Minnie Mouse Bow-tique Party

 My 2 daughters are 22 1/2 months apart, which means their birthdays fall 6 weeks apart. This year they are turning 2 and 4 years old and I decided to have a combined birthday party for them for all our family and our close friends/pseudo-family. (My 4-year-old had another party with her little friends closer to her actual birthday too). I also promised Husband that this year I would go low-key and mellow with the kids' birthday parties, so I did (sorta). I didn't spend a plot of money at all and I didn't spend a ton of time on this party either, most of the fun was really in the food. And people have to eat, right?!

I needed a theme that appealed to both girls, and since my littlest is OBSESSED with Minnie and my older one loves all things Disney, Minnie Mouse Bow-tique seemed perfect. It was nice because then I could do all things Minnie/Mickey Clubhouse and Bows and all things with Bows.

This Minnie Mouse made out of Dum-Dum suckers is my favorite thing I made for this party. I thought it turned it out cute and it made a great centerpiece. For an easy how-to for this adorable centerpiece go here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-sucker-centerpiece.html

 And I reused this for my 4-year-old's Pajama and Pancake Party too!

Every party needs a fun dessert and treat table. Keep scrolling down for details on the food. The food was the most fun part of this party.

This table was near the front and had Minnie and Mickey ears for everyone. It also had props for the photo wall, and some framed pictures of my girls with Minnie Mouse (and other characters) in Disneyland and Disneyworld.

The food was so fun and really the main "decorations" of the party. It was all themed and so fun for the kids, and even for some of the adults too.

I don't know why, but I was so in love with how my plate settings turned out! Black paper plates, small black plates, and black bowls (all from the Dollar Store!). I wrapped some plastic utensils in a pink napkin and wrapped a pink ribbon around it to make it look like a bow. Then I set it up to look like Minnie! I had this set up on each end of my food buffet/bar.

And the fun thing was, these stayed like this through out the whole party because honestly no one needed a small plate (not in my family...) or a bowl at anytime.

Mickey's CLUBHOUSE Sandwiches

And of course, the cheese is all cut into Mickeys (with a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter).

Hot-Diggity-Dog Bar

Grilled hotdogs with all the fixins'. Chilli, cheese sauce, grated cheese, diced tomatoes and onions, yellow peppers, ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.

Plutato Chips and Gooey Goofy Dip

Potato chips and dip, of course



Toodles Bow-tie Noodles

(I also thought of just calling Minnie's Bow-tie Pasta, but I wanted to use Toodles somewhere.)

Bow-tie pasta salad (Bowtie pasta, halved cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, carrots, celery, mini pepperoni, cubed cheese, red onion and I used creamy Italian dressing this time-which was very popular...)



Donald's Cheese and Quakers

Cheese and crackers, but set up on one large black platter and 2 small black plates to look like Mickey!

Daisy's Garden Veggies

Of course, also displayed like Mickey with the black platter and small plates.



Pluto's Punch

Minnie's Bows

 These were fun! But my littlest one was eating them faster than I could make them! Each bow is 2 strawberries (I tried to get them similarly sized), 1 grape, and 1-2 toothpicks holding each "bow" together.

Minnie Cupcake and Minnie Mouse Brownies

These cupcakes were a favorite of the kids! I just made regular cupcakes, frosted them and then topped each one with a regular Oreo and 2 Mini-Oreos. After I made them, my almost 4-year-old told me that they had to be Minnies, not Mickeys and they all needed bows... She did say that about everything, but the cupcakes were easy to add a bow to ( the cheese slices, not so much). I had some heart candies and I just frosted the ends together to look like a bow.



Mickey Brownies

I used the Mickey cookie-cutter to cut Mickey's out of a sheet of brownies. I was going to add the heart-candy bows to the brownies too, but ran out of time and ambition and just sprinkled them on the tray instead. It looked cute and the kids love eating the candy through-out the party.

 Mikey Pretzel Melts

These were fun and surprisingly (or not?) very yummy too.

Square/Grid pretzels
Regular M&M's
Mini M&M's
Candy Melts (I sued pink since I couldn't add a bow)

I put a Candy Melt on each square pretzel (about 15 at a time) and put them in the oven for 10 minutes at about 275 degrees. (I tried the microwave, didn't work as well).

When I pulled they out, I put one regular M&M and two Mini-M&M's on each pretzel. If I had too many on the tray, they would cool too soon.

