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Sunday Shout Out


Here's some sweet Valentine's Ideas for your party and sweet needs that I've come across this week.



"Happy Clippings" made this cute Paper Garland for home.  I just love how cute this would be hanging over your dinner table on Valentine's day.



"Singing with the Birds" shared directions on these Valentine Pop Shots.  I really tried to get one of my kids to do this for their class valentine's, but couldn't get any takers.  Dang it.  They are cute!


   Sweet Little Smoothie took these cute heart boxes and turned them into an Valentine Countdown filled with sweet little treats. Can I tell you how much I absolutely LOVE advent calendars?  I must own at least 20 of them.  But they are almost all for Christmas. It's so fun to see a countdown for other holidays!


The Starfish Blog shares a fun idea for a Valentine Scavenger Hunt.  My kids love to do this with their birthday presents.  Wouldn't it be great for a Valentine party activity too?


Nap Time Journal came up with this fun In The Mood pillow.  My hubby is always saying he wishes I would come up with a sign or something to tell him when I was "in the mood".  This is a great Valentine's gift for him!  He's gonna love it!  (And be sure to check it out, because the other side of the pillow is GREAT too!)

Bouncy Ball Valentine


Super Mom Moments came up with this fun, non-chocolate Valentine idea! 

I know my boys love bouncy balls so this would be perfect for them. 

And we are lucky enough that The Crafting Chicks shared a free printable bag topper to make life even easier!

Isn't that nice of them? Go HERE to print that out!

Valentine Candy Necklace

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Gumball necklaces from One Charming Party!


I'm planning to make one for my daughter for Valentine's day.  I think this is totally up her alley.

I think it would even work great for the Miss America Birthday party!  What a great treat idea.

Check out all the directions on One Charming Party.

The Little Business that Couldn't

I have LOVED being a member of the Etsy website.  It has taken my business to a new level.  I am so grateful for all that they have done for me.  I learned so much about how to work an online business, how to ship, how to have good customer service.
But unfortunately, today my relationship with them has ended.  They have decided to remove all my listings since I wasn't "following" the rules.

I have been in contact with them for several weeks trying to comply with their rules.  I have changed things, I have added items, I have deleted items.  But I haven't had any help.  I feel like I keep getting the "canned" response.  So today they decided I wasn't doing enough and they have removed my shop.

Alright, I'm hurt.  I admit.

But now, I'm picking myself up and moving on. 

Where I'm going to move to, I'm not sure yet. 

But I'm still here.  I'm still the Little Guy trying to hang on with the Big Business trying to stomp on me. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to move to another website and be back stronger than ever.  I hope you'll stay by me and keep visiting with me. 

In the meantime, give me a holler if I can help with any of your party or gift needs! 

Candy Valentine Sayings

With Valentine's Day only a week away, I wanted to share some sweet Valentine sayings that you can pair with your favorite candy for a yummy treat to give those loved ones on your list.

Valentine Sayings

Almond Joy Candy:  You add lots of Joy to my life Valentine.

Banana Runts: You're the Best of the Bunch Valentine.

Berry Flavored Candy:  You're the Berry best Valentine.

Gummy Dinosaurs:  You're Dino-mite Valentine.


Heart Shaped Valentine: You have a special place in my Heart Valentine.

Mints: I Mint to tell you how much I love you.

Orange Sticks:  I'll Stick with you Valentine.


Pear Flavored Candy:  You and me make a perfect Pear.

Reeses: There are many Reeses why I Love You Valentine.

Rocky Road Flavored Candy:  You make the Rocky Road Smoother Valentine.


Sweedish Fish:  I'm hooked on you Valentine.

Watermelon Flavored Candy:  You're one in a Mellon Valentine.

Shout Out Sunday


Here are some great party and decorating crafts that I've found this week and had to share.


"A Pretty Life In The Suburbs" shared these cute Valentine Lollipop Pot decorations for the front of your porch!  I just love how quick and easy these are.  And they are versatile with a great POP of impact for your holiday or party.



"Kristy Makes" made these dramatic Glitter Cups.  Wouldn't they be great for a little girls Princess or Rock & Roll party? (I'm planning a "Miss America Birthday" right now and I think these would be GREAT!)


"Allisons Wonder Scraporium" made these yummy Heart cupcakes with Strawberry Laffy Taffy Butter cream.  I have always wanted to know how to bake a shape into a cake...now I know!  And it looks so easy.  (Plus, I totally can't wait to try that Laffy Taffy Butter cream frosting.  I totally CRAVE butter cream frosting!)



"Confessions of a Plate Addict" made this Mickey Mouse Wreath for her grandson's birthday.  Isn't it AWESOME?!?!  I think you could make one of these for just about any party theme pretty easily.  And what an amazing way to let your guests know they are at the right party?  WOW!



"Joys Hope" shared the DIY on these Tiered Trays she made from Dollar Tree finds.  Don't be surprised if you see these on my next dessert table!

Bowling Pin Cupcakes Tutorial

I first saw these awesome cupcakes in the cupcake book "Hello! Cupcake"(which I really covet, but didn't buy since I wanted the other one "What's Up Cupcake!" more)

I had to attempt them from memory (since I bought the other book instead), so these Bowling Pin Cupcakes leave a little to be desired. If you want the really great, perfect version, be sure to purchase that cookbook.

