Star Piñata Sugar Cookies~Red, White & Blue for July 4th

Star Piñata Sugar Cookies

Recipe found at http://rock-ur-party.tablespoon.com

The method for Star Piñata Sugar Cookies is so easy, and even easier if you start with Pillsbury refrigerated Sugar Cookie dough (I used three 16.5 oz tubes).

Open one package of cookie dough, add a bit of red gel food coloring to the dough.

I found that it’s easiest to mix the coloring in with your hands, kneading it gently, like bread dough. Add the food coloring a little at a time, until the dough is a vibrant red color.

Next place the dough ball in a bowl, and add 1/4 cup flour and mix until combined. It seems a little backward, but I found the food coloring mixed smoother this way. Repeat with another tube of dough and the blue gel food coloring. For the last tube, just add the flour. (I added flour because the Pillsbury dough is so chewy and delicious – a slightly firmer dough is needed for these little guys.)

As I colored the dough a couple days ahead of time, color bleeding was a worry (there’s a fair amount of food coloring used!). So I just wrapped each color tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated until I was ready to proceed.

Remove all three dough packages from the refrigerator. Split each into three equal parts. Layer in alternating fashion, placing into a plastic wrap lined loaf pan, and patting each layer out until the dough evenly fills the pan. Top with another layer, again patting until even. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover tightly and freeze for four hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the pan and unwrap. Cut thin slices, approximately 1/4-inch wide. Place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.

Immediately after the cookies are removed from the oven, use a star cookie cutter to cut the cookie shapes.

You will need two side pieces, and one middle for each. Cut a round out of the center of 1/3 of the cookies. Try to work quickly, as the cookies set up very quickly and will be difficult to cut as they cool. Also, I used a tiny cookie cutter to make adorable little stars from the scraps. (Who wouldn’t want to nibble on these? And wouldn’t they be cute on an ice cream cone?) Once you’ve cut all the shapes, allow the cookies to cook on the baking sheet before moving.

To assemble, take the first star cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked bottom is facing up. Take the middle cookie (with the hole) and dot some frosting on the center of each point. I used leftover white cake frosting because I had it on hand, but you could also use a mixture of 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of milk.

Place the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue and add about a teaspoon of mini M&Ms to the open center.

Put another outline of frosting glue on the middle cookie and place another star cookie on top (so the top side is facing out). Let the cookies harden for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Hope these cute little cookies add some delicious fireworks to your celebration!

Written by Michelle at http://rock-ur-party.tablespoon.com

Step-By-Step Directions :  Star Piñata Sugar Cookies

• Prep Time: 1 hr
• Total Time: 5 hrs
• Serving Size: 12 filled cookies (and many small bite size cookies)

Ingredients

• 3 tubes 16.5 oz Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough
• red and blue gel food coloring
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• white frosting, or a mixture of 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of milk
• red and blue mini m&ms - I bought a bag of mixed and separated out the colors

Directions

1. Open one package of cookie dough, add a bit of red gel food coloring to the dough. I found that it’s easiest to mix the coloring in with your hands, kneading it gently, like bread dough. Add the food coloring a little at a time, until you have a vibrant red dough.
2. Next place the dough ball in a bowl, and add 1/4 cup flour and mix until combined. It seems a little backward, but I found the food coloring mixed smoother this way. Repeat with another tube of dough and the blue gel food coloring. For the last tube, just add the flour. (I added flour because the Pillsbury dough is so chewy and delicious – a slightly firmer dough is needed for these little guys.)
3. Split each of the colors into three equal parts. Layer in alternating fashion, placing into a plastic wrap lined loaf pan, and patting each layer out until the dough evenly fills the the pan. Top with another layer, again patting until even. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover tightly and freeze for four hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the pan and unwrap. Cut thin slices, approximately 1/4-inch wide. Place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.
5. Immediately after the cookies are removed from the oven, use the star cookie cutter to cut the cookie shapes. You will need two side pieces, and one middle for each. Cut a round out of the center of 1/3 of the cookies. Try to work quickly, as the cookies set up very quickly and will be difficult to cut as they cool. Also, I used a tiny cookie cutter to make adorable little stars from the scraps. Once you’ve cut all the shapes, allow the cookies to cook on the baking sheet before moving.
6. To assemble, take the first star cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked bottom is facing up. Take the middle cookie (with the hole) and dot some frosting on the center of each point. I used leftover white cake frosting because I had it on hand, but you could also use a mixture of 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of milk.
7. Place the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue and add about a teaspoon of mini M&Ms to the open center. Put another outline of frosting glue on the middle cookie and place another star cookie on top (so that top side side is facing out). Let the cookies harden for at least 30 minutes before serving.

