The Twins Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops...Mmmm!

I tried a new version of this recipe and these things taste and have almost the same texture as Reeses! Mmmm-mmmm-mmmm is all I have to say about these yummy morsels!!!

Add the natural peanut butter to your bowl. It is important to use natural peanut butter meaning peanut butter containing only peanuts and salt in the ingredients to get the Reese's like taste and texture. I think we used Smucker's Creamy Peanut Butter.

Add the confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt. Looks like somebody got caught tasting the peanut butter. LOL!

Your mixture will be a little crumbly but when you form the peanut butter balls it will come together nicely.

Mmmm-mmmm...Look at all that peanut butter deliciousness !

Then, dip those babies in the melted chocolate and make yourself a cute lil swirl on top with a toothpick. I realize there are no dipping pictures. Dipping 20 PB drops with 4 1/2yr old twins plus using a camera was too much for me LOL!

After all that hard work you deserve to take a bite and enjoy! Ok well if you are like me...maybe 4 or 5 bites and enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops
Printable Recipe

2/3 cup Creamy NATURAL Peanut Butter
2 1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 salt
1 cup confectioner's sugar
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp vegetable shortening

1) With a mixer, combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt on low.
2) Add confectioner's sugar and mix until well blended.
3) Add additional confectioner's sugar if needed.
4) Shape into 1" ball. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and put in freezer for 15-20 minutes.
5) Put chocolate chips and vegetable shortening in microwave safe bowl.
6) Microwave for 45 seconds on medium. Stir and repeat until completely smooth.
7) Working quickly so PB balls do not get soft, use a fork to dip PB drops into melted chocolate, rolling around to completely cover. Gently tap fork on edge of bowl to remove excess chocolate. Place on parchment paper. If you wish, you can use a toothpick to create a little swirl on top. Refrigerate or freeze. You may need to put chocolate back in microwave will dipping to re-melt and stir until smooth.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing you a special day to all the mom's out there!

Here is a sweet poem I wanted to share:

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day

With little time to stop and pray

For life's been anything but calm

Since You called on me to be a mom

Running errands, matching socks

Building dreams with building blocks

Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes

And other stuff that children lose

Fitting lids on bottled bugs

Wiping tears and giving hugs

A stack of last weeks mail to read

So where's the quiet time I need?

Yet when I steal a minute, Lord

Just at the sink or ironing board

To ask the blessings of Your grace

I see then, in my small one's face

That you have blessed me

All the while

And I stop to kiss

That precious smile

I hope you have a special day with your mom, your little one's or with someone special in your life!

(photo credit)

Mother's Day Brunch Menu...Recipes Included

This year I will be hosting a Mother's Day Brunch at my house! Hopefully, my hydrangeas will still have some of these gorgeous blooms on them!!

Here is the menu I planned for this Sunday. If you need any ideas for your own brunch I have included some printable tasty recipes. Just click the links below. I plan to print out my menu on nice cardstock and post it in a shabby chic frame on the buffet table.

MENU

Blueberry Lemon Scones with Honey Butter

Assorted Pancakes - Blueberry & Chocolate Chip

Warm Maple Syrup

Fresh Fruit Salad

Crispy Bacon

Turkey Sausage Patties

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Fluffy Scrambled Eggs with Assorted Mix-ins

Croissants

Sliced Honey Ham

Carved Turkey Breast

Orange Juice

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Spa Water

Mimosas

Fruity Rum Punch

I'm participating in these great link parties:

Thank You Sweet Pickles and Chocolate

Just wanted to say thanks a bunch to Dena @ Sweet Pickles and Chocolate for this special Cinco de Mayo Rave Review! Check her out for Rave Review Wednesdays!

Carnival Party: How to DIY

Here's how you can DIY a Carnival Party too:

Carnival Food:

• Set up 1-2 tents side by side for food area. Set up an 8' foot folding table for all the food. Put a primary (Red, Yellow or Blue) colored table cloth on the table. Hang a pennant banner on front of table in primary colors. 
  

• Lemonade in glass dispenser and water bottles with custom carnival sticker label (DIY-customize using free downloadable carnival font)

• Hotdogs/Corn Dogs: Use a roller grill or crock pots filled with water to keep the hotdogs warm and ready to serve. Or you can set up a fabulous table just like A Little Polka Dot did here.

• Popcorn in paper popcorn bags. Go all out and rent or buy a popcorn machine!

• Nachos: use circle nacho chips and melted nacho cheese, serve in paper or plastic nacho trays  ***Tip: You can use these same paper trays to serve your hotdogs, nachos and big pretzels.

• Big soft pretzels with salt (frozen section of grocery store). Serve with nacho cheese and yellow mustard.

