Beach Bingo ... Beach Themed Cupcakes (Coconut Drink & Beach Ball Toppers)

And we wrap with the last two cupcake themes I made for the party.  These last two ideas came from Party Pinching and a post featuring beach themed cupcakes on a budget!  These again are so easy and cheap (oh yes you know my motto cheap and ahhh dropping).  

If you missed yesterday's post. I started with making 2 batches of cupcakes using my favorite homemade yellow cake mix and 2 batches of my favorite sturdy buttercream frosting.

This post will feature:

The first to show off (or technically the third if you're reading this after yesterdays post) is the super easy and I think the coolest looking one Coconut Drink Topper.  Don't we all want a fruit drink while sitting on the beach?  Why not have a cupcake that will give you that same feeling with out the alcohol since I was serving kids!

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcakes

Whoppers

Icing

Twizzler Pull Aparts

Sprinklers (I used little stars)

Umbrella's (optional but I thought it added character)

Take a sharp knife and cut of just 1/8 of the top of a whopper (mostly just the chocolate part of the top).  Add a little swirl of icing to the part that you just cut off, I made it look kind of like what a drink looks like.  Cut a little strip of Twizzler pull-apart for your straw.  I added a star as a little fun topper, I've seen some with regular sprinkles but I wanted something fun. I then added to a frosted cupcake (I had some Peanut Butter Sturdy Buttercream left over from another recipe (post to come) so that is why this frosting looking brown vs. white).  I topped with an umbrella because it felt like they needed something.

And last on my list to do was the easiest one to make, Cole actually put these together for me.  Yes Control FREAK mom actually handed this cupcake over!  These are to look like a beachball with an umbrella.

What you Need:

Frosted Cupcakes

Gumballs

Paper Umbrella's

YUP easy frost a cupcake plop a gumball on and top with a paper umbrella.  OH yes I told you it was simple but they were so stinking cute!

And was a quick add on I made this super quick umbrella centerpiece.  I wish I would have had two boxes of the umbrella's but my dollar store only had 2 and I used the other for the cupcakes.

What you Need:

Foam Circle / or Floral Circle

Paper Umbrella's 

Open up umbrella's be careful not to break them, I gave them a little loosing up and then let Caden open up the umbrella's and we stuck them around the floral circle we picked up at the dollar store also.  Would have been nicer to have it fuller but it was perfect and CHEAP for the theme!

We had a great time and everyone had such nice things to say about the food and the cupcakes.

A BIG thanks to my helper Cole who bagged & tied them for me.

As I keep saying the idea to put the cupcakes in a plastic cup, a clear bag and tie with a ribbon has been the most used and AWESOME idea I have ever come across on Pinterest.  Whoever thought of this needs to win the award of most awesome person and helper to mom party planners.

Have a Beach tastic Day!!  Hope you give one of these a try!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Beach Bingo ... Beach Themed Cupcakes (Fondant Beach Balls & Popsicle Sticks)

Now onto the cupcakes made for the party!  NOW don't shake your head I didn't go totally nuts this time around I ONLY made 4 different types of cupcakes.  I'll feature two here today and then two tomorrow not to overwhelm you or make one heck of a long post.

While searching the internet for pool themed food I came across Party Pinching and a post featuring beach themed cupcakes on a budget!  I narrowed down my list to only four to make, well three they featured and one I made up on my own.

I started with making 2 batches of cupcakes using my favorite homemade yellow cake mix and 2 batches of my favorite sturdy buttercream frosting.

First on the list to do is Fondant Beach Ball Cupcake Toppers.

As you know I'm now in LOVE with this rolled buttercream fondant, that is super simple to make.  Click the name and it will take you to recipe, trying not to repeat the same thing over and over and have you all do an eye roll on me.