DIY Pinata

Quick Fun Pinata

Since the warm weather is finally here, alot of people are having Birthday parties. A Pinata is almost always a must at a child birthday party. But they are so expensive! The big ones cost up to $40 these days!!! The cheapest pinata I was able to find last month was a small butterfly that was on sale for $11.99. My daughters just turned 5 and 6 so we had them a combined birthday party. I ended up not being able to get them a pinata, we ran out of money at the end. The day before the party, my aunt came and got my girls so they could play with her daughter and I could finish up the house and finish getting ready for the Birthday Party. While she had the girls, she found directions to make a quick pinata out of paper bags! Yes, I know, that sounds lame, but it turned out really cute!

Ciara, age 5, hitting her home-made Pinata

The Supplies you will need are :

2-4 Paper Grocery bags

Streamer in the colors that fit your Party Theme.

Glue (Craft Glue or School Glue will work)

Packing tape (Clear tape works best but if you would like you can use the colored duck tape that matches your party colors)

String or Ribbon

Goodies to fill Pinata

Hole Punch (I didn't have a hole punch so I stuck a nail thru the bag and tape to make the small holes)

Craft/Decorating Supplies : 

Paper, Markers/Crayons, Magazine clippings,

Computer Printouts such as Clip-Art,

Stickers, Glitter

Depending on how strong you want the pinata to be is how many bags you use. I used 2 and it lasted thru 5 little girls hitting it, but as soon as the first boy took a swing it busted and everyone was happy! So if you have a party full of boys you might want to use 3 or 4 bags.
Bringing the Birthday boy or girl in to help with their pinata makes it even more special to them, along with the important bonding time you will be getting with your child! It's such a fun way to bring out someones imagination and make it useful!
Here is how to begin ---->

Start out with one bag laying flat on the table.
Decide how you're going to decorate your pinata.You can use pretty much anything you like. Any theme can be displayed on the pinata. For example, my daughters' had a very gurlie party. Everything pink, purple and flowery with Princesses and Faeries everywhere! With our pinata, I drew and cut out flowers of pink and purple construction paper along with a few green leaves and a couple butterflies. My daughters and I randomly glued them on the front and back of the bag. You can find pictures of princesses or any special design online or draw and color your own, Magazine pictures make pretty pinata's also! Make sure that none of the important pictures or designs that you want visible are on the bottom 4 inches of the bag.

Our Gurlie Pinata

Once you have your design on the bag and it is almost dry, if not all the way dry (depending on how much time you have before the party), Cut the streamer in 12 to 14 inch strips. You can distinguish how many of each color you would like to use, I did mine in a pattern with pink and white. Glue the strips about 4 inches from the bottom, letting them dangle past the bottom of the bag. You will need to open up the bag for this step. Make sure the strips are touching and go around all four sides of the bag, the last one may over lap a bit. Open up the other bags and place them inside the decorated bag. (They should all fit perfectly inside each other) Add your pinata goodies!! When you have all your goodies in your pinata, close the top of the bag by putting the tops together and using tape to keep it secure. Go around the top of the bag a couple times with the take to make sure it's strong enough to hold the weight of the bag on the string or ribbon.

