Minecraft Birthday Party

February 16, 2018 by Danielle

My twins turned 5 this month. FIVE! Ya, I’m still in shock a bit. When we started talking about what type of birthday party they want, it was a definite MINECRAFT answer from both of them! No surprise there, of course. Although this was a few weeks ago, I’m finally getting around to sharing our Minecraft Birthday Party!

One thing that I was really excited about is that there’s SO MUCH you can do with a Minecraft party, from the food, to the decor, to the activities…really, it’s crazy how many possibilities you have to work with! I really like not going broke for a 5-year-old birthday party, though, so I kept it really budget friendly and as stress-free as possible.

Minecraft Invitations

I’m really a fan of making our own invitations because 1. usually I can get them cheaper and 2. they’re totally fun! I made sure to include some Creepers, Steve? and his pup, even an Enderman! There’s a spot at the top of the text area you can write who’s celebration it is, then all the spots for details!

Print off the invitation HERE, cut it out and tape/glue the blank sides together. Then just fold on the designated lines, fill in your details, and pass them out. Now get ready to Par-Tay!

Minecraft Decorations

We had a ton of fun creating the setting for our party! Our awesome backdrop was a huge hit with the kiddos, and was really simple to put up! All you do is get some square plates in 2-3 shades of green and some black. Lay them out on a table or the floor, creating your Creeper pattern.

Turn them over, being careful to keep them in the patter you’re wanting, and tape all along the plate backs. Across, down, and diagonal.

See how easy it picks up? Then just use little nails or something at the top corners and one in the middle to hold it onto your wall. Easy and fabulous!

On our tablescape we used these fun Minecraft paper/box sets to really make the place look like the game. They come in sheet patterns that you just pop out and fold together. Great activity idea! I also nabbed this Grass tablecloth, which worked perfect!

I hung balloons and put Creeper faces or Enderman faces on them in our kitchen area and at the front door. For the favor bags I just got simple green baggies and taped black construction paper Creeper faces on the front!

I found these awesome swords and pick-axe and the kids LOVED them! Perfect for the decor, then you can use them for a game of ‘fight the Creeper’, then the birthday kid can keep them afterwards. We HAD to get a diamond sword version along with the iron, since my family is kind of obsessed with this game and it just ‘topped it off’.

There’s also PLENTY of Minecraft items HERE you can check out, from glowing wall torches, to pins, to spinning Wither and more!

Like the fabulous torches? Get the Tutorial HERE

Minecraft Food

Seriously, you could go even more crazy here, too! Here’s some of the delicious snacks and drinks we served up…

Creeper Juice & Creeper cups (green cups with marker faces)
Gold Brick boxes (also good for favors) with Coal (chocolate)
Sticks (pretzels)

Water (blue jello)
Lava (red jello)
TNT (licorice bits)
Dirt & Grass (pudding with green frosting)

Bread (biscuits with pizza toppings)
Redstone (rice krispies with black/grey food coloring and red candy chunks)
Diamonds (rice krispies with black/grey food coloring an blue candy chunks)
Creeper Cake (with green/white/black fondant squares to make a face)

I got the fun Free printable food name place cards from Catch My Party.

Minecraft Games & Activities

Like I said, you could play ‘fight the Creeper’ with the foam swords, or go ‘digging’ through some boxes with the pick-axes. You could also create your own sword with this fun Free Printable Sword Stencil HERE.

There’s also a Creeper Pinata – Get the Tutorial HERE

My boys seriously LOVED their party, and everyone had a wonderful time. We were also able to keep most of the decor for the kids to enjoy for a long while yet!

Don’t miss out on more Minecraft Fun…

Pie Crust Cookies

November 23, 2016 by Kathleen Clegg

It’s Pie Season! Whoo Hoo! Hi there! This is Kathleen from Fearlessly Creative Mammas here to entertain you again. If you can’t tell, I love pie. There are so many choices with pie and during Thanksgiving and Christmas, I make so much of it. Don’t tell, but I also eat so much of it. That’s a secret. With pie baking come leftover pie crust. What do you do with all of it? I hate throwing it out, so I came up with these Pie Crust Cookies. They are so simple, but so good. Originally shared November 2015

This is my beautiful daughter. She is a kick in the pants and absolutely one of my very favorite people. She is so entertaining, funny and smart at a whip. I know, I’m bias. However, other people say the same thing. This girl LOVES Pie Crust Cookies. They are her favorite. She actually ate every one of the cookies on that plate. So, I make her these cookies anytime I have some spare pie crust.

