The Secret Life of Pets Inspired Party

An other party come and gone. This one we used 'The Secret Life of Pets' as our inspiration, it was such fun. The party was complete with a scavenger hunt where the kids had to dig for the treasure. 

A favourite these days seems to be Oreos dipped and covered with sprinkles. I usually use candy melts but this time I used white chocolate, I personally found that the candy melts work better. It might have been that the chocolate was too warm so the sprinkles would run on me at times.  

I bought some dog dishes to serve our food in, how fun is that?

Some dog bone sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle) served in a dog dish.

Cupcakes with creme cheese icing is truly the best. I found sheets of wafers, which were the perfected added touch to my cupcakes. 

And more sugar cookies and, of course, homemade marshmallows - they are the best!

I try to keep things simple, so this year I bought white cup, stickers and washi tape. I had the paper straws from a previous party and the colour happened to work great. I used a sharpie to write the kids names so they would which cup was theirs.

And finally, the cake. I did a store bough cake mix (gasp - I know!) this time. I have found that the kids will actually eat it rather than the homemade ones even though the homemade one tastes 10x better. Cream cheese icing as always, more wafers, oreo coookie crumbs for dirt and smarties. This cake has 3 layers and the bottom 2 layers had a circle but in it so that I could fill it with more candies. Such a fun surprise when you cut into the cake.

A Carnival Party Celebration

We did a carnival themed party this year, how fun is that. I don't think I've ever bought so much candy before. I made the kids each a candy skewer that they could take home, well actually 2 for each child. These were super easy to make.  I will admit that getting the candy on the skewer wasn't always the easiest.

To me carnival says 'colourful', so that is exactly what I did. I found these straws at Ikea and saved them for this special day.

Some ice cream cone sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle).  I did not make cake pops this time around but I still did find a use for candy melts. I dipped Oreo cookies in the candy melts and then into a bowl of sprinkles, so fun.

I make some rainbow cupcakes which is me just colouring the batter into 6 different colours. They did not turn out as I had envisioned them but the kids still loved them. I did cheat and used a cake mix (gasp! I know but it was easy and yummy - the perfection solution for when you procrastinate)

We filled a corner of our yard with empty boxes and managed to get a few appliance boxes too, those are the best! The kids has so much fun building and destroying what they made.

We had Korki from Clowning Around come to entertain the kids. She is so great with the kids and she is amazing at balloon creations.

And finally the cake. I made a white cake from Butter Baked Goods. I used cream cheese icing from Martha Stewart.  I love the look of those cakes covered in sprinkles, they just look so fun. So, I thought I would give it a try. I used non pareils for the side and let me tell you those tiny little things bounce....everywhere! For the top I used chocolate candies called sixlets. I love the simplicity of this cake!

Alice in Wonderland Birthday Celebration

We did an Alice in Wonderland inspired birthday celebration, it was such a fun party to plan. I made a scroll birthday invitation that we rolled up and tied with a ribbon and a tag for the name.

I had decided to buy some artificial turf from my local hardware store for a table runner, it was such a fun detail.

Some fun table details.  Every girl had their own pretty tea cup to drink out of.

A mini tea set, a terrarium with a little deer and the Mad Hatter, so fun.

The Cheshire Cat had to be on the table too. These figures are from Disney that I happened to stumble across.

I made bubble gum flavoured marshmallows, they were super yummy. Below the marshmallows are a childhood treat I had, called Sue Bars, and a lemon cake in the background.

Some tea cup sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle). I used an edible maker to write on some the cookies, so fun. I made my icing a bit too runny, so some of the cookies didn't quite turn out as I had envisioned but they were still tasty nonetheless.

I made cake pops and had left over candy melts, so I grabbed a box of Oreo cookies and dipped them in there and then into the sprinkles. These were a hit, I don't think I had a single one left over.

From left to right at macaroons, mushroom shaped meringues and chocolate cupcakes. The meringue recipe I found on Sweet Treats blog and I am quite happy how they turned out. They were a little delicate so I broke a few of them but they were also a hit. The chocolate cupcake recipe was from Butter Baked Goods and inside was a surprise, a bit of Nutella and then topped with cream cheese icing.

The girls all got to decorate a foam glitter crown that is worn as a hair band. We used buttons, feathers, glittery pom poms and gems to decorate these adorable little crowns.

And finally the cake. I made a white cake from Butter Baked Goods. I used cream cheese icing from Martha Stewart and used just pink and cream, simple but pretty.

A Robot Birthday Celebration

Celebration a 4 year old's birthday party with everything robot. Now, when I look back at what I did, I feel that there were not enough decorations…I will have to remember that for next year's party.

Some airplane sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (receip from Sweet Sugar Belle). I tried a flooding technique this time around and was pretty impressed with how it all went. I can see how decorating cookies can become addictive.

It seems that no birthday is complete in my house without cake pops. I use my all time favourite recipe for these, lemon poppy seed sour cream cake.  I then used the Wilton candy melts, swirled it on with a bamboo skewer and topped it off with some decorative balls. Yum.

And finally the cake. I made a white cake from Butter Baked Goods and coloured half the batch orange. I alternated the white and orange batters for a fun cake piece once cut.  I used cream cheese icing from Martha Stewart and made a few colours. I got a little carried away with the grey pipping but I guess that is what can happen when you make too much icing. 

The robot (transformer) is standing on oreo cookie crumbs.

And finally, the goodie bag. I don't really like the typical goodie bags very much so I try to create something that is different. I think I succeeded, robot rice krispies. 

Winter Woodland Birthday Party

It was my daughter's 5th birthday and we decided to have a winter woodland themed party where Elsa would make a special appearance. You can see more more photos of Elsa at the party here.

It seems that no birthday is complete in my house without cake pops. I use my all time favourite recipe for these, lemon poppy seed sour cream cake. Maybe one day I will use a different receipe…maybe.  I then used the Wilton candy melts (do no overheat, it makes for a challenge to coat the cake pops).

One of the latest things that I just love to make are marshmallows.  I used Butter's famous marshmallow recipe and made 2 batches, vanilla and blackberry flavoured. I also decide to make rock candy which reminds me of ice, perfect for a winter themed party.

Lots of cupcakes, cookies and fruit covered the table.

Some snowflake sugar cookies (recipe from Butter Baked Goods) but as yummy as they were, I found the dough to be a bit crumbly to work with.  Some royal icing with crystal sugar and you have some lovely snowflakes.

Then I had to make some chocolate cupcakes with a hollowed out center which was then filled with Nutella and covered with icing…they were delicious. (recipe from Butter Baked Goods)

For decorations I painted twigs white, paper roses which I had all over the place.  Acorns, branch coasters and paper punched snowflakes worked nicely with the winter woodland theme.

Every little girl left with a pretty princess cup and some ribbon elastic hair ties. 

As an activity for the kids I try to do a craft.  I found these adorable castle like birdhouses which each of the girls got to decorate. They turned out so cute. 

And finally the birthday cake. I did not put Elsa on top of the cake, I really didn't feel that it went with everything else. My daughter has been collecting these little Mooska dolls and thought it was perfect. A few model train trees, blackberries and lots of icing we had a great cake.  This cake was a white layered cake with homemade strawberry jam and icing between the layers. I used the white cake recipe from Butter Baked Goods, it was so good.