Brooklynd, age 6, hitting our home-made Pinata

After you get it taped, using a hole punch, place holes about 2 inches apart across the top of the bag, about an inch from the top edge. Weave the string or ribbon thru the holes leaving about a foot of string on each end. Tie the ends together to make a handle on top of the pinata. This pinata can be made the day of the party and be drying while the party goers are eating and doing gifts, or it can be made in the days before the party. Finally...... hang up your Pinata!!


 I hope you enjoy my directions for an easy DIY Pinata
Photos by Thru My Eyes Photography

Summer Beauty Bag!

Target gives away some awesome freebies!! Earlier this week my daughters brought me a little box with the red and white target all over it. I got excited because I knew just what was inside it! My Target Summer Beauty bag!! When I opened the box I saw the most beautiful little blue make-up bag, filled with all kinds of goodies!! The Goodies Included : Aveeno Daily Detoxifying scrub, TRESemme Split Remedy Shampoo and TRESemme Split Remedy Conditioner, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch SunBlock SPF 70, a small sample of Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter color Peach Parfait, and a Sample Packet of Garnier Fructis Color Shield Shampoo and Conditioner. Along with a Target coupon booklet for the items in the bag and more! This has to be the best freebie that I've gotten in a while!! I LOVE it! The make-up bag is a beautiful blue with a leaf style design in a darker blue! Prefect for travel or just for a sneak peek in some great products!!
To start getting your own freebies in the mail Check out my Freebie Blog and start LOVEing the site of the Mail Lady!
Freebies, Freebies, Freebies and Deals!

I made Supper!

I made my kids supper tonight! That may not seem like a big thing to mostly everyone but to me it is. I'm not a big cooker. My fiance does most of the cooking in my house. If he works nights.... then it's microwave food for me and my daughters! But tonight, Alan was at my cousins house getting his brakes changed so I decided to make my girls some food. It wasn't anything fancy but it was good and we loved it. What did I make?? Chicken and Mashed Potatoes!  I boiled some chicken breasts a few days ago and kept some in the fridge. So I made the potato's and then broke the chicken in little strips and topped the mashed potato's with it. YUM!!!!! What a quick and yummy meal, my girls and I had. Now they are outside playing for a few more minutes before they get ready for bed. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself tonight!! Yay! Go me!

Quick and Healthy Summer Snacks for Young Kids Cont.

 Quick and Healthy Summer Snacks for Young Kids Cont.

 

Nutella fairy bread recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bread of your choice
• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 100's and 1000's

Directions:

Spread each slice of bread generously with Nutella.

Press slices face down into 100's and 1000's.

Slice into triangles or use cookie cutters.

Mini hotdogs recipe

Mini hotdogs are perfect party fare and you can have these made for the kids in no time. Here we give you tips on taking these to the park for a party!

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Cook Time:

10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 pkts of bake at home rolls (12 rolls total)
• 12 mini frankfurts
• squeezy bottle tomato sauce
• squeezy bottle mild mustard

Method:

Bake rolls as per package directions. Split down the center.

Place frankfurts into cold water and gently warm without bringing to the boil.

Drain and place inside buns.

Squeeze sauce over just before serving.

Notes:

• I like to put a saucer in the pan to keep the frankfurts immersed because it is when they hit the cold air that they split.
• If you are going to the park for a picnic you can pour boiling water over the uncooked frankfurts in a thermos and let them sit while you re-boil the kettle. Then drain and cover with boiling water again and seal until you are ready to serve.
• I then place the split rolls in a plastic bag and heat them in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and then wrap the bag in tea towel to keep warm.
• When you get to the park you have warm rolls with hot frankfurts in the thermos and you can serve them up easily. Don’t forget the paper plates and napkins.

