kids cakes

  Check out these cute cake decorating ideas via hostess with the mostess!  They show you step by step instructions how to make EACH ONE & the supplies to make 'em.  super sweet.  

T

Individual Strawberry Cups

 {STRAWBERRIES}

its summertime. enough said. 

What You Need

1-1/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 cup boiling water

1 pkg.  (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

2 cups Ice cubes

24   fresh strawberries, divided

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

1/3 cup  Strawberry jam 

Make It

HEAT oven to 350°F.

MIX crumbs and butter; press 2 Tbsp. onto bottom and up side of each of 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 5 min.; cool.

MEANWHILE, add boiling water to gelatin mix in medium bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add ice; stir 3 to 5 min. or until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Crush 12 berries. Add to gelatin with COOL WHIP; whisk until well blended. Spoon into crusts. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

SLICE remaining berries. Remove strawberry cups from muffin pan; top with berries. Microwave jam in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec. or just until melted; stir. Brush over berries. Refrigerate 20 min.

a few things that caught my eye...& 4th of July

this lovely flower totally caught my eye and when i looked through the tutorial

i am loving this!! such a fabulous idea that could be used year round. the hook makes it so easy to change out for all the different seasons/holidays :)

love it!

this is such a simple idea, but i love how clean and refreshing the look is. totally something i would enjoy in my home. just have to find some lovely glass bottles 

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BettyCrocker.com

 OR, need a super simple way to show your USA spirit? Check out here for these super simple ( & budget friendly!) yet fun ways to decorate your home.

 

Fun BBQ ideas

***This WHOLE post is from Be Different...Act Normal.  I thought it was so cute you must read/get ideas for your summertime bbq's!  You should really check her website out....so many fun ideas!!***

Here is what she wrote...

Instead of a boring drink cooler, throw some ice in your (cleaned out) wheelbarrow:

You can even have a separate wheelbarrow for the kids so they know what drinks are for them and can reach them easily (but you will want it to be red of course!):

Everyone usually goes for the easy sharpie on the red cup method to mark drinks, which works, but if you are using drinks in bottles, keep a bucket of colorful rubberbands near the drinks and people can color code their bottles.  If you have kids attending, use these
fun food shaped rubber band bracelets and they can keep them as party favors after the barbecue:

I love these fun baskets in place of paper plates:

Right now they are 4 for $1 at Target in their dollar spot, but you can usually find them all over the place this time of year.  They are easier for little hands to carry and make for almost as easy of a clean up if you line them with parchment.

Barbecue in a Jar (or a picnic too!)

There are so many fun ideas for using regular old canning jars at a barbeque (or a picnic too!)  Ideas that are both cute and handy.  Here are some of my favorites!

All You used widemouth jars not only to hold the lemonade, but to hold the lemons (and flowers) as well:

But it is the lemonade idea that everyone knows, but that I love the most.  I love drinking strawberry lemonade from a widemouth jar at my favorite barbecue restaurant.

Have little hands that can't hold a big glass jar, go smaller, keep the lids on, and use a straw:

Even if you don't want to purchase the daisy cut metal lids, you can use a drill to make a hole for the straw.

Country Living used these cute jars to store their corn and chickpea salad, but 

Givers Log but the whole darn meal in a jar:

And I have to admit that it looks REALLY GOOD!

Desserts!  Desserts are really fun and cute in a jar!  There are a couple of bakeries that sell cupcakes in a jar, but really all you have to do is bake cupcakes the normal way and then cut them in half, and layer the halves in the jar with frosting:

Or you can just bake them in the jar and let people frost them themseleves.  

The same layering idea works for ice cream.  You can use little jars to make individual parfaits and then seal them up and put them back in the freezer (or keep them on ice!)

 Not Martha has great recipes for baking culte little pies and cobblers in jars too:

And the best part of all these ideas is that you can keep a nice lid on them (and keep bugs OUT of them) until it is time to eat! 

What is your favorite thing to eat or drink out of a jar?

