Like My Facebook Page-- PLEASE!!

 

 

Are you on Facebook? Head over and like my Facebook page.

Thanks in advance!

Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving

 

These little Turkey Cupcakes were the highlight of one of our playdates last week! Not only did the kids enjoy eating them, but they had a blast putting them together! With a little help, even the younger kids were able to make a turkey cupcake of their own. These would be absolutely adorable for a children's Thanksgiving party or for a special kid's dessert on Thanksgiving.

 

To make your own turkey cupcakes, you will need cupcakes, chocolate icing (if you don't like chocolate, you could try to dye vanilla icing brown), black cake gel for the eyes (you could also use a dab of icing to stick mini chocolate chips on for the eyes), Fruit Rollups (you could also use Fruit By the Foot), Vienna Cookies (Nutter Butter Cookies work great too), and some toothpicks.

 

 

We got the rainbow fruit rollups and cut them into strips. You will need 1 Fruit Rollup per cupcake that you want to make.

 

Fold each strip over a toothpick to make the feathers.

 

 

         Before you fold over the red and yellow pieces, cut a little piece off to make the gobble (red) and a little triangle for the beak (yellow).

 

Ice the cupcakes and get decorating!!

 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip

I love pumpkin! Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Ravioli... Anything pumpkin! My kids are big fans as well. This is the second year in a row that  we hosted a Pumpkin Potluck Dinner Playdate. Our friends (moms and kids) join us for dinner, dessert and some playtime. Each mom brought a dish or dessert that highlighted the deliciousness of pumpkin. I made Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip, Pumpkin Smoothies, and Pumpkin Pancakes. Over the next few days, I will post the recipes so that you can enjoy  them this Fall too! Below is the recipe for the delicious and simple to make Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip that I made. This dip is amazing and only took a few minutes to make. I always have a few cans of pumpkin in my pantry and cream cheese in the fridge, so I had everything I needed on hand. I threw all of the ingredients in my stand mixer and let it do the work for me. I served the dip with graham crackers and animal crackers. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and serve. Refrigerate any left overs.

Check Out These Pumpkins!

 

A Minion Pumpkin!

 

Smurf Jack-o-lantern

 

It's Doc Mc Stuffin's!

M & M's and Kit Kat Covered Cake!!

 

A friend of mine recently had to go into the hospital for surgery. She had one request before she went in-- she wanted my friend and I to make this cake for her. Look at it, who wouldn't want this cake? This cake is a sure fire way to brighten up anyone's day and cure the strongest chocolate cravings!!

To make your own, make your favorite cake and icing. Ice the cake and stick Kit Kat's along the sides and top with M & M's. Simple, huh? Well, what are you waiting for?

Get baking and make someone's day!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Literacy Basket

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is one of our favorite books. I fell in love with I the first time I read it so many years ago. My little guy shares the same love for the book, so I decided to put together a literacy basket for it.

It is loaded with a bunch of activities, story retelling cards, and props that go along with the book.

 

This is one of my favorite activities, it is a great activity to help with retelling the story, plus it is absolutely adorable! It is definitely my son's favorite activity

 

 

 

It is a sock puppet with all of the pieces of food that the caterpillar eats through. The pieces of food were all cut out of felt.

 

 

My son loves his peg butterfly that I made using a doll clothespin, felt, and paint. 

 

 

I added this story retelling activity that I made awhile back, you can check it out here.

 

This is another set of retelling cards that I printed out.

 

Along with some other items, there is this set to teach the life cycle of a butterfly hands on.

 

 

Here's a look at all of the contents in our literacy basket. This basket of goodies takes The Very Hungry Caterpillar to a whole new level of fun! 

 

 



Chalkboard Coffee Mugs-- Great Idea for Teacher Gifts!

 

I made these chalkboard coffee mugs for prizes for my best friend's bridal shower.  They were simple to make and they went along with the chalkboard theme that I was doing.  They were quick and easy to make, the most time consuming part was letting them dry completely.  I used chalkboard paint for glass that I found in a craft store and painted regular mugs from the dollar store. When they were done, we used a chalk marker to write "Allie's Bridal Shower" and the date on it (it will easily wash off), and we filled them with flavored teas, coffee, hot chocolate, and apple cider. They were put in a gift bag along with a package of biscotti from Trader Joe's. 

 

These mugs would make cute gifts for the holiday's, especially for teachers. You could fill them with hot beverage mixes like I did or fill them with candy in a pretty holiday cellophane bag. I will definitely be making more next month for my son's teachers.