 

Pizza Roll-Up Bento Lunch

This easy pizza-inspired roll-up is a kid-pleaser. Make crunchy vegetables more appealing by selecting colorful varieties like orange and purple cauliflower—and don't forget the dip! Keep 'em smiling with watermelon cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters. Along with a few cookies for desert!
You can also do a Ham-and-Cheese Roll up by laying out one or 2 pieces of ham, add a slice of cheese on top of the ham. Then put one more slice of ham on top to hold the cheese in place. Then starting at one side, roll it up. You can serve these whole or cut them to make them more bite-size!




Recipes found at www.kidszone.com , www.eatingwell.com and my kitchen!

Quick and Healthy Summer Snacks for Young Kids

Quick, Easy and Healthy Summer Snacks
for Young Children

A quick, healthy snack for you kids! It's Summer time! What parent wants to slave over a stove in the middle of the day to make their children snacks thru-out the day, Or giving them those Rubbery microwaveable snacks? I was on a mission and searched the web to find some quick and healthy snacks for parents to give to their kids. Below are a few that I've found. I will be posting more soon!

Blueberry-Banana Stacks

These tiny little beauties are so adorable and so yummy! They are also very easy to make! I'm sure they would be a hit, not only for a quick snack for you kids, but at Parties as well! Kids parties and Adult parties.  The Popcorn cakes are very light and make perfect bottoms for the yummy toppings!

Ingredients

• 6 mini chocolate, caramel, or berry-flavored popcorn cakes
• 1 - 2 tablespoons strawberry-flavored cream cheese
• 6 banana slices
• 6 fresh blueberries

Directions

Spread cakes with cream cheese and top with banana slices. If desired, dollop with additional cream cheese and top with a blueberry. Serves 2.

Polka-Dot Waffle Sticks

Ingredients

• 2 square, whole grain waffles
• 1 teaspoon reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon blackberry, raspberry, and/or apricot jelly

Directions

Toast waffles and cut into 6 sticks. Spread each stick with cream cheese and use a spoon or squeeze bottle to dot sticks with jelly. Serves 2.

Strawberry PB Crepes

Ingredients

• 1 9 inch store-bought crepe (such as Melissa's)
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/4 cup chopped strawberries

Directions

Spread crepes with peanut butter and sprinkle with strawberries. Roll up crepes, trim off ends, and cut log into 1-inch slices. Serves 2.

SNACK ART

Much like an arts and crafts project, making a snack can become an after-school activity. The bonus: Kids get to eat their artwork, and you get to sneak nutritious foods into their diet.

Create a work of art using a few of the following ingredients:

•The Foundation Celery, carrots, zucchini or cucumbers cut into sticks or rounds; banana, apple or pineapple slices; melon balls; lettuce leaves; or orange sections

•The Cement Peanut butter, cream cheese, cheese spread, yogurt, jam, pizza sauce or ranch dressing

•The Decorations Seeds, nuts, grapes, raisins, olives, frozen peas or beans.

Lay out the materials and give each child plastic utensils and a plate "canvas." Suggest that they build sharks, monsters, cars, flowers, or have them write their names.

TIP: This makes a great birthday party activity.

WIGGLE WORMS

Ingredients 

• Fruit, such as grapes, melon, bananas or strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces
• Pretzel sticks
• Chocolate sprinkles

DirectionsSpear about four pieces of fruit onto each pretzel, as if making a kebab, to create the worms. Leave a tip at the end for the tail. Parents, you can "pre-spear" the fruit if need be.

Join 2 worms with a piece of fruit to make a longer creepy-crawler.

Use sprinkles to make the eyes, spots and/or tiny feet.

COLD-CUT PUZZLER

Enjoy Some Lunch Time Puzzle Fun!

• Start by making a sandwich with ham and cheese (or other sandwich meat).
• Cut the sandwich into a variety of different shapes in different sizes
• Separate the shapes & mix them up on your child's lunch plate.
• Have her rebuild the sandwich by putting the puzzle back together before she eats it.

Recipes From www.parents.com and www.familyfun.go.com

Balloon Pop Party Games

 Having a Summer Birthday Party soon? 

