VBS to the Resue ... No "Calgon take away" but this sure will!!

As most of you know I work from home so the summers get a little hairy, or should I say eye rolling and pulling of hair (and Heck that is just me, we don't want to even go into what the boys are doing).  I wait every summer for VBS season to come around.  I can't believe I missed the last one of June, I really almost cried we missed a week.  I LOVE the boys get to have a fun adventure and that I get to have peace and quiet to make calls.

1st week of July with the 4th meant no VBS sch, so we had to wait for last week for our first week!  It was fab it was really close to the house and the boys loved the VBS being about Aviation this year (each year there is a new theme and most Church's go with it).  This week is a Lutheran church down the road it's a little further but a few of the kids from Cole's school was there since his school is a Lutheran school.  We have 3 more weeks of VBS.  This mom is doing some cartwheels ... ok if I could get my butt up over my head I would!  Thank you to all the wonderful churches that put on these VBS's and I plan to bring in canned goods or donations whatever it is!  Whoo HOO!

Oh and in two weeks Cole will be going to a WHOLE week stay over night with our church.  I'm so freaking excited for him, and maybe a little jealous of not going when I was young.  He is going to have such a blast!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, I hope to finally clean my house since we have no parties this weekend.  Lord be with me this place is looking scary.  Cinderella has returned to take care of the duties ... lol.

MY new obsession ... Won-ton Wrappers!

I have been on a HUGE won-ton wrapper recipe kick.  I knew how usual they could be and how they make a simple meal fun and and interesting!  Here are two of my newest recipes I found using won-ton wrappers. 

Here's a peak at what I made:

First off from my favorite site Emily Bites she has TONS of recipes using won-ton wrappers. My newest try of her's is the Cheeseburger "Cupcakes".  It was a simple recipe to make on a family favorite.  I didn't have mustard so I added in a tsp of relish to give it a little kick.  Click on the link for the recipe.  You can do it my way and skip mustard or leave it in!

Next on the list to make was one I've seen over and over but haven't made until tonight.  It was a HUGE hit with Cole and my dinner guest loved it too.  This Chocolate-Banana Wonton was found on the Weight Watcher Website, Click on the link for the recipe.  This was a super simple recipe to make.  I used regular chocolate chips since I didn't have mini's on hand.  I also used banana's that were either be bread or trash.   It was a simple 3 ingredient recipe that was so yummy!

I hope you fall in love with Won-ton Wrappers like I have!  Have a wonderful day!

Shark Bite Bash ... Is that like the Monster Mash?

Ok I had to go with it, it rhymed and made me laugh!  Yesterday I showed all the treats for the party now to show the party itself.  Our day started with rain and grey skies, I kept prayer for good weather!  I worked the am and then hit the ground running.  I thought I was good packed the car and forgot to make my salad, knowing I couldn't make it at my mom's I ran back in the house and made it.  I of course made a double batch that ended mostly in the garbage (note to self DON'T over do it next year).  I then got on the hwy to remember I forgot all the ingredients for the punch (CRAP).  I pull over and can't find my phone for the life of me.  Then I remember I forgot all the meat too! REALLY!  I drive up to my parents house set up the table and have an hour before the party, of course find my phone (only if I would have found it a 1/2 hour before I could have caught Rick at the house).  So I have to drive the hour (1/2 hour both ways) to my house to get everything I forgot!

Thank God I made it to the party with 5 minutes to spare.  Thankfully the grey skies part and the sun starts to come out.  People showed up and we had a blast laughing and enjoying the day.  It was perfect with great friends.  My homemade bubbles did end up somehow being used to clean the buoys but after a little annoyance I had to just let that one go.  Every party has moments where you want to scream but you have to just put it aside and yell it out later.  All the hard work you put into may not always be appreciated but you know what you did and that is all that matters!  And a party full of kids of all ages may just drive everyone a little cranky too ... hehe.

Here are some great pictures of the day!

Here is the Tables all done up.

ALL Links on how to do in this POST:

Play time for all!

Lot's of fun times! Bubbles & Food!

And Some Dock Time:

The Slide got LOT'S of use!

Poor Caden tried and DIDN'T go down :(

Lot's of Swimming!

Rick took the kids for rides on the Jetski!

He took them all for the same amount, but that of course went over like a lead balloon with some .. lol.  

