St. Patrick's Day Treats

     I am ALL about St. Patrick's Day fun and celebrations, so I wanted to make something special that Liam could bring to his class.  I had purchased a bunch of chocolate gold coins last month just for St. Patrick's Day.  But, what to do with them?  Why not make some cute rainbow pouches out of coffee filters? Perfect!

Here's what you need:

Chocolate gold coins

coffee filters

markers

green ribbon

scissors

spray bottle with water in it

How to make it:

First using the markers, color the coffee filter in rainbow order. (ROYGBIV)

Or however you want, I just liked the rainbow look, since it was St. Patrick's Day.

Place the colored coffee filter on a paper plate or a tray.

Spray a little water onto the coffee filter to moisten it.

Place the wet coffee filter on some old newspaper to dry.

When they are dry, place 2 or 3 chocolate gold coins in the middle of the coffee filter.

Pull up the sides and tie a piece of green ribbon around to make a little pouch.

 Here's what they will look like!

Such a cute way to say HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

     Well, if you saw my last few posts you probably have figured out the theme for Kinley's 1st birthday!  Rainbows, rainbows, rainbows everywhere!  I wanted to pick out a theme without any characters but also would be gender neutral, since most of my guests have sons.  Kinley has such a colorful and bubbly personality the rainbows seemed like the perfect idea!

    

     As far as decorations go I strung small pom pom balls in rainbow order (ROYGBP and Pink) onto some thread then hung them up.  For the Happy Birthday Kinley sign, I used colorful foam boards and black foam letters, punch some holes in the corners then strung them up with some rainbow ribbon.  The Monthly Pictures, every month I made sure to take a picture of her and the number of months she was.  It was a way I could watch her grow, but I eventually want to put it in a Shutterfly photobook for her.  I went to Walmart and printed the pictures, adhered them to some scrapbook paper, cut them out with some fun edged scissors.  To hang them up, I painted some small clothespins and used a different rainbow ribbon to pin them up on.  I also wanted to show some her 1 Year Pictures I took.  I printed these at Walmart too, then went to the Dollar Tree for some simple black frames to put them in.  I decorated the buffet table and the gift table.

     I brought the rainbow theme into the food as well.  I wanted to make sure there was some good healthy munchies to counter the sweet treats.  I skewered some yummy fruit to enjoy, Red - strawberries, Orange - Mandarin oranges, Yellow - pineapple, Green - kiwi, Blue - blueberries, and Purple - grapes.  I also made a yummy marshmallow and cream cheese fruit dip.  For the veggies we enjoyed, Red - cherry tomatoes, Orange - carrots, Yellow - baby corn on the cobs, Green - edamame Blue - blue corn tortilla chips (blue was a toughie, can you think of a blue vegetable?), Purple - purple cauliflower.  I made some ranch to dip the veggies in.  I wanted something a little more solid for the kiddos and adults could enjoy.  So I found a great and easy recipe to make Rainbow Bread which I made into Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches.  To incorporate the rainbow theme even more, I made he sandwiches with different color flavors of jellies, Red - strawberry, Orange - apricot, Yellow - pineapple, Green - green apple, Blue - blueberry, and Purple - grape.  They turned out great! 

  Bring on the desserts!  Of course we had to have Rainbow Cupcakes, Rainbow Brownie Pops, and Rainbow Sprinkled Popcorn.

     We also rented one of those bounce houses for the kiddos to play in.  Liam and his friends had so much fun bouncing the day away.  We let the bigger kids play in it while Kinley took her nap before the party started.  Worked out great!

Liam, his friends, and daddy playing Hide & Go Seek and Tag in the bounce house.

Nana and the Birthday Girl!

My little cutie all dressed up for her big day!

My mom made her rainbow dress just for her and I bought her 

rainbow headband off Etsy from MLS Photo Workshop.

Time to open presents!  She had a lot of help from big brother.

I think she will get it next year.

Thank you all for the wonderful gifts!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, 

Happy Birthday dear Kinley.....

Happy Birthday to Yoooouuuuuuu!"

She really enjoyed her cupcake and surprisingly didn't make much of a mess.

After everyone left, we went and put on some comfy clothes and went bouncing!

She had a lot of fun having the whole thing to herself!

Everyone had a great time especially Kinley!

All the planning was well worth it to enjoy her special day with family and friends!

Thank you all for celebrating with us!

Rainbow Popcorn

     I wanted to round out the desserts with this easy and simple Rainbow Sprinkled Popcorn.  It was a big hit with the guests!  And sooooo addicting, I don't even know how much I snacked on.

Recipe from Simply Sherryl

Ingredients:

popped popcorn (not buttery or salted)

1 bag white chocolate chips

rainbow sprinkles

parchment paper

How to make it:

Pop popcorn, microwavable or from kernels (I popped some from kernels in a little bit of EVOO in a big pot)

Dump popped popcorn into a large (huge) bowl.

Line counter or large sheet pan with parchment paper.

Melt white chocolate chips in microwavable bowl.

Start with 30 seconds on 50% power.

Stir, cook an additional 10 seconds at a time until melted and smooth.