Need some ideas for games that are cheep  but the kids will still love? Here are 2 Balloon Pop Games, the top game is for school age kids and the 2nd game is for the smaller kids.

Game 1Balloon Pop Game Back-to-Back For 2 or More Players
What You Need :  LOTS of Balloons!!!!

Instructions: 

1. Pick teams of 2

2. Have the pairs stand in a line or a circle, back to back, with a balloon held between their backs

3. When the adult says Go, the players press together, trying to pop their balloon. The first team to pop their balloon wins. Or if you don't want a winner, you can keep going until all the balloons are gone.

Game 2

Balloon Foot Race

Photo via Thru My Eyes Photography

Tie strings/ribbons to end of Balloons

Tie other side of the string to the child's ankles, one on each leg.

Give kids a length of your yard to run in (like a race),

Have them run once down to the "finish line"

On their way back to the starting line, The kids have to pop each-others balloons.

The last one with atleast one balloon not popped, Wins!

(Make sure you do this Balloon Foot Race on grass in-case someone falls.)

 

Are you having a Summer Birthday Party Soon?

Fresh Fruit Fro-Yo Pops

Three simple ingredients are all you need to make homemade frozen youg pops

• PREP TIME 10 Min
• TOTAL TIME 6 Hr 10 Min
• SERVINGS 6

 

2  containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free French vanilla yogurt

2  cups cut-up fresh fruit such as blueberries, bananas, cherries, grapes, papaya, peaches, oranges or raspberries

1  tablespoon honey

• 1 In blender, place all ingredients. Cover; blend on medium-high speed about 1 minute or until smooth.

2 Divide mixture among 6 (5-oz) paper cups. Cover cups with foil; insert craft stick into center of each pop. (Or fill ice pop molds according to manufacturer’s directions.) Freeze about 6 hours or until frozen. 

Recipe from www.bettycrocker.com

Pixie Stix Martini Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz blue curacao
• 1/2 oz midori
• 2 oz guava nectar or pineapple juice
• 10 - 12 pixie stix
• martini shaker
• ice cubes
• rimmer dish or flat plate

Directions

1. 1Cut the ends of 10 to 12 pixie stix and empty them into a rimmer dish or flat round plate. The color of the rimmer will depend on how you mix the colors. Reds and oranges will give off a light, pastel color, while the blues, purples and greens create a deeper color. Do not recommend mixing all together as it will create a "mud" color.
2. 2Dip your martini glass into enough water to coat just the rim. Gently shake off any access water, place the glass onto the rimmer and slowly move it in a circle to coat. Let the glass sit a bit to let the rimmer set.
3. 3Fill the shaker with the gin, midori, blue curacao, guava nectar or pineapple juice and ice.
4. 4Shake for a few minutes and then pour into the rimmed glass.

Cranberry Orange Adult Popsicles

 Cranberry Orange Adult Popsicles

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup cranberry juice
• 2 cups orange juice (fresh squeezed, or store-bought)
• 1/4 cup lime juice (fresh squeezed, or store-bought)
• 1/2 cup tequila

Directions

1. 1Mix juices and tequila in a container with a pour spout.
2. 2Pour mixture into popsicle molds or 3 oz paper cups with a popsicle stick inserted.
3. 3Freeze overnight in the freezer.
4. 4Remove from molds, or tear away paper cups and serve immediately.

Blow Pop Martini Cocktails

 

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and strained to remove solids
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cup bubble-gum flavored vodka
• 4 tbsp sour apple, sour watermelon or berry blue sour liqueur
• 12  small lollipops, unwrapped, for garnish if desired

Directions

1. 1Combine liquid ingredients in a large pitcher and stir well.
2. 2Refrigerate until serving time.
3. 3To serve, pour into martini glasses.
4. 4Immediately before serving, garnish each glass with a lollipop, if desired. 

A poem called "Want"

Why is it that when you can't have someone,

You want them more than anything in the world?

