A Birthday and A Recipe

Our oldest turned 9 (9!) a week or so ago.  Crazy how time goes by so quickly and just seems to speed up the older the kids get.  We had a family celebration with a friend over - sweet and simple.

 This year Gretchen wanted an ice cream cake.  I was able to find this recipe for OREO and Fudge Ice Cream Cake at Kraft and just substituted in Mint OREOs.  So simple to make and tasted great.

Our next birthday is in September and I've already had a request for one made with Snickers.  :)

Thirty Something

Yesterday marked another year for me.  It's amazing really how fast the time has gone and how many blessings I have to be thankful for.  

Now, usually my husband and I just acknowledge each others birthday and maybe take the family out for a nice meal at, you know, Chick-fil-a or Pizza Hut.  (Yep, high rollers!)  This year Kevin really went above and beyond by getting me a Kindle Fire.

And since my body decided that this would be the perfect time to come down with a nasty little bug, I'm getting to know my new friend pretty well.  While being sick on your birthday is not fun, it is nice to be comforted by some good books both old and new.

My Baby Girl Turns 3

Three years ago, we were happily awaiting the arrival of our 4th little blessing.  I ended up toting around an extra 40 pounds while trying to keep up with the other 3 kids.

Summer time had never seemed so hot in Georgia as it did that year.  There were times my feet would swell so much I couldn't even get flip flops on.  {Not that the undercover redneck in me really minded being barefoot, but it is nice to have shoes on when going to church.  ;)}

Since I was measuring 2 weeks ahead of where I was suppose to be, my wonderful doctor scheduled an induction time 10 days early.  (I LOVED that doctor!)  I can't imagine having a baby any bigger than what she already was.

Our first few months were a little trying.  (A lot of crying happened the first seven months.)  But, she was worth all the fuss.

It wasn't long before she was pushed out of being the 'baby of the family' into the role of 'big sis', but she handled it well.

She has become a very independent - something that I love seeing in all my kids.

And she is growing into such a beautiful little girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIV!  We love you so very much!

Hawaiian Theme Birthday Party: Party Favors

What's a birthday party without some party favors?  Of course, we had to have to obligatory lei for all the party goers; but, we also wanted to have a couple other fun things for the girls.

 Flower hair clips.

These are easy enough to make.  Just do a search for 'flower hair clips' and all kinds of tutorials will pop up for you.  (I was all out of E6000, but wish I had used that instead of the hot glue gun.)  I found my flowers at Wal-mart.

Flower Tote.

I found these in the Dollar Section at Target.  They have an outside pocket plus a zippered top.  I don't believe I could have made them for the price we paid, so it was a good find!

'Grass' skirts.  These are done pretty much like the 'grass hut' decorations I did.

What you will need:

Paper grocery bag
Rotary Cutter
Rotary Mat
Rotary Ruler
Scissors
String
Packaging Tape

Start by cutting the bottom off your paper bag.

Next, lay your bag out flat.

Now.... Do you see that crease in your paper bag toward the original bottom?  This is your stopping line when cutting.

Line up your ruler and start cutting.  I cut these every 1/2 inch as well.  

Remember to apply enough pressure to cut through both layers of paper.  Check as you are going to avoid having to use the scissors.

After all your cuts have been made, cut the bag open so it is now one layer.

Your next step is to make the waist.  To do this, lay the skirt out flat and then fold the top down to your line or just a little bit above it.

Cut a length of string to put in the casing you just made.  Leave some length on it so you have enough to tie.  Pick a place in the middle to tape the string down so it can't be pulled through.  ({ahem} Experience.)

Now, just tape the folded edge down.  It would be even better to have the skirts be a double layer to make them more full.  Also, scrunch the skirts to get them to look a bit more natural (ha!).  The kids loved wearing these and had a blast running around outside and playing in them.

Hawaiian Theme Birthday Party: Decorations Part 2

After having the 'grass hut' look accomplished, we needed to add a little color.  Along with colorful plates, napkins and table clothes, I made these to hang around the room.

So EASY!  I just happened to find the idea one day on Disney's Family Fun site.  All you need are some paper plates and a stapler.  (I used dessert size plates for these.)

I also had a pineapple out.  Very original, right?  But, it did add to the atmosphere and it was very yummy to eat afterward.  

