Wild Card Wednesday: 50th Birthday Party

My mom had her big 50th birthday and I wanted to make it a night to remember...and it was.

The color scheme that I chose for the party was a deep purple and black

The table settings were a fun display of purples and black

Raspberry Drink

{The recipe I found for this drink was only for one serving}

Ingredients:

3-4 raspberries

5-6 mint leaves

2Tablespoons simple syrup

1/4 c. cran-raspberry juice

2Tablespoons fresh lime juice(1/2 med lime)

1/2 c. sprite or club soda

Directions:

• In a tall glass add raspberries, mint leaves (squish the leaves and the raspberries with the back of the spoon till they are combined, try not to rip the mint leaf) , and simple syrup.
• Add cran-raspberry juice and lime juice and then fill the rest with sprite
• Garnish with a lime wedge, raspberry and a mint leaf.

Simple syrup

• In a small pan on med heat mix 1 cup sugar with one cup water stirring frequently until it begins to boil and sugar dissolves. Take off heat and allow to cool.

~Decorations~

These turned out really cute: Flowers made out of an egg carton.

 After you have them all cut out, spray pain them whatever color you want, poke holes in the middle and place on a strand of Christmas lights.

~Kid Entertainment~

I got these to keep the kids entertained while the adults played some games.

I found these glow in the dark balloons at Walmart.

They have a little light in them that last a few days. They were a hit with the kids.

~Adult Game Ideas~

I  found a game on the internet that had a list of things that have happened, like, "Do you remember Barbie's 50th Birthday?"  You went through the list and circled as many as you knew.  At the end, you added them up and whoever remembered the most was the oldest and so on to the the youngest.

Since it was my Mom's 50th birthday, we had to go BIG!

This was the highlight of the party, Wish Lanterns.  We bought these lanterns from Amazon.com.  They come in lots of colors.  They are my favorite. Cars kept stopping and asking what we were doing...cause they were so COOL!

We had 5 lanterns and had my mom make a wish every time we let one into the air.

~The Birthday Cake~

I covered her cake in white fondant and bought a small stencil and placed it on the cake and filled it in with chocolate frosting to get the design on the cake.

These candle are no ordinary candles; the flame is orange and blue.  I found these colored flame candles at Walmart.

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

Sweet Tooth Tuesday: Rootbeer Float Cake

My husband loves Rootbeer so I just had to make this cake when I came across this recipe! The cool whip frosting makes it kind of frothy tasting-just like a rootbeer float:)

Rootbeer Float Cake1 yellow cake mix

2 eggs

2 cups rootbeer

1 3oz instant vanilla pudding

1 tsp rootbeer extract

Frosting

1 8oz whipped topping

1 cube butter, softenend

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2tsp rootbeer extract

5 crushed rootbeer candies

Mix ingredients together in a big bowl. Pour into 2 round greased cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 10 minutes then put on wire rack. Cool for an additional 30 minutes.

Frost cake by spreading half of the frosting on bottom layer of cake. Add frosting to the top of the cake. Top with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with crushed rootbeer candies. Serve cold.

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

Munchkin Mondays : Leap Year Ideas for Kids

Wednesday is Leap Year Day! What does this mean exactly? About every 4 years an extra day has to be added to our calendars to align with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. It is also considered a superstitious day, and traditionally a day where a woman can pursue and/or propose to a man. But for kids, it is known as a day to celebrate leaping, jumping, and frogs!

There are a lot of really great activities on frogs throughout the web. I thought I would type up a list to give you some ideas. And since 13 is considered by some as a superstitious number- here are 13 different activities/websites to help you celebrate!

Leap Year Activities for Families and Kids

1. Craft Jr  has a good compilation of frog activities. I especially like the frog paper plate craft and a frog catch game for preschoolers.  

2. Make frog cupcakes- check out the Cutest Food for some pretty darn cute cupcakes!

3. Preschool Lesson Plans as some math and literacy games for kids centered around Leap Year.

4. Squidoo has a ginormous frog unit study- with everything from a frog life cycle, poetry, writing activities, books, fractions, etc....- it's a very comprehensive list of activities!

5. Leap Year Day frog cookies with Oreos from the Celebration Shoppe. SO cute!

6. Plan a Leap Day Party with ideas from the Party Shelf. Of course, this could be adapted for a fun FHE. 

7. If you are looking for something a little more healthy, try this cute apple frog snack from Family Fun. If Jacs liked green apples I would definitely try this!

8. Make Frog Eye Salad for dinner. I found this recipe at All Recipes.

9. Watch Princess and the Frog or Kermit the Frog movies.

(Picture taken at my daughter's Spooky Safari Halloween birthday party)

10. Buy plastic frogs at the dollar store and have a frog jumping contest!

11. Play Leap Frog

12. Dissect a frog! And if you don't have a dead frog lying around, try this Frog Dissection app for your iPad.

13. Sing and read some fun frog songs and rhymes from Preschool Express.

I hope this list helps you plan your Leap Year Day with success! I love planning fun activities on random holidays- we need to take the time to cherish and celebrate each moment with our little ones.

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

Foodie Friday: Shrimp Scampi

If you like shrimp and pasta you will want to try this recipe! I have wanted to make this for a while but it always seemed that I was missing one or two ingredients. Well I finally got all the ingredients and made this for the family. I thought it was pretty good, hence the reason I am deciding to share the recipe with you all!

Shrimp Scampi
1 lb linguini
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken broth
Juice of one lemon
Parsley, chopped, to taste

Cook pasta. In large skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter in 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Saute shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes 3-4 minutes. Season shrimp with salt and pepper; add to pan and cook until pink, 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan, set aside, and keep warm. Add broth and lemon juice to skillet and bring to boil. Add 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil. After butter melts, return shrimp to the pan; add parsley and stir in pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with salad and/or garlic bread:)

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties: