that's a wrap

This is a fun gift for anyone on your list.  My daughter LOVES ice cream and is always drawing pictures of ice cream cones. I loved the one that she drew above so I took it to Staples and they were able to turn it into postcards!  They were having a deal where I was able to get 100 for $20. At then end of the school year we wrapped up some to give to her teacher and for her first grade buddy.  We also used one with a gift certificate to cold stone creamery attached for the bus driver!  I still have plenty on hand to use attached to gifts or for her to use as thank you gifts. I love this gift because it is personal and useful.

first day of summer

Today is the first day of summer!  To celebrate I took the boys to pick strawberries, which is one of my favorite summer activities.  Tonight we are having our traditional ice cream for dinner to celebrate too!  I would love to hear how you celebrate the longest day of the year.  Please share in the comments.

that's a wrap

One of my dear friends celebrated her birthday last week.  She loves ice cream so I wanted to give her an ice cream sundae bar to go, but she lives far away and I wasn't sure how hot fudge sauce would travel.  So, instead, I gathered up as many ice cream things that I could find and tucked them inside a pinata!  I included some bubbles, gummy candy, sprinkles, stickers, ice cream spoons and even a gift certificate for ice cream!  I saw on a blog that you can actually sent a pinata through the mail with just a label on it, but I wanted to make sure that it got to the birthday girl in one piece so I placed it in a box and mailed it of.  She has two boys so I knew they would have fun helping their mom open her gift.  I think this is a great gift idea for all ages and occasions. 

that's a wrap

When we were invited to some friends house to dinner we offered to bring dessert.  I decided to combine a hostess gift with the dessert and brought an ice cream sundae bar! I made some homemade blueberry sauce and a crunchy pecan praline topping and tucked them in a cute bucket.  I also repackaged sprinkles, cones, and waffle cups, tucked in some whipped cream, and also brought two gallons of ice cream.  This dessert worked for the adults and the kids and it was an easy and fun dessert and gift to bring.  This would be a wonderful gift for a birthday too!

sand castle

Last night we crossed off the last item on our summer fun list! We made our traditional ice cream sand castle.  I found some really cute ocean themed candy this year from a trip to the local candy and grocery stores and the paper flags at Marshall's!  The kids had a blast decorating it and even more fun eating it. I hope that you are enjoying your last few weeks of summer too. 

that's a wrap

My son was invited to a birthday party for a little girl in his class.  We gave her a Melissa and Doug coloring book and attached some poly pockets and an ice cream shaped coin purse to it.  Inside the coin purse we put a little gift certificate to our local ice cream shop!  I used stickers on the ribbon to write the recipients name.

a "whale-y" good summer

Today was my son's last day of pre school.  I went in on the class gift, but wanted to give them each a little something else just from us too.  The school mascot is a whale so when I saw these adorable whale ice cream scoops I knew that they would be perfect.  I also included a small gift certificate to our local ice cream shop and a note that said "hope you have a whale-y great summer"!  I am still working on my daughter's teacher presents.  Her last day is next week!

calling all superheroes

On Sunday we had my son's fourth birthday party.  As I mentioned last week it was a super hero ice cream party.

For decorations I made bunting out of a vintage super man comic book that I purchased off of Ebay.

Our signature drink for the adults was Super Sangria.  I made star shaped ice cubes with the sangria and also froze the orange and lemon slices to keep it cold during the party without watering it down. 

I also used red star shaped balloons all over the house to decorate.

The main activity for the party was a super hero bouncy house.  But since it started raining ten minutes before the party started I had some other activities lined up.  The kids decorated their own masks, played with super hero Lego's, super dough (playdoh) and we had the Incredibles playing in our home theatre.  Luckily it was a quick rain shower and we all headed outside to jump!

I used wrapping paper for the tablecloth and taped down the plates so they wouldn't blow away.  It was also very helpful when we had to pick up the tables and run them inside before the rain!

The kids ate hero's on a stick, lightening bolt chicken nuggets and watermelon stars.  We got a five foot hero for the grownups and I also had some "POW'sta salad on the side.

For dessert the kids made their own ice cream sundaes. I served the ice cream in red beach pails (that I ran through the dishwasher).  I ordered tiny super hero spoons to use with the toppings with and some large red ice cream cups to serve the ice cream in.  This was a big hit!

                                      I made some sugar cookies and stamped them with "super finn".

And some cupcakes ice cream cones.  I forgot to put the cherries on top, but nobody seemed to notice or care!

For the favors I ordered some adorable candy bags and filled them with lollipops, gumballs and tiny candy coated chocolates!  We all had a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed planning a party around this theme.  I tried not to do anything too comercial, instead I used colors and stars to create a super hero theme. 

party planning kit

When I am planning a party and start gathering supplies I keep a little kit filled with a sample of each one in my purse so when I am out and about I can see if all of the colors match.   As I have mentioned before I start to plan my parties early.  That is the only way I can get everything done!  It also helps to pick a theme early because I often see things when I am out doing unrelated errands.  The kit pictured above is for my son's birthday party next weekend.  I am doing a super hero and ice cream theme.  I found the cutest invitations that had a red headed super hero, just like my little guy.  I am using the wrapping paper on the left for a table cloth, red and white polka dot paper goods and yellow and blue polka dot balloons. 

ice cream castle

This was a really fun (and kid friendly) project that was the perfect culmination for our "castles" week at stay camp.  Detailed directions can be found here.  I grabbed the castle mold at our local grocery store - they were on sale too, 2 for $3!  I ran it through the dishwasher and then had the kids scoop some room temp. vanilla ice cream into the mold.  I gave them graham crackers in a Ziploc bag to crush into pieces to look like sand.  Then they decorated it with some candy shells, gummy sea creatures, ribbon flags and a princess. It was that simple.  I think this is going to become a summer tradition.  Do you have any fun summer traditions that you would like to share?

we all scream for ice cream



I have always loved the quote: "Life is short, eat dessert first".   Our summer tradition follows this sentiment.  On the first day of summer we have ice cream for dinner.  Yes, just ice cream!  It is only once a year and it's fun.   I found these waffle bowls at the grocery store for tonight.  We will use them to make our sundaes in but I also thought they would be darling containers for our toppings.  You could also use them as favors for an ice cream party with a gift certificate for ice cream tucked inside and wrapped up in cellophane for your guests.  Do you have any fun traditions for the start of summer?  I would love to hear about them.  Happy Summer!!

ice cream

I am sure that most of you already know this tip- but, just in case...I thought I would share. A couple of hours or even the day before your party scoop ice cream into cupcake liners and place in muffin tins to freeze. When it is time for cake and ice cream place one serving in each bowl add sprinkles and serve. It is already in perfect portions and saves time when you have hungry kids waiting for ice cream. I stamped the spoons with Bon Appetit for my daughters party tomorrow. I'll post all the details next week.