Knowing that they're happy somewhere else,

Makes you crave them in your arms.

The further away they get from you,

The more you see them in your dreams.

And as soon as they jump the fence of Happily Ever After......

Your just waiting for them to fall off of that horse.

Hoping you will be the next title in the story of their life.

Written By ~ Autumn Banks

Tips for Planning Your Child's Birthday Party!

 Tips for Planning a Kids Birthday Party!

Invitations should be sent out 2 weeks before the date of the party. Sooner if possible.

Plan With Your Child ~ Not For Your Child

• No little kid wants to have a birthday party that momma planed and they didn't like! Let your child help you make decisions. It'll be fun for the both of you!
• Make sure the child gets to help you pick out the party's theme. Along with the games and activities.
• Letting the birthday girl/boy decorate their own party invitations makes them feel useful and important. They'll feel very proud of their design and enjoy handing the invitations out to family and friends even more. If they're to young to write clearly, you can do the writing while they do the decorating or help you with the design. For Example : Cut out pictures and glue onto blank invitations and let him or her color, or add some stickers.

Integrate the Theme

• Once you choose a theme, make it run through every portion of the party.
• For Example : A Pirate Party may have Boat Shaped finger sandwiches, eye-patch party favors, along with napkins/decorations with skull and cross-bones. Or a Princess Party with flower cookies, Tiara party favors, you can lean a tall mirror against a wall have a basket of dress up clothes and let the girls do the rest!!
• Have a Guest Book where everyone (parents of small children or older kids)can sign and put their phone number along with adress so they can recieve a Thank You Card and be invited to the next party.

Keep it Short and Stick to plans

• Keep the kids busy from the time they get there till the time they leave.
• The "Main Event" should start as soon as all or most of the guest have arrived. (Main Event can be any Special activity, pinata, Etc.)
• Food and Cake is best served in the last hour so no one gets sick during activities.
• 2 hours is a good length for a children's party of any age.
• You can tale when the party is comming to a natural end when the youngest guest start getting ill and sleepy!

Plan Activities around Age of Guests

• Don't pick games with hard directions that would either be hard to understand or take to long to learn.
• Toddlers are to young to do alot of games that older kids enjoy doing, plan your games around the age of the birthday kid and his or her guests. If there are 1 or 2 young kids and the others are older, have an activity just for the younger ones so they can enjoy the party as well.
• Try Familiar games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, or maybe a treasure hunt if they match your party theme.
• Kids over 5 (school age) need more excitement than toddlers. You can hire a magician or dance teacher or take the party to a bowling ally or something of that nature. (Cheaper options below)

Entertain Kids with Simple Activities

• Being Creative comes natural to children. Why not bring it to the party??
• You don't have to spend alot of money to entertain any age kids, use your imagination: For Example using "Carnival Style" activities, with or without the carnival theme. Meaning having more than one activity going on at a time, a small group of kids at each activity table.
• Have kids decorate their own cookies or cupcakes.
• Fill buckets with crayons/colored pencils, stickers, stamps to decorate party crowns/hats or scrapbook pages.
• Have bowls of buttons, colored sand, glitter, other small crafting supplies to glue on plain picture frames. If you have a digital camera and able to print out pictures you can send each guest home with a picture from the party to remember the fun they had.
• Collect old un-mated socks before the party, let the kids decorate them and make sock puppets, They can put on a Puppet Show. (If your able to video-tape the puppet show, it would make a great keepsake)
• A Disney party can have ~ 1 activity where Captain Hook's Treasure is hidden from Peter Pan in sand and the kids get to keep what they find; While at another table kids can be making Princess tiaras for girls and Prince crowns for boys. You can have 3 or 4 activities going on at one time depending on how many guests you have. Set a time limit at each table/stand and switch to make sure every child gets to do every activity. Any unfinished craft can be taken home to complete.

