January 14, 2011 4 Comments

half birthday cupcakes

I mentioned a few days ago that my little guy, who is a June birthday, would be celebrating his “half” birthday at preschool this week since all the winter birthday kiddos get to bring in snacks and celebrate during the school year. I think it’s really a nice gesture on his teacher’s part (thanks Mrs. England!). So although I found some wonderful allergy-free ideas (my little guy has a severe dairy allergy), I decided to go with what I knew his friends would like… cupcakes.

But then I was at a loss. I kept asking what “theme” he might want on his cupcakes and he just wasn’t excited about anything (something we’ll have to work hard on by his next birthday since I’m not sure what will beat his dino-roar party in the eyes of this dinosaur loving boy!). So at the end of the day I got silly. {wink}

He and all his little buddies got a cupcake and a half, or better a cupcake and a mini cupcake. His cupcake had the number four in his favorite color, blue (ooohhhh, these cupcake wrappers would go great with our deep blue sea collection too), on the large cupcake and his small cupcake was the half symbol (it still makes me smile!). And all his little friends got two cupcakes too. I’m sure the moms were loving me that afternoon!

The dots and the numbers were just fondant and I promise if you can use a cookie cutter you can make these yourself. You can find white fondant in the baking section of your craft store and I recommend gel food coloring if you want to tint it (it stains your hands so use a resealable plastic bag over your hands to massage in the food coloring). Just tint, roll it out like cookie dough, cut out your shapes and ta-da you have adorable cupcakes! By the way, for dairy free cupcakes, I used Classic Yellow Duncan Hines cake mix (with apple sauce in place of oil… just my preference) and Pillsbury’s chocolate and dark chocolate icing (that’s right, no dairy!).

As always, I hope you’re inspired!

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4 Comments Filed under: baking, cakes & cupcakes, deep blue sea, egg and dairy free, personal ramblings Tagged with: , ,
May 21, 2010 4 Comments

luau cookie placecards

the-celebration-shoppe_palm-tree-surf-board-cookie-placecard

We shot our new luau collection yesterday. As usual it was a lot of fun and a lot of work. And for those of you who follow me on Twitter or ”like” the shoppe on Facebook (links in upper left corner) you know we had a few cookie catastrophes yesterday. This beautiful palm tree cookie on the left took a nose dive off the table just after this shot. I admit that I mourned it for a few seconds before I could move on. And the surf board on the right suffered an attack from my 3 year old. At least that happened after the shoot was over. {Who could really blame him, right?}

This collection is truly beautiful and will be perfect whether for a child’s birthday, an adult summer get together or a destination wedding engagement party. I’m really excited to share all the details with you early next week. Until then, I thought I would share my luau placecard and favor idea. 

I picked up some tin pails at the local craft store (washed them really well) and filled them with brown sugar for my sand. I then iced these fun cookies and piped the guests’ names on. Not only are these a great way to mark your placesettings, but they’re also wonderful as a favor for your guests to leave with. I’ll post a pictorial on how to ice them in a few days with some tips on how to make them stand. (The cookie cutters will be part of the new collection coming to the shoppe early next week.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

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4 Comments Filed under: baking, deep blue sea, favors, luau Tagged with: , ,
September 8, 2009 1 Comment

DIY toss game

diy-toss-game

And last but not least for our deep blue sea bash, we made a toss game to match our party theme. The great thing about this is you could change the shapes and fabric to match any kind of party theme. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2 yards of coordinating fabric
  • 3 pre-cut squares of coordinating felt
  • plywood (or foam board if you don’t have a saw handy)
  • fabric glue
  • staple gun

And here are the super simple steps:

  1. Have the hardware store cut your board to size (3′ x 4′) and have someone handy with a saw to cut your circular holes.
  2. Cover the board with fabric using a staple gun.
  3. Next find the center of each hole, cut a small slit and then cut strips folding the fabric back to cover the hole sides and stapling them in place.
  4. Cut out a fish template from the felt and then a circle in the center, the same size as the hole in the board. Apply the fish with fabric glue.
  5. Finally cut out numbers for each hole and apply those with fabric glue.

