Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

I'm so excited to share with you an amazing party a friend of mine did for her adorable little girl. From start to finish Janay went all out on this Fancy Nancy party! I have to admit, I really didn't have a clue about how popular Fancy Nancy books are. I have a daughter but don't remember hearing much about it.

This is the darling invitation that she sent to the party guests.

It happened to be raining that day, so as the girls arrived she had her adorable son, Alika walk to their cars with his umbrella and escort them into the house. What a chivalrous young man!

Look at this fancy ensemble!

Once the girls came inside they were invited to add to their already fancy attire!

The girls were served crepes to go with the French theme on this adorable table setting 

 

The dessert table had all the goodies you could ask for!

and more!

Oreo's A La Chocolate (That's fancy for chocolate covered oreo's) 

Truffles (That's fancy for bite sized chocolate!)

Petit Cakes (That's fancy for cupcakes) served in these cute tea cups

The girls were also treated to some Fancy Nancy books by Janay

It turned out to be a wonderful and fancy day!

Thanks Kanani for sharing your special day with us!!

 

Here are the printable tags and banners from the party for you to use at your own Fancy Nancy party or if you would like them in pdf form leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will send them over.

 

 

 

Corn Salad - MMMmmm Monday

With the 4th of July holiday coming up this would be a great side dish to have at any party. I needed a last minute idea so I called my go to gal Kellie to get one. I have to admit, when she gave me this recipe over the phone I thought EWWW. That does not sound good. I went on faith in Kellie knowing she has never steered me wrong and the recipe was from one of my favorite cousins who always makes yummy things!

IT IS AMAZING!

So if you are a little unsure after reading the ingredients still give it a try. Even if you hate Miracle Whip.

Corn Salad

4 Cans Sweet corn, drained

1 bell pepper, finely chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 cup Miracle Whip

1 Bag Chili Cheese Fritos

Mix all ingredients together (except Fritos) and refrigerate. Right before serving mix in Chili Cheese Fritos.

*Note - I was thinking this would be yummy with Avocado, red onions and maybe even black beans!

Happy 4th of July

Last year I decided to throw a last minute 4th of July.

For years my friend has hosted an amazing 4th of July party so I never even had to give a thought of what to do or where to go. 

Then my friend moved and her new house doesn't have a pool! Here in Sacramento it is HOT on the 4th of July. Swimming is an absolute must! I agreed (with some nudging by a few other families who don't have pools either) to have one. I told them- OK, but it is going to be LOW KEY! Nothing big - basically just show up and bring food......I didn't have much time for serious party planning! 

Then...I woke up at 6am the morning of the 4th and had an idea. A flag backdrop. easy peasy......and it was!

I happened to have the white and red striped and the blue wrapping paper already and I just used my silhouette to cut out the stars. My husband and I went to work assembling the flag backdrop.

 The banner, drink labels and a whole printable kit I got for free here and the subway art I got for free here!

For the drink labels I have an ink jet printer and if the labels get wet they will bleed so I tried something new. I adhered the label to the water bottle with double sided tape and then I used clear packing tape all around the label and it worked like a charm. The drinks sat in the ice all day and the ink didn't bleed at all!

Beautiful and delicious cupcakes! The cupcake piks and drink tags come from that same collection!

See, nothing fancy with the table but it still looks festive!

We have a portable fire pit and thought it would be fun to make smores that night after swimming. We tried some different smores this year:

Oatmeal Cookies

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Hershey Bars

Graham Crackers

Marshmallows

My new favorite is definitely the Peanut Butter cups with the graham cracker and marshmallows. Delish!

Some enjoyed it more than others!

Lots of fun was had by everyone!

 

So...how will you decorate for the 4th of July party your having this year? If you still need more ideas - Pinterest has lots of fun links to some great ideas! Enjoy!

 

 

Night Owl Slumber Party

It's SUMMER and in my house that means BIRTHDAY TIME! Two of my kids birthday's are in the summer (June and July) and the other is in May so to that I say- Thank goodness we have a pool because summertime in Sacramento is

HOT HOT HOT!

 For my daughter's 10th birthday we decided it was time to have her first slumber party. Now lets get things straight here. I am NOT A FAN of Slumber Parties. Sure they are fun and you make memories that last a lifetime and all that but all I can focus on as a mom with kids and slumber parties are:

• giggling ALL NIGHT LONG
• Taking homesick kids home in the middle of the night
• GIRL drama
• Grumpy tired kids the next day

Other then that they are a BLAST! HA!

I was browsing Pinterest one afternoon and saw an amazing owl face mask pattern. As soon as I saw it I just knew, even against my dread of slumber parties, that we had to do a Night Owl themed Slumber Party and so it began!

Kellie and her daughter Kate were even in town and were tons of help getting everything ready!

These face masks were quick and simple to make. Just cut out and hand stitch!

To go along with the Owl themed party I made these fun and very easy Owl Cupcakes.

To make owl cupcakes just whip up or buy whatever flavor of cupcakes you like and frost. I hear you can even ask for unfrosted cupcakes at your supermarket bakery.

My favorite Frosting is by far the Buttercream Frosting found on the C&H Powdered Sugar package. In case you don't buy C&H here is the recipe:

Buttercream Frosting:

1 1 lb. box (approx. 3 3/4 cups) C& H Powdered Sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

In large bowl with electric mixer at low speed, combine sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Beat at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

 

I make the frosting into owl "ears" by just using a knife and shaping them.

Next, take the Oreo's apart and place a brown Reeses Pieces for the eye and an orange one for the nose.

We also served a few other yummies:

Veggies and Dip & Tortilla Pinwheels

 Meringues in pretty cupcake wrappers

Night Owl Food - I wanted the girls to have some snacks later that night while they were watching a movie- so we put together a little mix of fun treats. we garnished the bags with these cute pom poms that I had originally made for a baby shower as cupcake toppers! 

  To decorate the table I used the same fabric as was on the masks as a table runner and then some things from around the house like this birdcage and owl

And of course a picture of the birthday girl

I wanted to give the girls some "slumber party favors" so we gave them these pedicure kits and some foam glow sticks to play with in the pool when it got dark.

 When they went home the next day they left with these tubes filled with bubble gum:

It turned out to be a wonderful party! Hardly any girl drama and only one midnight trip home!