Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

Has anyone gone through life with children withOUT having a MICKEY Party?

Well! We not only had a Mickey Mouse Party... We had a Micky Mousetach party!

See, my nephew who's birthday is one day before my youngest's had to have a Mickey Party, and at that age you can't argue with them.  So my sister in-law and I decided to combined the parties since they are so close in dates and who wants to consume an entire weekend with birthday parties!?  NOT me! 

SO evolved the Mickey MouseSTache party!  

I've always wanted a "little man" themed party with ties, vests, top hats and mustaches but with the great opportunity to combined parties and with my nephew not parting ways with Mickey Mouse anytime in his near future I thought we should combined the theme as well! 

So here are a few pictures to gaze at... We are getting into the party planning business soon as well, but if you should live far, far away then we can send you the items for you to adorn your party with all by yourselves!   WARNING- combining a party does not make less work! It only makes it more fabulous! 

ENJOY :) 

Logan (left-3) Brandon (right-2) 

THE BIRTHDAY BOYS

Artsy made the shirts! They turned out ADORABLE!! 

Mickey Top Hats- we made from cheap top hats then added ears and a red stripe to tie into our colors

Mickey shapes were added to the tops of our favor bags with a mini clothes pin and we also put them on tall bamboo skewers to add some depth and cuteness to our tables.

oh and here is a top hat for one of the girls that planned to stop by and share some minnie love ;) 

An amazing chocolate cupcake with shipped cream frosting and red sprinkles! 

YUM, Brandon liked them! 

We also set up a fancy photo booth with dress up clothes! These are the oldest BROTHERS to the young Birthday Boys! 

a beautiful mickey balloon decor for the wall 

so the mustaches didnt make it through the entire theme but it was still cute and came through some of decor!

dont forget the marshmallows!

The Mickey Cookies that CookieXchange did only dipped the ears in chocolate instead of using any royal icing decoration.

...and some more yummy desserts...

FRUIT KABOBS

FRUIT TARTS

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES OF COURSE

more cute favors

ADORABLE FRAMES!!! 

On the back of the boys' shirts Allison ironed on some cute sayings-

Logan turned 3 his shirt said _ YIPEEE IM 3!!

Brandon turned 2 his shirt said- WOHOO IM 2!!

ALL JUST PICTURES TODAY no tutorials or where to get things... 

I'll try to keep you updated with out crafty lives over yonder...  please be sure to comment.  If you ask any questions about anything you see I will be sure to give you my answer!!!

XOXO

How to Make Vanilla Extract

Pure Vanilla Extract!


Okay so this stuff is super expensive and I'm trying to raise some children in America. So why not make my own!

Actually this batch I'm testing on friends and family (but don't tell them).  I am making Christmas gifts out of the extract I produce this time around. JUST in time for Christmas present planning.. You'll need 6 weeks minimum to make this delicious stuff... here is how;

First you'll need to invest in some vanilla beans.  I purchased mine from ebay, and to tell you truth I'm not sure where else you would purchase these without breaking the bank!
There are different Grades for beans and also different types of beans.
I got grade B

Vanilla Bean Grades

When a bean has completed its curing the bean goes through a grading process. The Bean is separated from others according to length, color, plumpness, appearance, shape, and moisture content. The more the quality a little bean holds, the more it is in demand and hence the higher market value.

Most all varieties of Beans have this grading;
A
Whole, uniform, fine, fatty, oily pods. Deep, dark, chocolate brown in color. No defects or blemishes. Great aroma, flexible with good moisture content, about 8 inches in length. The finest of all grades.
B
Similar in quality and characteristics to Prime grade beans, but slightly less plump.



Then there are grades below those... buut... nothing you want to mess with when it comes to a pure extract, you simple wont obtain the quality in flavor, you mineswell go buy vanilla flavor instead of pure vanilla.


Now, I went through this company on ebay

Now I actually purchased Tahitian Vanilla Beans (a whole pound) and I went for the cheaper Grade B. If I had another chance (perhaps next year) I WILL be purchasing Premium Madagascar Bourbon Grade for a little extra money. That being said what I purchased was not bad, but there were a lot of very thin dry beans which don't make for a GREAT Vanilla Lemonade .. YUM

Now believe it or not Vanilla Extract is alcohol... again when I have the luxury next time I will be ordering premium FAT little beans and to make things a little more interesting I will be using some top notch vodka to make mamma (that's me) my very own stash! That wouldn't be so bad in some cocktails!