Themetastic Simple Food

• Keep the food simple but don't forget your pick theme!
• Use cookie cutters to shape sandwiches to match the party theme.
• Use cookie cutters on Jello for a jiggly treat
• Make finger foods small enough for small hands.
• Don't have any food that needs to be cut
• Make a Monkey Platter of snack foods like different fruit sliced up; crackers with cheese, jelly or peanut-butter; nuts or raisins or veggies (Check for food allergies in the guests)
• To keep kids busy while waiting for the food to be served, cover the table with paper and have buckets or flower pots of crayons in the center.

Birthday Cake Fun

• A good time to serve cake is after the food, within the last 45 minutes of the party. 
• Once the cake is cut, serve the youngest kids first. (They don't like take good to waiting!!)
• Cupcakes are a good choice because it lets all the kids be served together, you can put one candle in each cupcake, if wanted.
• If you use cupcakes, have a small personal cake or a larger cupcake for the birthday girl/boy so they can feel special. Try setting they at the head of the table, if possible.

The Decision of Gifts ~ "To Open or Not to Open"

• Before you decide if your child is going to open the gifts during or after the party; There are 2 questions to ask: What are the ages of the party guest?? & How many people are coming?
• For younger kids, a lot of parents think it's best to wait til after the party to open gifts due to other children having a melt down and/or getting jealous of the presents.
• Older kids (school age, including kindergarten) seem to understand that the party is for the birthday boy/girl and they are the one who gets the presents.
• Most kids are okay with watching the presents being opened, some part is due to knowing that everyone will have party favors!
• If the party has alot of guests and the gift pile is quite large, then opening all the gifts can be tiresome and kids may get bored and want to stop unwrapping and play with what they have already. If thats the case, then waiting til after the party is very reasonable.
• If you have a small party and a small amount of gifts then opening them in the last half hour of the party would make a great way to slow the party down as guest start to head home.

The Parting Treat ~ Goodie bags

• Stick to the party theme when making the goodie bags.
• You can add bubbles, toy jewelry, stickers, small notebooks, etc.
• Make sure all the items in the bags are safe and age-appropriate.
• Get creative with what you put the goodies in. It don't have to be a bag. For example ~ Use small pocket books/cloth bags for girlie parties, Chinese Food Take-Out boxes, A large hand-towel with art supplies folded up inside for Art or Pool parties, etc.
• Add guest's names on the Goodie "Bags" to add importance.

Thank You Cards

• If everyone signed a Guest Book, or if you know everyone's address; Your child can write Thank You Notes for enjoying the party with them and for their presents. If your child is to young to write the notes, they can help you decorate them while you do the writing.
• Thank You notes should be sent out within the week after your child's party.

Fun Facts!!!
May 22nd is the least common Birth Date other than February 29th
August is the most common birth month!!!
The most common Birth Date is October 5th! (The Day before mine!!)

Written by Autumn Banks

References from MarthaStewart.com

*Choices*

The saying is "You made your bed, now lay in it." In other words : You made your choice, now deal with it! It's the way of life. Every corner you turn, every path you cross... they are decisions you have to make. You have to chose before you take your next step. Go right or left? Climb the mountain or go around it? Take a train or go by bus? Stay where your at or run like hell?! How you choose to make that decision doesn't really matter... it's the outcome that can change you life! For the better, for the worse, or everything can stay the same. The question is.... What if you would of make a different decision years ago? Where would you be? Who would you be with? What would you be doing? It's the questions that everyone has or will ask themselves atleast once in their life time. Millions of questions...... with no answers to be seen. Life can take you to some crazy places. It's how you react and how you make your next step that molds your life. A single thought can change a decision in a blink of an eye. Just how much trouble could of been stopped with alittle thought? How much heartache could of been spared? The True Question is if we all had one chance to change our life....... Would you? Look around you? Would you have the kids you love so much? Would you be as happy as you are now? Would you be happy once your whole life got changed? Could you live with your world being turned upside down??

To be Continued...................