• Ketchup, Mustard, Relish in clear squirt bottles from Walmart or dollar spot at Target. ***Tip: Cut tip of bottle bigger with scissors so relish can squirt out.

Dessert Table:

• Under a tent,  set up a smaller rectangle or card table for the desserts and cover with another primary color table cloth. Add a pennant banner to the front of table that says "Sweet Treats"!

• Carnival birthday cake (This is a BEAUTIFUL CAKE from Tammy at Southern Cottage Cakery, inspired me to be a blogger) (how to DIY fondant popcorn)

• Popcorn cupcakes (Made by Cakes By Jen )

 Here is how Jen did it:

1. 1) Bake cupcakes in red and white striped liners or use a cupcake sleeve. Ice with white buttercream. Use miniature marshmallows to make the popcorn by placing them on top of cupcake onto the  buttercream layer.
2. 2) Use a pair of clean scissors and snip the tops of the marshmallows twice (in opposite directions, to form an "x").
3. 3) Lightly spray the top of the cupcakes with yellow color mist to look like butter.

• Caramel apples (DIY)

• Confetti Rice Krispie treats (dip in bright colored sprinkles) (DIY)

• Cotton candy in paper cones (DIY) Most dollar stores or walmart sell cotton candy or again you can go all out and rent a machine!

• Snow cones or try colorful italian ice (Store italian ice in a styrofoam cooler with dry ice and have an adult scoop it into 4oz paper souffle cups for kids. They can squeeze it right into their mouth...no spoon needed!)

• Low clear bowl or wide brimmed jar filled with skittles with bright colored whirly pops stuck in there which can be purchased from Amazon (Check this out from P is for Party...Beautiful Candy Buffet)

• There are very cool plates and supplies at Oriental Trading called Under the Big Top and also check out amazon to buy paper products in bulk. (Google for a coupon code to save some money while you're at it.)

Carnival Games:

• A group of friends and family members to help out at your booths.

• Shooting Game (Target Buzzy Bee Sharp Shooter Set)

• Ring Toss (Take 25 or 36 plastic soda/water bottles and fill with sand. Put cap back on and spray paint them primary colors: red, blue, yellow. Set them up on a table or low platform in rows of 5x5 or 6x6 with a colored table cloth. Allow children to take a turn tossing the rings which can be pool diving rings.)

• Pie Toss (You will need paper plates with shaving cream or whipped cream, an adult who wants to get messy, a hanging vinyl table cloth for backdrop and plastic chair.)

• Bean Bag toss (Cut circles in cute piece of bright fabric or even a sheet and hang it it up -OR- using plywood DIY ... sew small squares and fill with beans or rice)

• issing Booth (Fill a big jar with Hershey Kisses and have kids guess how many are in the jar! The prize: they win the whole jar.)

• Clothes Pin Drop (Big Glass Jug...Try to drop wooden clothes pins straight down into jug)

• Duck pond 

• Fishing Game (Get a small kiddie pool. Then using plastic fish (which can really be plastic fish or it can be construction paper fish which are laminated) and hot glue magnets to them. Fill pool with half way with water. Using a craft store stick to avoid splinters make a fishing pole. Drill a small hole through stick and feed a string through and make a knot. Attach a magnet on the other end of the string. Go Fishing!!)

• Spray Away (Get a foam board and spray paint it a primary color.  Paint golf tees with spray paint in another primary color. Stick tees in foam board at regular intervals in a straight line. Place set up on a table covered in primary colored table cloth and put ping pong balls on the tees.Then have kids stand back behind a line and spray the balls with water guns.)

• Tattoo booth

• Face Painting booth

• Balloon Animals booth (you tube has some awesome balloon tutorials) 

• Bounce House

• Football Toss

• Big blown up slide

• Ticket Booth (DIY-family Fun)

• Photo booth (Use Fridge/Appliance Cardboard Box. Cut off one side and top completely, spray paint both sides a dark color and cover the back in cute bright wrapping paper (like primary colored polka dots) for your photo background). Have silly props available for photos like clown nose, clown rainbow wig, feather boa, princess crown, funny glasses ect... Have an adult on standby to take kids photos. Give pictures of each kid as thank you cards.

• Win tickets for games and take them to prize table to claim prizes.

• Give kids paper bags with handle (like present style bags) decorated with their names or let them decorate them to collect their prizes. This will be their party favor.

• Prize Board (Cover foam board with bright wrapping paper or fabric, pin prizes to the board in little plastic bags with custom bag tags). Many prizes can be obtained from the dollar store, dollar section at target/walmart, oriental trading.com or a host of other sites out there for party favors. Online shoppers make sure to google for a coupon code for your store before you shop!

