Monkey Birthday Party

It's no secret I am HUGE fan of Paperglitter parties. So, this time around for Avery's 8th birthday we threw together the Monkey Party designed by no other than Linnette over at Paperglitter.

I decided {as a thrifty mama} to go with the basic monkey kit only because I also have a son...who does not like girly stuff like hair bows and flowers.  This decision allowed me to also use this kit for him should he decide to "Go Bananas" for his own birthday later this year.  And, for once - my blah-blah brown walls actually accompanied the overall party decor quite nicely.

For the occassion, I got straight to baking - but I didn't go overboard...just four different treats for the guests to enjoy.

Like banana cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream...

 Cool grease proof cupcake wrappers were purchased from Golda's kitchen, the colours lent themselves perfectly to the overall scheme and were decked out with a combination of rounds from the party kit and monkey heads {Monkey'n Around} from Party Stuff.

A two tiered cake with polyer clay monkey keepsake topper and a colour palette drawn from the colours in the kit (plus a pale blue as our extra accent colour)...

The leaves and number 8 on the cake were made from a blend of fondant and gumpaste so they would firm up {and were made 3 days in advance of the cake being assembled). Then, using an edible food writter, the leaves were detailed to reflect the leaf decor in the kit.  The monkey was also made by me {something else I've been doing for a while...okay - years...like about 20!}

Bakerella inspired monkey cake pops with paperglitter flare ... designed by MOI!

and of course...SUGAR COOKIES - no party here goes without sugar cookies. We jazzed up half of them with 3/8" satin tied bows for the little ladies and the gents got the original monkey.

I tried using a new technique I picked up from one of my other favorite reads on the net which made for perfect outcomes like the sugar cookies.

Over at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, Callye posted a tutorial using a "push pin" technique to accurately mark flat iced cookies so that the details would be picture perfect {in her example she uses LEGO man heads to illustrate this method}.  I think I did pretty darned good if I don't say so myself :). Although it was slightly time consuming, it was well worth the work, as the results couldn't have turned out any better in my opinion. Originally, I began by using a quilt marker pin with a large round head on it, but after a while my fingers began to get sore from gripping something so small...so I thought outside the box - "what else do I have that could poke holes into the icing?" .  Then it came to me....my paper perferator from my makin' memories scrapbook kit. It resembled a stylus, was much easier to hold and gave just as accurate marks in the royal icing.

 After the cookies were finished some were bagged and topped with the treat bag toppers from Linnette's party kit.

Water bottle labels were repurposed into bubble wraps...

Cupcake topper rounds were reduced in size at printing and turned into tokens to adorn the cutlery wraps with pipecleaner monkey tails, and the treat bag flags were re-invented into soda pop bottle decor. Avery scattered the leftover tokens all over the table like confetti! What a smart cookie!

and the bunting banner was sewn together for durabilty and was a huge time saver. {I stacked the words with the last letter on the top of the pile from the sentiments to ensure the banner did not come out backwards}.  We couldn't have "YADHTRIB YPPAH" now could we?  Then we inserted some leaf cutouts randomly and a monkey too for added cuteness and personality.

More leaves were fastened to the other trays and displays to pull through the theme.

And we can't forget the treats for the little monkeys that were at the party! I used the editable text fields to personalize each treat box for all the children that attended, and added eyelets with a grosgrain ribbon handle for easy carrying on the way out. 

...and don't forget the sugar cookies!

                           

Although the party took quite a few hours to put all together {from strategically planning the baking projects to print runs for the week leading up to party day} it was well worth the effort. I thouroughly enjoyed doing it {when do I not?}. 

Enjoy!



Easy Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

My son graduated today! *sniffle...sniffle...(wipe tears now)*  Yes, he is growing up far too fast.  This year was blurr...seems like it was yesterday I was sending him off to kindergarten... WAIT! I did send him to kindergarten yesterday!  That's right, he finished kindergarten. Gone are the days of "Do I have school today Mom?" Next year it will be all day, every day...who's going to keep me company?

Regardless, we had to celebrate this wonderful occassion and what better way than with a party amongst kindergarten friends and thier families.  So, I decided I better bake...I am known at school for baking up yummy stuff, so I couldn't not deliver today.

I must admit, I did procrastinate on this one but figured great doesn't have to be overkill either. Save the stress and keep it simple.  Next, what do kids like to eat? What usually accompanies cake at a party?  ICE CREAM! {Minus the "ice" part, add a little cake...a little cone...some frosting and sprinkles = Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes}.

FYI - this is not a new concept...I made these for my girl three years ago when she too finished kindergarten and they were all the rage.  Note to self...this is a good idea.  I am totally cupcake girl material, I mean seriously? It's not rocket science...how hard is it to bake in something other than a non-edible cupcake wrapper that you have to peel off, and throw away. Think of these as eco-friendly cupcakes. Okay, I won't go as far as that,  but really? Who needs a wrapper to worry about when all you want to do is just eat the frosting?  These were a win-win for such an occassion, totally kid friendly and 100% edible, yeah that's right...even the "wrapper".

