Sometimes I get a little creative...

Recently, I've read a lot of blog posts that are either bashing holidays or parents who buy into the hype and go all out for even minor holidays. Some state that it's all commercialism, others state that it's just going overboard and spoiling the child. 

Yes, my daughter has an Elf on the Shelf... and I go completely crazy with exciting ideas for it...
Yes, we color eggs and have a bazillion plastic eggs to find on Easter... 
Yes, I find inexpensive deals on bulk items around Valentine's day (normally the day before) and make little goody bags for my daughter's classmates (and she helps!)... 
Yes, I stay up half the night trying to fold my daughter's Tooth Fairy money into unique little thingies (and F yes, the Tooth Fairy leaves a little note on custom made stationary that is cut out into the shape of a tooth)...
Yes, when my daughter says that she wants to be a certain super hero for some kiddie cosplay event I do my ebay/Amazon/thrift store magic and order/buy pieces parts to help her look like whomever she is trying to portray. Hell- if I have time I'll make matching costumes for Shayne and myself as well...
Yes, I'd make a leprechaun trap and hide gold chocolate coins.  This year I went ALL OUT on an adult St. Paddy's Day party and we had a blast.

Does this mean that I spoil my child?  I don't think so.  She's never thrown a gift down because it wasn't exactly what she wanted.  She, like any young child, has asked for things when we're out shopping, but doesn't freak out when she's told no.  She is grateful for the things she has and is very responsible.  Just the other day we were at the Dollar Store picking up some cheap frames and I saw her pick up a little stuffed bunny, pet it, and put it back (and didn't even ask for it).  Yeah, I got it for her.  You know why?  Because she patiently stood around while I rummaged through the stacks of frames looking for ones that weren't scratched and beat up for a good 10 minutes.  She even offered to help me find matching ones.  Another reason?  Honestly, because it made me proud that she DIDN'T ask for it.  Another?  Because we were at the frigging Dollar Store.  Maybe I spoiled my child by buying her the fuzzy little bunny (that was seriously super-adorable) for $1 as a reward for good behavior and being so helpful.

Anywho- so we were at the Dollar Store, picking out frames for this "project" I was working on.  It wasn't for a holiday or anything, just something I wanted to do.  I had made a shadow box about a year ago that says "Tickets Please" and we put ticket stubs from movies and concerts we have gone to through a little slot in the top.  It was stuck up on some wall, hardly ever noticed... I decided to get a bunch of pictures developed from concerts we had gone to and display those suckers around the "Tickets Please" shadow box.  It actually came out pretty great and I totally love it (and the fact that my cute little shadow box is now in the spotlight in our living room).

During the same weekend that the shadow box/picture project was taking place, we had our St. Paddy's Day party.  I'm going to say that at least 80-90% of the food ideas I found were originally found on Pinterest.  And we made it all.  Irish sushi, green deviled eggs, seasoned pretzels, rice crispy pops (that one is mine), etc.  Even though I was a little stressed, I had a fun time doing it and our guests absolutely loved the effort that was put into the party.

I also make fun little things for/with my daughter to help her with her spelling words and other homework that she may bring home.  We've made up flash cards and chopped them in half so that she had to sound out the first part of the spelling word and then sound out the second part of the word, but also make sure she was actually spelling a word.  We also do high-fives in the car as she recites her spelling words to me on the way to before/after school care.  Oh, and we use bath crayons for her to write spelling words and sentences using her spelling words on the walls of the tub.

I could go on and on about the random things we do... But it basically all points back to the fact that I'm a creative person.  I LIKE to make things and create things out of items that people wouldn't expect.  I LIKE thinking up fun ways to help my daughter learn and practice her school work.  I LIKE that we have stacks of construction paper and my daughter and I will just cut stuff out and make random things.  I also enjoy seeing what I can come up with for different ideas when holidays roll around.  Commercialism?  Eh.  Yeah, I buy some crap now and then, but that's not what does it for me.  It's the MAKING of things.  Stretching my mind and thinking of things a little differently to express the creative side of myself.

If you don't like the Elf on the Shelf... That's okay.  I could care less.  I think that creepy little thing is a blast!
If you don't like coloring and hiding Easter eggs and Valentine's day goody bags... That's okay, too.
You know what?  If you aren't creative (or don't feel like you are) or just don't feel like you have the time... That's okay!  I don't do what I do to impress you or make you feel inadequate because I find time to make this stuff... I do it because I like to be creative.  I do it because I love  it when my daughter joins in (or when I see her making her own creations on her own).  I do it because it's FUN to ME.  I'm not going to judge you because you don't get creative or you don't celebrate (or go a little crazy) on holidays.  I guess I'd kind of like to feel like I don't have to worry about being judged because I do like to get a little creative ;)

Eowyn's 6th Birthday

 PIRATE PARRRRTY!