Location:

• Backyard

• Nice open park

• School Yard

• Church Parking Lot

Decorations: This is where you can go all out!!

• Red and White Vertical Stripes scream Carnival. Look around for bold wide red and white striped fabric. I have seen it at IKEA

• Tie strips of fabric (red, yellow, blue) to backs of chairs for color!

• Hang crepe paper streamers straight down in primary colors from the door way entry to your carnival if it is at home.

• Use bright colored table cloths in primary colors for tables and games.

• Make your own ticket booth by using an appliance box and painting alternating red and white vertical stripes. Cut a rectangle window for your ticket taker using a box cutter.

• Make your own game booths using card tables, fridge/appliance boxes which are spray painted, etc...

• Check these links out walmart decorations & party city decorations

• Hang red, yellow, blue crepe paper streamers from inside center of tent to edges and let them dangle down on 2-3 sides to look like a big top tent. Tie three red, yellow and blue balloons to inside center of tent.

• No Sew custom pennant banner (DIY)

• Balloon arch (red, yellow, blue...easy to make yourself with helium balloons) DIY You Tube

• Make signs for games with carnival font (make signs on computer and print at print shop like FedEx Kinko's -OR- Print letter templates and hand cut letters out of felt or use diecut machine. Then, glue them to decorated poster board...have fun and let your kids help you too before the party) (Check these fonts Magic Jelly's 12 carnival fonts free download)

• More game ideas

Hope these ideas help you have a super fun carnival party!! If you use any of these tips and post your party on your blog, I would love it if you could link back to this post. Thanks!

Photo Credits:

Carnival Food Popcorn Machine  Cotton Candy 

Cinco de Mayo Time!!!

It's Cinco de Mayo time! Here are some yummy treats to get you geared up for the big day!

Here are my recipes:
Blackened Mahi-Mahi (Fish Tacos)
Mango Salsa
Cilantro Lime Rice
Guacamole
Margarita Cupcakes

Enjoy!!

(Source: Shabby Princess Happy Go Lucky Scrapkit)




I'm participating in these awesome Link Up parties:

~Monday:
sumossweetstuff
thegirlcreative

~Tuesday:
blessedwithgrace ~TMTT
allthesmallstuff ~ Tuesday's at the Table
Crazy Daisy ~Tuesday's Tastes
beautyandbedlam ~Tasty Tuesday

Twins Party Planning Time...Lego Indiana Jones Party

I am in total party planning mode! The twins have decided what theme they want this year and of course they want separate parties so this should be so much fun!

I love planning parties! I get all excited about it!

According to the twins, we will be having an All Girl Fancy Tea Party and an All Boy Lego Indiana Jones Party! I have been searching the web for inspiration. I have already made the invitaions using photoshop and a 4"x6" template for easy printing at a photolab.

I also talked to my sister the other day and she wants help with her son's party! I am in heaven LOL!!!!

We can just start with my little punk's party first...

Here is the Lego Indiana Jones invitation I made in photoshop. I used the image from the cover of the Wii game and a scrapbook paper from Shabby Princess (both available for free). All the fonts I downloaded on the web were for free as well.

So far I have decided to have a scavenger hunt including:
- a mummy station
-snake pit
-crocodile creek
-gross food feeling buffet (eyeballs, brains, scorpion guts, etc...)
-Lego station
-eating poisonous dates (chocolate of course) followed by healing elixir (blue wax candy bottles)
-the big bolder
-excavation in the sand box with bones, legos and gold coins
-And finishing up with finding the crystal skull.

I haven't determined the order of events yet but I am working on the little clue cards for each stop on the adventure. I will post them when I finish them all.

I am collecting décor pieces like burlap, map print fabric, scraps of canvas and rustic serving pieces. I am also in the process of making little bags for the boys like Indiana Jones wears following my Girl Power Purse Tutorial.

As far as food, I am planning to serve chocolate dipped pretzel rods, a small candy buffet with gummy snake, crocs, worms, eyeballs, etc... jello molded monkey brains, hotdogs, fruit tray, chips and cupcakes/cake. For the cupcakes, I will make chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream dipped in crushed graham crackers for sand effect. Then, I plan to make fondant/gum paste toppers of red snakes and lego pieces. For the cake, it will be a lego indiana jones theme using characters from lego indiana jones building set with a small waterfall, palm trees and rocks. 
 
I have been playing the game with my little punk a lot lately so I can get better ideas for the party plus it is pretty fun too LOL!!
 
Next... I will post my ideas for the fancy tea party for sweet pea!!

(Photo Credits- L to R: TwoCrazyCupcakes Design, Kotaku, Art of Dessert, NutsOnline, TheCakeStand, CandyWarehouse)