Now there is no shame in straight up vanilla cake (from a box), as we had a little person in the class with a nut allergy. This way I knew there was no chance of cross contamination (sanity for me and her mom too), a major time saver also (5 minutes to prep, tops).

So here we go, you can do this too and be the envy of the party (or neighbourhood kids).  Prepare the cake mix as per box instructions.  Then make'em in F-O-U-R easy steps. Yes, four, count your fingers kids...I do not lie.

Then...

Line your cookie sheet with cones don't fill them too early, (be sure your oven has preheated) otherwise they might go soggy. Obviously, this won't happen immediately...they are meant to hold ice cream...that melts...and gets smooshy.

Don't forget to check for CONE INTEGRITY...that's right, toss the ones with holes because they are counter-productive. What goes in...will come out. Enough said.

CAREFULLY put them into your oven and bake (my lucky number was 18 minutes) BUT your oven may will be different so, start out with a little less time, and add on afterwards. Do a toothpick test to see how things are progressing.

Once baked, remove them from the oven and let'em cool. We wouldn't want our frosting to melt. Now that would just be silly and totally not the purpose of these "cool" treats.

You can ice them any way you want, I chose to go with swirl icing in four colour combos: traditional swirl (chocolate & vanilla), creamsicle (orange & vanilla), strawberry swirl & blue swirl.  I used some disposible icing bags and basic buttercream icing (in a pinch you could buy premade icing and do the same thing).  To make the swirls I bought a 1M icing tip (found at the local bulk barn).

Call me slow, I realized it only after I had painfully filled the icing bags the "old" way, to simplify things I could should have done the following:  filled 1 icing bag with vanilla, and 1 with colour of choice.  Smoshed them together into a larger 18" icing bag loaded with the 1M tip and then I would have had equal parts white: colour {and a lot less grief}.  I saw this concept somewhere...with a good "how to" so when I find it, I will share it with you.

After they were all iced, I put some sprinkles on some and left some naked {not everyone is crazy for sprinkles).  And then we ate, and enjoyed.  Honestly, I thought they would be less messy than a traditional cone...but some kids showed me that they were just as good as the real deal.  Nothing says summer (and schools out) like children with "ice cream" faces :)

Enjoy!

Green Velvet Cupcakes...the Cure for Pinkatitis

I just ate a green cupcake... a Green Velvet Cupcake...

 

 

it was; surprisingly satisfying, moist and nicely balanced with it's icing adorned with miniature shamrock quinns and sprinkles{ festive for this time of year}... I think, I liked it. Although at first glance I too was slightly unconvinced...so I simply followed my heart, and mouth... and let the cupcake do the talking.

 

Pinkalicious would have been surprised too to know she could have cured her "rare case of pinkatitis" with the likes of a green cupcake instead of yucky mushy vegetables of the green variety as prescribed by her doctor. Who knew? Cure a cupcake inflicted illness with another cupcake? Brilliant!

No! Not seriously, but for those of you are not well educated about Pinkalicious {Which is probably every person who does not currently have a young daughter, niece, granddaughter or sister below the age of lets say...10 or so}, she's the star in a series of children's books written and illustrated by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann. Pinkalicious is a delightfully witty little girl who loves everything...{you guessed it} PINK! There is never a dull moment in her adventures. You can find out more about her or order the books and even do activities here . Enough about Pinkalicious though, and more about the star of this post, the Green Velvet Cupcake.

With St.Patrick's Day right on the cusp and the kids wanting treats for their classes I did what I do often best...surf {the web} in search of fantastic ideas to use or inspire me to bake better. With luck I was brought to another blog Love from the Oven to whom had baked up this funtastic {yes, I said FUN-TASTIC, it's a word, in my vocabulary and should be in Websters too...you hear that Webster??} recipe borrowed from non other than Bakerella. No sense in reinventing the wheel if I don't have to, I work Smarter, not harder!

 

So here she is, Bakerella's Green {Or Red} Velvet Cupcake Recipe Tweeked* {because I didn't have all the ingredients :)...}

 

GREEN* {or Red..or any other colour for that matter...} Velvet Cupcakes

 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups oil* (3/4 c vegetable oil for the cupcakes, Love from the oven used 1 cup)
• 1 cup buttermilk* (2% worked out just fine, less fat)
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 oz. red food coloring* ( 1 used 1 tsp of Wilton brand kelly green gel colour)

* note changes to these ingredient quantities

 

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans* (24 muffin cups, lined with wrappers of your choice)

 

 3.Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.

 

 4.Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk.

 

 5.Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.

 

 

 

6.Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.* I used a 1/4 c. mashed potato scoop to get even amounts of batter in each of my pre-lined tins...I was able to make 24 cupcakes from this batch of batter.

