Crayon Cake Push Pop Printable

I am a huge fan of the Push Pop cake craze.  I love everything about cake balls, but I don't have the decorating skill to be able to make cute cake balls to wow my party guests.  So the ease of putting together and decorating the cake push pops, really appeals to me.

So when I began to think about cupcakes for my Back to School party, I thought about the push pops that I had sitting in my closet.  Since I'm going with a school supply theme, I was inspired by Bakerella's Pencil Push Pop Cakes.  But I would rather be able to place the lid on the push pop and I just don't have the patience to go to all the work of dyeing all those different cake layers different colors.

So my laziness and love of a quick project led me to design these Crayon cake push pop printables.

I started by making a Funfetti cake and then using the push pops to fit circles of cake inside.  I found the easiest way to do this was to push the open end of the pop down into the cake and then push it down to the bottom with my finger.  Then, add a bit of frosting to the top and repeat.  I did this so there were 3 layers of cake/frosting, cake/frosting, and cake/frosting.  The top layers of frosting I then dipped into red, yellow, or blue sprinkles.

After putting the lid on the cake push pop, I printed out my crayon printable onto cardstock and cut them out.  It was then easy to wrap the printable around the base of the push pop making it look like a crayon.

Simple, easy, and quick.  My favorite type of project.

Here's the printable in case you want to try these for your Back to School party too!  And if you need some push pops to create them, you can purchase them HERE.

Back to School Shopping for Colorful Party Supplies

I know that many schools throughout the country have already gone back to the classroom, cutting summer way to short.  We still have one last Hoorah before we go back next month.  

But to get my kids ready for the dreaded first day of school, I've already started talking about clothes shopping and buying those back to school supplies.  They groan and yell at me every time I bring it up, but you have to keep plugging on.  Maybe if I showed them all these fun Back to school party supplies, they'd be as excited as I am about the big day...okay maybe not, but one can try, right?

1. Crayon Shaped Savings Bank 

How cool would these Crayon banks be to fill with candy and then send home with the kids as a party favor? A great idea to help the kids save for next summer's vacation or Christmas break. 

2. School Bus Photo Booth

With photo booths all the rage right now, this School Bus stand in would be a great way to get that "first day of school" look without chasing down the bus...which I hear is a big no-no.  (Not that I know from first hand experience.)

3. Buffet Caddy
I just love how this buffet caddy keeps all your party essentials in a compact, organized space.  This caddy won't take up a lot of space on your buffet table but will make your silverware and napkins easy for all your guests to grab.

4. Toy Filled Plastic Apples

These apples are designed to be filled with toys and treats to put a new spin on the old bobbing for apples game, but could easily be filled with erasers, bookmarks, and other school supplies as a party favor for your back to school party.

5. Tissue Apple Garland

If you are going for a traditional Back to School party theme with apples, this apple garland would make a great backdrop behind your dessert table or hanging through the party room.  The bright red color is eye catching and the 6 foot length is long enough to stretch across your photo booth backdrop or dessert table.

6. Personalized School Days Banner

Welcome your guests to your back to school party with a personalized banner hanging outside your door or house.  The school supply theme is great for the party I'm planning and would fit perfectly with a Welcome Back design.

7. School Days Pencil Drawing Fabric 

With only a few yards of this fun School days fabric you would have a unique and fun table cloth for your Back to School dessert table.  The different color letters and numbers with the long lines of color from the pencils make this fabric colorful but not too distracting.  This lets your treats do the talking and the fabric be the exclamation point!

8. Silicone Alphabet Letter Ice / Bake Tray Set

These alphabet letters would be a great way to make your drinks cold while still keeping with the Back to school theme.  How fun would it be to make them in red, yellow, or blue koolaid and then place them inside 7up?  The colors would really pop and the kids could practice there ABCs in fun, yummy style.

9. Jelly Belly Candy Crayons

These candy crayons are such fun.  You can have the kids play with them by doing coloring books or work books and then they can reward their hard work by eating the yummy treats inside.  My kids have enjoyed these before and they are certainly a fun way to have to do your homework.

10. M and M Upcycled Notebook

If you have to go back to school, why not do it in sweet style?  This candy notebook would even make writing your homework notes a fun task since it's made from a real M&M candy box.  You can almost smell the chocolate.

Do you plan to have a Back to School party this year?  What are you doing to make it more memorable and fun?

Summer Fun Watermelon Placemat Printable

I've had the idea for a Printable Dry Erase place mat for quite a while now but haven't really had the excuse to make one.  None of the parties I've done lately have had a sit down dinner and while our BBQ really isn't a sit down type of activity, I thought this dry erase place mat would be perfect to help keep the kids busy while we finished up the hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner.

And the great thing is it's a SUPER quick and easy project.

Simply save and print out the graphic above by right clicking on it and hit "save".  Then go to wherever you saved it and double click on the picture.  It should bring it up in a separate window.  Click the "Print" button at the top and select your printer.  Be sure to change the paper size to "legal" and hit print.