The last time I had pie crust, it was to make this Southern Pecan Pie, which is amazing, if I do say so myself. I like to use a silicone mat on my cookie sheets. It helps your food not stick and you don’t have to use extra oil. So nice. Plus, your food doesn’t stick to the pan. So wonderful for clean up.

Print Recipe

Pie Crust Cookies

Ingredients

Left Over Pie Crust
1/4 cup butter melted
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup cinnamon
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Roll the pie crust out to about 1/8 inch thickness.
Cut your cookies out the crust and place on cookie sheet, about 1/2 inch apart.
Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned.
While the cookies are cooking, combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
Brush each cookies with butter.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on half of the cookies and the pumpkin pie spice on the other half.
Allow to cool and serve.
Store in an airtight container.

I hope this will give you an idea for that left over pie crust. These cookies sure are tasty.

Come on over to Fearlessly Creative Mammas and see what else we are cooking up. What is something fun and unusual you make for your family? I’d love to hear about it.

Kid-Friendly Christmas Cake Topper

December 21, 2015 by Lynn Driver

Merry Christmas, Mamas! Today I’m sharing a Kid-Friendly Christmas Cake-Topper that you and your kiddos can enjoy making, just in time for the special day!

I’m Lynn, from Riggstown Road, and if your life is anything like mine, you have some enthusiastic little helpers when it comes to baking Christmas goodies. So it’s nice when the things we’re making are easy for little hands. (Side-note: At this point, my helpers are becoming better at this stuff than I am. And I am totally ok with that.) 😉 This cake-topper is easy enough for your preschoolers to participate in, fun enough for your older kids to enjoy, and special enough for all of them to feel proud of.

All you need are 3 simple ingredients to create a winter wonderland of trees on top of your favorite cake.

INGREDIENTS

1 box ice cream SUGAR CONES
1 container fluffy WHITE ICING
1 container sparkling white sugar SPRINKLES

DIRECTIONS

Prepare your cake with white icing.
Carefully cut some of the cones to different sizes for different sized trees. (I used a tomato slicing knife.)
Let kids spread icing on the cones, covering completely.
Help kids gently place the “trees” in the “snow” on top of the cake.
Kids can sprinkle the sugar crystals all over the trees and the top of the cake to create “ice” crystals.

Now stand back and admire the prettiness!

Cute enough for company, and trust me, this is waaay easier than decorating cookies!

As you can see, we weren’t too concerned with the rest of our (delicious) cake, but I loved it in all its messy glory. I called it a snow-covered mountain, but the girls were a little unsure about that. They seemed more impressed with their trees. I think sprinkling the sugar was the part that was the most fun for them. It was the, ahem, icing on the cake. 😉

I hope your kids enjoy it, too.

Cookie Salad

August 17, 2015 by Kathleen Clegg

Hi there! Kathleen here from Fearlessly Creative Mammas. Summer is almost over, which means the holidays will be fast approaching. Do you enjoy the holidays? Do you make a lot of big meals or go to a lot of pot lucks? If so, I have a dish that you can make over and over again and your friends and family will never get sick of it. My kids and grandkids really love it! It’s a salad of sort, but not your typical salad. It is called Cookie Salad, so you can tell by the title that it is not typical. It is unbelieveably good though. Believe me.

[Read more…]

Adorable Easter Pudding Cups

March 23, 2015 by Danielle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackPackMixins #CollectiveBias

I love doing fun things with my kiddos leading up to holidays, to enjoy the season and get them excited! One of the ways we like to do that is with fun food and recipes, like these Adorable Easter Pudding Cups!

It’s still hard to believe Easter is just a few weeks away! We’ve got our baskets, I’ve secretly stashed a little gift for each deep in my closet (hope I can find it when it’s time!) and the candy dish in our pantry is filled with tasty treats! This past weekend I decided to do something extra, so I grabbed the new SUPER Snack Packs from Walmart…

I made sure to take advantage of this $0.50 off coupon – saving money makes the holiday even better, right?! Also watch out for special displays featuring the SUPER Snack Packs; they’ll have a recipe tear pad with lots of fun recipes and ideas for Easter!