I had really wanted to make a couple of palm trees for the party, too.  Since rain was in the forecast, I didn't want to spend all the time and effort on them and then have them ruined.  Here's a cool tutorial for palm trees.  Of course, there was no rain that day, so my concerns were pointless.  Maybe I'll get a chance to make them one of these days for something else.

Hawaiian Theme Birthday Party: Decorations Part 1

The decorations for the party were very easy and inexpensive AND I got to be a little crafty.  This all adds up to fun for me.

First off, the we needed to get a little 'grass hut roof' look going.

We've been hanging on to paper bags from the grocery store for who knows how long.  I was about to throw them all out and declutter a little when I got an idea.

What you need:

Paper bags (grocery size)
rotary cutter
rotary mat
rotary ruler
scissors

First, use your scissors to cut the bottom off the paper bag.

After you have that done, lay the bag out flat on your rotary mat.  (You know- get those little sides that are folded in, folded out.)

Fold the bag in half with the top meeting the bottom.

Now, line the bag up with some lines on your mat and start cutting.  I decided to cut every 1/2 inch.  You could definitely go smaller than this, but it's completely up to you.

Here are some tips:  It's also easier if you start on the left side and move right while cutting (if you are right handed).  A good guide for the cutting to stop is the crease line just a couple of inches from the folded edge of the bag.  (See it in the picture above?)  Also, make sure you push down hard enough to cut all 4 layers of the bag with your rotary cutter.  If not, you'll have to go back with scissors.

After you have all your cuts, lay your bag out flat.

Cut along the fold you have right down the middle.  I also cut one end open to cover twice as much area.

Now all you have to do is hang them up around your party area.

Hawaiian Theme Birthday Party: The Cake

Ah, the cake.  As I was getting ready to work on this, I think I figured out that the last time I decorated a cake was about 4 years ago.  Some things that became very apparent to me: 

1. That's way too long between cakes
2.  Marshmallow fondant is VERY sticky
3.  Having 'help' isn't always helpful

I was able to muddle my way through it all and still got a huge thumbs up from the birthday girl.  First thing was to make a colorful cake on the inside.  How to do this?  Just figure out how many colors you want, divide the cake batter into that many containers, color each bowl and then put all the colors into your cake pan.  The batter is thick enough to keep from running together and will bake up just fine.

Colored cake batter and some of my 'help'

 This is a picture of the cake pre-baked.

 This is a picture of the inside after baking and leveling.

Decorating the cake really didn't take that long.  The hardest part was figuring out exactly what I wanted to do.  (Too many ideas warring in my mind.)  

Even though the fondant didn't work for me, (or rather, I wasn't able to manipulate it like I wanted) I decided to go to plan 'B'.  So, I baked a cupcake (red of course), inverted it, cut a notch out of one side and then covered it with buttercream.

 Close up.

The 'sand' was made from crushing Nilla Wafers and then sifting out the large particles.  Very simple.  I wasn't too worried about smoothing out the buttercream all over the cake.  At 2:30 AM I was past being a perfectionist.

I did have fun doing the cake and learned a lot.  I learned that I need a grass tip if I ever decide to do grass again.  I learned that I really do like decorating cakes.  I learned I need to make more icing so I have extra and not just enough.  I learned that I still detest doing the crumb coat and also icing corners (just can't seem to get those right).  I learned that I need to decorate cakes more often and play around with it more when there isn't so much pressure - maybe take another class or two (last one was 6 years ago).  Guess making more cakes will help me keep some weight on, but that probably isn't the best way to do that.  Also, Cake Central is a great resource for all your cake decorating questions and curiosities.

So.  Do any of you decorate your cakes or do you just do like I should have and purchase them?  I might find a new resource in all of you for the next time I go to decorate a cake.

Hawaiian Theme Birthday Party

We had quite the birthday bash over the weekend.  I'm sure you could see from the previous posts that I was a bit stressed trying to get it all done in time.  I didn't get much sleep Friday night, but I did get it all done in time.  (Kevin even ran in a 5K Saturday morning, and I was still able to do it!)

So, this week I'll be sharing some of the things I did for the party.

Cake

Decorations

Party Favors

I did have a lot of fun doing all these little things for the party and hanging out with some AMAZING young ladies.  I also am glad it's all over, because I'm still exhausted.  :)