Poor Rick's patience I think were tested.

Lot's of Sweets!

And lot's of love time!!

And Some S'More time also!!!

It REALLY turned out great and we had so much fun!  The ups and downs and little moment's of wanting to pull my hair out is over and well worth it!

Google Drive with some templates for this party.

I swam with the Fish ... AND the Shark Won!

Well I did it I made it threw the shark birthday party for Caden, with only a few shark bites ... lol!  I am so glad I have a great friend that came over on Friday and helped me make all the last minute items.  

So hold on it's going to be a long one!  NOT to overwhelm this post with tons of recipes and instructions I'm including links so click on the name of the item and it takes you to the site I found the item from (I'll include any notes tweaks I did here).

Shark Bait Goodie Boxes

(Seen in my previous post click name for instructions)

Along with the Beach Themed Napkins

(same post as above for the boxes)

Now onto the new things you haven't seen yet!  Fist we start out with the Shark Cupcakes!  I made Paula Deen's red velvet Cupcakes (I know but you got to love blood color right?).  I then made up some Wilton Cream Cheese Icing I did this one because it's stiff and I knew would hold up since the party was outside.  I wanted a blue like the ocean, I'm using Wilton Icing Colors which are gel not the liquid drops.  I recommend Gel colors over liquid easier to use and they look so much nicer!  I melted Wilton Candy Melts in Black. TRUST me when I say buy these melts instead of melting white chocolate and adding color.  I have wasted more money this way and it become a HUGE glob and not a smooth texture like you need.  I picked up on Amazon a silicone ice mold for the shark fins and just put my chocolate in it.  Let it set up and it popped right out (be careful you don't want to break the tips).  I decorated the red velvet with my piping bag and the blue frosting and topped with  a shark fin!

Shark Fins

Shark Cupcakes

Next on the list was with the rest of my red velvet mix I made some Cake Pops!  My MIL bought me the Cake pop pan so I put the left over batter in there and got to work!  I find if you put them in the freezer they are easier to work with!  I again to the chocolate melts this time in blue, cut off the top off the cake pop and dipped in the chocolate.  We swirled it around and then added a shark fin on top!

Shark Cake Pops

Next on my list was some punch!  I picked on Amazon up this Wilton shark ice mold kit and it came with an easy punch recipe!  

All you Need:

Ginger-ale

Sherbet (Raspberry)

Raspberries

And mold

* I couldn't find Raspberry Sherbet so I subbed with lime and no fresh Raspberries so Frozen.  No one complained! 

Caden loves bubbles so I made up some quick homemade bubbles and found some wands at the dollar store to make a bubble station!  Sadly my bubbles ended up being used to clean things at the dock, but that is a whole different story and I won't dwell on it anymore. So for homemade bubbles who knew the key ingredient was Corn Syrup?  I found a great recipe that was easy with stuff I had in the house on the blog Under the Sycamore.

Next on my list was to make some shark Jelly, I saw on Come Together Kids.  All I could find in the blue jell-0 ws this Berry Blue it was a great blue but was rather dark so you couldn't see the sharks. BUT it was still cute and the kids loved them (heck even the adults did too!). 

I found these amazing lollipops that reminded me of the sea and blue theme I was going for.  I found them at Walmart in the baby section for boys.  I took a pail I found at Walmart (97 cents) added some foam that I found at the dollar store ($2 total) and stuck the lollipops in!

Next was the shark cake for my amazing friend April came over in the nick of time and craved this out for me!  I started with a Red Velvet Pound Cake on Carrie's Sweet Life.  April also let me borrow her Wiltons Cake Release, it sure did help getting the cake out easy!!  The Shark Cake on the Parenting.com site was pretty easy to follow from their diagram on the website.  I made up some Butter Cream frosting and added LITTLE black gel color to make it grey.  We used the left over blue from the cupcakes to make the blue water and added some of the gummy sharks and a few of the chocolate fins that bottoms broke off and couldn't be used.  You can always use store bought but I wanted red (for blood ... I know).  We skipped the fruit leather for the mouth since the cake was red and we just didn't frost around it.

I found some star silicone mold at Walmart for clearance $3, melted some more chocolate melts in blue and done!