I wanted to do something fun and this fondant is so easy why not make beach balls with 3 colors!  I took my fondant made 3 balls, I then dyed each a color of the beach ball I wanted using Wilton Food Icing Color.  I then rolled out 1" strips of each color and pressed them together with my pamper chef roller.  It came out perfect, I then took what I think is a whiskey glass to make perfect circles (yes you can laugh we got them for our wedding & of course what do I use them for baking ... lol). I would try to get 3 balls out each time and then I would change the color line up. (blue, yellow and then green.  Next time Yellow, Green and Blue and so on).

I frosted each cupcake and then my helper topped them with a fondant Beach Ball.  We then put them in plastic cupcakes, a plastic bag and tied with ribbon.  

What you Need:

Baked Cupcake

Frosting

Fondant (3 Balls)

Wilton Icing Color

Wilton Cut and Roll Mat (or any mat)

Circle Cutter or Glass

Next on my list was the easiest cupcake ever!!  I made little Popsicle toppers to go on top of cupcakes.

What you Need:

Baked Cupcake

Frosting

Mike & Ikes

Toothpick

Break toothpick in half, take the broken half and shove into the fatter side of the Mike and Ike (one side is thin like a top of a Popsicle and other end fat like the bottom).  And your done!  I added two of the same color to the top of a frosted cupcake.  Again we then added cupcakes to a clear cup, clear bag and tied with a ribbon.

I must say serving cupcakes this way has been the BEST idea I have ever used off pinterest.  When the people left the party they were able to take a cupcake home with out worrying about it getting everywhere.  And since NO one RSVP's these days I had no clue how many would show so I made 36 cupcakes to be on the safe side.  LET's just say parents and kids each took a cupcake home that day!

Have a Beach tastic Day!!  Hope you give one of these a try!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Weekend Wrap … Yes it was kind of Chill!

Rick was so sweet he knew how sad I was over the B&B and the dinner we had.  He went to my favorite restaurant Old Spaghetti Factory and picked up dinner for the family.  He even plated it all up!  Yup he got happy face from me!

Saturday after work we headed over to Rachel’s house for some coffee and play time.  Her daughter Abby is a girl after my heart and loves shoes.   Why not try them on.  Oh yes why not my leopard with pink rain boots rocks and they begged to be tried on.  Caden’s fireman boots also were a hit .  She was so sweet and even feed the boys!

Sunday at 7am I meet up with one of my best friends for breakfast!  She is one of my bestie’s I was the LOUD 20 y/o that moved in next to her house that would have loud parties every weekend and she would walk over holding a baby to keep it down .  Yes she even came over a few times to hang out with us young crew too!  15 years later we’re still friends and I cherish these moments to just hang out and talk.

I was having a heck of a week with Caden and his “adventure” so the weekend was a slow one, which of course makes the boys go crazy and mom loose her MIND.  Yup that is me being a crazy poser .. hehe.

Last Sunday was Cole’s Sunday to sing in church for his school.  Here is his cute 2nd grade along with the 1st grade class.

We are also enjoying our fall teachers in swim class.  Cole had a problem sitting still (or in this case standing in water with out splashing) but thankfully got better by the 3rd class.  The boys are liking the 4pm class and I’m liking we get home earlier.  Caden is sad that his Maggie is not teaching the class but we’re adjusting .

There was our crazy weekend.  How was yours, did you do anything fun?

Making the Most of a Labor Day Weekend

Saturday after I finished up work we headed back to the zoo (this time with shoes that stayed on).  We played for a while.

We then watched the shark’s feed which was very fun which we also heard the lady talk and teach us about.  We then went to see the rest of the animals and of course feed the budgies as always .

We then headed up to my parents house for a little family get together. Cole was being a turd wanting to go to the water but we had to wait and little Caden took a racket and pretended it was a guitar and sang a little song.  Of course Cole’s little attitude made for pleasant convo by some.  And yes that is my car in the ditch!! I wasn’t able to park in the drive way so I tried to park on the side then slid into the ditch.  Which meant that I had to wait until the guest left to have my dad pull my car out.  So that also meant I had to put up with comments about Cole’s attitude … UGH.

