLOG PARTIES I OFTEN LINK TOO:
Mouth Watering Mondays, Melt in Your Mouth Mondays, Mingle Monday, Made it on Monday Sumo's Sweet Stuff Made by You Mondays Making the World Cuter Mondays Motivate Me Monday  Dittle Dattle Amaze Me Monday  Mangia Mondays Mix it up MondaysTUESDAYTrick or Treat Tuesdays Crazy for Crust Confessions of a SAHM Delicious Dishes Cupcake Tuesday Let's Do Brunch Tempt my Tummy Tuesday Mandi's Tasty Tuesday Topsy Turvy Tuesday Handmade Tuesday Tasty Tuesday Tip Me Tuesday Time Out Tuesday Get Your Craft On WEDNESDAYMrs Fox's Sweets Party  Lil' Luna Ginger Snap Crafts  Whatever Goes Wednesday Wow Us Wednesday Look What I Made Wednesday What I Whipped Up Wednesday  Whatever You Want Wednesday Wow Me Wednesday This Chick Cooks THURSDAYTastetastic Thursday Sweet TemptationsTablescape Thursday Artsy Girl Sweet Treats Thursday Sweets This Week Thursday Show Your Stuff House of Hepworths Brambleberry Cottage FRIDAYPinterest Party Fun Stuff Fridays Freestyle Fridays Tidy Mom Inspiration Friday Feathered Nest Friday Bacon Time Friday Party Sweet Tooth Friday Show and Tell Friday It's a Hodgepodge Friday Weekend Wrap Up Flaunt it Friday Sassy Sites Friday Fun Fridays Unfolded Food on Fridays Friday Flair Foodie FridayWEEKEND Show and Tell Saturday Sweets for a Saturday So Sweet Sundays The Girl Creative 



 
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