Drizzle melted chocolate over popcorn.

Sprinkle in rainbow sprinkles.

Stir until evenly coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto parchment paper to cool.

Once dried put in cute bowls to serve then ENJOY!

Rainbow Bread

     After deciding on the theme for Kinley's birthday I wanted to incorporate it into the food as well.  I found this awesome recipe to make Rainbow Bread with I turned into Rainbow PB&J's for the kiddos! They looked amazing and tasted great! Everyone was so impressed with them!

Recipe from Rock UR Party.

Ingredients:

4 (11oz) tubes of Pillsbury crusty French bread dough

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring

cooking spray

2 regular loaf pans

a little all purpose flour for sprinkling

How to make it:

Unwrap the bread dough and cut each into three equal lengths.

There should be 12 lengths total, 2 for each rainbow color.

Spray a plate lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

Take two lengths of dough and add about 1/2 tsp of gel food coloring.

It works best to smear it on the top of one length, place the other on top, then knead it in.

Knead about 30 times, pushing the dough with the heel of one hand, and pulling back, until the coloring is blended in.

(Note:the color won't be perfectly uniform, there will be flecks of white, and that's ok!)

Place the colored dough on the sprayed plate and set aside.

Wash your hands thoroughly and wipe the counter to avoid dye transfer to the next color. 

Repeat with remaining colors.

Sprinkle the countertop lightly with flour.

Starting with the red dough, sprinkle a tine bit of flour over the top and roll out to a long rectangle about 6 inches wide, 18 inches long and 3/4 of an inch thick, set aside.

Repeat with orange and set on top of the red dough.

Continue moving through the rainbow, with the yellow, green, blue, and purple dough, until they are all stacked in the correct color order.

Pat the stack out a little, to bind the layers.

Roll it up so it will fit nicely in your loaf pans, cut in half if you are using 2 pans.

Spray the loaf pans lightly with cooking spray.

Set the dough in the pans and cover with plastic wrap and a towel, set aside.

It won't do a full rise, but it will puff up a bit.

Unwrap the pans and bake for an 30-40 minutes, until the tops makes a tine "thump" when tapped, the loaf is a bit brown, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to allow to fully cool before cutting.

Slice up the bread and layer with your favorite sandwich toppings, or like what I did....Spread some peanut butter and a different flavor of jelly to represent the rainbow. (Red-Strawberry, Orange-Apricot, Yellow-Pineapple, Green-Green Apple, Blue-Blueberry, & Purple-Grape)  ENJOY!

Rainbow Vanilla Cupcakes

     Sticking with the rainbow theme for Kinley's 1st birthday party, I just had to make some rainbow cupcakes!  They turned out so colorful and delicious!  I've made them before using the Wilton Icing Colors but this time I used Americolor Gel Colors that my sister gave me for my birthday!  And WOW! They are awesome!  All you need is a little drop to make such bright and vibrate colors versus the Wilton ones.

Recipe from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2  tsp baking powder

1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature, cut into pieces)

2 eggs (room temperature)

1/2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple food coloring

Buttercream

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

blue food coloring

rainbow sour strip candy (garnish)

How to make them:

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line a 12 count muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, pour the dry ingredients (flour through salt on the above list) into a bowl and mix for 2-3 minutes, until well combined.

Add the cubed softened butter, mix on low speed until butter is well-coated and pieces are small and crumb-like, about 20-30 seconds.

Add eggs, one at a time, until combined. (Make sure egg yolk is completely mixed in before adding second)

Slowly add the milk and vanilla, scrape down the sides are you go.

At this point you can dye the batter.

Evenly pour the batter divided by 6 bowls.

Put a drop or two of food coloring in each bowl, so that you have 1 bowl of batter red, 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue, and 1 purple.

Next, fill the cupcake liner with a spoonful of purple batter, then blue, green, yellow, orange, and red should be on the top, about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until tops are slightly golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes come out clean.

Take cupcakes out of the muffin pan and transfer to a cooling rack. 

Cool before frosting.

Buttercream

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium.

Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition.

Add vanilla and beat until buttercream is smooth.

Add a drop or two of blue food coloring, mix until well incorporated.

Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Decorate with a rainbow sour strip then ENJOY!

Look Who's Turning 1...

      I can't believe my little lady is already turning the BIG 1!  Seems like yesterday I was dressing her up in her very first tutu for Halloween, now she is radiant in her big girl rainbow one! Since her birthday was coming up, I wanted to take some cute pictures of her for her birthday party invitation.   This is just a sneak peak of what her birthday party will look like....can you guess the theme?  Of course, it's RAINBOW!  Be on the lookout for those pictures posting soon!

I found this cute First Birthday Number One Onesie by Pickle Bean Boutique,  the Over the Rainbow Chiffon Flower headband by MLS PhotoWorks Shop, and the Rainbow Tutu I made!

I made this board of all of Kinley's favorite things, how many teeth she has,

how tall she is, how much she weights, what she can say, and what she loves.

I brought some fun colorful balls for her to play with...

And then I busted out the cake!

We had a lot of fun today, looking forward to her Over the Rainbow 1st Birthday Party!