It's officially the day before Thanksgiving!

Can you believe it's here?! Some of you might be filled with dread. My tips for you are try to breathe slowly, make a check list (I love checking off check lists...even if it says to just put slippers on, check!) and remember that the whole reason for having friends and family over is to make memories and reminisce about those good 'ol times. Keep in mind there are a lot of people in your same situation and I always say the worst thing is for a host to get so frazzled that they miss out on the fun of the event.

Even though I typically make a lot of food, rolls and pies from scratch, it's ok to have help. This year we are traveling for Thanksgiving, so our families pies will be from the great baker Costco. Definitely not the same as my homemade. If you are looking for some last minute pie tips, my sister spilled a few of our family secrets here: http://www.everkelly.com/2012/10/pumpkin-pie-secrets/

If making a pie today is not in your plans - thats fine! We all have our physical and mental limitations. The important thing is our family (or maybe its friends that will be with you) will be together this thanksgiving and I know my kids will be asking who gets the turkey legs. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!

With Love,
Becca

Throwing a Jungle Party- Part 4: Planning the table

Now that the house is in order it's time to figure out the goodies. I wanted the food to be jungle-ish for the kids. Here's some pics of the kid table (some of the adult guests really wanted to eat at the kid table)...

Here's the Monkey Mash: 

 Monkey Mash is banana pudding with layers of Vanilla Waffers crumbled in the pudding. Topped with a Vanilla Waffer and Whipped Cream. Spoons are already in so the kids can just grab and go...

Fruit Kabobs:

 Basically because eating anything off a kabob is more fun. REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE: Take heavy duty scissors and clip the pointy part of the kabob off. We don't want anyone getting hurt.

Cheetah Crunch:

 It's caramel popcorn with chocolate drizzle in individual little cones. To make the cones I just rolled up a square like a trumpet and pulled it in a few places till I got a cone. Than I hot glued it to hold it's shape. The cones are standing in a Styrofoam rectangle. I pre-punched holes in the Styrofoam and covered with white paper and ribbon.

On the right side of the table we have Toasted Coconut Marshmallow Pops and Grass Pops (Marshmallow dipped in chocolate which is than covered in green sprinkles) ....Also notice the worm bowl :)

 The Toasted Coconut Marshmallows I was lucky enough to find bagged and ready to go at Walmart. Phew! One less thing to do :)

Here's a snap of the adult area:

 For the adults I made:
*BLTA sandwich triangles. Toasted in a panini press for nice grill lines
*Chicken Ceasar Salad wraps. It's basically the salad wrapped in tortillas
*Pasta Salad with cucumber, feta, tomato, olives and olive oil --yummy
*Veggie Tray - handmade - just keep empty veggie tray platters. It's so much cheaper than the store bought and your guests get a lot more veggies!
* I also put out some trail mixes for people to munch on...

Freak Out Day!

Today has been a crazy day. I woke up and realized I have about a week till my daughter's birthday party. Oh my! And there's so much to do!!! I have to plan a scavenger hunt, bake cookies, decorate cookies, make goody bags that look like Dora and Diego backpacks, figure out what I'm going to do for the cake, plan the menu, buy and create decorations and do all this within a week. ... ... ...um... I'm going to need lots of caffeine... and chocolate... or maybe just some of my espresso bites!

My next big freak out moment today---- My cake was featured on EpiCute. It was my Butterfly and Roses Cake from my bakery... to say the least, I was very proud. If you have a moment click here and give my picture a thumbs up :) Thanks! Lots more freak out moments and crafty updates to come!