Figaro's Gooey Fish

Colored Swedish Fish

I got the big Minnie Mouse baskets after Easter for under $5 at Kmart and Walmart. I also got the Minnie buckets on-sale after Easter too.

I made this Happy Birthday banner with my Cricut. I used the Mickey Font cartridge that I bought brand-new off Ebay for only $16.

 I also made all these signs with the same cartridge.

"Thanks for stopping by!"

 "We've got ears, say cheers!"

"Come inside, it's fun inside"

I put the "Come inside, it's fun inside" on a fun balloon wreath that I put on the front door. For a how-to on how you can make your own cute birthday balloon wreath for ANY party, go here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/birthday-balloon-wreath.html

I bought these cute things at Wal-mart and Target, but they were available at every retail store in the Minnie Bow-tique party section. There were cute hanging ball lanterns with bow-ears and then on the wall was a fun photo-backdrop wall, it even came with fun Minnie's Bow-tique props. Both of these items were about $8, and much easier and cheaper than me trying to make something like this.

Birthday Balloon Wreath

I made this adorable Birthday Balloon Wreath originally for my daughters' Minnie Mouse Bow-tique birthday party, (check out the whole Minnie Mouse Bow-tique Party here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-bow-tique-party.html ) but it has since turned into the Birthday Wreath that we have used for every birthday and party at our house. 

I also used it for my oldest daughter's Pancakes and Pajamas Party, check out that whole party here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/09/pancakes-and-pajamas-birthday-party.html

It was really easy to make and it's been easy to add to it for each party. 

P.S. It cost less than $20 for the whole thing....

All you need is a foam/Styrofoam wreath. I got mine from the dollar store. GO TO THE DOLLAR STORE FIRST! This was $1 compared to $6-$7 at the craft store for the exact same thing.

I used 6 bags of balloons (20 to a bag, but I'm sure you can buy a larger too.)

 1 1/2 packs of greening pins.

Ribbon to hang the wreath, and maybe hang signs from the wreath too.

 Now the back of the wreath won't show, so I didn't worry about putting balloons there (my almost 4 year-old was very concerned about it though...). But if you do care, you can wrap ribbon around the wreath before pinning the balloons.

 Push the greening pin in the center of 2 balloons.

Fold the balloons in half.

Push into the Styrofoam. Continue until the wreath is full.

I added little signs hanging from the wreath that said "Come Inside, It's Fun Inside" for the Minnie's Bow-tique Party and a Minnie Mouse face on the wreath too. For a Pancake and Pajamas Party I added a "Good Morning" sign and a donut cut-out on the wreath too.

(This picture was taken at night, we'd almost forgot about it till the end of the party)

To see more about the Minnie Mouse Bow-tique Party, go here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-bow-tique-party.html

And for a how-to on this cute Minnie Mouse Sucker Centerpiece, go here:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-sucker-centerpiece.html

Bunco!!!

I have recently moved to a new neighborhood (which I have mentioned before and I need to post all my house stuff still!) Anyway, I live in the best neighborhood ever and I have made some amazing friends here already. I absolutely love it here and I love them!

A few months back we started a Bunco group. It is seriously sooooo much fun! We play with 12 girls (you need groups of 4 to play) and we take turns hosting each month. When you host you feed the group, buy the prizes (which can be fun and stressful), and do other normal hosting duties. This month was my month to host and I wanted to share some of the fun things I did.

First the prizes. We do a $10 buy-in per girl toward the prizes. We have 5 prizes/gifts. A $40 prize for most Buncos, $30 prize for most wins, $20 prize for the traveling baby Bunco (last person to get a baby Bunco), a $20 prize for most losses, and a $10 prize for a random person who didn't get another prize.

 It gets hard trying to think of prizes. My Big-Bunco prize was a beach bag filled with beach fun. A beach towel, sun screen, after sun lotion, a nice tumbler, food picnic containers, lip gloss. The $30 prize was a little Coach wristlet that I got at the outlet store 60% off. One of my $20 gifts was perfumes, lotions, and lip gloss from the Victoria Secret Semi-Annual Sale. And my final 2 prizes were naughty little sexy gifts ;)

But my favorite thing was the cute bags I made. Even though they kind of look like dominos, we all know that they are dice! I bought Dollar Store white bags (3 for $1) and cut out black circles and glued them on in the pattern on dice. They were a fun touch.

