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Back to School Snack Idea (party) — How to make a Watermelon Sundae

By KariV on August 2, 2013 in Back to School, DIY, Holidays, Recipes

I love Back To School sales {and} parties! I don’t have kids at home (anymore), but I can’t help shopping all the Back to School sales. I love to collect office supplies: pens, markers, folders, sheet protectors, and notebooks.

This year I was so antsy to have a Back to School party. Luckily, my 2 nephews were here visiting this past week and so guess what we did!! Yes…a Back To School Snack Party! I wanted to have a bunch of “healthy” after school snacks for the boys to try.

I set it up with some school lunch bags, snacks, pens, paperclips and highlighters. I cut those cute little apples out with the Cricut Sampler cartridge. We had to have green apples because that’s G’s favorite color!! (ok, actually it’s LIGHT CORE GREEN, but this lime green is close enough, right? He gets that color from one of his favorite video games: Skylanders. I got educated about that game this week!)

We had plenty of fruit and crackers. And I had the boys put together their own cheese and ham on fancy toothpicks. (They LOVED this part). Kids really do love to be involved and I think they enjoy their snacks even more if they can take a little ownership.

After putting together their ham and cheese picks, I had another treat up my sleeve. Something that looks so tasty, but is also good for you!

Here’s what I came up with:

And OH, these were quite the hit! They are fabulously easy to make with the kids and SO MUCH FUN! I had these sundae glasses already, but I’ve seen them at the dollar store recently. 😉 My nephews helped to build their own watermelon sundae:

My nephews ate this up! But we didn’t stop there…

We made fruit skewers…G preferred strawberries and blueberries for this one.

And then the boys wrote in their notebooks about their favorite after school snacks. G decided to DRAW pictures of his favorite snacks. First he drew a watermelon sundae. Then he drew ham and cheese picks. And then he drew this:

That’s his fruit skewer: see the strawberries and blueberries?! How much do I love that my nephews loved all the after-school snacks we had? {quite a bit!}

And to top it off, they finished up their “bookworms” made of pipe cleaners and attached to a pencil.

What a great snack party!

Talk to your kids about their favorite snacks. What can they help assemble for their own snacks? It makes Back to School so fun! Happy school year!

Linking up to the “Let’s Hear It For the Boy” link party here! (Let’s face it…I’m a little excited that I have a blog post that will work for this party. If you follow me, you know my blog posts are usually pink and girly!)

Comments { 3 }

Monsters University Summer Snack Party

By KariV on July 25, 2013 in DIY, Holidays

The movies this summer have been so fun for my nephews! They LOVED Monsters University and so we decided to have a snack party with Mike and Sully. 🙂 Later, my nephews saw Despicable Me 2 and I asked which movie they liked better? They said unanimously: “Despicable Me 2!!” (It’s a good thing we had this Monsters University snack party first.)

This is such a fun and easy celebration to throw together. We found Mac & Cheese in monster shapes:

And while that was cooking, the boys wanted to practice making monster eyes:

We used marshmallows (cut into slices), m&ms (peanut butter), and black decorating gel. These would make the “Mike Wasowski” eyes for the sugar cookies.

We blended up a quick (and rather healthy) green “Wasowski” Smoothie to drink with our Mac & Cheese. Mmmmm…. These are so easy to make with a little spinach, frozen pineapple and mango, ice, water, and banana.

And then…we decorated the Wasowski Cookies! I made these sugar cookies earlier and cut them into circles and Mickey Mouse shapes. The boys were so creative decorating these.

G loves his Uncle Lann! I love that picture of G giving a hug…he so was excited for this part! We all joined in on the cookie decorating fun.

When we finished decorating all the cookies, we decided to take some over to my nephews C and L, who live in Phoenix. They just had a new baby brother! (Who doesn’t need some Wasowski cookies at a time like this?!)

If you have little boys/nephews/cousins/neighbors…get them together for a little monster snack party and cookie decorating fun. I hope you have just as much fun as we did!

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Patriotic Card

By KariV on July 4, 2013 in 4th of July, Holidays, Paper Crafting

I have a quick patriotic card to share with you today!

I love how this turned out! So glittery and colorful…perfect for this day.

Supplies:

White cardstock card, Michaels
Red heavy wrapping paper, Staples (yes, that’s wrapping paper!)
Blue glitter paper, JoAnn’s
Happy die cut, Simon Says Stamp
4th die cut, Cricut (Lyrical Letters cartridge)
Blue gemstones, K&Company
Black dashed lines, Micron .08 black pen

Linking up to SSS Patriotic Challenge.

Happy 4th of July to YOU!

Comments { 2 }

A Berry Happy 4th of July!

By KariV on July 4, 2013 in 4th of July, Holidays

I love adding berries to make for a festive breakfast, brunch, dinner or dessert! This year I included strawberries, blueberries and blackberries to our breakfast.

So just pick up some berries for an easy way to add festive color to your menu.

Have a very Happy 4th and be safe out there!

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4th of July Picnic in the Backyard

By KariV on July 3, 2013 in 4th of July, Dinner in Minutes, Holidays, Recipes

It’s that time of year for BBQs, Picnics, family gatherings! I love an easy backyard picnic for the 4th of July and today I am sharing with you a fantastic (and easy) family meal!

The menu:

So Tender BBQ Ribs (check out this easy tip for getting the most tender ribs in a short period of time)
Lemon Picnic Pasta (my favorite picnic food!)
Salad with shredded carrots, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers
Chocolate Chip Muffins
Watermelon

The decor:

Root Beer Bottles filled with Primroses
Easy Paper pockets

I had so many empty Root Beer bottles from our Root Beer Taste Test and I just knew they would come in handy! So I took some scrap fabric in red and white gingham, tied it around the bottles and added some stars and jute rope. I just traced and cut those stars from scrapbook paper that I had in my stash. It’s great to use what you have around the house for a centerpiece! Then I cut some primroses from the backyard and put them in the center of our table. Cost: $0!

When you serve BBQ ribs, you need some wet napkins right? So I made a double-sided pocket and put some Wet Wipes in one side, and Laffy Taffy (for a few jokes) on the other side. Then I set it all up outside on the backyard patio.

I set up the food buffet-style for our guests to pick and choose what they wanted. Easy foods like watermelon, muffins, and make-your-own salad are perfect for an outdoor meal! And back in the silver bowl is my favorite Lemon Picnic Pasta!

And don’t forget those BBQ ribs! (There’s my hubby the Grill Master…thank you for the perfectly grilled BBQ ribs!)

Here’s the secret for easy and FAST bbq ribs: first, pressure cook them in water to cover half-way up the ribs and set the timer for 45 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Be careful when you remove them from the pressure cooker…they are already SO tender and ready to fall apart! Then, put them on the grill and brush on your favorite BBQ sauce. Grill for a few minutes on each side. Oh, these ribs are so delicious and so tender…better than restaurant ribs! (really)!

We had so much food that we literally had to use two plates! I picked up those darling gingham plates from the Dollar Store and they sure made it look like a real picnic. 🙂

With just a few touches and a little extra attention, you can throw together a fun and easy picnic BBQ that everyone will love. I wish you a happy and safe 4th of July!