School snack idea & freebie lunch box note

Here's a simple snack idea I put together yesterday. 

 It's perfect to put in a lunchbox (I've included some simple lunchbox notes) 

or it's great for an after-school treat.

I already had all of the ingredients.  

fruit roll up (Target brand), mini Nilla wafers and a Hershey kiss

Doesn't is sorta look like a pencil?? 

eraser end

lead end

 add one of these simple (but sweet) lunchbox notes

and you've got a cute, simple and tasty school snack.

Click HERE for the lunchbox notes.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Nutter Butter* Truffles

After the wild success of my first attempt at Oreo Truffles, I decided to get a little 'nutty'.  

Get it, nutty??

I have a list of cookie truffles that I want to make..

but for now, let's just concentrate on these peanut butter cookie ones :)

Here are my ingredients.

Target brand peanut butter cookies 

(because they were cheaper than Nutter Butters).

A brick of cream cheese.

A tablespoon, or so, of ground flax seed.  

You know, to make them healthy.

Chocolate chips.

How to:

Crush an entire package of cookies.  I used my food processor.  

You could put them in a ziploc bag and smash them with a rolling pin too. 

Add to a medium size bowl.

Combine softened cream cheese to the crushed cookies.  

I do this by hand, it seems to incorporate quicker.

Once it's all combined, roll ~1" size balls.  

Place the balls on a parchment lined pan.  

Put them in the fridge for an hour or so to set up.

When you're ready, melt the chocolate chips. 

 I dropped 2 or 3 Nutter Butter* balls into the chocolate & rolled them around so the chocolate covers the entire thing.  

Place the chocolate covered truffle back on the parchment paper.  

If you want, you can sprinkle some of the extra crushed cookies on top.  

Once they are all covered in chocolate, I put them back in the fridge to harden. 

1

For the record, it took longer to write this post than it did to make these - they're that easy.  

Oh and yeah, they're DELICIOUS!

Happy Leap Day 2012

Today is one of those funny days that comes around every 4 years. 

 It also happens to be my wedding anniversary.  

It's our 8th year of marriage but only our 2nd 'official' anniversary. 

 I've yet to come up with a gift for the husband...BUT I did put together these Leap Day treats to send with the lizard to school :)

Stretchy frogs, Reese's 'frog eggs' and this printable tag from She's {kinda}Crafty makes a fun little treat to celebrate this fun day.

*I added the saying on the back (click HERE if you'd like it).

 I hope you have a great Leap Day!!

Do something EXTRA fun!

New Year's Eve (flashback)

I plan to share lots of great 'new' New Year's finds tomorrow...

but in the meantime, here's another look at our NYE party from last year!!

Here are some of the highlights.

The table before the 'real' food.  

I had a branch (already painted from Halloween) that I added black and white poms to (thanks to Kristy - The Purple Pug for that idea).  I used a cake stand to hold the paper fortune cookies we made (got that idea from Home Confetti).

Oreos baked inside brownies = Black and White brownies

My 'countdown' cupcakes.  I used black card stock and metallic pen.  

Dipped a marshmallow in clear sprinkles (for the sparkly effect) 

and added it all to a lollipop stick.  

The cupcakes are Funfetti (of course)!

Champagne 'bubbles' (donut holes) - thanks to Kim - Party Frosting!

I used my New Year's printable (attached to card stock & a dowel) as centerpieces.  

They are standing in jars of black eyed peas:)

A can of Rotel and black eyed peas became our 'lucky' salsa.

The pasta was festive because I used bowties and curly noodles.  haha

A little bubbly.  I punched 2" circles of silver card stock then used a 1" punch.  

The glasses cheapo plastic came apart so I could add the 'bling'.

 I can't have people leave without something.  

Some reNEWing hand scrub for the girls, chocolate bars for the guys 

and some snazzy sunglasses (since we were whooping it up during the day)

The kids LOVED counting down and yelling 'HAPPY NEW YEAR'.  

They loved it even more when the saw their bubbly :) 

Kiddie Cocktails (cherry Caprisuns with a few cherries)

Everyone had a fun time.  The weather was great..the company was great & it was early enough for everyone to get the heck out so I could get to bed early :)

Cheers to a fabulous 2011!!

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I hope you're all having a great last week of 2011!!

