January 30, 2012

 

Chinese New Year party

Welcome Year of the Dragon. This is my brother's year, he's a dragon.  I have to wait until 2019 for my year, I'm a pig. Oh you bet my brother had a good time making fun of me for that. I prefer wild boar, they're feistier than pigs.  This is my first Chinese New Year party.   I had a mini party with 3 friends. I'm feeling the mini parties this year. Are you going big or mini this year?


I love the colours of the Chinese New Year. Red and gold just POP!



Party favors.


Wind up dragons for the Year of the Dragon, Gold nail polish, and Lindt chocolates in red and gold.


May the Year of the Dragon bring you good fortune and happiness.








January 27, 2012

 

Chinese New Year Dessert Oopsie

You know all those party blogs out there that show you their flawless tables, desserts etc. Yeah, this isn't one of those party blogs.  I sit here tonight, the day before my Chinese New Year party get together, and share an oopsie with you.  I saw these amazing looking Green Tea cupcakes and thought they would be perfect for dessert. Look how gorgeous these are: (source )


I love green tea, hot not cold. I drink about 2-3 cups everyday. So I thought I'd love these cupcakes.
I don't cook much because I always end up with ingredients that I don't know what to do with if I don't care for the recipe. I'm a picky eater, just ask any of my friends. But I always love to try new desserts especially for when they fit so well with the theme. For example, here's the cake ingredients:

For the cakes:
1/2 cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup rice milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 to 4 teaspoons matcha tea powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar


I had a heck of a time finding the soy yogurt. Oh I found soy yogurt at chain stores but not plain soy yogurt.  I finally found some but had to buy a 32 oz size. What am I going to do with the rest of it?   Now you foodie's have probably used it before but eww, it smells funky and looks a little..off.

The author of this recipe says you HAVE to use matcha powder.  Problem was the only place I found it was New Seasons and it was, are you ready for this, $22!  I couldn't bring myself to pay $22 when all I was going to use was 3-4  teaspoons.  I like my green tea in the little baggies. Easy to use at work. When I poured the batter into the liners it was super runny. I don't think it was suppose to be.

So here's my oopsie cupcakes:



Not very pretty is it?  They smelled good while baking and looked good but then sank. I tried one and it didn't want to come out of the liner very well. It was moist, yeah, and tasted pretty good.  My glaze isn't a beautiful shade of green tea and thick like the author of the recipe's is.  I didn't have a flower cookie cutter so I tried to form one by hand.

Good thing my friends bringing over peanut cookies or we wouldn't have dessert.
Most of the time my desserts turn out great. But sometimes...there's an oopsie.


January 25, 2012

 

Woo Hoo!! Wednesday

My very good friend retired yesterday. I am SUPER happy for her, a little sad and envious. Oh so envious.  She's planning many road trips. I LOVE road trips and will go on one any time I can.   After my friends party which was over the lunch hour at work I got to thinking about retirement.  Who am I kidding, I've been thinking about retirement since I was 13!

Since it's Woo Hoo! Wednesday I'm going to be retired for the day and go on a road trip to visit the party diva's of some of the blogs I love.  Pack your bag and come along with me as we road trip across the U.S.




Our journey begins in Oregon where I live.  We head North to Washington to visit Party Pinching.


Heading  South now to visit the Diva's in California. We're going to need a few weeks in California.
Marshmallow Studios


Edible Details

 And Jac O' lyn Murphy

Going to be awhile in the car now as we head all the way over to Illinois to visit Party Patisserie

Time to take the top down and feel the breeze as we cruise down the highway to Georgia to visit Chocolate Chocolate and More Chocolate

Keep that top down we're still headed South ... to Florida! and a stop at Lizard & Ladybug.


Better put the top back up. It could be a little cool at our next stop. Delaware to see Party Frosting


Now this last location is a mystery. It's super secret. I don't even know where it is. The GPS just knows..it always knows.  Our final destination before heading back to Oregon is to see Birds Party !



Now that were home it's time to check the mail, unpack our bags and sleep in. Great road trip ! Where are we going next ?

