Day #2 Continued...

Oh you know, it's only been three months since we completed our trip to Orlando and a month since I last posted on it. Haha.  Oh well, as they say, "Better Late Than Never!" I will continue to blame it on my kids' intense schedules. Yes, it's Summer, but nothing is SLOWING down. It has actually been a blessing that school is out because this extra curricular schedule could not be maintained throughout the year. We are in the height of AAU Basketball season and dance stuff is keeping us busy and traveling. We just realized that both Ty's nationals and Lilah's Nationals are at the same time, different beaches. Sigh... It will be a mystery on how we handle that dilemma.

Officially A Teenager ~ Birthday Cake!

The official theme for Tyson's party was paintball, but there was also a hint/twist of the game FortNite.  I had several cake ideas in mind.  I had (2) paintball cakes and (3) FortNite cakes that I was really contemplating. However, this was a milestone birthday and a big deal to BOTH of us, so I wanted something at his party to scream "Officially A Teenager!". I decided that that "something" to be his cake.  Recently, I discovered a new bakery in town. It's located in Downtown Roanoke.  The name of the bakery is called Freshly Baked Bakery. I was thankful to have the opportunity to work with them during the month of May. They were SWAMPED with graduation and wedding cakes.  

I described to the owner, Sarah, exactly what I wanted and even shared a photo of both Ty and his bedroom, along with all of his hobbies and loves: Playstation, Basketball, Virginia Tech, attends Glenvar Middle School, Golden State Warriors, Steeler's, iPhone, Sleeping In! 

Basketball

Steeler's Football

Dirty Socks

#13

Iphone!

Snacks!

Headphones!

Glenvar Middle School!

To hear a little bit more about this cake, watch the video below.  There is ALSO a backstory to why I decided on a cake like this one.

TY and his friends loved it.  I had a hard time capturing photos and videos while the boys' sang.  So... the video below is all I have documented.  BOOOO!

H

Thank you Freshly Baked Bakery for sharing your talent and for making people's events extra memorable!!!

Paintball Party Favors!

So many people told me NOT to do party favors for Ty's party.  "They're too old!", "It's not necessary!" "Party favors are an extra expense!" "It's not the guests birthday, it's Ty's birthday!" But I just cannot have a party without party favors.  I LOVE party favors and I believe it's the FINAL detail that sends the party guest home NEVER allowing them to forget the party and all of the details. Party favors are a present thanking your guest for their presence.  

I thought using a variety of rainbow colored bags, to represent the paintball theme, but I have a difficult time with the rainbow icon since it's be recreated to mean something else.  SO... that left me to come up with another idea.  I chose to make my OWN paintball bags.  

I purchased an $8.00 collection of craft smart paint, paint brushes, and a cloth tarp.  I think the total investment was $15.00.  

I poured about 1/4 cup of paint into glass cups.  I watered down the paint, so that the paint was not so thick and easy to splatter.  YES! SPLATTER!!!!

The white bags came from Michael's Craft Stores.  I believe they were $9.99 for 13 bags.  I needed two packs.  Ugh. I used a 40% off coupon.  

I laid out the tarp.  And go to work, splattering paint all of the white bags.  I was a nervous wreck about doing this because I didn't want to mess up my garage floor or those beautiful, crisp, white bag.  The best part about this craft job is that truly NO paint splatter would be wrong.  The "uglier" the better. This is probably the coolest, "funnest", most original idea I've ever had. I saw this idea done on helium balloons, so I switched things up and did it on white bags instead.

Thank you to my hubby for being my videographer on his lunch break.  HEHE

The end result was EXACTLY what I was envisioning.  

WINNING!

After each bag was complete, I would lift it up and find this gorgeous art, on accident.  HAHA.  You can see exactly where the bag was lying.  

What do you give 12 and 13 year old boys at a paintball party? You all... I found the MOST PRICELESS and PERFECT items.  First up, 

Candy Buttons: Five Below

Don't they look like paintballs?

A Pack of Bunch O' Balloons: Five Below

GOBLIES: Michael's Craft Stores.

Smog Balls (Crunchy Candy With a Sour Chewy Center)

PaintBall POPS!  THEY. ACTUALLY.  HAD.  PAINTBALL. POPS. - Five Below

How beautiful are they?!

Paintball Splattered Sugar Cookies: #13: Freshly Baked Bakery made these BUT..