For our Easter pudding cups, I decided to make it REALLY decorated and add some ‘grass’ to the packaging.

Get some green construction paper (color some ‘texture’ with a green crayon on it, if you want) and wrap it around the pudding cup.
Trim the bottom so it’s flush with the bottom of the pudding container, and tape the edges securely.
Cut angles all along the top to be the ‘grass’.

Now you’re ready to create your super cute Easter pudding cup!

Ingredients

SUPER Snack Pack Pudding
Crushed Oreos
Green Frosting
Graham Cracker Pieces
Colorful Candies (to be Easter Eggs)

Directions

Add a layer of the crushed Oreos for ‘dirt’.
Break your Graham Crackers into little ‘posts’ and insert them along the outside of the cup. Spread the frosting for the ‘grass’, giving it some texture.
Add pile of Easter Eggs (colorful candies) and Viola! You’re done!

These were a HUGE hit at our house! Plus even I loved the sweet taste 🙂

What would YOU add to your pudding cups?

Big Hero 6 Party

March 2, 2015 by Danielle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BigHero6Release #CollectiveBias

We’d been counting down the days, and last week Big Hero 6 was FINALLY released on DVD! Our family loves it, so a Big Hero 6 Party was definitely in order…complete with Honey Lemon Bags, Pin the Tail on Fred and Cupcake Fruit Sushi! Free printables are always a must at parties, too, right?

To prepare, we ordered some super fun Big Hero 6 toys and supplies from Walmart.com – my kids LOVE the shooting Baymax fist and helmet! They were a little upset when I insisted we use the super cute, plush Baymax to hang in my van, but it’s adorable and I love Baymax!

When the DVD hit Walmart shelves, I was there nabbing their special 2-pack that’s ONLY available at Walmart! With the purchase of the Big Hero 6 Blu-Ray/DVD + Gift With Purchase Set, you also receive a digital movie on Vudu while supplies last! Simply scan your receipt using the Savings Catcher in the Walmart app. Then look for a message on your phone or email. Now you can watch Big Hero 6 on any device! Woot woot!

Once I got all of our supplies ordered and a date set, I had to get some friends invited, right? So I put together some neat invitations to hand out…..

Download the Invitation HERE

Then came the decorating before all those crazy, superhero-loving kiddos showed up! We used some tablecloths for backdrops, plus black streamers. I bought a pack of plain black circle stickers and used them on a LOT of our projects, such as on white balloons for eyes, just using a marker for the line between. We also nabbed some cheap red bags for favors, cut out white Baymax faces and used the stickers (with a marker for the line) to create his face!

For some chairs, we covered with part of a cheap white plastic tablecloth, then used white paper, stickers and marker to make it a Baymax seat. Super fun!

For the party food, we did WINGS just like Hiro’s sweet and goofy Aunt Cass makes!

The big hit was the Cupcake Fruit Sushi, though! Whip up some vanilla cupcakes, then divide the batter in several bowls so you can add different food coloring to match the characters. Bake as instructed, then hollow them out….

Once they’re done, use Tapioca pudding or marshmallows for the white ‘fish eggs’ from normal sushi. Different colors of fruit can then be diced and put in to match the colors of the Big Hero 6 team!

Baymax: White and red: white cupcake with strawberries
Hiro: Purple, black and red: Purple cupcake with strawberries and blueberries
Honey Lemon: Pink, purple and red: Pink cupcake with strawberries and purple grapes
Wasabi: Green and blue: Green cupcake with blueberries
Fred: Blue, orange and yellow: Orange cupcake with mango and blueberries
Go-Go: Yellow, black and red: Yellow cupcake with strawberries, or black cupcake with mango

There were also these budget-friendly, fun to make Honey Lemon bags – complete with her chemistry balls!

To make the balls, I first covered the styrofoam with a layer of plain glue and let dry. This made it so I could then spray paint them easily!

