Beach (towel) Bunny

The Monkey went to a birthday party over the weekend to the Philadelphia Zoo.  How cool is that party?  We talked about what kind of gift she wanted to give her friend, and her first thought was a toy.  I don’t know about you, but our basement is full of toys – I don’t want to add any more clutter to someone else’s house. 

We already did the candy bouquet, so we went with the Bunny basket .  I found this picture on Pinterest , but it didn’t provide any instructions, so I just figured out what to do by looking at the picture.  I got all of the supplies at Target – one large beach towel, a pair of flip flops, a beach ball, a bubble wand, and a swimming goggles.

Here’s how I constructed the bunny:

Lay the beach towel out, and fold down the top half.  I placed the beach ball in the center of the towel.  Roll the towel as if you were rolling a piece of sushi (‘cause you do that often, right?).

Secure the bunny body with goggles (the goggles act like a rubber band).

Angle the flip flops at the top of the bunny’s heads so they resemble ears, and place them in the folds of the towel.

You can’t see from the picture, put I placed the large bubble wand between the ears.  I hoped to put a bow on it to make it a girl bunny, but I didn’t have enough ribbon on hand.  We put the card behind the ears to hid the wand.

I topped it off with a hair clippie I made.

There you have it.  A non-toy birthday gift!

Until next time.....

Treats For Your Feet(s)

Is it just me, or is planning a birthday party stressful?  It doesn't matter where you have it at -- the stress is still there.  Just trying to come up with the idea or "theme" of the party throws me over the edge.  The Monkey has celebrated her birthday in the past at the local rock climbing gym, the bowling alley, the movie theater, the farm, and at our house.  Let me state right now...never again will it be at our house, at least not until she is older.  Cleaning the house, preparing the food, asking kids not to jump on your couch, cleaning up the spills....ugh.  I am all too happy to show up somewhere, and allow them to take care of that stuff.  It's such a good feeling just to hand over some money, and walk away from the mess.

This past weekend, the Monkey celebrated her birthday a week early at Toot Sweet, a local bakery, and it was great.  She invited nine of her friends to come and decorate cupcakes.  The bakery prepared the cake according to her directions.  She wanted each guest to have two vanilla and two chocolate cupcakes.  She picked up the color frosting they would use, and we chose to upgrade the party to include fondant.  The package also included a 1/4 sheet cake, which she designed.  She may be watching too many reality cooking shows, because she drew her design on a piece of paper.  We met with the baker, and they worked out the details.  The baker said she has never had a kid do that before!

Tables were lined up, and each guest were given a their own apron and hat.  Then the fun began, for the girls and for me.  I didn't have to do anything!  In fact, I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather with my husband and my sister-in-law.  The bakery handles everything -- she explained what the girls were going to do, gave them directions and decorating ideas, and away they went.  They worked silently, and concentrated hard on their designs.  Once all the cakes were decorated, they were professionally boxed up and the girls got to take them home.

To put our own spin on the cupcake theme, I made sock cupcakes as party favors.  Search this idea on Pinterest, and you'll find a TON of ideas.  That's what I did.  Most tutorials will tell you to use the nice, comfy slipper socks.  I think these type of socks would be appreciated by an older girl, and not by the group of 9 year olds that attended the party.  These were pretty easy to assemble.  Here's what you need to do:

• Pair of socks (I found a 3 pack for $1 at the....dollar store)
• Tube of lip balm (I was able to find Blow Pop and Nerd flavored balm at the dollar store)
• Rubber band, or hair band
• Cupcake liner
• Tissue paper
• Ribbon

Lay the socks out, and then fold in half.  Place the lip balm at the "toe" end of the socks, and start to roll the sock from end to end.  You want the cap portion of the lip balm to show at the top of the socks, because this will act as the "cherry" on top.  Use the rubber band or hair band to secure the socks, and place in a cupcake liner.  I think that if you use the slipper socks, you won't have the gap that I had between the liners and the socks.  To help hide that gap, I used tissue paper.  I placed a small amount of paper around the "cupcake", and tied it with the ribbon.  Then I placed it in the liner.  Presto!  All done.

We also gave out some homemade hair bows, that had cupcakes on them.  I've been in a bow making mood recently, and the Monkey has been watching.  These bows were all her idea, and in fact, she made them (with a little help from me).  The cupcakes are actually buttons we found in the sewing section of the craft store.

One part of the birthday celebration now...another to go.  Her birthday is next week, so now we need to plan on her treats for her classmates.  Her request?  It has to be something we haven't done before.  Time to put on my thinking cap!

Until next time....

Birthday Candy Bouquet

It's birthday party season.  If you are a parent of an elementary school aged child, you know what I am talking about.  For those that don't, allow me to explain.  The Monkey is in a class that has just over 20 students in it, and she averages a party invite about every two weeks.  More often than not she ends up missing them, due to previous commitments.

But not today!  Today she went to a laser tag party (she's there as we speak) that included a chocolate chip cookie cake.  I'm not sure what she was more excited about -- the cake or the party itself.

I wanted to do something a little bit special for this friend, because she is a "good kid".  You know, she's the kid you want your child to stay friends with for as long as possible.  She's friendly, polite, kind, considerate....just a good egg.  I saw posts all over Pinterest for a candy bouquet, so I decided to make one for her.  Here's how you can do it.

