An Umizoomi Birthday Party

My Maren has been a fan of Team Umizoomi for quite some time now.  If you're unfamiliar with the show, let me explain that the show is on Nick Jr. and it's all about math; patterns, measuring, numbers and shapes.  I enjoy the show but not nearly as much as my daughter.  So it made sense that we would celebrate her 3rd birthday with a party all about her favorite show.

My first step in creating my daughter's cake was making the cake topper.  I had to do this several days before her party to insure that it would stand up properly on the cake without wilting.  

A shirt that ordered for her off of Etsy arrived just in time for me to complete the design of her cake.  All Maren wanted was a blue cake.  Just blue.  So I went with that.  Her blue Umizoomi shirt arrived and so did my ideas.  I'd make her a blue velvet cake and have it coordinate with this great shirt.  

Here's how the cake turned out.  Lots of shapes, patterns and the number 3 along with Bot, Milli and Geo in Umicar.  

Here's the cake at its final destination right by the goody bags.  My husband "takes the cake" for all of the work done on the goody bags.  He made Milli headbands, Geo belts and my other daughter, Josie, made Bot's Belly Screens.  We also included some Fruit by the Foot, shape slinkies, bracelets and bubbles and Umizoomi stickers.  

After going on a few Umizoomi adventures and "earning" their Milli headbands, Geo belts and Belly Screens, the kids were ready for lunch and cake.

Maren's a little unsure of what to do while everyone sings to her.  But she made the most of it!

 

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet little Maren!  I hope you're party was Umi-riffic!

Josie's 1st Communion Cupcakes

My Josie received her First Communion this weekend and boy did we celebrate.  Her family and very important friends came to the church to celebrate with her, and after we went out for a celebratory dinner and had cupcakes for dessert.

Josie didn't want a cake.  She insisted on cupcakes with little crosses on top.  I fortunately had a candy mold and was able to make these chocolate crosses (two at a time, mind you) for the top.  I placed each one on a pink fondant round and I think the effect was very pretty.

Josie asked that I arrange the cupcakes into a cross.  And had I used double-sided tape to secure them to the cardboard, they would have retained this shape by the time I arrived at the restaurant.  Alas, they did not.  Instead, they all jumbled to one side of the box.  

Fortunately, that did not affect their taste.

Congratulations and blessings to my dear Josie.  We are so very proud of her.

Jonathan's 1st Communion Cake

Jonathan's cake was a simple cake for a very special family get together.  His mom decided on a chocolate cake with white frosting and I made my vanilla bean buttercream for the occasion.  If you look closely, you can see the flecks of vanilla bean throughout the cake.  

For his cake, I wanted to keep it looking masculine, so I opted for the blue sprinkles on top to outline the cross.  I think the effect turned out really nice.

Congratulations and blessings to Jonathan on his very special day!

Sophie's First Communion Cake

Sophie had big plans for her First Communion cake.  She really wanted a blue cake.  Royal Blue.  And she wanted a host with a gold cross on top with light blue accents.  And she wanted a red velvet cake.  And a chocolate cake.  She had big plans.

Together we sketched out her design.

And thanks to her detailed plan and description, this is what she got.  

Congratulations and blessings to Sophie on her very special day!  

I Don't Carrot All

Josie's class was having an Easter party on Thursday, the last day before Easter Break.  I had signed up to bring in a "sweet treat" and had such a hard time deciding what that would be.  Josie wanted me to send in cookies or cake pops or an Easter sweet treat mix.  Done it, done it and done it.  I wanted to try something new.  

While I was catching up on (if you can call it that) my magazine stash, I came across a Family Fun magazine that featured some fun Easter treats on it.  One of them was orange chocolate covered strawberries that looked like little carrots.  There it was.  I HAD to make them.  It was a little sweet with a little healthy.  Who wouldn't like that?!

So here's what a made....

A very cute addition to any Easter fun occasion!

Happy Easter!!!

April Fool's Day 2015

Alright.  I'll be the first to admit it.  Keeping up with making an April Fool's meal every year is going to be impossible.  To avoid the unnecessary stress of this very important holiday, I opted [vowed] to continue on with our silly tradition by offering an April Fool's dessert instead of the whole meal.  THIS I can handle and carry on for an eternity.  There are TONS of April Fool's Day dessert ideas.

So this year, I opted to make a silly meal.  We not only had breakfast for dinner, we also had chicken pot pie for dessert.  What?!!  You read that right.

Both of my girls were hesitant but excited.  Not knowing what the "real" food was and what was a joke.   I think this works out even better!!  Keep 'em guessing!

Well, the chicken pot pie doesn't smell like chicken pot pie.

It's not chicken pot pie!  It's sweet!  And that's candy!

 Brave girl taking a taste...

Mmmm!

If you want to make these little chicken pot pies it's super easy!  I used one small box of instant vanilla pudding and made it as directed.  I refrigerated it for 30 minutes and then added the candy peas and carrots.  I poured the mixture into little graham cracker crusts that I found in the baking isle. Prior to serving them, I added some drama by pretending to take them out of the oven and acting as though they were hot.  ;)

Happy April Fool's Day!!!