To make the bag:

Take a piece of felt and curve the top 2 corners of one side.
Fold up the bottom part-way.
Make sure the top flap will fold over almost all the way down…and leave an edge open for you to insert the balls.
Hot glue a little so the top flap stays down onto the bottom.
Hot glue two strips of felt (from another piece) into the bag edge, and glue them together at the top – this is the strap for the bag.
Glue one side closed (keep other open, remember)
Cut out a black felt heart, like on her bag in the movie. Then use puffy paint to do the button designs and add a little more fun to it!

I finished it off by simple sewing (by hand, took a couple minutes total) these colorful beads along the handle. Now it REALLY looks like Honey Lemon’s bag!

For the activities, we played Pin the Tail on Fred! You can download the Fred page HERE, then download THIS SHEET of tails!

We even cut out neon-paper into circles, taped on glow sticks, and ran around like Go-Go! The kids thought it was awesome!

We made sure to add some little details, like the suckers! Remember this – ‘You’ve been a good patient, have a lollipop!’

They all had so much fun, and still love playing with the great toys we got for the party! They’re all still quoting their favorite parts from the movie, too. One of mine, other than Baymax’s fist bump, is ‘Woman Up’ by Go-Go!

What’s YOUR favorite quote from Big Hero 6?

Strawberry Flower Date Night Basket

February 4, 2015 by Danielle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveOurVDay #CollectiveBias

My last little Christmas Tree, that I’ve enjoyed on my dresser by my bed, has finally been put away. It’s officially past Christmas and the New Year! Now we’re looking towards Valentine’s Day with lots of romantic enthusiasm, right? This year I decided to give hubby a little something special for US, this Strawberry Flower Date Night Basket!

Since Hubby and my anniversary is the end of January, we usually celebrate that AND Valentine’s somewhere in between the two….it’s easier to find a babysitter! Several years ago, Hubby made me a gorgeous bouquet of strawberry flowers, whipped cream, and chocolate. Seriously, it was FABULOUS! He learned how while cooking in a really nice restaurant, and has since taught me this neat trick.

I decided to add some of these fun fruit rose buds and such to a romantic little date night basket, and it was a HUGE hit with my man! I swung by Target to grab everything I needed, including a few ‘special’ surprises from the feminine care area 😉

Now, you should make your basket with stuff YOU and YOUR special someone would really enjoy! Some ideas are candies, sparkling cider, candles (I prefer LED ones), perhaps something ‘lacy’ *wink wink* and perhaps even some intimate items, like the new K-Y® Love – exclusive to Target for Valentine’s Day! It’s the holiday of love, for goodness sake, so go ahead and turn up the passion in your relationship! You can even save 10% with this Cartwheel offer through 02/14!

To make the Strawberry Flowers

Wash & dry your strawberries. Attach a stick or cute straw carefully to the leaf end, not going in too far or it will poke through the top when you do your cuts.
To make the rose bud look: Cut a little ‘petal’ on each of the four sides, near the bottom. Don’t cut all the way down or it’ll just fall off. Then make two little slits at the top center, parallel to each other. Spread the petals and the top part, and there’s your bud!
To make a tulip-like bud: this one’s really basic, just making cuts parallel all along the berry. Spread them apart slightly, and you’ve got it!

To complete my basket, I strung some ribbon along the top rim and lined it with tissue paper.

So I could make my berry flowers stand up, I put one of those green floral foam circles and put it into a small bowl. The straws stuck into it easily, making the buds stand up just great at different heights (I trimmed some straws to vary the height even more)! I then covered the ‘green foam’ with fake rose petals.

Add the rest of your stuff, scatter more rose petals around because, well, why not? Then you’re set for a romantic evening with your special someone!

Homemade Baymax Marshmallows

January 24, 2015 by Danielle

Who else is absolutely obsessed with Superheros? Our family is MAJORLY in love with all that nerdy goodness, as anyone who knows us, or follows here regularly, will know! Lately we’ve really been crushing on Big Hero 6, especially the oh-so-lovable Baymax! So this year for the kids’ Valentine’s, I decided to do Homemade Baymax Marshmallows!

Aren’t these super fun? You can make them as big (that large one is a little bigger than my hand!) or mini versions, depending on what you’re wanting.

At first I was a bit intimidated about making my own marshmallows, but it was actually super easy! Enough so that I made a FEW batches! I’m glad we’re sharing these with others, otherwise I’d be on calorie overload for sure!

