Chocolate Nutcracker Mice

Each year we try to make something to share with Little K's fellow Nutcracker dancers.

She has danced the role of a Mouse in the Fight Scene several times.  Once as a Baby mouse when we lived in Arizona.  You can see more on what we made that year in this post. 

Now that she is a little older - and dancing with a different Ballet Production since we moved to California - she had the opportunity to dance as a Mouse once again. 

This time it was a bigger - more scary mouse.  But we managed to find a sweet treat to share with her fellow rodents in the show. 

They were easy to make.  Just a few purchased pieces of candy assembled with melted chocolate.  You can read more details on how they were made here. 

We created an entire Army of mice.  Ready to go into battle.

With the Mouse King in charge. 

Each delicate little creature was packaged into an individual box, lined with paper shred to keep him safe during transit.

Then we made Holly Tags from various sizes of circle and scallop punches and tied up the box with bakers twine.  The holly leaves were free hand cut and sparkled up with some iridescent glitter glue.

The Mouse King - because he is special, received a special package as well.

The same tag - but boxed into a frosted vellum Chinese take-out container with a tuft of tulle.

I hope you get the chance to see a local Nutcracker Performance this year.  It just wouldn't be Christmas for us if we didn't see at least one show (or two, or a dozen).

Rainbow Spa Birthday

Pre-Teen - Tween - Teeny Bopper

Whatever you call it - I've got one.  

Little K turned 11 recently, so I guess there is no denying it.  We are full blown into the Tween Years. 

Her actual birthday was at the beginning of March, but trying to coordinate schedules meant that she wasn't able to have a Party with her school friends until last weekend.

This Years Theme:

Rainbow Spa Sleepover

Here is the invitation that I showed off earlier:

Made from Paint Chips (with very little help from me).

The SPA table was set up in the Kitchen Nook, so I used the buffet to layout snacks and sweets.

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

There had to be some healthy options as well...after all it is a Spa Party.  Rainbow Veggie Tray.

I wanted to make paper cones to hold the caramel corn, but couldn't find any paper that was cute enough, so instead I folded Rainbow Polka Dot tissue paper into a clear cup.

Gum Balls (that I thought would be just for decoration....but they ate nearly half the jar), and Rainbow Twizzlers in fun fruit flavors.

Cake Pops decorated with Rainbow Colored sugar and drizzle.

 Jars of flowers lined the center of the Spa Table.  Paper Zig Zag Streamers and a Rainbow Balloon Swag that was planned to hang over the front door, but it was wet and windy and I was afraid they would PoP so we moved it inside.

There were 7 girls that attended and each one of them was assigned one of the 7 Colors

(notice how the Tween Girl Rainbow includes Pink)

At the Spa Table there was a basket of beauty supplies, and a Robe for each of the girls in their Color.  The Rainbow Rugs (from the seasonal bins at Target) were too cute to pass up.   

 They applied home made beauty treatments including:

Warm Lemon and Mint infused Towels (to open up the pores)

Oatmeal Scrub (to cleanse)

Strawberry Astringent (to tighten the pores)

And Lastly - an Avocado Mask with Cucumber Slices (to hydrate and moisturize).

Don't they look so Relaxed and Happy?

Everything was going great - until we discovered one of the young ladies was allergic to Avocado!

Yikes! 

It was a bit scary - but after we removed the avocado and let her rest with a clean cool towel over her face - the hives cleared up and the itching stopped. 

Thankfully her mom came right over with some Benadryl and she was able to get back to the Party Fun. 

They made some Jewelery.  Painted their Nails. Played Truth or Dare. Talked - Whispered - Giggled. Watched a Movie and got a few hours sleep.

I premade some Body Scrubs using essential oils and Sea Salt for each of the guests to take home. 

Her Cake was layers of vanilla frosted with plain white buttercream.  

Adorned with a sweet  Rainbow Flag Topper.

I'm kind of obsessed with these little flags.  I though they were so cute - it was the only decoration the cake needed.

Except for the "11" candles.

Did I forget to mention I added a little color to the inside of the cake.

Rainbow - of course!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Little K.

Assorted Birthday Bits

Yesterday was Little K's 11th Birthday.

 

How does that happen - our kids keep getting older, and yet we keep getting younger?

I would love to share pictures of our wonderful day together...

BUT

...as I picked up my camera - the strap caught on the drawer and the entire thing went crashing down to the tile floor.

This is what's left of my favorite lens. 

Weep - Sigh - SOB

(I'll be researching camera repair options later on today)

Back to the regularly schedule Birthday Celebrations.

 

 Last week we made treats to share with her Ballet Buds at the dance studio.

I'm not sure what to call them:

Cake Push Pops

Cake Shooters

Push Ups

I love the idea of them being Self Contained, Easy to Transport and No Mess to eat.  

Not to mention Super Cute.

They were so easy to make.  I baked the cake in 3 square pans in order to get thin layers.  Then used a round cutter to make mini rounds of cake and stacked them into the push pop alternating with layers of frosting.

A few sprinkles on top and the domed lid keeps everything in place.  I printed Happy Birthday labels onto sticker paper, and punched them out using my favorite round scallop punch.  

There are lots of sites that sell the containers including etsy.   I got mine through Amazon:  The Push Pop Containers here and the Acrylic Stand here. 

Today at School - Little K celebrated with her Classmates by bringing in a Doughnut Cake.

I think we've made this same treat every year since First Grade.  It started because they were not allowed to bring in Home Made food at her last school - so a trip to Krispy Kreme solved the problem.

There have been a few years when there were no Krispy Kreme Doughnut shops around, so we had to substitute.  I'm happy to say we have access to one again - although it is almost 30 minutes away - it's so worth it to get the soft and warm glazed goodness.  