If you want a fun, but not so perfect substitute...here's my version of the yummy cupcakes we plan to have at hubby's birthday party tomorrow night.

Bowling Pin Cupcakes

Use your favorite box mix of cake mix to make at least 12 regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes.  (I used the rest of the mix to put aside for cake balls...)


Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost the top of the regular sized cupcake and place the smaller cupcake on upside down.



Now frost the bottom of the small cupcake (which should be facing up) and place a small round donut on top.



I used some butter cream frosting that I had left over from the Super Bowl cupcakes that I made (because I'm a cheapy that way--use what you got!) so my cupcakes are yellow.  I would recommend using white if you can because I had the bottom frosting layer show through in the end.

At this point, the cupcakes weren't firm enough to work with, so I put them in the freezer for a few hours and played with my kids and other projects.

After a few hours, I took them out and used a can of white vanilla frosting to frost up the sides of the cupcake to fill in the holes and make the cupcake smooth.  (Not that I did a good job...next time I'll try a little better on that count.)

(Pretend I don't have a DEFECTIVE camera and there is a cool picture here.)
Then I microwaved a container of vanilla frosting on medium heat for 2 minutes.  (Note to self, take a little out first so when I dip, it doesn't over flow!)  Now dip the cupcake into the melted frosting all the way up to the wrapper.



Be careful to let the excess drip back into the container or else it makes a mess.  (Trust me, if you're not a mess at this point with frosting all over your fingers, then you're baking wrong anyway!)



Now you have 12 white moundy thingy cupcakes.  To turn them into Bowling pins, cut a piece of fruit roll up into strips.  I tried to cut mine to make two smaller rings, but it didn't work very well.



Now wrap the roll up around the top part of the cupcake and WHALA! Bowling Pin Cupcakes!



I'm going to pair these with some Chocolate Covered Oreo Bowling Balls that I made today (while I was waiting for the cupcakes to freeze) and there's my Thank You favor gift!


Let's Bowl!

My husband's birthday is coming up this week.  Although we have many parties at our house, this is the only time of year he really gets a HUGE say in what we do or what the theme is to be.

This year he wants to go Bowling.

So as I get ready for the birthday party at the end of the week, I'm going to be sharing with you all my preparations and sweet treats.   For as I'm find out, it's kind of hard to find new and different Bowling party treats, decorations, and favors for a grown-up Bowling party.

Check out some of these great finds on Etsy to get you started!

'Let's Bowl Up Some Fun!' by KimsKandyKreations

All the items you need to get a "STRIKE" at your next Bowling Birthday Party.

Bowling Birthday Banner

$12.00
10 Handmade Bowling Pin Bal...

$12.99
Bowling cupcake Wrappers

$8.00
Set of 4 BOWLING Ball and Pi...

$8.50
Bowling Ball Pin Girls Boys ...

$13.00
Bowling Pin Crayons - Lil Do...

$8.95
Printable bowling birthday p...

$16.00
Bowling Cake Decoration Set

$3.85
Personalized Bowling League ...

$8.00
96 BOWLING kiss birthday Par...

$4.50
The BOWLING BASH - Custom Cu...

$6.90
The SKIMPY Hostess Apron in ...

$20.00
Personalized Bowling Party D...

$20.00
Fondant Cupcake or Cookie To...

$12.95
Bowling Party Boy Clipart

$6.00
Vintage Excuse for Bowling H...

$9.00
Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

Super Bowl Football Party

The Super Bowl is coming!  The Super Bowl is coming!

We are getting ready by preparing and setting up our Sweets table now.
(Who says we are a little eager?)

To help you prepare for your Big game day, we are sharing our pictures and ideas!

We started off using 2 green table cloths from Walmart.
For the background, we used white duck tape and made lines running up and down the tablecloth to resemble a football field.

Since we have no allegiance to either team, the left side of the table was dedicated to the Green Bay Packers
and the right side to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  This way we cheer on both sides and can enjoy the game!


We shared those free printable Pennant banners here.


In the center of the table, we had our Root beer bottles.
To help each of our guetss to identify their drink, we made labels with a football background.  Each label has a different football position on it.



Behind these we had the football teams facing off in Jello Jiggler helmets.  We made each of the helmets in the team colors to cheer on each team.



For each side of the table, we made Football themed cake pops.  You can find our directions here.


We also had colored M&Ms in both team colors, with Hershey kisses mixed in.  On the bottom of the kisses, we made labels with each team's logo.




We also had candy bars with our Football Hershey Wrappers in the Steelers team colors and the Packers team colors.


We had popcorn in mason jars with team colored wrappers around the outside.


We also had cupcakes and sugar cookies on each side of the table.
The cupcakes were dressed in football helmet wrappers to look like the Steelers football players and the Packers football players.


To finish off the Sweets table, we made our favorite chocolate covered oreos in football shapes.



and Pudding cups!
For the pudding cups, we used Pistachio pudding for the green and then died some cool whip yellow.  We layered the cool whip in the center of two layers of pudding for a green and yellow effect.



I can't wait to dig in now!  I'm ready to sit back, eat some sweet treats, cheer me some football, and enjoy some great commercials!  How about you?