Crafts, Cakes, and Cats

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Minnie Mouse 2nd birthday

I can't believe I am writing this post! My baby girl is 2!!! For her second birthday she picked Minnie Mouse as her theme. No surprise there she loves Minnie and Mickey. For those out there with kids who have mid to late December birthday's you understand how rushed everything feels, you have to get a party ready and make sure Christmas is its own special event. My daughters birthday is 5 days after Christmas, Last year we tried doing it earlier in the month didn't work as I wanted since thanksgiving was so late I felt like we hardly had time to get back from that trip to get the party ready and still had to get Christmas up. This year we went and did it later into the first week of January, Worked so much better I had time to make everything I wanted to and even had Christmas decorations down so she had no confusion of what we were celebrating!

Keeping in mind this was all toddlers that came to play. We had the party in our home, I blew up our swimming pool tossed in some balls and balloons had the slide set up so they slid into the fun. Its still set up and I don't think she will be happy if I decide to take it down. Other then that we had our regular toys out some coloring pages and lots of yummy food.

Everything I made I did by using my Silhouette Cameo and its software.

Invite

Made my own mouse shape with 3 circles, bow is from the silhouette design store, the

font is waltograph and I can't remember the other basic font oops.

Party decor

This is the party set from amazon it decrated so much! I loved it the window pieces were large and the kids loved it. Find them here.

Banner

Again made on my silhouette but this time I also used my Sizzix to emboss each letter. I also put eyelets where I strung the ribbon through so it wouldn't rip.

Food

I kept the food simple after all this was for toddlers. I made up fun names for everything and made little place cards.

Donald's oranges (cuties)

Goofy's grapes

Mickey's hot diggity dogs (pig in a blanket)

Pluto's popcorn (pirate booty)

Toodles potatos (smile fries)

Daisy's Veggie garden (veggie tray)

Clairabell's moo mart cookies (mickey shaped cookies)

Minnie Punch (juice box)

The cake was from a local Cupcake shop

I went on a local facebook group and asked to borrow some toddler sized chairs so I had enough for everyone. The party stayed in my dinning room and the "formal" living room where all the toys are. It worked out great!

My sweet little girls Minnie Mouse clips were picked up by my sister when she was in Disneyland.

My beautiful sweet girl is 2 and now knows what a party is, she thinks everything is for a party haha.

If you are a silhouette user and want any of the files that I created for the party just let me know I would be happy to share. But please keep in mind Disney is licensed non of this can be sold its for personal use only.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Holiday link party and giveaway

Everyone loves trying new festive foods and crafts during the holidays. Link up and help each other out with inspiration and see what everyone is up to this December.

This party will run from December 10th until December 20th. Link as many times as you like and don’t forget to stop by the other links. Don't forget to enter our giveaway! The winner will recieve a couple gift cards to help with the last minute shopping and other great items. On December 21st we will be picking a winner for the holiday basket giveaway enter below!

Veronica from Morningnoonight

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Cranberry Bliss bread

Candy Cane Popcorn

Gingerbread-latte Cupcake with lemon

Amy from Crafts, Cakes, and Cats

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Gingerbread Cream cheese dip

Snickerdoodle Scones

Hot chocolate bar

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Hot Chocolate bar

I don't know about you but my absolute favorite cold weather drink is hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong I enjoy flavored coffees at the coffee chains and hot apple cider but hot chocolate takes you back to your childhood!
I recently hosted a game night and thought it would be so much fun to have a hot chocolate bar. I mean come on a giant pot of hot chocolate with all kinds of toppings and since it was all adults....alcohol too.

This hot chocolate was easy and OMG delicious.

What you need
1 can sweetened condensed milk
6 cups milk
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 cups milk chocolate chips

What to do
our everything in to a crock pot and mix until well combined. Cook on high for about 2 hrs. Be sure to stir every 30 minutes to make sure the chocolate chips are melting. Once all hot and melted pour into a cup top with fun and enjoy!

