monster pops

My ballerina is performing in Peter and the Wolf this weekend along with some Monster Dances.  She loves her ballet friends so we made some monster pops that she can take to her last rehearsal in the studio.  These pops coordinate with the wild monster costumes, somewhat! :)

monster pops
1/2 cup butter
8 cups mini marshmallows
10 cups crispy rice cereal

Prepare 9x13 pan by spraying with cooking spray, lining with wax paper and spraying again with cooking spray.
Melt butter over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted and well coated.
Press evenly and firmly into the 9x13 pan.  We used the back of a plastic measuring cup to press evenly and firmly.  Let cool.
Meanwhile, color vanilla icing and put each color into the corner of a ziplock bag and snip a little hole in the corner.
When crispies are cool, take them out of the pan and slice into rectangles.  Insert a lollipop stick into each one.
Decorate with icing and monster eyeballs!  Store in an airtight container.

rice krispy treat stoplights

Some might think 3 pinewood derbies in a week might be overkill.  Not my son.  He won 1st place in his den, 3rd place at our ward derby and 3rd place at districts.
For our ward party those who didn't race could enter the dessert derby.  I made the rice krispy treats and my daughter decorated a cake.  She won 3rd place with her cake.  I did not win.
I'm assuming no recipes are needed here.

bloom where you're planted

I wasn't sure I wanted to go to Activity Day Recognition Night because I was tired (it has been a LONG school year) and my daughter didn't want to stand in front of everyone and explain in what way she had bloomed this year.  I'm glad we went because her leaders put so much time, effort and love into the activity.  I walked in and felt so happy.  The girls made the flowers the previous time they met and the cups of dirt were so cute it was almost enough to get me to want to eat one.  
I won't post a recipe because my family's favorite dirt recipe is already on this blog.  I wanted to post how cute this activity was in case I am ever serve in Activity Days again. :)

candy piano

We had a La La Land party because we had some celebrating to do so I looked online for party ideas and found this easy piano!  I didn't know where to find white chocolate kit kat bars so I texted a friend and what do you know- with her help I found them on the first attempt.  That's something to sing about.  (Tip:  Fred Meyer)

candy piano (makelifelovely.com)
white chocolate kit kat bars
mini kit kat bars 

All you do is line them up on a tray- as long as you want.  This made a really easy alternative to a birthday cake!!

it's about LOVE- ward party

Primary is in charge of this activity and it's going to be a fun one- we just set up this morning.  Our ward congregation is going to enjoy an ice cream buffet followed by a service project.  For the service project, in the RS room we've set up a cookie/candy buffet with cellophane bags and gift tags so we can assemble goodie bags for friends and neighbors.  There are enough bags so that 100 can be distributed after the activity.  All we need to do before the activity is put toppings into glass pedestal dishes that we made for the last ward activity we hosted and set of the ice cream, warmed Nutella and whipped cream.  I am hoping for a good turn out!
(I made 100 paper flowers using Martha Stewart kits I found 80% off on clearance at Michael's.  That find was meant to be!) 
 

woodland animals baby shower

My daughter was invited by a friend to help prep for a baby shower and my daughter had a blast helping.  You can see why!  I asked for some pictures because I knew something fantastic was happening and I knew I should file away these ideas.  I love the woodland creatures theme.  My daughter's favorite part was helping with the hedgehog dip.  Super cute!  One day...

stormtrooper party favor

This is the stormtrooper party favor minus the blue mylar star balloon that will be attached.  What's the party?  We're going to watch Star Wars Episode 7 outside.  On a big screen.  Probably not under the stars because of the "storm" that we're having but we'll be outside nonetheless.  Hopefully we'll get a little rain, thunder and lightening to add to the affect.

flip flop cookies

A cute girl I know is having a swim party tomorrow so I'm getting ready.  These were too cute not to make and they're sure to not be a flop.

flip flop cookies (you can find the all over the internet!)
Nutter Butter cookies
icing, colored
red hots, mini m&m's or whatever!