Ingredients

2 envelopes Unflavored Gelatin
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2/3 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Powdered Sugar – for coating
Veggie or Olive Oil – for coating
Black frosting – for eyes

Directions

If you want THICK marshmallows, use a 9×13 baking dish. For thinner/average thickness use one or two cookie sheets. Take your dish or cookie sheet of choice and brush with oil. Cover with parchment paper, letting the edges stick up over the sides, then brush the parchment paper with oil also (this makes handling the marshmallows MUCH easier). Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/3 cup water over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved. Continue boiling WITHOUT stirring about 7-9 minutes.
MEANWHILE: In a mixer, pour 1/3 cup COLD water, then sprinkle the gelatin over top. Allow it to sit for about 5 minutes.
When done, pour the hot sugar mixture into the mixer on top of the gelatin and whisk. Start slowly, then increase speeds to high. Beat until stiff peaks form, about 10-20 minutes. Add in the vanilla until combined.
Spread the marshmallow mix quickly into your prepared dish/cookie sheet and smooth the top. Allow it to set for 3 hours.
Spread some powdered sugar on your work surface. Remove the marshmallow sheet onto it, sprinkling powdered sugar on top. This fixes the sticky parts. Take a knife or cookie cutter, brush it with oil, then cut out your desired shape (Baymax!!! It’s easy, he’s got the head, then a poofy belly. Then just cut out a line for his arms and his legs). Roll in powdered sugar to coat all the sticky sides.
Use black frosting with a writing tip or a toothpick to create his eyes. You’re done! Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

If you want, you could dip your marshmallows in white melting chocolate for a little ‘coating’, but that’s up to you. My kids are so in love with their ‘puffy’ Baymax treats, and are super excited to give them to their friends!

Cheesy Goldfish Snacks

January 13, 2015 by Danielle

This post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GoldfishMix #CollectiveBias

Two of my kids’ favorite times of day are morning and afternoon snack time. It’s like they measure their entire day around them! Even though we change it around, there are a few things that are their select favorites they’re always asking for. Since I like to give them variety, I’ve found some fun ways to include their favorites in new ways, such as these super fun Cheesy Goldfish Snacks!

The thing I love most about these is how ridiculously SIMPLE they are to make! Plus, I can make a big batch and stick them in a container in our fridge for later, instead of doing it all right when it’s time for snack. My kids are practically addicted to Goldfish crackers lately, especially since they come in such different flavors! I used their COLORS for these, but it also works amazing with any of the others like Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar or Whole Grain. Just swing by the cracker aisle at Walmart to pick up a few cartons! They’re even on Rollback right now!

Ingredients

Goldfish crackers in flavor of choice
Cheese of choice (I use cheddar most often)
Pretzel sticks

Directions

Crush some of the Goldfish crackers, keeping a fun variety of sizes: some super fine, other still pretty chunky.
Spread wax paper on a baking sheet (prevents it sticking) or other surface.
Melt your cheese, dip in one end up a pretzel stick, then dip that into the crumbs. Place on wax paper to firm up.

Store any extras in the fridge because, well, it DOES have cheese, after all!

My kids think these are ‘big kid’ snacks….not sure why they call them that, but if it makes them happy I’m all for it! Be sure to check out Goldfish snacks on Twitter and Facebook for more fun and savings!

Budget Saving Giving: Festive Goodie Basket

October 27, 2014 by Danielle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. #TasteTheSeason #CollectiveBias

Less than two months until Christmas, guys. TWO MONTHS! That’s less than 9 weeks to take care of decorating, activities, shrinking bank accounts, parties, gift giving and hopefully quality family time! Now, before we all run around screaming like our hair’s on fire, take a big breath because I’m here to help you with at least some of that! Let’s all take a look on how to pull off Budget Saving Giving with this Festive Goodie Basket! Don’t worry…recipes and printables included!

Though some of my friends think I’m crazy (not denying it, but bare with me) I really like to save money during the holidays. I don’t think that breaking the bank is a smart way to spend the holidays! And really, it shouldn’t be about the money, it should be about family and friends, right? To help me not spend a fortune, I really enjoy making quality, homemade treats to give to our neighbors and friends.