What I did for toppings
Mini marshmallows
Mini chocolate chips
Festive sprinkles
Crushed candy cane
Toffee pieces
Pirouette cookies
whipped cream
peppermint whipped cream

Adult add ins
Rum
Kahlua
Bailey's
Whisky
Amaretto
I had a friend that also brought marshmallow vodka, and something minty.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Snicker doodle scones

Snicker doodle cookies are one of my all time favorites and they are super easy to make, just like these scones! Why I had scones on my mind I have no idea, but I looked around for recipes for about a week and eventually just combined elements from about 3 different ones...mostly becuase I didn't want to have to buy much for them.

What you need
Scones
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh grated is the best)
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Buttermilk

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in cold butter until crumbly. In another bowl combine egg yolk, sugar and buttermilk until well mixed add to your flour mixture until just combined. Flour your work surface and work your dough into a ball. Roll your dough out into a circle until it is about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. the thicker the circle the thicker the scones. Mine were about a 1/2 inch and I wish I had made them a little thicker. Cut your circle into 8 even triangles, transfer to a well greased cookie sheet.

With a fork quickly whisk your egg whites until frothy. Mix your topping ingredients in a separate bowl. Brush egg whites over the tops of the scones and then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mix.
Bake for 10-12 min.

While baking mix your glaze ingredients. Once scones are done and have cooled slightly drizzle over the tops and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee and a good book. That is if you don't have toddler running around and stealing every bite you try to take!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Gingerbread dip

Everyone who has toddler in their life understands they have a strange love for dip or as my little miss calls it "dip dip". We went to a play date this week and needed to bring along a snack to share. And with fall in the air and the holidays upon us I thought gingerbread just seemed to be a good flavor to go with. This dip works up quickly and is so yummy! I served it with graham crackers but it would be great on a bagel or someone suggested the top of a muffin or cupcake.

What you need

1 package of cream cheese

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar sifted

3 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

a little bit of freshly grated nutmeg

What to do

In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in your sugars and beat until everything is mixed well. while your mixer is on low speed add your molasses one tablespoon at a time followed by your seasonings. I found that once I turned my machine off it needed a good stir by hand to get things off the side of the bowl. Put in a serving dish and chill for 30 min to let it stiffen a some before serving.

Now lets talk a little more about gingerbread, like umm gingerbread lattes at Starbucks amazing and they haven't been released up here in the pacific northwest so in the mean time I am gonna drool over my friends Gingerbread latte cupcakes over at Morningnoonight!! Check them out and drool with me or better yet make them, pin them, love them!!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Spinach and Kale Greek yogurt dip Trader Joes style

Do you shop at Trader Joes? I have met a lot of people that shop there often, I am not one of those people. The stores are always so busy its hard to look at everything and decide what looks good. But around there the stores seem to be a little large and easier to wonder around and find the fun things they have to offer...like everything under the moon in pumpkin...no joke. My husband fell in love with their Greek yogurt kale and spinach dip after we moved up to the seattle area. The only problem...you don't get much so its gone fast. So we did a little research and decided to start making it at home in larger amounts.

What you need
1 17oz container of plain greek yogurt
1 cup finely chopped spinach
1 cup finely chopped kale
1/2 bell pepper finely chopped
1 carrot shredded
2 garlic cloves finally minced or pressed
1 tablespoon agave or honey
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning my McCormick

What to do
The best way to get the best chop on your spinach and Kale is by using a food processor.

Put your Greek yogurt into a large bowl ans stir in your vegetables and seasonings. Taste to see if you want to add anything. The steak seasoning has salt in it but you may find you would prefer more salt or maybe more pepper, dips like this are great to add your own spin too.

Serve with vegetable or crackers!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Halloween and fall link party

We are at it again this year!

We think everyone could use a few new recipes and crafts for Halloween and Fall this year so we are having our second annual Halloween/Fall Link Party.

It will run from Tuesday October 28th for two weeks until Tuesday November 11th and be linked on all three blogs so please make sure to stop by again and again to share and see what is new.