Wow, I've really been doing a horrible job with keeping up to date with my blog...

Eowyn's 6th birthday was in August (2012) and she decided to have a PIRATE pAAARRRRty!  Well, she modified it to be a Pirate/Mermaid party because she didn't want any of her little girl friends to think it was too much of a boy themed party...

We sent out invitations asking our guests to dress up as pirates or mermaids and were happy to see that the adults got dressed up to :)

Grandpa 

Grammie

I also ordered some pirate water pistols, eye patches, pirate pouches, and bandannas ...and found time to sew some striped belts (complete with gold tassels).  Pirate Shayne (in the blue shirt and bandana) had a few things that the pirates had to do in order to be considered real pirates... AND to earn treasure (little pirate coins and plastic gems to put in their little pirate pouches).

 One of the first tasks that our little pirates had to complete was to get their pirate gear on.  

When Pirate Shayne said that we were the sorriest pirates he had ever seen... well... we showed him that we weren't afraid of him and squirted him with our pirate pistols!

Next, the girls had to prove that they had sea legs by competing in a peg-leg race!

Somehow, the birthday girl... errr... pirate lost her special pink pirate bandanna and found some fairy wings ;)  

I think the peg-leg race was my favorite task that the girls completed.  There were a few falls, but they were immediately followed up by uncontrollable laughter.

After receiving some treasure for completing the peg-leg race, the girls had to go on a treasure hunt at Turtle Island (Eowyn's little turtle sandbox).  There were coins, gems, and sea shells hidden in the sand.  Each girl had to find one of each item and show it to Pirate Shayne.

Finally, the lady pirates had to prove that they could break into any treasure chest they might find out at sea in order to find treasure.  So, there was a treasure chest pinata!

Since the ladies proved to be excellent pirates, Pirate Shayne gave Pirate Eowyn (aka the birthday girl) a special key to a special chest... 

The chest was filled with golden water balloons!  Which were promptly thrown at Pirate Shayne!  Arrrrgggghhh!  Mutiny!!!!

They even made him walk the plank into the kiddie pool!!!

For snacks, I made little pirate flag signs for "Peg Legs" (carrot and celery sticks), "Pirates Gold" (cheese cubes), "Canon Balls" (black olives... Yes, people ate them!), "Pirate Punch," and a pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) fruit salad in a watermelon that was carved into a pirate ship and had little orange wedge boats ;)  I think the fruit salad was labeled as "Pirate Treasure"... or some such foolishness.

Now, every year... every single year, I try to make some elaborate cake for Eowyn's birthday.  I've never taken any cake making/decorating classes and end up winging it... And I get super-frustrated and frosting ends up all over the house as I flail my spatula around in a fit of rage...  This year was no different, but since I was so impressed with my watermelon pirate ship, I was okay with how horrible the cake came out.  

I think that the best thing about this party was how much fun everyone had.  It was a very dreary day, but the rain held off until after the outside activities.  Normally, I'm running around so much that I don't have much of a chance to interact very much, but this year was totally different.  Many of the adult guests pitched in to help bring the rest of the food out, frosting the last of the cupcakes & finish blowing up balloons while Pirate Shayne, Pirate Grammie, Pirate Grandpa, and Pirate Mommy had an absolute blast with our lady pirates!

Thank you to everyone who helped make Eowyn's Pirate Party so much fun!!!

~Corissa

Eowyn's 5th Birthday

I just realized that I never followed up with how Eowyn's 5th birthday went :)

So, as you could see in prior posts, I had planned all sorts of fun games for our little guests, but once they got playing in the wading pool and the sprinklers, they really didn't want to do anything else :)

I did manage to convince the birthday girl and one of her friends to do the water relay.  They had a full bucket of water at one end with cups, spoons, sponges, and other things to use to transport the water to an empty bucket a few yards away.  At the end, both participants had the same amount of water in their "finish" buckets and were longingly looking back at the other children who were splashing in the wading pool, so we called it a draw and let them each pick a prize.

We also had our traditional pinata!  This year was a fishie!

I also, sadly, attempted to make Eowyn's cake.  I don't know why I do this to myself, but I plan something really cool and am always disappointed by the outcome.  I thought I did a great job with the "seaweed" and found some pearl colored Sixlets at iParty to use for bubbles, but the octopus ended up not being able to stand the heat and melted down.  Lol- it ended up looking like a purple sunshine =P

I'd have to say that the most fun was had with the water wars that the kids (and a few adults) had =)  water guns, water balloons, buckets, hoses... Water was flying everywhere!  And not one child got upset about getting water in their eyes or getting splashed.  It was a great day!