You may be saying ‘life’s even busier during the holidays, there’s no way I have TIME to make delicious treats!’ I said I like to save money….but I also love saving time, and you can get BOTH! I’m going to share with you 3 recipes for tasty treats you can put together in the Festive Goodie Basket really quick, saving your piggy bank AND giving you more time for the holiday fun! First, run over to Walmart and grab the necessary ingredients…. As far as the food is concerned, it’s even a quick trip, just hit the baking aisle and then swing by the refrigerated dairy section, then you’re out in a flash! Please do pay first, though 😉 You may need to pick up a couple things for the basket, unless you can find most on-hand!

Truffles – Ingredients

1 block Kraft Philidelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 regular-sized package chocolate cookies with cream filling
2-3 packs Kraft Baker’s Chocolate, in your choice of flavor (I use semi-sweet & white chocolate)

Truffles – Directions

Crush the cookies in a zip-lock bag. The more ‘smooshed’ the better! Here’s Wonder Woman helping me out with the holiday goodies!
Mix the cookie crumbs with the softened cream cheese until it’s well-combined. Roll into 1″ balls and place on a sprayed baking sheet. If you want them on pop-sticks like I have mine, insert those now. Refrigerate about an hour.
Melt the Baker’s chocolate according to directions, then carefully dip each truffle ball so it’s covered. Once done, refrigerate the truffles at least an hour for the chocolate to harden.

Cookies in a Jar

I’m so in love with jar gifts, and they’re super easy to make! You can really get creative with them, too! These cookies are delicious once baked, with the directions clearly listed on one of the adorable free printables!

Cookie Jar Gift – Ingredients

1 Large Jar with Lid, clean
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 – 1 cup Chocolate Chips
Free Printable Jar Lid Topper with Instructions
Free Printable Jar Label – be sure to add your signature/family name!
Twine or ribbon
Cloth for lid
Scissors & tape/glue

Cookie Jar Gift – Directions

Because jar sizes can be different, start with HALF this recipe to make sure everything will fit. Mix the sugar, baking soda & powder, flour and salt. Carefully pour into jar. Add the cocoa powder, then top with a layer of chocolate chips. If that leaves enough room for more, then do the same again! Put the lid on tightly.
Wrap a piece of twine/ribbon around the jar and secure with tape. Tape the label printable in the center.
Place the cloth over the lid and secure in place with twine or ribbon. Tape or glue the lid topper onto the top, so they know how to bake their yummy cookies!

My favorite part of this gift are the next recipe….super addictive Caramel Marshmallow Cookies!

Caramel Marshmallow Cookies – Ingredients

3/4 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Corn Starch
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 pack Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallows
1 pack Kraft Caramels

Caramel Marshmallow Cookies – Directions

Melt the caramels according to directions, then dip the marshmallows in so they’re covered. Place in freezer until needed. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line two cookies sheets, set aside.
Cream the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until mixed. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder and corn starch. Slowly mix in the flour until everything’s well-combined.
The cookies are large, but that works nicely for the gift basket. Roll a large piece of dough into a ball, then flatten well. Place one caramel-covered marshmallow inside, then wrap the dough so it’s covered. Make sure it’s covered well by the dough, or it will melt through…still tastes great, but doesn’t look as nice.
Bake for 12-18 minutes, or until dough is slightly browned and mostly cooked. Do not overcook, since the softness is one of the great things about this cookie!

Festive Goodie Basket

Now it’s time to take your fabulous goodies to make your Festive Goodie Baskets, so you can hand them out to your friends, neighbors, even party guests…saving you both time AND money! Since you’re taking these to people, I recommend putting the truffles and made cookies in packaging or wrap, securing it with matching twine or ribbon. Looks pretty, stays clean and safe to eat!

Supplies For Basket

Basket or Bowl
Goodies: Truffles, Cookies in a Jar, Caramel Marshmallow Cookies
Filler, such as fake grass (craft aisle at Walmart)
Green foam (that holds fake flowers, craft aisle at Walmart – to secure truffle sticks)
If desired, a mini jar to hold the foam/truffle sticks (craft aisle, less than $1)
Accent decoration (I found pretty gold leaf accents for less than $1 on clearance)

Assemble Your Basket

Place some filler in your bowl/basket. Place the Jar in securely so it stands nicely. For your truffles, put some of the green foam either directly into your basket, or into a mini jar, then stick in the sticks as such…
Wrap a little ribbon around the base of the truffle sticks to make it pretty. Place in the cookies, your accent piece and VIOLA! You’re done with a beautiful, delicious AND budget-friendly gift ready to take!

