thankful for teachers

 

 

 

I don't usually address current events on my blog, but what happened on Friday has truly hit home;   as a former first grade teacher, a parent to a current first grader, and a resident of Connecticut.  Even though I didn't know any of the families, this feels personal.  As I wrote on my facebook page...."In my humble opinion, First grade is the most magical year. The world begins to open up to new readers, a sense of growing independence and curiosity about the world unfolds and yet these young children still maintain a sweet innocence about them. To all of my former students, colleagues, family, and friends I wish that the magic of First grade will live on in your hearts forever in memory of all of those sweet, innocent first graders whose magic and wonderment has disappeared forever."
If you follow this blog you know that I always try to appreciate teachers, and all of the people that are involved in my children's lives for that matter, for every holiday.  This seems even more important after the tragedy in Newtown on Friday.  This year for Christmas we went in on the class gifts, but also gave cupcakes to all of them.  I had Jessica from Tulaloo make some adorable gift tags.  They say "Have yourself a Merry Little Cupcake" and she put our name on the cupcake pick.  Adorable!  Our local bakery packaged their delicious cupcakes in these cellophane bags, but you could also make your own cupcakes and buy the bags here. I also attatched a cupcake ornament. This holiday season make sure you appreciate teachers everywhere.  A hand written note or even an email of appreciation is the best gift they could ever receive. 

**Tulaloo has designed a new collection - titled "Breathe Love" - and 100% of your purchase price will be donated directly to the school. All donations will be used to provide gift cards to allow school administrators and teachers to purchase supplies and materials to spruce up the temporary school they are moving into and make it feel warm and welcoming as the students return. You can purchase 8x8 posters and note card sets here. **

that's a wrap

Here is another gift inspired by a children's book.  The book is called Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy.  I attached a purple wand and a gift certificate to a really fun local cupcake shop.  I wrapped it in cellophane and added some coordinating lavender ribbon. 

hot dog

Every September there is a big country fair in the next town over from ours.  We brought the children on Friday and they had a blast.  On Saturday night we were invited to an adult party at a friend's house.  They happen to live right across the street from the fair. They had white twinkle light's hanging in the trees, pumpkins and hay bales decorating the yard, and a bar set up outside.  We sat on their front lawn and listened to the band playing at the fair and didn't have to deal with the crowds.  It was a great evening!  I decided to bring dessert and thought it would be fun to go with a "fair food" theme.  I made some cupcakes and topped them with some mini hot dogs.  Hope you weekend was as fun and as sweet as ours!

cute as a cupcake

My husband celebrated his birthday this past weekend. I am sure most of you have already seen the cupcake shaped cake mold.  I picked up this one at the Christmas Tree shop for $8 when we went to the cape!  It is made of silicone and it was so easy to make.   I made a carrot cake (from the box) with some homemade cream cheese frosting.  Yum! The cake was delicious and since it was from a box, it was a big time saver.  I haven't found a store bought frosting that tastes as good as homemade and this recipe was quick and SO delicious.  I thought it turned out cute and the kids loved it- hopefully as much as my husband.  Hope your weekend was sweet too. 

cup-cake

Did you know that you can bake cupcakes right in a ceramic mug? Just make sure the mugs are oven safe, fill them with cake batter, and bake at the specified time for cupcakes. Next time I think I will sprinkle them with a little cinnamon on top to make them look even cuter.

cupcakes

Since my husband had to work on his birthday the kids and I thought it would be fun to make 40 coconut cupcakes and deliver them to my husband's office. It was fun to surprise him at work since a lot of people didn't even know it was his birthday- and, the kids loved seeing their dad during the day. I found this large bakery box with window at Joann Fabrics. It was the perfect way to transport such a large number of cupcakes.

coconut cupcakes

For dessert I made these coconut cupcakes using Rachel Ray's "Quickie Coconut Cupcake" recipe. I only made half of the recipe for "icing for a crowd" and had plenty for 24 cupcakes. I then used toasted coconut for the nest and some blue jordan almonds for the eggs. I found the brown and white polka dot liners in Ireland- but, I am sure you can find something similar from Bake it Pretty. The best thing about these cupcakes.... they were easy to make and tasted delicious!

let them eat cake

So I have to admit that I am not very good at decorating cupcakes. They never seem to turn out how I imagine they will. So, I have learned instead to just find things to put on top to decorate them. For the teddy bear picnic I found red/white gingham cupcake liners from "Bake It Pretty" and then used some small chip wood baskets (to look like miniature picnic baskets) and filled them with some petite fruit shaped candy. I was going to put on some plastic ants that I had- but, since this was for 2 year olds I decided not to. I found the red cupcake stand at Target a while ago and love how the cupcakes looked when displayed on it.

let them eat cake

Since this party was from 1:30-3:30 I only served snack foods. You can see my daughter running through the first picture with a handful of popcorn! I offered chips, pretzels and popcorn which I served from large white paint cans (I added some ribbon detail to the bottom with a glue gun). I kept the decorations for the cupcakes simple by making paper flags with scrapbook paper, and attempted to make Eiffel Tower shaped sugar cookies which were a challenge- but, tasted pretty good! I also had some fresh strawberries and water and lemonade.