Little K is having a party at home with some of her friends in a few weeks.  She in charge of all the planning - and lets me know what I can do to help.  

At the moment - it's a Rainbow Spa Themed Sleepover Party.

The invitations have been mailed.

Little K made them herself (I was allowed to help by peeling the words of the cricut sticky mat). 

She saw an adorable Framed Art Piece (in the March issue of Paper Crafts Magazine) designed by Stephanie Halinski and used the idea to create her invitations.  

Yep - those are Paint Chips.  I wonder how long it will be before the paint stores start charging for those little strips of color inspiration?  Have  you seen all the great things people are making from paint chips?

 

Hopefully I'll have my camera back and working again before her big party.  

Stay Tuned.  More to Come.

Happy Valentines Day

Hope you have wonderful fun things planned to celebrate the ones you LOVE.

Little K is have a small class party today

No fancy home made treats 

(at least not from me)

No Craft/Art project 

(the kids could make their own valentine box/bag if they wanted)

I'm not even needed to volunteer in the class

(frown face)

Such is the life of a 5th Grader. Time for me to get used to the fact that they are more independent.

Even though it was optional - I think most of the kids will be exchanging Valentines

Here is what we came up with:

(sorry for the bad lighting - had to finish homework and music practice before working on the Valentines)

I was so excited that we made these using things entirely from my Scrap/Craft Stash.

There are dozens of different combinations of Red, White and Pink - as I was using only cardstock I had on hand.

I even had enough Black felt on hand to cut  30+ mustaches (or is it moustache?)

and a few extras just for Fun!

I got the idea for these cards from this cute post at The Craft Monkey Blog.

I'm resisting the urge to point out to my (very minimalist) husband how great it was that I had all this stuff on hand to make these cards at the last minute.  I might not want to share just how much I have hidden away.

Little K's lunch was made of everything Pink and Red in honor of this Day of Love

and there will be some sweet treats when she gets home from school.

Peanut Butter Heart Cups

Easy Peasy - a teaspoon of your favorite peanut butter cookie dough plopped into a mini muffin pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes and as soon as they come out of the oven - push  a Dove chocolate heart into the top so the peanut butter wraps itself around the sweet chocolaty goodness. 

I'm currently cooking dinner for tonight - Crock Pot French Dip.  Served with our favorite Petite Sirah and a Crusty French Roll and maybe a peppery Rocket Side Salad.  That's romantic - right?  

 Have a Wonderful Valentines Day!

The British Invasion

I'm currently in Pennsylvania visiting my Mum - who is entertaining her family from the UK.

They have only been here a few days - but it's been non stop entertaining since they arrived. Seems all of our family and friends want to meet the crazy Brits (and the Welshman).



Mum hosted a big party on Saturday Night. Everyone brought their favorit dishes (German Potato Salad, Calico Beans, Home Made Fudge, Chinese Chicken Salad)....yum.

My contribution arrived via UPS - from Cincanniti Ohio. Courtesy of my friend Deb at Mt. Lookout Sweets



She makes these amazing hand decorated cookies (and dozens of other sweet treats)....



...in addition to managing her busy daytime job, and taking care of her sweet (and very entertaining) mother who suffers from Alzheimers.



She's an inspiration to anyone who ever thought about turning their hobby and passion into a business. Starting up just over one year ago, her business is booming.

Maybe it's time I open that Etsy shop I've been dreaming about?



I'm excited that Deb and I were able to barter our services.



I recieved her amazing cookies in exchange for a little crafty project I'll be sending to her at a later date (shhhhh - it's a surprise for one of her clients).



And so the British Invasion continues - and we're loving every minute of it.

Fourth of July Festivities

Last year on the 4th of July weekend we were:

- in a car driving from Arizona to California
- with all our pets (a parrot, a crab and and cat)
- several weeks worth of clothes
- all our important documents
- and a whole bunch of cleaning and painting supplies

We arrived on July 4th and went straight to the new house to get started on all the work that needed to be done before the moving trucks arrived.

Not much celebrating done last year, so this year we were sure to participate in at least a few Independence Day Festivities.

We were invited to a neighborhood get together and I made mini cheesecake cups to share.



My Aunt Pat used to always make these and I remember thinking how magical they were. Cheesecake in a bite size form - how fantastic is that! I used to devour these by the dozens.

I've never made them before, but I know they were made with Nilla Wafer cookies in the bottom. I did a quick recipe search and found this one. I'm sorry to say - I don't recommend it.

Since the recipe is pretty straight forward, I didn't think there would be many versions, so I just went with the first one I found (I got sucked in by her pretty picture).



The batter was very loose. The cakes browned too quickly and they seemed still gooey inside.
Don't get me wrong - we still ate them - and they weren't bad, just not what I remembered.

I should have searched farther and used the official Cherry Cheesecake Recipe from Nabisco. Next time.



I used plain white and red polka dot paper liners, and topped them with both cherry and blueberry pie filling.



These cute 4th of July toppers were made from a free printable download courtesy of Paper and Pigtails that I found here.

Since I wasn't sure how the Cheesecake Cups would go over - I decided to bake up some mini pies as well (plus I had a little leftover pie filling)



Cherry and Blueberry pies - each with a different crust design.



Cherry is still my favorite.



I found these adorable cupcake boxes that were the perfect size to hold one mini pie.



Tied them up with a ribbon and bow, and another one of the 4th of July layered tags.



....and off to the neighborhood party we went.



We saw an amazing display of Fireworks.



Put off a few of our own (only the legal ones of course).



Got creative with the sparklers.



And when the sparklers ran out (or wouldn't stay lit) we continued the creativity with a flashlight.

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Weekend.