Devious little birthday girl!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Jello Shots

As I prepared the usual Jello Shots for our St. Paddy's day party, I decided that I wanted to try something new.  Since I'm pretty much addicted to Pinterest, I found a great idea from a fellow (and much more dedicated) blogger-That's So Michelle (http://www.thatssomichelle.com/2011/10/strawberry-jello-shots-in-mini.html).  I tried to adapt her recipe my desires...

Now, I will warn you that the finished product in these pictures are not exactly pretty, but they sure pack a punch.

Secondly, I plan to attempt this once I am able to find some silicon mini-muffin molds.  The use of the Press & Seal wrap in the metal mini-muffin tins cause a lot of frustration.  It didn't stick as well as I would have liked, so when I was trying to get the chocolate to form the shape I wanted, I had to contend with movement that wouldn't have been an issue if I could have used what I wanted to.


What you will need:

Glad Press 'n Seal
24 ct Mini Muffin Tin
24 plastic condiment cups (used by Jello Shotiers, such as myself, solely for Jello Shots)
1 Package (14 oz.) Chocolate "Make & Mold" Candy Wafers (I found a microwavable kind)
1 box of Cherry Jello
1 cup of hot/boiled water
1 cup of vodka 




First off, you will want to get two sections of Press 'n Seal.  As you press the Press 'n Seal in the depressions for the muffins you'll find that you end up with less than you thought you had.  Make sure that you start in the middle and have plenty overlapping on the top, bottom, and side.  Do the same to the second side.  It should look something like below.

Next, melt your chocolate.  I ended up tossing the whole bag in a microwave-safe bowl and kept heating it up at 10 second intervals and stirring until everything was all melted.  Pour the chocolate into the muffin tin (about 3/4 of the way to the top of each muffin).  


Then gently press one of the plastic condiment cups into the chocolate.  This is where it gets a little tricky...Because the Press 'n Seal doesn't stay as stuck to the tin as one would like, you may need to twist the condiment cup a little while holding the edge of the Press 'n Seal to make sure that your chocolate goes the way you want it to.

When you're done, pop them in the freezer for about 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Again, another tricky part.  Now you need to gently squeeze the condiment cups to get them out of the chocolate molds.  I found that if you gently squeeze all the way around the cup and then twist it, the cup will pop right out.  If the chocolate cracks a little, don't worry.  You can use some melted chocolate to seal any holes or cracks.

 As you see here, this cup has a few cracks near the top of the cup.  I just spattered some chocolate to make sure the cup didn't crack apart during the next step (make sure you put the cups back in the freezer for a few minutes to get any newly added chocolate to set).

Now you can gently peel your cups out of the tin.  I simply started at one edge and lifted the Press 'n Seal so that I could hold the chocolate cup with one hand and then peeled the plastic wrap off of it. 

Remove all of the chocolate cups and take the Press 'n Seal off of the mini muffin tin.  
Put the chocolate cups in the fridge or freezer to keep cool until you are ready to add the Jello (I put my cups back into the tin after I had taken the Press 'n Seal off).

The next step is to make your Jello.  As per the back of the package, boil one cup of water and mix in the Jello mix until it has completely melted.  Instead of adding cold water (as per the back of the box), you will want to add your cup of vodka.  Mix thoroughly.

Unfortunately, now comes the waiting game.  Pouring hot Jello into your chocolate cups will cause them to melt, so you will want to wait at least 45 minutes (I waited an hour) until the Jello cools to about room temperature.  The Jello should not set during this time, but I made sure to stir it a few times while I was waiting.  


About 5 minutes before I was ready to put the Jello in the chocolate cups, I removed the cups from the freezer.  I didn't want them to be too cold and possibly crack.

Now you can pour your Jello in your cups!  I found it was less messy to take each cup out and pour the Jello in it, then put the cup back in the tin so that it didn't tip and spill.

When you have filled all of your cups, put them in the fridge for a few hours.  

After the Jello has firmed up, you are ready to eat your yummy Chocolate Covered Cherry Jello Shots!

