"Ready to Pop" Baby Shower

A friend and coworker of mine is expecting her first baby any minute!  Another friend and coworker of mine and I decided to throw her a baby shower.  The theme?  "Ready to Pop."  Naturally Pinterest was a good friend of ours during the planning process.  The invite idea came from here.

All of the food was 'pop' related.  There was a lot of popcorn.  I made gourmet popcorn with the recipes here and here.  (The chili lime was my favorite...)

We had some plain popcorn with a variety of mix-ins to create your own flavor.  I downloaded this cute sign from here...

...along with the soda pop labels.  I used Photoshop Elements to convert the pink on the downloads to blue.

I had found this great recipe for 'buttered popcorn cupcakes' but they turned out disastrous.  Really, I wish I'd kept a picture of them for one of those fun Pinterest "nailed it" memes.  Anyway, I just whipped up a batch of chocolate cupcakes and threw some popcorn on top.  They weren't the best, but the kiddos who came loved them.

We played this really cute game.  I can't post a picture of it here for privacy reasons (we used her name instead of "Baby Shower".)  It ended up being a bigger challenge than we had anticipated--both for the participants and for us finding gifts which fit each letter!

It was such a fun party!  I feel like my friend and I should go into a party planning business (and not to toot my own horn but our pathologist said the exact same thing!)

My Paint-by-number Project

So back when I was a teenager my mom gave me this kitty paint-by-number kit for Christmas.  I was absolutely intrigued, but never found the time to do it.  As I have been collecting and collecting projects to do over the last several years, earlier this year I got tired of collecting instead of doing.  I just started grabbing things from the top.  This was one of those projects.  I shrugged my shoulders and went to work.

It actually was a lot more difficult than it looked.  Initially I was too lazy to go up to my kitchen and grab toothpicks to stir the paint.  I soon learned that paint tins that have been sitting around for 15 years really work better if they are stirred up before use!  This was my only mistake though!

About halfway done.

And all the way done.

It actually turned out pretty great!  I may just attempt another one someday!  Right now it is sitting on my pile of finished artwork to frame.  (That's going to be the next pile that I tackle.)

Suncatchers

My daughter and I did this fun project late this past winter.  The weather (and landscape) was still rather gray and dismal so these suncatchers were the perfect addition to her room to brighten a winter's day.  

(Adapted from the Friend magazine.)

You will need:

• Waxed Paper
• Crayons
• Scissors
• Pencil Sharpener
• Iron
• Hole Punch
• String or Ribbon
• Paper Towel

What to do:

1. On a piece of waxed paper, draw whatever shape you want your sun-catcher to be.  (This was my daughter's task.)
2. Use the pencil sharpener to make crayon shavings and sprinkle them on the shape you drew (this was my task.)  Your finished shape will be whatever colors you include.  Put another sheet of waxed paper on top.
3. Put a paper towel on top of the waxed paper to protect your iron.  Iron the two layers of waxed paper together.
4. Once the wax paper has cooled, cut out the shape you outlined earlier.  Punch a hole near the top and thread a string or ribbon through it for hanging.
5. Hang your finished shapes in front a of a window or other place where the light can shine through them.  (Never put the waxed paper near a light bulb or anything that is hot.)

Shamrock Banner

It was part of my personal goals this year to make something new for each holiday from my stash of ideas.  I found this banner on Pinterest awhile ago and decided that I would make it for St. Patrick's day.

The problem is that I deleted the pin before I was able to refer to it in this post.  I cannot remember who to credit for this, which is too bad because she has copies of these awesome maps that I downloaded to make the project.  So if odds are in my favor and you've seen this project before, let me know so that I can give due credit!

Like I said, I downloaded the two maps of Ireland off of this website, but I suppose you could find any black and white image to make the background.  I free-handed the pennant shapes and cut out 16 (which was possibly a tad too many--I think 10 would have been perfect.)  I backed the paper with some tan cardstock and inked around the edges to distress it a bit.  Other than that, I pretty much copied the original.  The shamrocks are heart shapes that I traced, cut out and inked, and glued together to make a shamrock shape.  I let it dry, punched holes, laced some thread, and hung it up on my shelving unit.  It was pretty easy and fun to have something festive for St. Patrick's Day!

Patti's Brownies

We had one of 'those days' in our house a few weeks ago.  I knew what I needed to do to remedy the day: make brownies.  Problem was, we didn't have a mix in our house and, if you read my blogs, you know that I pretty much suck at making brownies from scratch.  I sifted through my recipe book and found the recipe for my mother-in-law's brownies.  I took a deep breath and dove in.  And...they actually turned out super great!  My husband walked in and said, 'that smell just seriously put a smile on my face!'  Mission accomplished.

Patti's Brownies

• 2/3 c shortening
• 9 T cocoa
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking powder
• 2 c sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Melt together shortening and cocoa.  Let cool slightly.  In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix sugar and eggs into chocolate mixture.  Add vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients until well blended.  Bake in a 9 by 13 greased pan for 25 minutes (mine were actually still gooey at 25 minutes so I baked them for 10 extra and they came out perfectly.)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I feel like I am one of only a few people in this world that truly, truly love oatmeal raisin cookies.  The other two people would be my mom and dad.  I don't get it, though.  These cookies are as close to 'healthy' as it gets.  And it turns out my kids like these cookies too so it's an easy way to get a little extra fiber in their diet.  Just ignore the cup and a half of sugar.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (adapted from iheartnaptime.com)

1/2 c apple sauce

1/2 c butter

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 eggs (I used egg substitute)

1 t vanilla

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

3 c quick oats

1 1/2 c flour

1 c raisins (I soak mine in hot water for a few minutes to plump them up.  Makes a big difference!) 

Preheat oven to 350.  Blend butter and sugars together until smooth.  Beat in eggs one at a time and add in vanilla and applesauce.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add to sugar mixture a little at a time; mix until smooth.  Fold in raisins.  I used a 1 1/4 inch cookie scoop and dropped the scoopfuls onto parchment/Silpat lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 min.

German Chocolate Brownies

I have no picture which is too bad.  These were one of those recipes I made that was gone before I had a chance to take a picture!  Also they were kind of messy, and messy isn't pretty.  Anyway, just imagine german chocolate cake except a brownie instead of cake.  Delicious!

German Chocolate Brownies (adapted from iheartnaptime.net)

Brownies

• 2 boxes of brownie mix
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1 cup of butterscotch chips

Coconut Pecan Frosting

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

1. Bake brownies according to package directions.  Allow to cool
2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave for 1 minute and drizzle with a spoon over brownies.
3. Melt butterscotch chips in microwave for 1 minute and drizzle over chocolate.
4. Combine egg yolks, sugar, milk, butter and vanilla in a large saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 12 minutes, stirring consistently for at least 10 of those minutes.  Add coconut and pecans.  Beat until thick enough to spread.  Pour over top of brownies.  Place in refrigerator to harden.