POUR-SLICE-SCRAPE-SHAKE-WAIT
Let's begin

No exact measuring here guys and gals... pour and plop method

You will need:
1 large Mason Jar
3-5 cups of Vodka (nothing fancy-I went for the cheapest I could find)
7-10 Vanilla Beans (Best you can find for your money)
knife
Music

*Fill that jar with vodka 3/4 full (just until you get all the vanilla in, then you'll fill the rest of the way)
*Slice the vanilla beans in half.
*Scrape the vanilla beans of their gold (like below)

I used the back of my knife so I wouldn't take too much of the pod with the beans!

DUMP- all the pods and the beans into your jar and fill the remainder of the room left with Vodka. The longer you keep these beans in there the better this extract will be.

You will need to keep this in a dark and cool area, if you have dark colored glass jars EVEN better! Sunlight damages important chemicals made for those flavor notes that hit your tongue.. so keep these puppies locked down BUT don't forget about them either. I set myself a reminder to agitate or shake it a little every week! 

Give it a minimum of 6 weeks... Mine is almost there. I did this around 5 weeks ago, and it is super dark in color and looks amazing!  Everyone who gets some will be thrilled. I will post an update soon.

Let me know if you will be trying to make your own homemade vanilla! 

XOXO

Taxi Cab Sugar Cookies

Hey all...


Wanted to share a really cute order I received a week ago. Originally this client ordered Ice Hockey Ice skate cookies for her little guy's 4th Birthday a while back and she returned wanting a couple dozen Taxi Cab Cookies. I was up for the challenge. I hade a nice domed car shape and asked her if I could sketch something up before agreeing to the order so I had confidence it in first...She was excited!

Now I tend to make the ketch super embelished but when it comes to the cookie, sometimes less is MORE, and in this case less was more because they turned out super cute ... but I chose to leave behind the hub caps, black outlines and the front and rear lights.
The entire process for the icing can be tricky, its ALL about the order of colors and sections of the cookie in ANY case. In this design I piped my yellow outline around the entire body or frame if you will without flooding the inside. I then chose to plop on my tires, and they were soo cute without the hub caps... I should have snapped a picture with... it was a huge difference to me.  This design was a bit more cartoon'ish but I think they staff will love these!
Here is the outline... and shiny black CHUBBY tires... (I think they're cute!)

...okay wait... so... FUNNY story, the picture above is all heaven glow like because I had cling wrap around my phone...hehehe.  One of the many ways I keep contamination out of the Bakery! So here is a more clear shot :)

That's better!!
After I was done with the last tire I was able to start at the first cookie because the order was SO large there was TIME to sit and dry between each step...
The next step I took was to create the chrome bumpers and the windows. I tried to use a silver luster dust on the chrome pieces but just couldnt get the results I was looking for. I need a better silver and a darker gray for those bottoms. After making my windows and bumpers I proceeded to flood with yellow in the obvious spots :)

Then the "checkered" look for the center... you know the black and white stripe..  I struggled to create this look without making it look terrible and sloppy..  but finally chose to use a a flat tip and a brand new paint brush! So with a thick white royal icing I used a flat tip and quickly piped across the  taxi (once the yellow was dry) after the white was dry I used a thinned out black and painted squares across the white stripe.

This picture shown is a dried and shrink wrapped cookie. The client whom purchased asked me to put a tag of some sort that read "Thank You For Fueling Our School" .. super cute! LOVE this idea for Teacher Appreciation Day!  This would even be super cute on a school bus!!!!!!  I made extra Taxi Cabs to bring to the office staff at our school! The few times my little guy has been in there they have taken care of him! So not to leave them out of Teacher Appreciation, I think they will get a kick out of them!
Here is the tag;

I was thinking of starting some YouTube lovin... just another one of my ADD moments I suppose... :)

Anyhow, please appreciate the people who spend tons of time with our little ones...even they need motivation!

THANK YOU TEACHERS AND SCHOOL STAFF!!

FAVOR BOXES WITH A SOCCER FLAIR

Thought I would share that there are people out there reading this!!   hehe, we have 11 worshipers... I mean "followers" .. wait is this a cult? NO way!  I won't make you drink any special koolaide, and I wont ask you to live with me and my "other followers" :)
I only ask you read these posts from time to time in hopes you like my ideas and share your own experiences or become inspired by the things I snap pictures of and talk about.
It has been a busy month of February and I am sort of glad it is over with. I want to share with you the favor boxes I made for my son's 7th Birthday extravaganza at Chuck E. Cheeses (James just HAD to have his party there, and I think if you can afford it, every kid should have it there once in their lifetime).
Now I say extravaganza because it sure hurt the wallet like one!  But only the best for my little guys!
So soccer was the theme at this party so I decided to fall back on the good 'ol kraft boxes I purchased from U-line, or was it Nashville wraps?  I can't remember but I will update on here when I do!
This is what I made.