We placed ours on an easel that my hubby whipped up, but you could lean it against a tree or make small wooden feet for yours. As for what to throw, use either balls or beanbags and hand out prizes for all those who play! Happy crafting.

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1 Comment Filed under: activities/games, crafts, deep blue sea Tagged with: ,
September 7, 2009 6 Comments

beach bash favors

beach-towel-favors

For my guys fifth birthday deep blue sea bash as the local Splash Pad, we gave monogrammed beach towels sporting crabs, whales, seahorses, octopus and fish to all his little guests. They were a big hit. I’ve thought about adding these types of favors to our shoppe… the verdict is still out, but I’ll keep you in the know! {wink}

The other shot I wanted to share was how we used a toy sand wagon to display our chips. Be creative, not everything has to be served on a platter!

wagon-turns-chip-basket1

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September 6, 2009 4 Comments

flip flop crispy pops

flip-flop-crispy-pops

For our deep blue sea bash I also made flip flop crispy pops. I’ve mentioned before that my youngest has severe food allergies and these are a great non-dairy (and non-egg) treat. They’re really super simple to make and a great end of summer treat even if you’re not having a party!

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Rice crispy cereal
  • Marshmallows
  • Butter (Smart Balance Vegan for non-dairy)
  • White cake icing 
  • Gel food coloring
  • Resealable bags (2 per color you plan to use)
  • Icing connectors, #4 and #103 Wilton tips (both easily found at craft stores)
  • Candy decorations
  • Wax paper
  • Lollippop sticks
  • Flip flop cookie cutter (available with our sleepover decor)
  • Toothpicks
  • Optional: Clear cello bags and ribbon

And here are the super simple steps:

  1. Lay out a piece of wax paper and grease your cookie cutter with a little bit of butter.
  2. Make your rice crispy treats like you normally would and as soon as you can stand to touch them, while they’re still hot/warm, mold them into the flip flop cookie cutter (making your top as flat as possible for easy icing), set them aside and let them cool. TIP: A little butter on your hands will keep the crispy treats from sticking to you! (One batch should yield 8.)
  3. Now tint your icing and separate each color into two bowls. One will be for flooding and the other for piping. We used green and blue to make them as boy-like as possible. {wink}
  4. Insert your lollipop sticks. You want to do this before icing them. If you wait your icing could crack.
  5. Insert your piping icing into a resealable bag with a #4 tip and connector. Pipe an outline, like you’re coloring a picture, around each flip flop you want that color and allow them to set for a minute. (Tip: You are creating a barrier for the thinned icing, known as flooding, so if you see any gaps between your barrier and your rice crispy, pipe in a little extra so that your thinned icing doesn’t run out.)
  6. Insert the second set of icing, the same color as the barrier, into a resealable bag and heat it 10-15 seconds or until runny. Snip a small corner off the bag and pipe it into the center of your flip flop. You may need to pull the thinned icing to the corners with a toothpick. Allow the icing to set if you want it to be one color, OR using another color of thinned icing you can drip (for polka dots) or drag (for stipes) while the first color is still wet.
  7. For the flip flop straps, use a #103 Wilton tip and start just next to where the big toe should be! {wink}
  8. Embellish with a candy; we used stars. And since my guy was turning five, we also piped a five on each flip flop.

Here’s another shot showing how we displayed them in sand buckets!

flip-flop-bucket-treats1

Just be creative and let the kids join in. It’s a little messy, but super fun! Oh, and we made some shark, fish, turtle and seahorse chocolate pops too using a Wilton candy mold and colored chocolates.

chocolate-fish-pops

I’ll share our splash bash favors with you tomorrow! Happy baking everyone.

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4 Comments Filed under: baking, deep blue sea, egg and dairy free, july 4/memorial day Tagged with: , ,