How To Train Your Dragon birthday party

My sister planned a super fun "How to Train Your Dragon" birthday party for my neice who is obsessed with dragons. I was happy I got to help put it together. 

Toothless is her favorite dragon so we made some cupcakes with his face. We used fondant for his eyes.

I love love that she wanted to add sheep to the mix. The game they play with these little guys in the movie is hilarious. I wish I would have thought to do one black sheep for fun.

We used a chocolate melt for his face and chocolate chips (with the tip cut off) for his ears. Thanks mom for all your help with these!

Toothless eating fish. I loved that my sister thought to use an Oreo for this! 

Here they are living happily ever after...

Dragon Eggs

We hard boiled eggs then cracked them leaving the shells on. We soaked them in food coloring for several hours, peeled them, and then made regular deviled eggs. So fun! 

*I read on a blog later that if you mix 2 tsp. of white vinegar in with the food coloring it will make the cracks darker. Also try using a spoon to crack them.

My sister had some really fun take homes for the kids. My favorite was the slime on the end that she labeled Toothless slobber. 

My sis is also an amazing artist and creates her own piñatas. I love this awesome dragon she did.

Happy Birthday Makyia!

Bus driver appreciation

I feel in love with these little buses when I saw them on Pinterest. I was so excited we have a wonderful bus driver to give them to. You could always put this with a gift card to make it extra special.

We used the almond and toffee Hershey Nuggets for these. I found the printable here

I had a hard time getting this to work on my computer but it worked on my phone.

Ideas for a baby shower

I wish I could take credit for this shower or even for the ideas but I did nothing. I did want to save these ideas for later. 

I love this mini fruit pizza idea. We got to create our own pizza which was so fun and delicious. Just use a sugar cookie recipe, cream cheese frosting, and lots of fruit. 

     I also love how they served these veggies. Hollow out a cucumber slice and add stripes of veggies.

This was for the veggie dip. How cute is this?! Just hollow out a loaf of bread, (it looks like it was made in a bread maker) intertwine some ribbon, and add cookies for the wheels (maybe using chocolate as glue.) You could use this for any kind of dip. So fun!!

We will miss you!

My sweet friend is moving to Alabama! I made this for her going away party.

Pina Colada 

Pineapple cake
(recipe by Glory Albin)h
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

Directions-
1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
3. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
4. Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
Bake in a jelly roll pan. 350 for 20ish minutes. .

Coconut Cream Filling

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 large package coconut instant pudding

Whip together until desired consistency.

*my grocery store didn't carry the big boxes of coconut pudding so I used 2 small ones and just added cream and milk until it looked/tasted good. I didn't want to stop sampling it.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract (you may want to start with just 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, you can always add more, but you can't take it out!)
3 1/2- 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or milk
*I ran out of coconut extract so I used some Cream of Coconut and it was super yummy

Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream.
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

*Double or 1 1/2 times this recipe if you are using rosettes to decorate with.

To assemble: cut the cake in half, pipe a damn around the edge of one half of the cake, add filling to the center and top with other half of cake, and pipe rosettes. 

Good luck Melissa! I will miss you so much!

Fruit cones

Wyatt's class snack 

We dipped the edge of a sugar cone in almond bark and added fruit. Super simple and the kids loved them.