Can I just tell you the parents were very excited about these... I think they wanted their own too :)  The cookies were my first attempt at "soccer balls" so I think I need a bit more practice AND more time to try these guys out, but for last minute and just a platter cookie, I think they turned out pretty nice.
What I think was very clever about these boxes is that I put a pink ribbon on top of the boxes that had girly colored goodies inside! That way I wouldn't have to look inside each one once the kids were leaving to make sure there weren't disappointing boys because they got pink punch balls or parachute ninjas!
NOW- these don't have to be Soccer, they can be all pink, they can be princess themed, football themed ANYTHING you and your little one set your minds to! Contact me if you want your own labels designed. Anyhow... 
Here is the ingredient list

4x5x6 recycled kraft boxes  (from ULINE ...i think)
20 yards of soccer ribbon (I may need more for a future project)
a hole punch (regular sized)
I used the Sentimentals cartridge for my cricut expression for my scallops in black (cut at 2 inches)
I also created a sheet of "thank you" circles with soccer ball borders  (EMAIL me if you want a copy)
I used the "center point" on my cricut to cut out the images
what I think would work BETTER is a 2 inch circle punch!! HELLO, why didnt I think about that sooner... well its pretty expensive, so I went with the obvious choice until I can add that to my collection!
Black curling ribbon I got at my local party store Boswell's this place is local for me, so I don't have to pay shipping. So my advice is to just get a nice large spool of it (you pay soo much for a tiny spool why not get a big one since you'll need it soon enough)
My trusty ATG gun WHICH I LOVE!
..and finally a patient hand!

So I punched a hole with a standard punch in the opposite sides of the boxes (for the side ribbon/handle)

So this picture above shows the two front holes, this is for the tag, for the HANDLES you need to punch a hole on the left side (towards the back of the box) and then on the right side you need to punch a hole on the front side (the same end as the tags/front). This will allow for a spill free, kid wobbling running around party experience.

The soccer ribbon is thick enough that when you tie a knot on the inside of the box it will not come out of that hole you punched unless you pulled so hard you ripped the box...
Now we take a look at the tag portion on the front side of the box. I punched 2 holes side by side about a 1/4 inch from each other and off set it to the side off the center of the box, it just looked better that way!
Then I took 2 cuts of 12 inches of that black curling ribbon and threaded them both through the inside of the box to the outside. Then I slipped all 4 sides of the ribbon through the tag which I also punched a hole into after using my ATG tape gun to adhere the tags together.

I took both sides of the ribbon and tied one knot onto the tag, then I took one ribbon from each side (leaving 2 pieces of the ribbon dangle) and tied a bow. THERE, the tag is snug, and it looks darling!

I loved making these knowing that kids will enjoy them for a long time. Who doesnt want a cool box to tote things around of theirs! My son still has his and he carries all kinds of random things in it when he wants to tote them along somewhere.
Please email me for a FREE copy of the soccer Thank You labels to print out on your own computer. I just ask you become a cult member... I mean... follower and I will gladly HOOK YOU UP, as my son would say.
ALSO, for the pink ribbon (the girly boxes) I just punched 2 holes into the top/lid and threaded a hot pink ribbon through and tied a knot, just to poke out.

A QUICK LIST OF GOODIES I PUT INTO OUR FAVOR BOXES

slinging frogs (party store)
primary colored party bubbles (Walmart)
punch balls (party store)
globe key ring (james insisted!/party store)
ninjas on parachutes (party store)
NOT PICTURED- CAKE POPS!!!! from ArtsyAlcie (James' aunt!) 
and those lick ball thingies that you catch back into the net things (real technical i know..)
..OH and don't forget the infamous silly bands (we put in star wars themed from walmart)

some more pics

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ARTSYALCIE WHO MADE THE CAKE POPS THAT WENT INSIDE THESE BOXES AND SOME ADDED EXTRA FOR THE TABLE FOR THE PARENTS TO ENJOY!!

HAPPY CRAFTING EVERYONE!!!
   please leave a comment, I want to know what themed parties you are throwing in your near future!!!