I also had these fun dice napkins too! They were leftover from a old party I did awhile back, but I did buy them from Zurchers (party store) back then.

For diner I made a home made version of Café Rio Sweet Pork Salad (a local Mexican restaurant. So yummy!) The recipe will be a later post, there is a lot to it. And I made an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake for dessert. Its delicious, easy, and feeds a ton of people!

ICE CREAM SANDWICH CAKE:

Aluminum cake tin (get it from the Dollar Store! See my Freezer post that talks all about how I feel about the Dollar Store and aluminum tins

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/05/freezer-meal-extravaganza.html )

24 Ice Cream Sandwiches

2 Tubs Cool Whip

Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Sauce

3-4 Heath or Skor bars, crumbled

1.Spray aluminum tin with cooking spray.

2. Layer 12 ice cream sandwiches on  bottom of tin. You may have to cut a couple in half to fit the bottom.

3. Spread 1 tub of whip cream over sandwiches.

4. Drizzle with chocolate and caramel sauce.

5. Sprinkle 1/2 of crushed candy bar on top

6. Put in freezer for 1 hour

7. Repeat steps 2-5

8. Put back in freezer for a few more hours.

9. Let thaw for a few minutes before serving, use a sharp knife to cut.

This serves A LOT of people! the 12 of us girls tonight barely ate half of it.

It was a fun night! I look forward to Bunco to every month! Grab some fun friends, Google the rules of  Bunco, and have a good time!

Cinderella Bridal Shower: How-to Crafts and Decor

I wanted to do another post about the Cinderella Bridal Shower I threw a few months back. I wanted to give some directions for some of the some of the fun things I made. The original post is here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/03/cinderella-bridal-shower.html

 

First thing, is these adorable little mice! They were easy and fun! And delicious!

 

 HERSHEY KISS MICE:

Hershey Kisses

Googly Eyes

Pink Paper

Hot Glue

Pink Marker (I used a highlighter)

 

Cut the pink paper into ears. Mine were long, with one rounded end (kind like a half oval). I hot-glued 2 Kisses together with the ears in between them, round end sticking out. Then hot-glue the googly eyes and color the Hershey Kiss tag pink, for the tail. I also cut off the tag near the nose too.

 

I also put the extra Kisses I had in little blue organza bags from the Dollar Store, along with some cut-outs form princess scrapbook paper I had. These made adorable party favors to take home with the little chocolate mice.

 

 

      

 And the mice were a cute addition in the cheese too!

I bought these 'glass' slippers off the Internet. Some website, they were about $10 for 24 slippers. And then after the party, my kids kept a couple and I used a few for a mini-golf course that I made for a wedding (that's a whole 'nother post...), and then I sold the remaining 'glass' slippers on a Facebook Yard Sale site for $10. I filled them with gold, white, and blue Sixlets.

 

 

These paper fan clocks were really fun and easy too. I have them set at midnight, for when Cinderella has to get home form the ball.

 First, make paper fans. You can easily make these fans for all sorts of décor for any kind of party. They can be made big or small, hanging down or taped to a wall. Even small and on a stick.

 1. Accordion fold the paper long way.

 2. After folding, fold it in half and secure the 2 sides that are touching together. Staple, hot-glue, tape. I just recently discovered hot-glue (I know, crazy!) and it is the fastest for this. Then the stapler.

 

3. Do this with 4 pieces of paper. Then attach them together like the below formation.

4. Cut out a circle of paper in a different color and hot-glue to the center of the circle. Do this for any decorative fan, it makes it look better and neater. Then for this particular project I cut out arrow/hands and pointed them to midnight!

 

And these gold and silver tooth picks were fun and cute for the meat and cheese tray! I got them off Amazon for about $4 and I have used them for many others parties since.

 

I made these adorable 'pumpkins' with clementines and celery!

And the main dish were these delicious Mini Ham Cup Omelets

Recipe here: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/04/mini-ham-cup-omelets.html

 

Freezer Meal Extravaganza!

My best friend Amy and I wanted to bring some freezer meals to a good friend who is pregnant with IDENTICAL TWINS right now. We decided to make a bunch of meals for her, but also for ourselves while we were at it since we'd already be in the kitchen cooking and prepping anyway. We decided on these 7 meals for now, and we made 3 of each meal (That's 21 meals!!!)

