Awesomeness of the Day (10-June-14)

Breakfast for Dinner!

"Breakfast - By the time I got around to eating it, it was BRUNCH" by CliffMuller
https://flic.kr/p/7w6nYn

Awesomeness of the Day (9-June-14)

Treasure hunting. Finding an amazing thrift store item.

"Thrifty" by paul adonis hunter     https://flic.kr/p/2beotX 

Awesomeness of the Day (8-June-14)

Climbing into a well made bed with fresh clean sheets.

Source: https://flic.kr/p/8BpjpH

Planning a Child's Themed Birthday Party

For my daughter’s first birthday we threw her a Sesame Street themed party. This was the first children’s party I had ever planned. I wanted the party to be unique so I spent time working on personal touches that I hoped our guests would both notice and appreciate. There are many of ways to add some creativity to a birthday party beyond an awesome cake. A great cake is still a must have! Below are some of the party details I used for our Sesame Street themed party and can be applied to any party theme with some creativity.

1. INVITATIONS

Not only do birthday invitations provide your guests with all of the essential party information they help to set the theme of the party. Party stores offer a large variety of themed party invitations and etsy is also a great resource to find themed invitations that are unique. If you can't find what you are looking for, create your own! We made our own Abby Cadabby invitations for our Sesame Street birthday party.

2. ACTIVITY TABLES

We invited family and friends to celebrate with us, many who had children. I wanted to ensure that there were activities available for the children to participate in that were fun but yet not structured. Children were free to roam the activity tables while the adults mingled. Each table had a sign to give a clue of the type of activity. The activity tables were a huge success! Children were kept busy and enjoyed taking home some of the activities they worked on. Below is a list and description of the Sesame Street themed activity tables.

Cookie’s D’oh

This activity table was composed of Play D’oh and accessories such as molds, presses, rollers and cutters.

Colour Me Elmo

Crayons and a variety of colouring sheets were available on this table.

Super (Grover) Crafts

For this table I had a variety of craft material available for the kids to create their own works of art. The table included markers, stickers, buttons, glue sticks, craft foam cut outs, and construction paper.

Magical Loops

Here children were able to make their own necklaces out of fruit loops.

3. CANDY BUFFET

Who doesn’t love candy? I created a miniature Hooper’s Store filled with Sesame Street themed candy. I also provided small plastic bags to place the candy in. Our guests were able to choose from the following candy:

•        Slimy worms (gummy worms) 
•        Dorothy fish (Swedish fish)
•        Broken Keys (sour keys)
•        Bird Eggs (mini eggs)
•        Radar Bears (gummy bears)

4. MUSIC VIDEOS

Sesame Street has some great songs and celebrity song parodies. We used the videos from these songs as background party music that kids could dance and sing along to.

5. LOOT BAGS

Using coloured paper bags, I glued on eyes, noses and mouths to created Sesame Street character loot bags. Each loot bag was filled with fun summer items (sidewalk chalk, bubbles) and sesame street themed items (rubber ducky, gold fish crackers, stickers). To close each bag I created a Sesame Street sign that had the words “Thank You” on it.

6. TABLE CENTRE PIECES

Each table had 3 miniature Sesame Street tissue pom pom characters and helium balloons. For the tissue pom pom characters I used colours tissue paper and cut out eyes, noses and mouths (same cut outs as for the loot bags). Many of our table centre pieces were also taken home as loot by the children who attended.

7. THANK YOU CARDS

Don't forget to thank all of your guests for attending and taking the time to celebrate your child's birthday. We created our thank you cards before the party and got the birthday girl to give them out as our guests were leaving.

It took time to finish all of the party details but well worth the effort. We have great friends and family who helped tremendously on the day of the party. Hope these ideas help to inspire and bring some uniqueness to your own themed birthday party.

Awesomeness of the Day (7-June-14)

Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles!!

Awesomeness of the Day (6-June-14)

Pigtails!

Awesomeness of the Day (5-June-14)

Reading a good book that you cannot put down.

Source: https://flic.kr/p/f4HeM7

Awesomeness of the Day (4-June-14)

A freshly cleaned house.
Impossible to stay that way very long with a toddler and 2 cats in the house.

Source: "Cleaning Supplies" by Backdoor Survival
https://flic.kr/p/bHcoy6

Tasty Tuesday - Mini Lemon Meringue pies

This is a recipe that I have tested and adapted from a Canadian Living recipe. The shortbread crust is a tasty complement to the lemon curd filling. Ensure that you use a well buttered non-stick tart pan so that the crusts do not fall apart when you try and remove them.

INGREDIENTS:

• Crust:
• 2/3 cup (150 mL) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• 1-1/3 cups (325 mL) all-purpose flour

Lemon Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
• 2 tsp (10 mL) grated lemon zest
• 5 tbsp (75 mL) lemon juice

Meringue:

• 1/3 cup (75 mL) pasteurized egg whites
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar  
• 
  

• DIRECTIONS: 
• Lemon filling: In a  large heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Set over saucepan of simmering water; cook, stirring constantly, until space remains after spoon is drawn through, 6 to 8 minutes. Strain through fine sieve into bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. 






• Crust: Butter the tart pan. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until smooth and fluffy; beat in vanilla and salt. Stir in flour. Roll by scant 1 tbsp into 24 balls, discarding any remaining dough; press onto bottoms and up sides of mini muffin cups. Prick all over with fork; refrigerate for 1 hour.

• Bake in 375ºF (190ºC) oven until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack. Fill each shell with rounded 1 tsp of the filling.

• 
  Meringue: In bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually beat in sugar until stiff glossy peaks form, about 8-10 minutes.
  
  Using pastry bag fitted with plain tip, pipe meringue in concentric circles on each tart, ensuring meringue touches pastry and covers filling. 
• 
  
• Broil until meringue is golden, 30 to 60 seconds. To remove from pan, loosen edges with tip of knife. Makes 24 tarts

Awesomeness of the Day (3-June-14)

Stopping the gas pump on an exact dollar amount.

Source: https://flic.kr/p/4np1Su

Awesomeness of the Day (2-June-14)

Empty train on the way in to work. What seat should I choose?

Awesomeness of the Day (1-June-14)

Ice Cream!