Notice my basket is color/style schemed more towards fall the Christmas? I’ve learned that another great way to save time and money during the holidays….plan and give EARLY! I give these all out during early November, which means that during the actual holidays I can really focus on what matters most: my family! Also, people get plenty later during the season, so give them a little something extra early on so it puts their season off to a wonderful start!

If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. They have recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!

Family Fun with Creepy Mini Pizzas

October 22, 2014 by Danielle

*This post is sponsored by Fleischmann’s Yeast. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

My history with pizza and family time goes WAY back, to the years I spent growing up in a pizza place. So when I got the chance to try Fleischmann’s quick-rising yeast in a delicious pizza crust recipe, I was definitely all for it! To make it a full-on activity, we had some major Family Fun with Creepy Mini Pizzas!

Now, when I say grew up in a pizza place, I don’t mean going and eating there often…my parents owned Pony Express Pizza in northern Utah up until I was about 11 years old, so I spent much of my childhood there. I remember rolling out the huge cans of olives to my parents so they can open them. I was super ‘helpful’! I also remember the HUGE dough mixer where every day they’d make ginormous batches of pizza dough. It was so neat, and I really loved the smell of the yeast. Call me crazy, but I loved it!

Having this deep love for good pizza, we love making them at our own home all the time. My kids know that at least once a month we’ll be having a family pizza night, and they love getting to help choose the types! Pizzas are great that way…switch up the sauces, or toppings, or even the cheese, and you’ve got something new!

One problem I tend to have is planning ahead, though. Since most pizza dough requires you allow it to rise for a certain amount of time, there’s been so many occasions when I just didn’t get it ready in time, so pizza night was postponed. Not with this Fleischmann’s Fast & Easy Pizza Crust Yeast! Less than an hour to completely make the pizza dough, pre-bake it, decorate our Creepy Mini Pizzas, then cook the final creations! Now THAT’S what I call an awesome family night!

*Makes 8 (6-inch) Pizzas

Ingredients – Crust

3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast
1 1/2 tbsp. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/3 cup Warm Water
1/3 cup Veggie Oil

Directions – Crust

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F.
Add all of the ingredients together (start with the less amount of flour) and mix until well-blended. If it’s too sticky, gradually add more flour in until it’s a nice, elastic, soft dough. Knead as needed, then divide into 8 portions.
Roll each portion into a nice circle and pinch the edges to form a rim. You can fit 2 of these on a sprayed baking sheet. Don’t add any toppings yet! Bake for 6-7 minutes until set and very lightly browned on the bottom.
Remove and either add toppings for immediate consumption, or put in freezer bags and freeze for up to 1 month. If using right away, add sauce, cheese, and toppings, then bake at 475 Degrees F. for about 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cheese is melted.

Ingredients – Toppings (pick and choose your favs!)

Your favorite sauce (try our delicious Alfredo or tasty BBQ)
Cheese
Bell Peppers: green, red, yellow, orange
Mushrooms
Black Olives
Pepperoni Slices
Ham Slices
Salami Slices
Lettuce

Here’s our Creepy Mini Pizza Creations

Cat Woman (our exchange student) helped Green Lantern with his mini pizza. Their monster-man was super fun!

Wonder Woman wanted a big-eared ‘dude’ for her dinner, and the green peppers worked perfectly! Add some olive eyes for the perfect finishing touch.

I think Batman’s fabulous Halloween Owl pizza was my favorite! I loved the big eyes, green pepper wings and colorful feathered belly. And the fact the my 4-year-old pulled this off without ANY help was a proud mama moment indeed!

Okay, so I don’t have a final photo of Superman’s pizza…partially because he wouldn’t hold still, and he kept saying ‘wait, one more’. It turned out a Picasso type monster 🙂

In the past it’s often happened that I just bought pre-made pizza dough because I didn’t have any extra time to spend making homemade dough. I hated the cost difference, and it just doesn’t taste the same! Now that I’ve learned how easy and quick Fleischmann’s Yeast makes pizza night…plus how delicious it turns out…I can serve up homemade pizza in a flash!