Finally we got to the water.  I called my friend that I grew up next door to, to see if I could bring her daughter down.  So the boys and I crossed across the yards like I did when I was Cole’s age.  The kids had fun and I was able to sit and relax a bit (yes with out my iPad to read a book, I’ve been called anti social … lol)

The kids even went on the tube that my dad pulled behind the jetski.

Caden and I played around a bit, plus a nice shot of Mt. Rainier.  Then another rock show by Caden and my friends daughter, they were “Rock Stars”.

Sunday we went to church and hung out at home.  Monday we headed back up to my parents house for a little swim and my friend’s and her daughter came down to hang out.  We had a little adult time to talk and the kids got to play. Plus they collected this nasty grass stuff that is coming up from the bottom of the lake and wrapping around the dock.  The boys and dad cleaned up a lot of it.

Caden my no go of water boy hung out on dry land playing in the floaty and of course the rocks .  Which he was reminded several times not to throw in the water.  You know how hard it is to explain to a 4 year old that the rocks down there were paid for … lol.  Cole got brave and jumped off the dock into the water.

So There you have it fun in the sun and even a car in the ditch … lol.  I’ve worked all Saturdays for about 5 years now so Sunday is my only day off.  So it was nice to have a 2 day weekend again.  So what did you do this holiday weekend?

Party Planning Again!

It’s time to plan Caden’s party, it’s at my parents house so I won’t have to do much running around.  My mom will be hosting the party which is so nice to have the use of their waterfront for the kids to play.  Mom loves to throw parties and cook, she is an amazing cook, her food is more for the grown up … which is great but the kids not always on board with dressed up mac and cheese with tomatoes or onions … lol.  I love her food but the kids sometimes look at it like we’ve gone mad.  She would like to do nice sandwiches.  I think I may have to sneak some hot dogs down, I sworn not to bring them but I just know the kids would really want them … hehe so I must be on a covert mission to bring them in. 

Now as many of you know my parents did a huge remodel of their waterfront and they say it’s for this party … hehe.  God love them when we had my wedding at their house they did a huge remodel their too some how that included a new smoke house which I’m not sure how it played into being because of my wedding but it did … lol.  So the lake is ready for a party, but as the rest of the country is having a heat wave here in the PNW we are experiencing storms and downpour of rain.  And yes we are known for our rain but usually we’re pretty safe to plan a party in July with out having to worry about rain!  I need all the prayers I can get right now for NO RAIN, right now they are calling for showers!

So now on to making the cupcakes, as you may have guessed I’m going to make them.  I’ve been working very hard to be able to make the kids party cakes myself.  Now I’m NO Duff, but I’m trying hard to make cute ones .  So on the search for the best cupcake design to use:

These are cute look like the ones I made for Cole just NOT in the ice cream cone!

These look cute but I’m not sure about transporting with the trees, could always assemble at the party.

These are super cute but I’ve never worked with fondant.

These also look like the ones I did for Cole.

 

I think I’ve decided on these! hehe I think they look a little creepy but I know the kids would get a kick out of them!  With out the flag about school.

What do you think?

Then of course I thought I’d do my pudding pops but make them like ocean colors so do dark blue, then light blue and white for the kids.

And for the adults and because my BF had her birthday last week I thought I’d make these Unfettered F-U-N . . . Rainbow Jelly Shooter! I found the COOLEST website for you Jello Shot fans It’s the Jello Shot Test Kitchen and she even has a book out.  Talk about elegant grown up jello shots, she makes the coolest one’s with not sight of a paper cup!

So I think I’m set on the cupcakes, pudding pops and the Jello Shots to be made.  I will sneak in some hot dogs along with items to make the s’mores.  Rick built them an amazing fire pit out of bricks.  It looks very pretty which is why Rick is not too pleased to be having me use it … lol.

On a plus side Rick is scheduled to work that day and he couldn’t get the day off, so he is going to take a personal day which is not ideal but hey it’s better then him not being there (which most times he has to work and only can be there for 1/2 the time).

So I’m still sick so I need all the prayers I can get right now for no rain and to be done with the cold!  Thanks again for all the well wishes you guys are just amazing!