Tangled Party - The Festivities (games and such)

Here is the rest of the party info... The games, the kids, the fun, you know, all that stuff.

 Here is the birthday girl getting ready for the party with her Auntie (lil' Sis)

She loves her Auntie sooooooooooooo much! 

Our first activity was painting and coloring while we waited for all of the guests to arrive.  The kids loved it.  They did such a wonderful job sharing the brushes and colors.

 Next we did 'Pin the Pan on Flynn"  A cute take on the old game.  The kids got a kick out of being blindfolded and sticking stuff to my walls!

Afterward each kid-o got to pick a small prize from the bucket.  I had all sorts of random things, bugs, key chains, notebooks, sticky-streatchy-rubber things.

 Then we did the Piníata.  Oh, the kids had such fun with that.  We had never done one at our house before but my girls had tried them at other parties so they knew the basic principal.  And we just had to use a frying pan, right?!? 

Everyone got a chance...

Even the littlest ones...

 Until it was finally payday!

 Next we decorated braided "hair" (yarn braids).

I was a little unsure about this project for all the kids, my kids love to craft and will sit for a long time quietly with me but I was unsure if other children liked crafting as much as mine.  But it turns out everyone wanted to do it, even spiderman!

I put clips in each braid so they could wear it after decorating with silk flowers and jewels.

Next was Happy birthday and cake and ice cream. 

Can I just share that I was not the most popular with all the moms, between the snacks, the cake and ice cream and the candy from the piníata they may have wanted to leave their children.  

Thats ok, I can take it!

And finally, the safest part of the party, time for everyone to leave, here was their take home

Chalk, because she colored with chalk in the town

water colors, because remember she was a painter

and a pinwheel, because I like them. 

Finally, after most of the guests left, we got to open presents.  

Whew!! What a day, the kids had sooooo much fun and I really love watching them.  

I think it turned out to be a great success!  

I think I need a nap!

-Sarah 

Baby Booby Beanie

I just made a new hat for lil' sis' and we were so in love with them I had to make more!

These are them.  I made them in three sizes.  

I wish I could share a pattern with you but I am really not so great at following patterns.  I just go, I pull out stitches a lot.  But it wasn't difficult.  Pick a couple of colors and go.  To make the nipple on top crochet three rounds without increasing your stitches, then start increasing like you normally would.  

 Heehee, They are just so stinkin' cute!  I wish I would have had one of these whey I was breast feeding.  

Lil' Sis' and Bobo got to be the models.  Bobo was more than happy to oblige.  However she was not impressed that we would not let her take it off.  She wanted to see it, play with it, stick her fingers through it.  It was a little bit of a fight but she got over it.  

We put them in our ETSY shop, I won't usually post about this but we were so in love with these!!!

-Sarah

A 'Tangled in Fun' Birthday Party... The Preparations

 Sophia just had her 3rd birthday party.  She wanted we did a Tangled birthday party.  Ok, maybe I helped her choose a party theme.  I am fairly certain this is the last year I will be able to 'help her' choose a theme.   Hey, she was excited.  And I think it turned out pretty cute.

As I was making my list of what I wanted to do for this party I absolutely had to try this cake tower.  There were several that I found on the internet but none that were actually all cupcakes.  I had to try.  

 Aside from the cake tower we had...

purple chocolate covered biscotti, 

chocolate covered rice crispy treats,

cupcakes, ice cream, lemonade, and candy.

In preparation we made ...

yarn lanterns, a wanted Flynn Rider piniata, tulle poofs, made yarn braids, and hung the sunshine banners.  (I found the sunshine banners, wanted poster and frying pan cutouts here.)

to make the yarn lanterns we...

made a slurry of water and flour.  About  a 2:1 ratio.  

wrapped the yarn around some old balloons.  I just did it around the middle of the balloons because I felt like it would make them look more like the lanterns in the movie but I saw them all over the internet with different shapes.  Some got long skinny balloons and wrapped the yarn around them, others just wrapped it around the entire balloon an drake a sort of ball shape.  Any of them will work just fine.  