Lay out your cookies, pipe some icing onto the cookies and place a red hot where the lines meet.
Aloha!

pirate party

We enjoy parties and it was time for a pirate party- AArrgg!  The cake was almost too simple to make and since this party was for kids I used a box cake mix and two tubs of blue raspberry icing (I'd say yuck! but the kids loved it so it was a good move).  My son crushed up some graham crackers for an island and loved placing the sharks in the water ever so meticulously.  It was a busy day so last minute I had the idea to make the apple sailboats with salami sails.  We threw in a tattoo parlor, pin-the-eyepatch-on-the pirate a treasure hunt and some pirate t-shirts and called it a day!

do you want to build a snowman?

My daughter went to a Frozen party this afternoon and had an amazing time.  She brought back "Olaf", a decorated snowflake sugar cookie, coloring pages, paper dolls, etc.  For dinner they had pasta with alfredo sauce (snow).  What a great party!  Just the other day my mom's first grade class had a Frozen party at the park and had a marshmallow fight.  My kids would love that!!

do you want to build a snowman? (my daughter made it)
3 marshmallows (2 for the body, 1 for the head)
2 pretzel sticks (arms and hair)
2 mini marshmallows (feet)
2 mini chocolate chips (eyes)
4 blue jolly ranchers (blocks of ice)
orange gum drop (torn to look like a carrot nose)
icing (for glue)

party idea: fancy nancy

It was time for a Fancy Nancy party!  Five very fancy young ladies attended the party.  We enjoyed hors d'ouvres (raspberry lemonade, cucumber sandwiches, cheese & crackers, embellished celery sticks, fruit kabobs and poppy seed muffins), read Fancy Nancy stories, took a trip to the King's Crown for parfaits and played the game "Packing for Paris".  The girls left with party bags and the decorations- roses and balloons which made for a cost effective and quick clean-up!  You've got to try the raspberry lemonade, my new favorite party drink.

party idea- cars 2

We had a family party and invited a best friend to keep it simple- it turned out GREAT!  I highly recommend simple.  : )

summer shower

My friend Becky is having her 3rd baby very soon and as you can see her shower was amazing!  I didn't have to do much- I made a quilt which was hung from the trees (it didn't even coordinate with the theme-oops!) and threw the cheese platter together.  Kara provided the gorgeous outdoor backdrop and lots of friends came together to make the shower happen.  Look at the fun cupcake stands, cupcakes and pinwheels Lydia made.  I sat next to her last night hoping her creative juices would somehow rub off on me.  See the beautiful fresh figs?  I'd never had a fig before so I took one home and tried it.  It was delicious!!  Summertime in Oregon is magnificent.
Credit:
Cupcakes, stands, caprese salad and pinwheels: Lydia
"Baby Shower Cookies" : Lindsey M.
Figs: Kara
Curry Chicken Salad (with coconut and all sorts of good stuff): Cherie

summer potluck ideas: aloha!

Summer potlucks are so fun!  Today I helped host a Hawaiian theme potluck lunch.  I made smoked pork with rice and you can see that some of our guests came up with some great ideas to share:
Aloha Burgers made by Angeli
Flip-Flop Cookies made by Lindsey S.
Zucchini Pineapple Bread made by Dee-Anna
Fruit Kabobs (not sure who made them but they were the prettiest I've seen and super tasty)
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the quinoa mango salad made by Lindsay P. that everyone raved about but you can find a photo and recipe at Best Bites.
There were a lot of people and a lot of good food; these were a few that caught my fancy.

nautical potluck

Lydia is awesome.  She said she had been wanting to throw a nautical-themed party for a long time and asked if I wanted to help.  I had heard rumors about Lydia's parties so of course I wanted to be involved...and learn from the master.  Mostly I tied up forks and napkins with baker's twine and Lifesavers as she suggested and made some deviled egg sailboats.  The rest of the time I sat back in awe.  There's something magical about this woman and the amount of STUFF she has on hand ready to decorate any and every surface.  There were whale garlands, old glass bottles, shower curtains, lace tablecloths, bolts of shimmery fabric, darling striped straws, pearls, gems, etc.  When we sent out the invitation we asked that guests get onto Pinterest for ideas for the potluck dishes they would bring.  They did not disappoint us.  Just look at that darling crab tuna salad sandwich and the orange boats sitting on an ocean of J-ello.  It made lunch SOOOO fun.  The next potluck is scheduled for early next month.

Credit:  J-ello- Lindsey M., Crab tuna sandwiches- Courtney V.