For additional information, recipes and tips and tricks, visit the Fleischmann’s Yeast resource center online.

Two Ingredient Fanta Cake & Dasani Bats Printable

October 20, 2014 by Danielle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SpookySnacks #CollectiveBias

You know how kids will change their favorite things so often, it’s sometimes hard to keep up? My 4-year-old Superman is NOT like that! Most of all is his favorite color: ORANGE. He’s so obsessed with the color that he insists he always gets it….the orange plate, the orange cup, the orange candies, and on and on. Can you image what his favorite soda is? Yup, Fanta Orange Soda! So with Halloween right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to embrace all things orange….including this delicious Two Ingredient Fanta Cake!

You heard that right…TWO INGREDIENTS! Can’t get much easier than that, right? So we can have our Orange Soda, Orange cake, and then just toss in a few other items (there IS such a thing as too much orange!) like these adorable Dasani Bats! Don’t worry, I’ve included a free printable for those below, too. You’re welcome!

Since our soda stash had run dry (I know, sinful, right?) Green Lantern and I swung by Walmart while the twins were at preschool. Although I could probably find the soda aisle blindfolded, it’s super easy to find with their well-marked signs. I even found some fabulous coupons on some of the packs – Woot Woot!

Even though he isn’t totally obsessed with orange like his brother, Green Lantern was still SUPER excited to restock our pantry – he almost didn’t let go of the 2-liter!

I don’t know what was more fun…making the cake, or seeing their couldn’t-grin-any-bigger faces covered in this fun Halloween snack! Another great thing about this recipe? When you pour in the soda, it all becomes a ‘bubbly brew’ and the kids think it’s the neatest thing ever! Even I think it’s fun…I mean, look at all those bubbles….

Ingredients

2 boxes White or Vanilla Cake Mix
24 oz. Fanta Orange Soda

Directions

Preheat the oven according to cake mix box directions. Spray a 9×13 pan (or multiple smaller pans), set aside.
Dump the cake mixes into a LARGE bowl (remember, it bubbles up!) Pour in the soda and mix well. Spread into a sprayed 9×13 cake pan (or multiple smaller pans).
Bake according to package directions. Allow to cool completely.

When your cake has cooled, decorate it all festive for a fun Halloween snack! Let the kiddos help, or just take over the creativity by yourself. Notice ours has plenty of orange….ya, it’s definitely a good month for Superman’s color obsession!

I love how moist this cake turns out…plus it’s full of yummy Fanta flavor inside! I paired it with a cream cheese frosting….and even added a bit of Fanta soda into that to spread more of the great taste. If it makes it runnier than you’d like, a bit of powdered sugar mixed in will thicken it right up.

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the cute Dasani Bats! Since you never know when you’ll need it, we like to keep bottled water on-hand to just ‘grab and go’. Especially the smaller 12 oz. size…it’s perfect for my kiddos! Whether it’s racing out the door to dance lessons, heading to the park or even just as an emergency back-up in our vehicles, these mini bottles have saved us on more than one occasion! I also love that they’re specially designed to stand upright easily….not falling all over the shelves in the fridge!

Now, imagine passing out these fun bats this Halloween! We made plenty to hand out, so our trick-or-treaters can have a quick drink in the middle of their walking. All you have to do is Print This Page for the shapes, then put it together in a snap!

Wrap a piece of black paper around the Dasani bottle and tape into place.

Cut out the shapes onto black paper, and tape onto the center of the bottle. Glue on googly eyes and you’re done!

Want to join in the fun with Fanta and Dasani? Head over and follow them on their social channels!

Fanta: Facebook and Twitter

Dasani: Facebook and Twitter

If you’re up for extra fun, there will be an in-store demo at select Walmart locations October 24-26th featuring Fanta, as well as Wheat Thins and Halloween Oreos. Free sample Halloween snacks…why not, right?

We’ve been having a blast this Halloween season, and hope you and your family are, too! Even if your favorite color isn’t orange like Superman, it’s still super fun getting into the festive spirit. Happy Halloween!