Piniata

To make the piniata all I did was tape the Flynn Rider wanted poster on the front of a cereal box.  I then filled it with candy and hung it from the ceiling.  Super easy!

  We also had 'Pin the Frying pan on Flynn' game.  

Again, this was super easy, all I did was print the wanted poster, print the frying pans, cut them out, and done.  

The sun banners are just paper, ribbon and, staples.  Yep, you heard me, staples.  The link above will take you to the web site to print your banners.  

I think that is the majority of the preparations.  I will post about the actual party and games and such tomorrow.

-Sarah

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here it is...

The best ever super soft chocolate chip cookies.  EVER!

The cookies you've been looking for.  The ones that stay soft for days after you cook them.  They are perfect in every way.  I'm telling' ya!

My neighbor brought them to me as a thank you after Chalry brought her a bouquet of flowers at her Wizard of Oz party.  And they were the best, my sister had to go back for seconds, no thirds, I don't really remember, I lost track but I wanted, needed, had to have the recipe.  Thank goodness she shares her recipes.

Thank you Joann!  We love your cookies!  Later I will have to share with you her gingerbread cookies, also to die for!

I digress...

The recipe:

2 cups soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large packet (6.4 oz) vanilla pudding









Cream butter and sugar






























add pudding mix, eggs, vanilla, and salt
































blend flour and baking soda and add to mixture














Bake 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Ta-da!  Don't they look fabulous. 

Oh and they are soooooo good!  My family loves them.  

And like I said before, soft for days, If they last that long at your house!  

Well, I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

-Sarah

Happy Birthday Lil' Sis!!!

Today is Lil' Sis's birthday and I thought it was only appropriate to appreciate all that she does...

She hugs tired babies ...

 Plays monster...

 Makes sure everyone is warm enough (while wearing a tiara)...

 snuggles babies...

 And hugs...

And loves on babies...

All day every day!

She is a mommy, a wife, a housekeeper, the head chef of the residence, party planner, main entertainment, chauffeur, personal shopper, daughter, auntie and sister.  She is all these things rolled into one for her beautiful family.  My kids LOVE their Aunt Annie, they love spending time with her, they snuggle her and get excited every time she visits (which is not often enough according to them).  I always love spending time with my sister and just wanted to say, 

 Happy Birthday Lil' Sis!!

Love you, 

Big Sis

Homemade Applesauce

I really just love homemade applesauce.  Especially when it's warm.  

Ohhhhh..... it is so good.  I am really craving it just thinking about it.   

So I will just get right to it.  These are the ingredients I used in mine but you don thane to add the peaches or cranberries.  I thought the peaches would be a nice addition so I wouldn't have to add extra sugar.  

The Peaches are homemade last year in extra light syrup.  I drained all the syrup before I added them to the pot. 

Then I found some cranberries in the freezer and thought it would look pretty with a little red in there.  

The lemon juice is to keep the apples from browning.  

    

Ingredients:

4 of your favorite apples

1 jar peaches

1 cup cranberries

2 Tbsp lemon juice

again, you don't have to add the peaches or the cranberries but I did.  You can add an extra apple or two instead if you want.  (If you decide not to add the peaches you will need to add some water to the pot.  At least 2 cups and keep an eye on it so you don't burn the pan!  Speaking form experience here!)  The type of apple you use will determine the sweetness of the final product.  It's all up to you!  

Also, if you prefer cinnamon in your applesauce I would suggest:

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

So, through it all in the pot and let it simmer on low for 2-4 hours.  

OR

Through it all in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.  This is much less maintenance than the stove top.  Make sure you add enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pot. If you omit the peaches then you will need to add some water. (maybe 2 cups).

Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the final product, it was delish!  If you like a chunky applesauce then you can just mash it with a potato masher, if you like a smoother texture blend until your happy!

Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

-Sarah