Lego Party: the Cake

Lego Party!

(part 3)

The cake:
No good party is complete with a fantastic cake.

My cake was actually 2- 13x9 chocolate chip cookies, with buttercream in between the layers and fondant on top.




Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Lego Party: Favor Bags

Lego Party!

(part 2)

Favor Bags:
Let's face it.  The party is good, but the take home loot is what the kids will remember, right?

 I took some regular gift bags and used a circle punch on one of them to get the same color of paper.  Then, I used some foam tape to attach the circles to the bags.  Voila!  Lego bags!

For these little note pads, I just put some circle stickers on each, in a corresponding color.  I paired these with little pens.

I used a minifig mold to make these crayons.  I paired the crayons with a homemade coloring book.  I got the template from another blogger, and it's very unfortunate that I can't remember who, or else I would definitely credit her and link to her page!

I included some mini bottles of bubbles.  I couldn't find any Lego ones, so I just got others and put my own stickers on them.

I used the same premise for the pencil sharpeners.  I couldn't find any with a Lego theme, so I used Lego stickers to make it theme appropriate.  I paired the sharpeners with a pencil in like colors.

I was contemplating getting some bottlecap necklaces that I see everywhere now, but decided to make my own.  They turned out more like dog tags, which was great since they were all boys.

I had some colored foam pages and cut out the blocks and little dots.  Then, I punched some grommets through the top of each block and ran the ball chain through.  The kids really enjoyed these!

I also included some Lego suckers that I made with a Lego candy mold, along with a fun straw, piece of gum, Lego brick eraser and a mini fig.  I think everyone went home happy!

Next Up:  the Cake!

It's a Lego Party!

It's a Lego Party!

For R's 7th Birthday, we decided to go with a Lego theme.  If you haven't seen the Lego Movie, I would highly recommend it!

I found tons of inspiration from pinterest for our party, so I was never short on ideas.  Here are some of the decorations that I made.

 Kleenex box "legos": 

I wrapped up empty tissue boxes, making sure the opening for the box was on the bottom.  Next, I glued on bottoms of plastic drinking cups that I had cut down to size.  I think they turned out great!!  For the large "legos", I used an empty box of copy paper from my office.

They added some great decorations for the party and were relatively inexpensive.  Some of the younger kiddos even tried stacking them like real Legos, so I'd say they were a hit!

Here, I covered the doors with a plastic tablecloth and used paper plates in the same color, as the dots down the center.  Short of hot gluing the plates, we had a tough time getting these babies to stay put!  I'd recommend sticking them on just before the party.

 I used a Lego font to make this banner, and the mini fig template, I got here. 

For the Lego heads, I spray painted some empty containers I had been storing small toys and Legos in.  Then, my niece hand drew on the faces, using a Sharpie.  I ended up with 8 Lego heads, and they look amazing!

I also decorated with some Lego Movie posters and this Pin-the-Smile on Emmett game.  It was great!

Next up:  Party Favor Bags!

Elf on the Shelf: Week Four! (whew!)

Day 22: Sneaking into the kiddo's stocking!

 

Day 23:  Juice Break!

Day 24:  Taking a Snooze

Another successful year of Jingle the Elf!  It was so fun to see how much R loved waking up to see what Jingle had been up to in the night.  I'll have to do some major pinning between now and next Elf season to come up with new ideas for next year.

2013 Elf on the Shelf: Week Three

Day 15:  Making Lunch!

Day 16:  Dino Trouble

Day 17:  Jingle's Secret Identity

 

Day 18 : Jingle Riding the Train!

 

 Day 19:  Acme Rocket Fun

 Day 20:  Free Reindeer Poop

 

Day 21: Swinging!

2013 Elf on the Shelf: Week Two

Day Nine:  Acrobat Elf

Day Ten:  Solo Cup Tree

Day Eleven:  Making Brownies

Day Twelve:  Playing Nintendo

 

Day Thirteen:  Camping Out

 

Day Fourteen: Giving a Gift

 

 

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013 - Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles

 

This is my first year to participate in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, and I just loved it!  I knew immediately which recipe I wanted to make for the 3 other bloggers that were lucky to have me get their names:  Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles.  I've been making these cookies for years, because they are truly some of the best tasting cookies I've ever had, so of course I had to make them.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Yield:  3/12 doz. large or 5 doz. small

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp each: ground cinnamon, grown ginger, and cardamom
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1 c. softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together sugar with all the spices in small bowl; remove 1/2 cup to a pie plate or small dish for dredging and place to the side.  Add cocoa to small bowl with sugar/spice mixture and stir to blend.
3. Beat butter in an electric mixer bowl until fluffy.  Add the spiced cocoa mixture and beat until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla, then add the flour and baking powder at low speed until combined.
4. Form tablespoon sized balls.  Roll them in the reserved sugar mixture and arrange 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Press cookies down slightly with your hand or the bottom of a glass.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes.  Cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

I hope they were enjoyed by all who received...

...and, that everything arrived unbroken!

Goodies Received

The first dozen I received were some Chocolate Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies.  They were really cold when I got them, but I warmed a few up in the microwave, and boy were they good!  It was like eating a cup of hot cocoa!  Unfortunately, I seemed to have misplaced the card that came with them, so I don't know who sent them. =(  *I've recently been informed that it was Mary of Newtonienne Noshes, that made these delicious cookies.  So, thank you, Mary!

This was the 2nd batch I received, from Madeline of Munching In the Mitten.  These Peanut Butter cookies with PB and chocolate chips were in a word, amazing!  My son and I thoroughly enjoyed every single crumb!

Lastly, just yesterday night at 8pm, UPS delivered my 3rd parcel of goodness.  Quyen from Kitchen Runway sent me Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip cookies.

I'd never tasted cookie butter before, so this was a real treat!  The cookie butter added a richness to the cookie that normally isn't there with your typical chocolate chip.  So, thank you so much Quyen!

I would like to say thank you to the sponsors of the the swap for their wonderful contribution to the cause, and for the fantastic goodies that we received from them.  I can't wait to see what next year brings!