Hanukkah party (flashback)

Tonight is our Hanukkah party and I'm in full prep mode!  

Don't forget my FranklinCovey weekly planner giveaway.  

Enter HERE!

Here's a look at our Hanukkah party last year!

 _______________________

I wanted to share some of our Hanukkah party before next week...

Here are some highlights: 

all of the printables are from Frog Prince Paperie (love them)

 

 yes..dreidels (part tres)

chocolate chip cookies and blue candy canes = yummy menorah

jelly filled donut bites

ravioli, fried cheese and more donuts

Star of David made by the lizard (popsicle sticks and crayons)

the glass bottle (Starbucks coffee drink) filled with blue colored rice

all the kid's crafts.  

Noodle art/jewelry, coloring pages & crayons.  

White lunch sacks to make luminaries are there too.

We had a fun night. 

Ate way too many donuts :)

Next week, more holiday goodies..

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Tardy for the Party

Yes, I realize Thanksgiving is over
but I figured before we hit December 1st, 

I'd share our Little Turkey play date 

(yes, the one that was a week ago - hee hee)

The kids thought these were really funny!

Turkey Toes (free tags from She's{kinda}Crafty)

 Super simple marshmallow pops

Turkey juice boxes turned out so cute!  

I tried to keep the treats really simple :)

One of the moms offered to bring their bouncer.  

Of course, it was a hit!

I managed to get 1 non-jumping shot!

Nothing beats good ol fashioned running around in the yard!

Cookie decorating - and eating.

All the little turkeys had fun!

Maybe I'll make this an annual play date :)

Don't forget to enter the Gloveables giveaway .HERE!

Thanksgiving Week - (almost free) treats for kids

We're having a "little turkey" playdate tomorrow. 

I wanted to have some fun treats for everyone.  

It all started with She's {kinda} Crafty's Turkey Toes printable 

(full disclosure - I planned the playdate so I could use these tags). 

 

Aren't they adorable!  And they are FREE!

I'll be using candy corn as the 'toes' - it was leftover from Halloween.

(click here to get yours)

Since the tags were free, it was my goal to keep the co$t down for everything!!

I like the kids to have an activity when we have 'parties'.

I thought cookie decorating would be fun.  

I considered making cupcakes but went with store bought sugar cookies.  

I already have lots of icing (from the tub) and candy (from Halloween).  

So, for just the cost of cookies, 

we have an inexpensive activity that feeds them too :)

In case the little turkeys get thirsty, I made these fun Turkey Boxes yesterday. 

I already had the juice boxes (the lizard takes them in his lunch) 

and all the construction paper.  

Cut your paper to fit the box, 

cut feathers, cut eyes & beak then tape them all on.  

Super easy (and quite cute).

I have a sickness when it comes to party favors.  

I have to give them at every get-together.  

It's hard coming up with creative, practical and cost effective ideas.  

As soon as I saw the Pumpkin Spice Playdough shared on The Idea Room,

I knew I had to make it!  

I had all the ingredients in the cabinet so I consider this a 'free' favor.

 

And can I tell you???  

It smells delish!

There you have it, my wallet friendly treats for all the little turkeys in your life :)

If you use any of these ideas, I'd love to hear!!

Let's Go Red Sox

If you follow on Facebook, 

you know the lizard has his 'end of season' baseball party this weekend.
  

We hosted the party at our house -


mainly to get a bounce house
allow the parents to drink.

I have to say, I'm not used to having a party
where I'm not controlling everything

(yes, I know I have issues).

All the moms divided up the food/drink duty
so I was only left with a little to do.  

The fabulous talent behind Lauren McKinsey hooked me up with some adorable printables.

You know I had to do something

A fun banner for the outside.

I used a few of the pieces to make stakes for our sidewalk.

The big chalkboard came in handy too!

I prettied up some water bottles and candy.

These adorable tags were perfect for treats for each of the kids. 

Big League Chew and a glow in the dark cap.

One of the talented mamas made these yummy cupcakes

with cute socks on top.

Of course, I had to dress up my 3 tiered stand!

The kids bounced their faces off...

then it was trophy time.

So cute seeing each of them get their trophy along with a medal.

Here's the whole silly gang.

*the weather was so nice, we were able to open our sliders ALL the way* 

It's been a great season!!

Have a great Monday!

I'll announce the winner of the luggage giveaway tomorrow.