Now you can either let the kids play with the place mats and some crayons, or you can laminate the place mat to make it dry erasable and reusable.

Either way it's a quick and easy way to keep the kids busy while you finish dinner.  

  I can't wait to try them out this week at Mini Me's birthday!  And soon, hopefully, I'll have a few more of these available for different themes.  Do you think you would use them?

10 Amazing Watermelon Carvings

I remember going to the candy show a few years ago and one of the booths had a Watermelon Carver there.  He was making the most interesting and beautiful flowers carved from watermelon.  I have to admit, I did stay at that booth a little longer than normal, but I have no idea what candy the booth was actually promoting.

Since then, I have been utterly in awe of some of the watermelon carvings that I have seen around the web.  With Mini Me's birthday just around the corner, I wish that I had the skills to try some of these amazing projects.

1. Cupcake Watermelon Carving by Created by Diane.

2. Drum Set Watermelon Carving by Food Stylin with David Leathers.

3. Sunset Watermelon Carving by Karvd.

4. Santa Claus Watermelon Carving from Vegetable Fruit Carving.com

5. Tango Watermelon Carving from Watermelon Sculpture.com

6. Soccer ball Watermelon Carving by Garnish Food.

7. Dragon Watermelon Carving by The Invisible Underground.

8. Guitar Watermelon Carving from What About Watermelon?

9. Indian Watermelon Carving by Greyloch on flickr.

10. Bouquet of Roses Watermeon Carving from Love Round and Round.

Okay, so seriously?  That dragon and those roses?  So. Awesome. 

Have you seen a watermelon carving that you have been impressed with?  While I'm dreaming, what do you think I should try for Mini Me's birthday?

New Sponsor: ABC Distributing

I am so excited to have a new sponsor on the blog today!  If you haven't heard of ABC Distributing, you are definitly in for a treat today.  I absolutely LOVE their products and have been a customer of them for many years now.  You can see many of their items in a walk through my home and even in an occasional party display.

ABC Distributing has so many beautiful home decor items at GREAT prices.  

They have a wide selection of bed and bath items. Everything from bedding basics like sheets and comforters to bath towels and everything in between.  I have this beautiful mail organizer on my desk at home and I LOVE it.  It works great for sorting all the incoming and outgoing mail and a spot for me to put all the bills so I won't lose them before putting them into my Bill Binder.  I am considering getting another one for the store too since it's so wonderful.

They also have stylish selection of apparel items including: accessories, activewear, tops, sweaters, sweatshirts, baby clothes, skirts and dresses.  Now you can make sure you look great at a price you can afford even after your party budget has been stretched.  I know I'm coveting loving this beautiful coral colored cover up.  I may have to sneak it into the party budget for the swim part of Mini Me's birthday.

 ABC distributing has a great selection of arts and craft kits, art supplies, and stationery sets.  I know Mini Me would LOVE to have this... for his birthday.  He has always been my little artist and every year he gets a new art set.  (No, he doesn't have a MILLION, TRILLION, BAZILLION art sets already....but it's the only real toy he likes.)

I just had to share this fun Light Tube Set for your front walkway.  Isn't it so cool?  Don't they look like Light sabers?  How great would that be for a Star Wars birthday party?  It almost makes me want to change Mini Me's birthday to a Star Wars theme.  Too bad that's just not his thing.

I hope you'll go and check out ABC Distributing.  Be sure to check out their New Harvest 2013 catalog. Amazing new deals on hundreds of items. Shop today!!

Watermelon Popcorn Recipe

Next to Watermelon, Mini Me just LOVES popcorn.  With his crazy dessert obsession, we end up making a quick batch of popcorn many nights to solve the evening munchies.  So when it came to thinking of other Watermelon treats to have at his birthday party next week, we decided to give this Watermelon Popcorn recipe a try. 

It was super easy to make, it just took a LOOONNNNGGG time to make and a SHORT time to eat.  I guess we'll be making another batch before the big party.

I started with:

1 cup of Sugar

1/2 cup of Butter

1/4 cup of Karo syrup

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 envelope of Watermelon Koolaid

1. Pop a large sauce pan full of good popcorn.  You don't want any kernels in it, so be sure to pick them out if you need to.

2. Add your butter, Karo syrup, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.  Stirring occasionally, cook until the edges start getting bubbly.  Reduce to medium heat and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and Watermelon koolaid flavoring.

4. Pour the koolaid mixture on top of the popcorn and stir until well coated.

5. Place the popcorn into the oven and cook for 1 hour at 200 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes.

6.  When your hour is up, pour your Watermelon popcorn onto a baking sheet and let cool.  Then use your hands to separate the popcorn into individual pieces.

7. ENJOY your popcorn.

To me, this popcorn tasted like popcorn drizzled with melted Jolly Rancher.  It was really sweet and good.  Plus, the cool thing about this popcorn is that you can use any flavor of koolaid and make any flavor of popcorn.  Pretty easy and pretty yummy. 

What flavor would you make if you could?