Space Jam Party

When the Space Jam movie with Lebron James came out last summer, we decided to throw a little movie party. I had this photo backdrop that the kids used to pose in front of. (I have used this backdrop for various basketball themed parties.) 

We also had this backdrop to take some fun pictures. 

Our food consisted of Space Jam macaroni and cheese, soft pretzels, hot dogs, concession chips and candy, and some sneaker gummies. 

 

2021 Christmas in July Party

 While trying to plan for our Christmas in July party this year, I realized I didn't post last year's party. So...here it is:

I put activities in the red solo cup tree that I made a few years ago. The kids punched through the tissue paper to find each activity. One of them was to make red and green jello trifles. 

We designed Christmas scratch art trees.

We played some games, including stack a snowman with chopsticks and marshmallows. 

Find the junior mints hidden in whipped cream. 

Frozen hot chocolate

Played the 5-marker challenge. Kids picked 5 markers (while they were blindfolded) and colored a Christmas picture using only those colors. 

Played Charlie Brown Christmas Bingo

Made candy canes 

Opened a small gift after decorating our seasonal tree. 

Ate reindeer pancakes

Detroit Sports Cake

 

For my son's 14th birthday, he asked for a cake that featured the Detroit Pistons, Tigers, and Lions. This is what we came up with. I drew the images on the cake with a toothpick and piped buttercream frosting over the design.  

This cake used 3 cake mixes. 

This is without the Happy Birthday candles. I got the candles from Walmart. 

Number Charcuterie Board out of Cardboard

For my son's 14th birthday, I decided to put together a number charcuterie board. 

I used a large cardboard box that I had from buying items online. I drew the base of the one and four on the cardboard. Then I cut those out. I then measured the sides of the numbers and cut 3 inch sides to be placed around the numbers. I hot glued the sides into place. I then covered the inside of the cardboard with pieces of press n seal. I then arranged my bowls and food around the numbers. 

World UFO Day Party

To celebrate World UFO Day, we decided to have a UFO/alien dinner party. 

We started by making some moon rocks out of baking soda and water. We put some black food coloring in the water before we added it to the baking soda. After the mixture becomes crumbly, we made it into snowball shapes. We then covered them with plastic warp and froze them for about an hour. 

Then we used droppers to make craters in the rocks with vinegar. 

We designed our own UFO and used that as our centerpiece. 

We created some images on rainbow scratch paper. 

I used a food marker to put alien faces on grapes, made saucers out of crackers, tomatoes, and green beans, and another one out of crackers, cheese, tomatoes, and marshmallows. 

We had frozen limeade (with a little food coloring), chocolate covered alien marshmallows, Star Crunch, and moon rock doughnut holes. 

Our main dish was pizza. 

NBA Draft Party

The boys love watching the NBA draft. We try to put together a little food party every year for it. This year we created some Detroit Pistons inspired fruit boards, basketball sliders (I used an edible marker to make the slider buns look like basketballs), deep dish pizza for National Detroit Style Pizza Day, tater tots, and some basketball chocolate. We also had root beer in draft mugs. 

Detroit Pistons Food Boards

 

I made the letters out of pie crust. I baked it at 425 degrees for a couple of minutes. 

I also used pie crust for the white part of the logo. 

Drink Charcuterie Board

 

Father's Day Charcuterie Board

 

Dog Birthday Cupcake Cake

 

The dog's head is made out of rice krispie treat. It is covered in fondant. The bow is a piece of ribbon. 

Birthday Charcuterie Board

I used pie crust to make the letters for the decoration. I baked the letters for about 4-5 minutes at 425 degrees. 

 

Gingerbread Loaf

We decided to make this recipe to celebrate National Gingerbread Day! 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup applesauce

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Add the applesauce and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Slowly add the flour the wet ingredients. 

Pour in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. 

Cool on a wire rack when done.

McDonald's Restaurant Cake for Employee of the Month