Break Up

GIRL's DIARY :
I broke up with him today.
I told him I wasn’t happy.
He didn’t even ask why.
... I thought he would ask me to stay.
But he didn’t. He just let me go.
And just like that,
I lost the guy I waited for so long.:'(
 
GUY's DIARY:
She broke up with me today.
She said she wasn’t happy.
I was too hurt to ask why.
I wanted to stop her from leaving.
But if she’s not happy with me,there’s no
way I can make her stay.
So I just let her go.
Just like that,
I lost the girl I’ve been dreaming of for so
long.. :(
That's the problem of ego..
Its always come in the middle of love...
and separate two lovers always like this
way....

My Lazy Day

Yesterday was such a lazy day for me! I mostly just laid around the house doing nothing at all. I did get to do a small Photo Shoot though. One of my friends is going through a custody battle over her step-daughter. She needs pictures of Hope, her step-daughter, playing with her friends and being happy. The pictures are going to be shown in court. My daughters and a couple more of Hope's friends came over and I pretty much followed them around, snapping pictures. I'm very happy with how the pictures look on my computer. Now I'm just waiting on the finished product to show up in my mail! I just love getting pictures in the mail! It makes me excited! I'll be sure to let everyone know how the prints turn out.
Ohhhh~~Before I forget.... I have updated my prices for my Photo Shoots. The package prices have all changed along with a new package being added.I have also added a couple of other things as well. The prices are posted on my website ~ Check it out!!~ www.AutumnBphotography.weebly.com
*I'll be adding more pictures to my site very soon. I've been very busy and have gotten a bit behind!*

Here is one of the shots I got yesterday!

A Text from my Momma

As most of my readers know, I have many blogs, 1 of them is a Freebie and Deals blog. Well lately when I have been finding really cool freebies that I think my momma and little brother would like, I sign them up for it along with myself. Well I guess they started getting them today because I just got a text message from my mama saying that her and my brother want me to sign them up for more freebies!! haha That's wonderful! :0) My family is having way to much fun with all these freebies!!!! (I get something in the mail EVERYDAY!!! Something different! It's Wonderful!!!!)

Diamond Candles Video Release Contest!!

Diamond Candles is doing a wonderful contest for the release of their new company video!! You get the chance to win LOTS of free Candles. The special treat is that in every candle is a ring that is worth from $10 up to $5000!!!!!!!

Click the link below!!!

Diamond Candles Video Release Contest!!!!



DIY ~ Note Cards / Invitations

How To Make ~ Note Cards:  Would be Wonderful Invitations for any Party!

Use Spray Mount to attach two different patterned papers of the same size back to back,

Let it set for a few minutes and then fold paper in half.

Photocopy the flower template from the MarthaStewart.com website (or draw your own), enlarging or shrinking it to your wanted size

Cut out the shape.

Unfold your homemade card (or store-bought card) & place the template over the middle of the crease, Trace half the flower in pencil on 1/2 of the card, on the fold.

On a cutting mat - Use a utility knife to cut out the half-flower.

For the flower seals, shrink the flower, then cut it out.

Trace the flower onto paper and cut out,

Use a glue stick to attach to envelopes.


MarthaStewart.com

More of My Favorite Quotes!

A grownup is a child with layers on.
~Woody Harrelson

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
~C.S. Lewis

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do. ~Jean de la Bruyere

Because my gut tod me differently, I began a Mission to find my own Truth
~ Unknown Writer

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.
~ Reverend Larry Lorenzoni

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him.
~Pablo Neruda

Each man carries within him the soul of a poet who died young.
~Sainte-Beuve (1862)

A man is getting old when he walks around a puddle instead of through it.
~R.C. Ferguson

The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.
~Erik H. Erikson

Deep meaning lies often in childish play.
~Johann Friedrich von Schiller

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
~Albert Einstein

How do we know that the sky is not green and we are all colour-blind?
~Author Unknown

I am a thread too slender
To suspend all this reality...
~Phillip Pulfrey