When they made them... they looked like this.... I wasn't completely satisfied.  

I wanted more primary colors, so I "fixed" them. I was satisfied after adding the green and red royal icing.  

Paintball Ammo: Aka A Mason Jar Filled With Bubble Gum

I am so obsessed and proud of the end result.

I attached a tag and a little wording that read, "Best Loot Ever."  LOOT is something related to the FortNite game. 

I also attached a paintball mask on the front of handmade gift bag.

Ty's friends were shocked that they were receiving a party favor bag!  They seem so excited and very thankful  

Bus Drive/Janitor Christmas Gifts ~ 2018

Remembering those that are hardly recognized or never recognized at all is so important to me.  That's why I, without fail, am certain to remember our children's bus driver and the janitors at their school. My twins always come home with a story about Mr. Ernie and Ms. Susie.  

This year, I came up with an idea... we received a new pizzeria in our town.  It's called Bobby's Hot & Cheesy! It's actually attached to our local, gourmet cupcake shop called Bubblecake. Isn't that a BRILLIANT ideas?  Eat some pizza and then go next door and get a cupcake.  I decided to give gift cards to BOTH places.  When I bought the gift certificates, I asked each employee for a BOX to their store.  

Inside the box for Bobby's, I used some fake, Melissa and Doug cash to just decorate the interior of the box. It would be so much better if it was real! Haha.  I actually considered whether or not to even do this because I wondered if opening a box with realistic cash inside and then realizing it was fake, would it actually disappoint the recipient. LOL!  

I enclosed a gift certificate for $15.00 (which was enough for a full pizza and a drink with tax).

I enclosed a printable that I made, which read, 

"We DOUGH-not know what we'd do without you! Merry CRUST-mas!"

I absolutely love the way it turned out.  

I also gave just Mrs. Robin, the bus driver, a box with a personalized, Rae Dunn inspired ornament and some Project 7 peppermint gum.  I used her last name "COLEMAN".

The cupcake box had a gift card, good for one jumbo cupcake, and... 

A cute printable that I made! "In a world filled with muffins, you are a beautiful cupcake!"

They all seemed to really appreciate and enjoy this gift.  It will be even more cherished once they get to enjoy a warm meal and a delicious dessert for FREE!

Kissable Cupcakes!

When you are a LipBoss, you are CONSTANTLY on the hunt for LIPS and LIPSTICK items.  So, when I spotted these DARLING lip embellishments on SALE/clearance, at Michaels Store, I went a little nutso.  I knew exactly what I would do with them.  I WOULD... raffle off my gourmet cupcakes to all of my followers on Instagram.  It's a great way to grab your followers' attention.  Besides, I am ALWAYS looking for an excuse to bake.

The cake part is strawberry flavored.

They are all filled with my famous french vanilla fill.  The frosting is a homemade, PINK, cream cheese, butter cream frosting. I can feel my thighs getting larger and larger just from the smell .  

 

Ashely absolutely LOVES my cupcakes, so I was so happy that she won, BUT I was SHOCKED because she had one two raffles prior to this one.  I think Riffle Raffle LOVES Ashely as much as I do.  Haha.    

Planet Venus ~ Creamsicle Fudge

Tyson came home two weeks ago and told me that he needed to bake a food or dessert that represents his assigned planet... VENUS! I kind of "yes'd" him to death AND FORGOT! Whoopsie.  I need my own assignment pad.  So, yesterday around 2 p.m., Ty sent me a text that read "Mom, I need the vegetables tomorrow." Originally, Ty said, "I thought of something we could do.  Maybe Venus Vegetables!" I was TOTALLY thrilled he came up with his OWN idea, BUT... we wound up going a totally different route. This idea is an original of mine and NO WHERE on pinterset so I am super excited to share it with you. This idea was created and decided on two hours before we ALL hit the sack. Eek!

We decided to make CREAMSICLE fudge.  The coloring sort of represents Venus' coloring as it glows. It took about 20 minutes to "bake".

I used a small circle, fondant cutter to cut the fudge into the shape of a sphere.

My home was so WARM and the fudge was getting so gooey.  I cut out 28 pieces of fudge.

I found a Venus image on google: printed it to the size of the fudge, cut them out, and laid them perfectly on top of the fudge.

I loved the way it turned out.  It's incredible how fast and last minute this entire project happened.  

Planet Venus!

I let my kids taste test it this morning and I received a unanimous "Mmmm!"