January 23, 2012

 

Dinner and a Movie

Saturday my parents and brother came over for dinner and a movie. It was a very spur of the moment event. Plans were finalized Friday afternoon, Id' say that was pretty spur of the moment.  Now I didn't HAVE  to do anything partyish for the get together but you KNOW I did.  Sadly all the party stores near me are gone {boo hoo}. So I zipped to Target, Michael's and Dollar Tree and gathered what I could.

Saturday night kicked off our families monthly dinner get togethers.  My mom had the idea of getting the family together once a month for a make at home dinner. Each month mom would cook a different meal { I don't cook} and I would party it up {something I LOVE to do}.  Saturday night was homemade pizza.  I actually helped {gasp}.

We made two pizza's. I made the pepperoni. I wanted to add mushrooms and olives all over it but no one else likes mushrooms so I just put them on one little corner.


The second pizza is a chicken garlic. I would have loved to have put spinach and sun dried tomato's on this. But again, no one else would have liked it.  My mom did add onions to half of it.


Here's where my fun comes in.  The concession stand.  Anyone can do this very inexpensively and it adds some fun to the family movie night.  The table cloth and big popcorn bucket came from Dollar Tree. The candy and little popcorn buckets were from Target. Everything was a $1 each.  The cupcakes? Hang on, I'm getting to those.


I saw these cupcakes on Under the Table and Dreaming .  So cute. I HAD to make them.  Since there are no party stores near me I couldn't get cute popcorn cupcake wrappers, so I improvised like Under the Table and Dreaming and used paper from Michael's.  The paper was only . 20 cents Woo Hoo!  When I made the cupcakes my man said they looked great but really SWEET! And what's wrong with that :)  My family all ate one and said they were good. So next time you have a movie night, make some popcorn cupcakes.


Dinner and a movie was fun and I look forward to next months meal.  What party fun awaits?

January 21, 2012

 

Squirrel Appreciation Day

Yes, these cute little backyard nut lovers have a day devoted to them. Look how cute! My cat likes to watch these from the window and wishes it was his dinner. 

It's Squirrel Appreciation Day. Just another reason to throw a party. LOVE it!

Serve these chocolate acorns for your little squirrels. So easy to make. From instructables.


Fill these cute little bags from Make it Do with the acorn snacks you just made. Perfect for your little squirrels to share with their friends.



Now if you've got skills you could whip up this adorable squirrel cake in no time :)  Featured on Craftside from the book Fun and Fancy Cake Decorating.


So throw out some nuts for the little buddies in your backyard. Let them know today is their day :)


January 19, 2012

 

Popcorn Day!

Another fun day to celebrate and an easy one too, POPCORN DAY! mmmm Shoot, just head to the movies, buy a big ol' bag of popcorn and you're celebrating :)  But if you're a party junkie like me, that's not enough.  You'll want to make a cake, maybe some cupcakes to share with your office mates, or throw a little party.   Here's some ideas popping your way.

Did you say you'll take the jumbo bag of popcorn?  Womans Day has just the bag, eh, cake, you're looking for.


These popcorn cupcakes are ADORABLE and I soo want to give credit but I saw it on Pinterest and there was NO source :( sad.  If they're yours please let me know so I can give credit.


Is there anything you can't make a cake pop into?   A Cupcake or Two shows us you can fool your guests with these great popcorn cake pops. These are made out of Oreo's, cream cheese, and mini marshmallows. Which The Marshmellow Studio would be happy to hear. No cake needed.



Chickabug has some great popcorn recipes for your popcorn party. Pop on over.


Cinnamon Bun popcorn, Pink Party popcorn, Popcorn Brittle, S;mores popcorn, Reece's Peanut Butter popcorn and Popcorn Trail mix. A little something for everyone.

POP! a comment down below.  Always LOVE hearing from you all.

January 18, 2012

 

Winnie the Pooh Day

Today is Winnie the Pooh Day, who knew? I didn't.  Pooh is always a classic.

How colourful is this party. I love the POP of colour.  No way could you be an Eeyore at this party. From The Best Party Decor Ideas.