I will have the meals, recipes, my shopping list, and prep strategy here. You can follow it and make yourself 21 meals to pop in your freezer, or have a friend help you and split them, or prepare them for someone who may need them. Or just make a few for yourself or someone else. The possibilities are endless.

MEALS:

Mexican Taco Shells
Italian Stuffed Shells
Tater Tot Casserole
Chicken Spaghetti Bake
Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
Crockpot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken
Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

RECIPES:

*MEXICAN TACO SHELLS*

Ingredients:
.75lb ground beef
1/2 onion
 1 package of taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
12-15 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese


Directions:

Brown ground beef and onion; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. 

 While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain (undercook shells slightly if planning on freezing them). Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes.  Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

For freezing: Add cheese on top before covering.

Write on tin: Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Top with more cheese. Also garnish with green onions, olives, sour cream, tortilla chips etc.

*ITALIAN STUFFED SHELLS*

Ingredients:

.75 lbs Ground Beef

1/2 Onion

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce

12-15 Jumbo Shells

16 oz Cottage Cheese

2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 cups Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Brown ground beef and onion. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain (undercook shells slightly if planning on freezing them). Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Put meat mix in a bowl and add cottage cheese and a little bit of spaghetti sauce

Pour a little sauce on bottom of the pan. Stuff shells with meat and cottage cheese mix. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan over shells. Cover in sauce.

Write on tin (for freezing): Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

*TATER TOT CASSEROLE*

Ingredients: 
.75 lbs ground beef
Onion, diced
Minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper
SeasonAll
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of Green Beans (Or corn.) - I use both!
1 package Tater Tots
I cup grated cheddar Cheese

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in a large skillet until softened. Add beef and seasonings. Drain. Set Aside.
Spread soup and beans/corn in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, season with salt and pepper. Slowly add meat, then tot with frozen tater tots. Season with salt and pepper again. 
Top with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes if not freezing.
Write on tin: Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Add more cheese on top if desired.


*CHICKEN SPAGHETTI BAKE*

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked, cubed chicken meat 8 ounces spaghetti, broken into pieces 1 can Rotel tomatoes 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper 1/2 cup chopped onion

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1/4 cup chicken broth 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

	Put uncooked spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Drain.
	In a large bowl combine the chicken, cooked spaghetti, Rotel, bell pepper, onion, soup, chicken broth and 1 cup of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix all together. Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake for another 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (if not freezing) For Freezing: And cheese on top before covering and freezing. Write on tin: Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Add more cheese if needed.

*CHICKEN AND BROCOLI CASSEROLE*

Ingredients:
Cooked Chicken (diced)
Cooked Rice
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 bag Frozen Broccoli
1/2 cup Milk
2 TBSP Butter
2 Cups Cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:
Mix Chicken, Rice, Cream of Chicken, Milk, and Butter together in pan. Layer broccoli on top of rice mixture. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (if not freezing)
Write on tin (For Freezing): Thaw. Bake for 60 minutes and 350 degrees.

(Amy has a smaller family, so we made her meals into 2 smaller containers, so she actually ended up with 14 different meals for her family! You could do this too)

*CROCKPOT HAWAIIAN BBQ CHICKEN*

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
2 cups BBQ sauce
1 can cubed pineapple
1/2 green pepper (optional)
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic diced
1 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a Ziploc bag or freezer container.
Write on bag: thaw slightly, cook 4-6 hours on low in slow cooker. Serve over rice.

*CROCKPOT ITALIAN CHICKEN*

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
3 T olive oil
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
1 large squash and/or zucchini diced
1 bunch of celery, diced
5 garlic cloves diced
16 oz of tomatoes diced (canned)

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a Ziploc bag or freezer container. Write on bag: thaw slightly, cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over spaghetti noodles or rice.


SHOPPING LIST(S):

DOLLAR TREE: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!

Go to the Dollar Store to buy your disposable aluminum tins to cook all the casserole in!!! They are usually 2 large tins for $1 at the dollar store, where you can pay $3-4 per tin at the local grocery store. I think aluminum tins are one of best values you can find at the dollar store and I ALWAYS go out of my way to go there to pick them up when I need them.