Next on my list was the watermelon shark.  My friend April was again amazing and craved this little guy out in like 45 minutes.  I was going to add some Jell-O at the bottom and place some gummy sharks but it didn't set up so it went as is :).

And last we have the Eggs my friend April made.  She added some Sliced bell peppers to look like shark fins coming out of them!  We saw the idea of Sailboat Eggs and made it into our shark them!

Phew I'm pooped!  It was a great party and it seems like the theme was a big with all who showed and we were left with very little to take home!  I'm so excited that it went over so well.

Google Drive with some templates for this party.

Shark Invasion Week Has Begun ....

As most of you that know me by now, know that I'm all about making a party a theme!  We did the Lego Party and Now my youngest Caden has opted for a Shark Theme.  Who knew Shark would be a harder one to do?  I did find lot's of ideas but wasn't able to find all the silicone molds that I wanted to do the crayons, chocolates and gummies like I did last time.  I have been making do and came up with a cool way to do the shark fins, I'll show those off soon!  

I started on the easier items last night and wanted to share my results so far.  Thanks again to Pinterest and Google for some great ideas.  First off is to make these cute napkin rings.  Easy items you can even find at the dollar store (oh yes you know I'm budgeting it all!).

The Princess and The Frog did a Sailboat theme party where she made these beach theme napkin rings.  I thought it would be perfect with our Shark theme!  I plan to put them in a beach sand bucket that I picked up at Walmart (for 96 cents).  I picked up a few of these to serve our guest treats!

Beach Themed Napkin Rings:

1pkg Blue Napkins (Walmart 96cents) 

1pkg Lifesavers (Walmart $1.76)

1 Roll Twine (Walmart 1.76) - I'll have extra for the hubs

1 pkg Plastic Cultery Set (Dollar Store $1)

Now I don't usually do goodie bags but since I don't have a lot of fun little things I thought why not make some.  I saw a picture on Pinterest that lead to a flickr photo of a Shark Bait Party Favors.  I took her idea an ran with it, there were no directions so I thought I can do this ... hehe!

Shark Bait Goodie Boxes, What you Need:

Boxes (Walmart 50 cents)

Goldfish Individual Bags ($5 for 12)

Whale Chalk (Walmart $1 for 4)

Fish Chalk (Walmart $1 for 4)

Saltwater Taffy (Walmart $1 - separated into the boxes)

Sweedish Fish (Walmart $1 - separated into the boxes)

Sea Water Squirt Toys (Dollar Store $1 for 3)

Sm Sea Water Squirt Toys (Dollar Store $1 for 8)

8x10 Avery Shipping Labels

Inkjet Printer

I have shared the template for the stickers HERE if you would like to use it.

Print the sticker on the Label I used my paper cutter and then took the back off the label and applied to the boxes I bought.  I then loaded the boxes up and we are ready to go!

More to come, I will be baking cupcake, cake and cake pops tonight and will decorate them with my helper (My dinner friend).

Google Drive with some templates for this party.

For the Beer Lover, A gift!

My friend's birthday was the other day, I wanted to do something special for her.  She is so sweet and always shows up to events thrown for me.  I knew she liked beer but that is so not my specialty (Give me baking any day).  So I thought why not make up a gift basket of things I know my dad would like since he is a beer lover also.  I've seen other baskets on Pinterest but not exactly what I was looking for so I ran with it.  I of course wanted to add something to do with baking (kind of my signature ... lol).  I found on The Good Wife's blog a recipe for Beer Bread that you can put in a mason jar, add the directions and they can bake it.

I started out with the gift jar:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and herb seasoning

12 once beer at room temperature

Directions to make:

~Mix all the ingredients and pour into greased pan.

~Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm.

I put all the dry ingredients in the mason jar.  Typed up a little note with the directions and all she needed was a 12 oz beer (which was included in the basket I was making).  Found a nice glass of beer picture in the clip art and printed on card stock, added another card stock behind it to make it have a nice little flair to it :).

For my gift basket I made, You Need:


Basket - found it at Walmart for $5
Beer (your Choice, I picked up Raspberry Shock Top - Found out it was her fav!)
Peanuts
Pork Skins
Pretzels
I made some Homemade Caramels
Added in my Beer Mix Gift Jar
(You can switch it up, I just grabbed some fun things that remind me of a good bar)

Have a wonderful day, and hope you have someone you could make this for.