Uno Birthday Party

I am so pleased to share with you a real party from one of my readers! This absolutely adorable Uno themed first birthday party was done by Laurie Leal. It just could not be cuter! Check out the details!

 

Laurie said:

Avery is my third child. If there is one thing I know, it's that the one year old party is for the parents, not the child. At this point I don't have anything to prove and hosting a party where we invited our friends would mean a very large gathering with MANY kids. If the weather was nice in Upstate NY at the beginning of April, it could have been an option. But it's not. So we decided to keep the party to a small intimate group of five families (10 adults and 10 kids). Since I wasn't going to be spending a ton of money or time of large quantities of food, I dedicated my time to adorable invitations, the cutest outfit ever, and the dessert table.

Being a first birthday, I decided on an "Uno" theme. First, the invite. Paper Clever (via etsy) made adorable invitations.

Second, the outfit. Again, Etsy provided me with Birthday Couture who made an adorable Uno dress. Matched with rainbow leg warmers, a monogrammed diaper cover and headband - Avery was set for some pictures!

For the party, dinner food was on one table, drinks on another and the dessert table - another.

I began the dessert table by using black and white. Black table cloth, white dishes. I added the Uno colors (red, green, yellow and blue) with icing, flowers, etc..

The dessert table included cupcakes with toppers from Fairytale Frosting, cookies, chocolate lollipops and candy. The cupcakes alternated chocolate and white cake. The lovely toppers were my featured item and added color to the cupcakes. The cookies were homemade sugar cookies with homemade colored icing. I use red, green and blue to stay with the Uno theme. I melted colored chocolate for lollipops. I arranged them like the Wild Card in the game Uno. Little red ribbons were tied on each lollipop for a more finished look. Lemonheads and Cherry Bombs filled glass jars. I used toys we already had (like the soft blocks) and some cute red pots with cut flowers to fill in the extra area. A personalized frame on the wall helped frame the table.

 

 

Seriously, how cute is Avery?!

Thanks for sharing your party Laurie! The details are fantastic and the theme is so cute and unique! Great work!

Pumpkin Fudge

Yep, I still have left over pumpkin from my CSA haul, that I talked about here. I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Fudge.  Fudge to me, always reminds me of my great grandmother.  Grandma Travis brought a tin of a fudge to the holiday gatherings every year.  My mom has actually carried on that tradition too. Fudge is an indulgent, decadent treat.  The kind of treat you can only have one or two pieces of or you may actually make your teeth fall out right there.  So obviously, I had to try out a pumpkin version and oh. my. gawd. Yum.

Pumpkin Fudge
Recipe from Recipe Girl

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup pumpkin (fresh or canned)
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1, 12 oz package white chocolate chips
1, 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Line a 9 inch square pan with tin foil. Spray with non-stick spray.
Stir together the first 6 ingredients, in a sauce pan, on medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the temp on a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees (approximately 12 minutes)
Once mixture reaches 234 degrees, remove from heat and quickly stir in white chocolate, marshmallow cream, pecans and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
Pour into prepared pan. Allow to completely cool, and stand for about 2 hours. Cut into squares.
Yield: Approximately 3 pounds of fudge
**Note: I added a little orange gel food coloring to my batch.  I used fresh pumpkin and the orange color wasnt quite rich enough for me.
              

Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

Yesterday I posted about a fun and delicious gift for your coworkers. Included in that gift was a snowflake of peppermint bark. I made mine with a little twist this year. Check out the recipe....

I picked up this silicone tray in the Dollar Spot at Target.  You can also substitute cookie cutters as molds for the bark.  Place cookie cutters on a wax paper covered cookie sheet.

Ingredients:

Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints (I found these at Target too!)

4 oz. Chocolate Chips

4 oz. White Chocolate Chips

Handful of peppermints or candy canes

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided

Sprinkles (Mine are snowflakes!)

Vegetable Oil (not required, but good to have on hand)

Directions:

In a candy melting pot or double boiler, melt your brown chocolate chips.

Meanwhile, in a plastic bag, put your candy canes or peppermints. Crush with a rolling pin or kitchen mallet.

Once your chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract.  If your chocolate is thick or dry looking add a small pour of vegetable oil.  This will smooth it out.  Continue to add a little at a time until you reach a nice smooth consistency.

Pour chocolate into molds. Drop in 2-3 junior mints. 

Sprinkle some peppermint chunks on top.  

Place mold into freezer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt your white chocolate.  Once melted, stir in remaining extract.

Remove mold from freezer. Pour white chocolate into molds.

Top with more peppermint pieces and sprinkles.

Place mold back into freezer for 10-15 minutes.  When chocolate has hardened just pop out of the molds!

This recipe yields 6 snowflake bark pieces.