COSTCO: (All of this can also be purchased anywhere too. It just saves on cost to buy these items in bulk).
1. Bag of frozen tenders or breasts (I used about 5-6 chicken tenders per casserole and 7 per crock pot meal, or about 4 breasts per casserole or 5 per crock pot meal would work too. But we did have A LOT of chicken).
2. 7+ lbs of ground beef. (I use about .75 lb ground beef per casserole, my mom uses a full pound per casserole. For the 3 meals casseroles that have beef, just times the amount you prefer X 9 if you're tripling the meals like we did or x 3 if you're just making one set of meals)
3. Cheese!!
4. Peppers
5. Onions

GROCERY STORE:

4 boxes Jumbo Pasta Shells
3 boxes of Spaghetti noodles
Rice
2 bottles Taco Sauce
2 jars Salsa
Small bag of Mozzarella Cheese
Can of Parmesean Cheese
Largest bottle of Spaghetti Sauce
Large Cottage Cheese
3 packages of Cream Cheese
5 lb bag of Tater Tots
3 cans of Green Beans
3 cans of Corn
3 cans diced Italian Tomatoes
3 cans of Rotel tomatoes
6 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup (or equivalent in large cans)
3 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup (or equivalent in large cans)
Large box of Chicken broth
1 large can of cubed Pineapple
2 bottles BQ Sauce
Celery
2 Squashes
3 bags of frozen Broccoli (or 1 large bag)
Milk
1 can of Bread Crumbs
1 cube of butter
1 jar pre-minced garlic
Season Salt
Salt and Pepper
Cooking Spray- Spray all aluminum tins with cooking spray before assembling casseroles.
Gallon Ziploc Freezer bags



PREP:
First, I cut up a bunch of onions with my chopper (to put in with my ground beef recipes and set some aside for the Chicken Spaghetti Bake and Hawaiian BBQ Chicken recipe). Then I browned about 2.5 lbs of ground beef with some onion for the tater tot casseroles. While doing that I also defrosted my chicken for the Chicken Spaghetti Bake and the Chicken and Broccoli Casserole and pre-heated my oven for the chicken. ( The chicken for the crock pot meal goes right into bag frozen)

Then I boiled some water for the shells, while I seasoned the chicken and put it in the oven to bake. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. But you season with whatever you like.

While the chicken baked and the shells cooked (which I undercook slightly), I browned the remaining hamburger meat (about 4.5-5lbs) with some onion for the Taco Shells and Italian Stuffed Shells recipes. I also started chopping my peppers (for the Chicken Spaghetti Bake and crockpot meals) and the squash and celery too.

After the fresh veggies were all cut, I pulled the chicken out of the oven and let it cool (so I could chop it later). Then I took the browned hamburger that was for the Shell recipes (I'd already set aside the Tater Tot casserole beef that I'd cooked before) and I split it. I took about 40-45% of the cooked meat and put it in a bowl to prep the Italian Stuffed Shell filling (there are more cheeses in the Italian Stuffed Shells, so we don't need as much meat as for the Taco Shells. The remaining meat I left in the pan and added the taco seasoning (x3) and cream cheese (x3).

After I made my taco/cream cheese filling and set aside meat for the Italian Shells, I started some rice (about 2 1/2 cups for the 3 casseroles) in my rice cooker (For The Chicken and Broccoli Casserole). I did add a chicken bouillon cube into the rice cooker too to season it a little bit. At this point my kids woke up and needed to go to dance class. This whole process took a little over two hours, but almost everything was ready and prepped to start assembling all 21 freezer meals! Somewhere in here would have also been a good time to cook the spaghetti noodles (again, slightly under) and cube the cooked chicken.

Anyway, I came home form my daughter's dance class and finished up here. I cooked the spaghetti noodles and diced all the chicken, then we began the assembly. (Remember to spray pans with cooking spray before assembling casseroles.)

Amy assembled one casserole, 3 pans at a time, while I assembled a different casserole, 3 pans at a time. We did this with all 5 casseroles, labeling them and stacking them in the freezer. Then Amy threw together the crockpot meals in freezer bags, while I cleaned up. All in all it took the two of us about 2 hours to get all the meals together.

 So, about 1 hour of shopping, under $200, and 4 1/2 hours of putting the food together (I did take a break in the middle of that too.....) we had 21 freezer meals all ready to go. Amy took her 7 meals home, I have 7 meals in my freezer now, and we took 7 meals to our amazing friend first thing the next morning.