Didn't she do a great job?  so many cute ideas!!  So seriously...go check her out here

two ideas + an update

5 Min. Brownies

One goal I have this summer is try and make more items from scratch--I'm not going to lie, that scares me a little.  :-)  I might make this for get together this weekend.  Looks SO good and EASY!





Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine first 7 ingredients; beat until smooth.  Pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out cleans.  Thanks The Tidy Nest!

 I thought this idea so cute and of course, EASY! :-)  See a theme with all my ideas I post?!? Click here to see how its made!

Remodel Update: 

My kitchen floor is drying as we speak.  I am taking the day off tomorrow then one more hard day on Friday then we are DONE with the big stuff.  We'll have to work on the garage, unpack and reorganize our storage unit, but compaired to what we just did those are small potatoes!! :-) I have SO much to blog about backdating to the end of April with family events, graduation, trips, mothers day etc. 

LATER!B

Few fun things + teacher appreciation/thank you gift ideas!

Few Fun Finds of the Week:

Bacon & Cheese Egg McMuffin Cups.

These would be perfect for a brunch or family get together--and the best part??? they only require FOUR ingredients.  yah! Even if you aren't a fan of runny eggs (i.e. my hubby! ;-)  you can still scramble them to make a mean morning dish.  Click {here} for the directions.  enjoy!

                             
Printable Family Wall Decor:

                       I thought this was really neat!   All you need is a fun 8 X 10 picture frame, a printer and a place to put it!  They let you print house of ... (2-7)   Click {here} for the details.

                              
numbered flower pots 
Click the link above to find out how to make the numbered flower pots.  I thought this was really a cute idea.  I will definitely be making one of these this summer!

I LOVED this idea! This would be a unique wedding gift, anniversary, or birthday gift! You can give that newlywed a lot of fun, creative date nights!

So many fun possibilities!! Click here to see the ideas/date ideas.

now...I am planning on making these for future wedding gifts.  Although I thought I'd switch it up a little bit instead of 'can of dates' I'm going to write on the can 'our first Christmas' and in the can include...

It's a Wonderful Life DVD
Two Coffee Mugs with hot chocalote mix

A Christmas cookie cutter

Sugar Cookie recipe

A Christmas CD 

A Mistletoe Toe

A Christmas ordainment that says 'our first Christmas'

ETC... (if you have any other ideas please let me know!!)

loved that idea!

Teacher Appreciation/Thank You's!

 With the end of the school year & church activities coming to an end, show your appreciation for all their hard work!!  Here are just a couple ideas.  

Beach Towel Gift:

This idea is so stinkin' easy but so thoughtful! All you need is:

Ribbon

Sunscreen

Magazine

Beach Towel

...you could even "boy" this idea up and get a beach towel, ESPN magazine with a red bull or something like that.  love it! Click {here} for the details!

One of my new favorite blogs it eighteen25.  They have the cutest ideas with free printables including step by step directions on how to get it accomplished.  here are just a few of the ideas.  check out their blog {here} to see what i mean!

BASEBALL CUPCAKES:
Thought these looked so cute! how fun would these be for a baseball party, or a baseball themed birthday party? Click on the link for directions!

baseball cupcake recipe

Super Easy Wheat Bread

Can't wait to try this recipe!  Click the link for the directions! Who doesn't love the smell of homemade bread?!

gumball cupcake 'how to' CUTE!

Click {here}to score some free printable birthday cutouts!  They have both boy & girl freebies.  What a cute idea flipping peanut butter cups and putting a printable on top!

Happy day to you!

avoiding the mom made lookin' cake

 CAKE

i love to be inspired by creative women.  i get easily inspired (shocker, i  know!) and I can't wait to try this latest idea on the next cake I bake. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am no baker, in fact I usually try to steer away from it.  However, I am trying to get better at it, cause darn it I want to be known for a good dish or two :-) 

Enter Texas Monkey  

She was able to take this...

and turn it into this....

 or this...

She had great tips & tons of pictures of her finished cake products. check her out {here}

Later Taters!