Supplies

(I purchased all of these at the Dollar Tree, so this is not something that will break the bank)

4 boxes of movie theater candy, roughly all the same size

One block styrofoam

Package of crazy straws

6 regular size candy bars

Packing tape, glue, and a piece of cardboard

Line the boxes of candy up so that they form a square (sorry, for some reason I neglected to take a picture of this step).  Use the packing tape to tape the boxes together FROM THE INSIDE.  This way, the recipient will not see the tape.

Cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom of your "box".  I used an empty cereal box.  Line the candy boxes with glue, and attach the board.  You will need to allow the glue to set, so walk away and do something. 

Once the glue is set, turn your masterpiece upside down so the board is now on your workspace.  Place the styrofoam inside your candy vase.  You most likely will need to cut it to fit the space. 

Attach the candy bars to the crazy straws with a piece of packing tape.  If you don't have the straws, you can use a wood dowel or a ka-bob stick.  I thought the straws were a fun addition to the craft, and it was something that could be used again.

Once you have the candy bars taped to the straws, you can place the straws in to the styrofoam.  You want to place them as far down into the foam as you can, so they can be stable.  You don't want things to fall apart when you are giving the gift.

The styrofoam looks pretty ugly, so you want to fill up all of the empty spaces.  You can use more candy if you, like Hershey Kisses.  Or you can fill it up with strips of crinkled paper, or even Easter grass.  I had some tulle left over from when I made my niece a tutu, so that is what I used. 



Voila!  You are done.  You have now created your own candy bouquet.  My aunt told me that she found a store selling candy bouquets for $30, which is CRAAAZY to me. This cost me $11 to make, and I'm sure it could even be made for less money if I shopped around.

The birthday girl loved her gift.  The first words out of her mouth were....well, they were "Thank You".  Remember, I just gushed about how polite she is.  The second words out of her mouth were "AWESOME!".

Until next time.....

On My Honor.....

Yesterday was the 101st birthday of Girl Scouting.  It was on March 12, 1912, that Juliette Gordon Low registered 18 girls as the first troop of American Girl Guides (which became the Girl Scouts). 

Four years ago, the monkey came home from a school with a flyer announcing Girl Scout registration night.  I was never a scout (I remember going to one meeting, in a church, but that's it.  I guess it just wasn't for me at the time).  She asked if she could join, and I couldn't see a reason not to.  Registration was pretty cheap ($12) compared to what I heard the boys had to pay.

We went to registration night, which was held in the school's multipurpose room.  It was pure chaos!  Girls of all ages running around, laughing and having fun.  I signed the paperwork, and just as I was handing over the check, I was asked if I would be the leader.  Um...no thanks.  Not interested.  Two weeks past, and the troop still had no leader.  "If you want your daughter to have a troop, you will need to be the leader."  Really?  This is how it's done.  I was pretty ticked off, and just as I was going to say forget it, I looked across the room and saw the Monkey playing with the other girls.  "Yes, I'll do it".  I have since found out that this type of recruitment is called "Volun-told".

First year Daisy -- Kindergarten

I don't regret being a leader at all. In fact, I enjoy it.  Sometimes I think I enjoy scouting a bit more than my daughter.  But I do have a confession to make: Cookie season drives me nuts, and so does some of the political things that happen behind the scenes -- the drama that can happen between leaders and troops.  Sometimes an hour meeting can feel like three hours.  Sometimes I leave a meeting thinking what a disaster it was.  I ask myself  "Did the girls have fun?" or "Did that make sense?".

2nd year Daisy (First Grade).  I love how they don't have any teeth!

I put all those thought away the next week, when the girls come back for the next meeting.  They are full of enthusiasm, and eager to do the next activity.  They LOVE anything related to animals -- learning about them, caring for them, collecting supplies for them.  They LOVE group games -- the goofier the better.  They LOVE snacks -- eating them and making them.

Her first year as a Brownie, and her 2nd cookie season

The Monkey is a very compassionate person.  She has a ton of patience for those younger than her.  In fact, the principal of her school calls her Dr. Megan, and told me that he feels she will be a pediatrician one day.  She cares deeply for her friends, and for those that are in need.  I like to think that her involvement in scouting helped shape that in her.

2nd year Brownie, earning her pottery badge

I'll leave you with the words we say at the beginning of every meeting.

The Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:

To serve God and my country,

To help people at all times,

And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

Having fun at our Holiday Party

Until next time.....

Happy Birthday To You!

I’m saying this a day early --

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

I couldn’t be in person to celebrate her birthday, so I did the next best thing I could think of – I shipped her a “party in a box”. 

No party is complete without a cake.  Since I couldn’t figure out how to ship a decorated cake without it arriving in several pieces, I shipped her cake mix and frosting.  No cake would be complete without candles, and you can’t go wrong with festive napkins and plates.

I threw in some other odds and ends: gum, candy, lollipops, and sunglasses (she now lives in the sunny state of Florida.  One must protect their eyes).  I’m pretty sure if the Statue of Liberty celebrated her birthday each year, she would wear this birthday crown.  Hey New York --- think about it.

You can’t have a party without balloons!  I put money in each of these balloons, and used my lung power to fill them up with air.  If you do this, I suggest that you not over-inflate the balloons.   Remember…you need to fit them in a box with all your other goodies.

Lauren will be 19 tomorrow.  Holy crap!  Where did the time go?  I hope you have a good one Lu!

Until next time.....