Princess: Princess Party

Saturday, June 30, 2012 No comments
 Princess Blythe came to visit at the end of May.  We spent the week spending time with the whole family, but I had her over with my cousin, mom, and myself to eat a special dinner while her Nana and Dad spent some time eating their own dinner together.  Blythe loves everything princess, and this seemed like an easy enough thing to throw together on a weeknight.  I bought enough pink and tiarras to make my house look a little bit like the inside of a pepto bismol bottle.  I had her Mom pack her a special dress, and we all 'dressed the part. 

I strung beads from my chandelier and covered the table with paper we could color on top of with princess crayons.
I served food appropriate for a three year old-yogurt parfair, applesauce with sprinkles, fairy bread, tiara shaped pb and jelly sandwich, fruit snacks, sugar cookie wands we decorated, and cupcakes with mini crowns.  I had asked her a few days prior to the party if she wanted to know what we were going to do at the party and she said, "Eat cupcakes."  Whoops, I hadn't planned that, so....I quickly added them to the menu.
I wrapped the silverwar and wands up with a candy bracelet.
Crystal light with star ice and wands, I blogged about all the sources yesterday for the food.

Party activities.
Wand making station.

Cookie decorating pro.
Cookie eating pro too.
We decorated a frame with stickers so she can 'remember' out fun night together.

Princess: What Princesses Eat

Friday, June 29, 2012 No comments
 What do princesses eat for dinner?
 When you are dining with three year old princessess....pink lemonade with star shaped ice cubes (from a mold I bought and blogged about here), crown shaped pb and jelly sandwiches, made with the help of a cookie cutter, fairy bread (I blogged about Tuesday), princess fruit snacks, yogurt parfaits topped with candy rings, apple sauce with sprinkles (saw this on BHG muffin tin princess meal), cupcakes with mini crowns, and diy want shaped sugar cookies. 
 Fairy Bread
Cookie decorating station I blogged about Wednesday.
 Happy party guest.

Princess: Favor Frames

Thursday, June 28, 2012 3 comments
 Blythe is too young to remembe a lot of the times we have shared so far.....and I know we have years ahead of us to create memories, but I love pictures, and I love how they help us 'remember....even when we don't 'remember.'  I recently had her over for a princess themed dinner when she was in town, and at the end of the night I gave her this wooden frame I had painted pink and I let her bedazzle it with some stickers I bought.  I added a picture from the night to keep in the frame to 'remember' the times we shared, and the times ahead. 

Princess: Cookie Wand Making Station

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 1 comment
 Every party needs an activity or two.  I cooked some slice and bake cookies and inserted a popsicle stick before they hardened.  The deal with slice and bake is that you have to bake them as cool as possible (and I had to add a bunch of flour to roll and cut them), and they still sort of come out like a blob.  Here is a great sugar cookie recipe that doesn't do that, but....I was working on a time crunch, and these held up well. 
 I used a bunch of pastel sprinkles left over from Valentine's Day and some canned icing I dyed pink.
 And Blythe got to work making wand cookies for the rest of the subjects in her kingdom.
 It was intense work.
 Every good cook test the food before sharing it...

Princess: Fairy Bread

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 1 comment
 I was googling ideas for easy things to serve at my princess dinner because I have a big girl job that really cuts into my play time on work nights.  I saw the recipe for these on all recipes, and according to the site it's pretty common in Australia.....I can't confirm that, but I can confirm these little twirls are yummy, and work night easy.  Basically, you butter a piece of bread (edges cut off, and I used promise spread), add a bunch of sprinkles....
Twirl, and slice into bit size pieces.  I put these on the decorative toothpicks I made and blogged about yesterday.  So.....toast....with sprinkles.  Anything and everything in life is better with sprinkles.  I can confirm that too. 

Princess: Toothpicks

Monday, June 25, 2012 No comments
 So.....I had a princess themed dinner with Blythe came into town last month.  Despite my cousin and his wive's best efforts to suppress the princess passion when Blythe was little, she naturally gravitated towards all things girlie as she grew.  We got to spend the first half of the week with the whole family, and I was able to host a Patriotic feast I'll be posting about soon, but towards the second half of the week Mom and Jonathan had to fly home while my cousin and Blythe remained, and I stole her away for a girl's night. 
I have a whole princess themed menu to share, but I knew I needed some special, girlie touches to serve up these 3 year old approved dishes.  I looked for some fancy toothpicks, but could not find what I needed, and decided to make my own.  For 50 cents, I had some pretty snazzy picks.  I found a string of beads at the craft store for 50 cents.  I just made sure the hole was big enough to slip on the end of a toothpick. 
 I hot glued my picks in place.....and ta da.....bedazzled toothpicks! 

Shutter Photo Display

Saturday, June 23, 2012 No comments
 Add old shutters to the list of things I'm obsessed with.  My house looks like a junk yard with a coat of paint with all sorts of weird pieces of wreckage from homes. 
I acquired this shutter via my friend, Terry, whose sister has something to do with house remodeling and gives her these treasures all the time.  Terry takes them and paints winter scenes on them and sells them, and maybe I'll do that someday, but first, I needed a little bit of heighth on one of my end tables, and it makes a great place to pin up pictures. 
I grabbed a glossy can of black spray from the store, and gave it a coat. 
 I pinned up some of my favorite vacation photos with some clothes pins I made here.  I like this approach b/c I can replace these photos easily as I continue traveling.  I can also pin phone messages etc and little reminders to myself. 
Now I'm off to figure out what to do with an old sheet of ceiling tile! 

Crack Potatoes

Friday, June 22, 2012 2 comments
My pal, Sarah, shared this recipe for Crack Potatoes that she discovered at Plain Chicken's blog.  I love trying out new potato recipes when my extended family comes over.  I don't know why, maybe because it's the only time I can really find an excuse to prepare creamy potatoes and partake without having to use words like 'gluttony.'  I mean, I use them, but we all have to, so I'm amongst friends....or is it sinners?  Whatever the answer, these were simple to put together, and my family wanted the recipe, which lets me know it was true success.  I'm attaching the full recipe, but I halved these, and it still was enough for 6. 
Crack Potato Recipe
Mix 32 oz of sour cream, 2 c. of cheddar cheese (shredded), 6 oz of real bacon bits, 2 pkgs of ranch dip mix, 1 large bag of frozen has brown potatoes. 
Spread in a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes (with only half the recipe, 45 minutes was plenty of time).