I had unfortunately grabbed a bag of DARK chocolate wafers, but my guests said they tasted great!  I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate, but found that the bitterness of the dark chocolate did cut down on the strength of the vodka ;)  Next time I plan to be a little more careful and READ the bag before I buy it... and also see if I can find some silicon mini muffin tins.  I DID try to find some before this experiment, but I think they're just a made up product that I assumed would have been invented for this very purpose... =)




~Rissa

Planning E's Fifth Birthday

So, Eowyn and I have agreed on having a water themed party.  She, as usual, wants something princess related, but I think I finally have her sold on the idea of something more water-based (purchasing a kiddie pop-up pool for her might have been an evil way of me persuading her...).  In doing some searching online, I have found some really cute games that the kids can play:



Game One:  Water Brigade

In this game there are two teams of kids.  They have to get the water from one bucket by using different items (sponge, spoon, measuring cup, etc.) to a bucket on the other side of the yard.  I am thinking of adding a little rubber ducky or something similar that floats so that the kids can see their progress as they run back and forth.  This seems like an easy game for kids of all ages to play =)

 
Game Two:  Cold Feet!

We will put a bunch of ice cubes in a smaller wading pool for the kids to retrieve and fill a bucket.  The trick is... they have to get the ice out of the pool and into the bucket using their itty bitty footsies ;)  I'm thinking it will be a good idea to put some of E's smaller chairs around the pool so the kids can sit down to do this ;)



Game Three:  Musical Sprinkler

This is just a variation of musical chairs.  Well... without chairs... and WITH water.  I guess this is more like freeze-frame, actually.  The kids dance and run around while the music is playing and the sprinkler is off.  When the music stops and the sprinkler turns on, the kids have to strike a pose and hold it until the music stops again.  Anyone who doesn't stop when the music stops/water turns on is out.
 
Game Four:  Water-balloon Volley


I'm still contemplating which way to go with this game.  One way is to just have the kids break up into pairs and toss the water-balloon to each other (taking a step back with each completed pass).  The other option is to use a towel in which a pair of children will hold the ends of the towel to use to catch and toss their water-balloon to another pair of children.   


Game Five:  Sponge Toss


This is another game that I am not sure exactly how we will play it...


Variation 1:  This game will be played with a small wading pool that has some Frisbees floating on top of the water.  The kids have to toss their sponges and try to get them to land on a Frisbee to earn points.

Variation 2:  Children are paired up and are facing each other (with a decent amount of distance between them).  Each child has a sponge and a bucket of water in front of them.  The object is to toss the sponge and get it in the opposite child's bucket.  I think I like this one more because there is more opportunity for the thrown sponge to soak the child on the receiving end ;)


Game Six:  Fishing

Wendy and I saw a cute little duck fishing game at iParty the other day.  It's basically just a small wading pool with some ducks that have loops on their heads.  It comes with a fishing pole that has a plastic hook that is used to "catch" the ducks.  

Throughout the party kids will have the option to play in the sprinkler and little wading pools.  I'm still trying to come up with some party favor and prize ideas that aren't too hokey (or expensive).  I've tossed around the idea of getting little sand buckets with some beach type prizes (and maybe some travel-sized sunscreen)...  I'm also trying to figure out invitations and decorations.  So far the game ideas seem relatively inexpensive, so I may be able to splurge a little more on prizes.  


Oh... and a cake... What kind of cake....  


It's okay... I'm just getting started ;)

E's Fourth Birthday

Eowyn's fourth birthday was, by far, the most elaborate party to date.  Since she and her friends were able to be more interactive we had more fun things we could do =)  

The theme this year was "Lady Bug Picnic."  I made up some invitations using a scene from the Lady Bug Picnic from Seasame Street (where the ladybugs are sitting around the picnic blanket with a big 4 on it).  We picked up a bunch of butterfly and bee wings at the dollar store for any guests who were without "bug" attire.  I also found some cute little plastic bug boxes online and used those as goody bags.  We filled them with little ladybug rings, temporary bug tattoos, a magnifying glass, some fake bugs, and bubbles.   

One of the games we played was the famous sack race.  This was a must to go with our Lady Bug Picnic ("They had 12 sacks, so they ran sack races... and they fell on their backs and they fell on their faces").

 

Even some adults joined in... though the pillowcases I picked up at Marden's were a bit small for the older guests ;)

 

Pinata!!!

 

We also had a castle for the guests to color.  This was supposed to be for last year's party, but it was hidden in a closet and forgotten about.  It was a hit anyways ;)

 

We had a tic-tac-toe game to play as well.  This worked well for the smaller guests ;)

  

These are my sad attempts at "bug" cupcakes.  I foolishly purchased some new dark tins and I didn't get the timing down for the cupcakes... so they look goofy... 

 

Cakie time!  I had a tin to make a football or Easter egg cake, so using each section separately worked well for two ladybugs ;)

 

 Eowyn got a ladybug pop-up tent that all the kids had fun playing in =)

 And the bubbles were a hit as well ;)