 

 7.Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.* (cupcakes took about 20-22 minutes, they were spongey to touch when tested, and a toothpick inserted came out with a few moist crumbs on it.)

 

 

 

 8.After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. I also cover in plastic wrap while the cakes cool.

 

 9.Then make the frosting of your choice*. {People normally put a cream cheese icing with red velvet cakes. I used a buttercream icing that seemed to just melt in my mouth.}

  

 

 

Happy St. Pattie's Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baking - Uninterrupted

In less than twelve hours  my husband will be jet setting to another hotter, sunnier short-bearing destination for work....and lets just say I can think of somewhere else to be other than Manitoba too.  Needless to say he will be working, he won't 'be here... in Manitoba... where we still have lots of snow. 

Typically, when he travels in the winter months it usually blizzards {In fact my odds of it blizzarding when he's gone are far better at me ever winning a lottery} and I am left to fend for my kids and myself.  Believe it or not, I... {Yes, "I"} got a snow blower last year...how many women can say that?  But it was out of necessity, and yes, I know how to use it.

Half of the time he'll be gone, my son to will be away from the house in school (like his big sister). After wiping my tears and blowing my nose a couple times I plan on filling the empty hours with nothing but BAKING... all by myself, UNINTERRUPTED.  With St.Pattie's right around the corner, and my Dad's birthday too a cake will be in order, my options are unending.  My opportunity to make up the rainbow layer cake I've been gawking over from Sweetopolita with such vivid colours is at the top of my list. Who doesn't like rainbows? How could I pass this one up?



Sweetopolita's Rainbow Doodle Cake

Now, my Dad has never been a fan of fondant (I don't know why, he loves marshmallows and fondant can be made from marshmallows and icing sugar if you don't want to trade an arm and leg for a couple pounds of the premade variety) but that's fine, the lemon butter cream Rosie has suggested sounds Divine and will compliment the vanilla cake marvelously without doubt.

Now, if only I could break my little sunbeam kitchen stand mixer I would have real good reason to go and by my dream kitchenaid stand mixer...No, I am not planning anything - it broke, really.



Look at the rainbow... man, this is going to be hard to choose just one...it's like women and our shoes, why not have an assortment so they will match our outfit or our mood.  The orange is hot and so is the ice blue, er or maybe the apple green one, but if I pick a girly colour (PINK) my husband will be less apt to using my mixer and potentially breaking it.  I don't use his tools, so why should he use my mixer? Right?

Here's to baking tomorrow, rainbow cake in the near future and a few Luck o'the Irish Green Velvet Cupcakes for Ethan's class party on Thursday.  Stay tuned! This should be a week filled with posts!

Green Velvet Cupcakes to try from Love from the Oven

Smiles!

Ethan's Spooky Boo-tique GRAND OPENING

Phew! What a crazy busy last couple of days, but well worth every second spent. Today, we celebrated my son's fifth birthday with a bunch of his friends right here at home.  Previously I have led up to the making of the bootique and now I can finally reviel it to you! After seeing the sweet shoppe that was designed by Linnette over at Paperglitter and checking out her photos she posted I was able to draft Ethan's very own store front... BUT in Halloween decor to compliment his costume party.

Royal Icing Transfers - Ravens & Spooky Skulls

After completing a custom sugar cookie order for a good friend {"Go Ravens! Go! ;)} Might I mention the most difficult of cookies I have done to date... and not totally satisfied with my results :(   I suffered much guilt sending these over for the birthday party (not so much the good ones, but the ones who's plaques cracked...grrrr... I WANT A DO OVER!!!!    I know deep down that T won't mind at all getting extra cookies from me just because... they are evil, wicked cookies - and no body in her house likes them at all.  ;)


I had quite a bit of icing left over..."What to do with it, what to do with it?" I wondered. I couldn't not use it. Lucky for me the colours lent themselves perfectly to Halloweeny projects... and so I made Skull candy of a different variety.

Kawaii Cupcake Cookies

About a year ago a friend asked me to design some cupcake cookies for her daughter's birthday party...and of course I accepted the request.  I had an idea in mind...which I ended up doing but wasn't overly happy with the result.  If only I could wind back time and make her these ones instead, everything would be so darn sweet.

Monster Buffet

So, I am back....a month has past since my last post ! YIKES!  A lot has happened since then, craft show #1 {the 3 day blitz} was a HUGE success and the preparations for my son's 4th birthday party were completed and in the bag.

I took to baking up some special treats for my guy to share with his little buddies and any of their mom's who chose to stay and play. It seemed a perfect fit hosting a Little Monster Party seeing as a halloween celebration had just taken way at school on the same day. What better way for the kids to enjoy their costumes a little  bit longer. 

The transformer, the hamburger, the old western ranger...all suited up and ready for danger!

Goobly gook, and gross gumbo-

 everybody's tummies started to rumble-

To the kitchen we went to face our lunch

Who wants more ghoulish punch?