Is there anything Lynlee Petite Cakes can't make.  These cupcake toppers are ADORABLE.


Bakerella makes the most fabulous cake pops. These Pooh bear ones are SUPER cute! Definitely a Woo Hoo!! Wednesday :)


Every party needs party favors and JacO'Lyn Murphy's got just the one for your Pooh party.  Hee hee, this party favor just makes me smile :)


Happy Winnie the Pooh day!

January 17, 2012

 

Happy Birthday Karen

Today is my friend Karen's birthday.  She's not having a party this year. Last year was a big one for her so a  few of us went to the beach for a girls weekend to celebrate.  Because we all stuffed into one car with our gear and prezzies it didn't leave much room for decorations.  We rented a beach house, looked over the old childhood photo albums, laughing our buns off, stayed up late playing Apples to Apples and drinking way too many mudslides, yum! Thanks bartender Carole :) 

Cheers! To Karen's birthday!  Another girls weekend beach trip is needed.

The house we rented was an older mobile home, thus the classic dining room table and chairs.  We kept the meal simple, chicken artichoke delite pizza from Papa Murphy's.  I dressed up the table a little with the napkins. Hmm, where is the confetti? I can not believe I didn't confetti the heck out of that table.


It rained side ways the whole time we were there, it was January at the coast after all. So we stayed in and drank mudslides and played board games. 
This picture doesn't do the rain justice. We were SOAKED just from going from our car to the house which was 5 steps away.



Karen LOVES horses and I had seen the cutest horse cupcakes in the book I recently bought, Hello Cupcake.


Mine didn't turn out quite as fabulous looking as the ones in Hello Cupcake. Mine are on the left, the book is on the right. I couldn't find white circus peanuts anywhere and I didn't have time to order any. So I dipped the orange ones in white chocolate. Mine didn't turn out too bad but Hello Cupcakes look amazing.

Happy Birthday Karen!!! Hope you enjoyed your 5 days off and had a great 2012 birthday.

January 14, 2012

 

Cheese and Football

This post was inspired by a post I saw on Jacolyn Murphy: Keeping it simple. Making it fun! Here's a link to the post that inspired my post. Wow, that was a mouthful.

I commented on her post, I like to leave comments because all of us bloggies LOVE comments!! {wink wink} She's a 49rs fan which is what her post has to do with. Have you clicked on over to check out her post?   

I commented that it inspired me to do something similar for the Packers. Here's my inspiration:

The cupcake wrappers I got at Michael's, on sale, Woo Hoo! Ran into my 2 aunts and my cousin while I was there (always fun)   :)


I have NO idea what 3 -19 means but I hear the quarterbacks say it ALL the time before the ball is hiked to them.


Chocolate peanut butter footballs made by...me! :)

GOOOooooo PACKERS!!!!!

January 13, 2012

 

Rubber Ducky Day!!!

How can you not smile when saying that.  Today is Rubber Ducky Day :)

Throw a rubber ducky party like this one seen on Kara's Party Ideas. This whole rubber ducky party just screams cuteness!! Here's just a taste:


CUTENESS alert!  Of course this little cupcake was found on...where else...Cutest Foods!

These center pieces are oh so adorable. Never too old for a rubbery ducky party. As seen on Hostess with the Mostess. 


Every party needs a signature drink and this one from Seeking Delightful Pleasures is perfect for Rubber Ducky Day.


I think Rubber Ducky day needs to coincide with Bubble Bath day. Perfect!
I leave you with one GIANT rubber duck. Project Suito Osaka Rubber Duck designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman



Now go take a bath.

January 11, 2012

 

Woo Hoo!! Wednesday

I'm hosting my first ever Chinese New Year party.  Small affair, just 4 of us. Since it's Woo Hoo!! Wednesday I'll show you what I WISH I could do for my Chinese New Year party. Just need to win the lottery :)

Guests would be greeted by a Chinese dragon dance.


I'd order this cake from Charm City Cakes and have it delivered to dazzle and delight.


And we'd finish the evening with fireworks.


Oh to stay home and plan parties all day, instead I'm off to work with a cold, blech!
Happy Wednesday