It's Time to Dare to Share!

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy Friday! 

Is it just me, or did this week fly by? On the Fridays I am not visiting Michigan, my good friend and I text Happy Friday to each other. Tonight when we chatted, both of us were amazed it was already Friday again. It truly feels like I was just in Michigan yesterday.

Even though this week was a whirlwind, I did get things accomplished.  

It is almost graduation season! Did you know that I am planning a graduation party?  D's youngest will be graduating this May as long as he gets everything finished in time.  In my post graduation party ideas this week I shared a lot of the supplies I picked up already from the Dollar Tree.  If you have not checked out their 2023 graduation line, you will definitely want to see it. They have so many great things that will help you throw a graduation party on a budget. There will also be a birthday party coming up in a few months as well, but more on that later.  

 

I also added two new Mother's Day listings to my Etsy Shop.   Working with preschool children now, I am seeing a lot more crafts for younger kids like this Butterfly Mother's Day Handprint Craft

and this Mother's Day Flower Handprint Craft.  In the next few days I will be adding several new teacher appreciation and graduation listings in the next few days. 

Now that I shared what I have been up to, I would love to see what you have been up to this week. 

It is getting to be that time, so let's get this party started! 

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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Click here to enter

Graduation Party Ideas

 

It's that time of year again, it's graduation season.  It's hard to believe how fast this last year went, and that it is already the end of school year.  This year I will be involved in two graduation ceremonies/parties.   My new job is at a preschool and daycare, and we will be having a graduation ceremony for the kids who are moving on to kindergarten next year in early June.  If everything goes well in the next few weeks, I am also planning a graduation party for my bonus son.  I have been picking up a lot of graduation party items from the Dollar Tree to prepare for our party sometime this summer. 

**this post contains affiliate links

While I have bought more than what is posted, here are some of my favorite items so far. 

I bought this sign from the Dollar Tree. I think is would look great in photos  while being held by the graduate.  

We are going to use this as the cake topper. It has a nice elegant look. 

I am not sure what I am going to do with this graduation cap yet, but I really liked the size of it. 

These party picks are new for 2023.  They would look great with various party foods. You get 24 per pack.    Also available are picks that say Class of 2023. 

I plan on hanging this 2023 graduation banner on a long wall in the dining room or in our main hallway. 

If you plan on having a photo booth, these photo props will be fun and inexpensive to use. 

How adorable are these graduation gnomes! When I saw them I just had to get them to add to my gnome collection.  

I 

I picked up these led number lights recently.  I can not find them on the website, but if you see them grab them, because they were going fast! 

We are still in the early phases of the planning our party, so there will be more posts with food and other ideas in the coming weeks.  Did you know that on the Dollar Tree website there is a value seekers blog with a lot of graduation ideas ?  There are many great ideas over there, so be sure to stop over and check it out. 

Over in my Etsy Shop I have a few graduation party listings currently available like this chocolate bar wrappers. Over the next few weeks, I will be adding several more items for this graduation season.  

Dare to Share Saturday

It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Somehow this week got away from me. I know I was busy, but I can't remember exactly what I did this week. It was a pretty average week, with nothing major coming to my mind.  Do you ever have weeks like that? I worked every day at the preschool/daycare, and spent some time on my Etsy shop.  D somehow tweaked his back on Sunday and hasn't been able to do to much this week so we did not really do anything exciting.  We are visiting friends and family in Michigan this weekend, which is why the party is going up a little late tonight. 

I was hoping to write a blog post, but it did not happen.  I will try for two posts next week.  I was also hoping to get a new listing up.  While I have been working on some, they are not quite ready to list. 

Hopefully you have more to share than I did this week.  With that let's get this party started.    Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Time to Dare to Share

It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Did you have a Happy Easter? This year was a little different for us.  We had warm beautiful weather on Easter Sunday. A few of D's kids had other places they needed to be, so D and I had a few hours to ourselves.  We decided to go to a nearby park and go for a hike.  They trails were not that long, and there are some very pretty spots for pictures like at this waterfall. Some days it is really nice to go out, relax, and admire nature.

 

Now that Easter is over, I am starting to work on Mothers Day on both my blog and Etsy Shop.    On the blog I shared this post on how to make Flower Cupcakes, and in my shop I have products for mom like coupons, a questionnaire from kids, and breakfast in bed menu. I am hoping to add some more new items in the next week or so as well.  

Well it looks like it is time to get the party started. I would love to see what you have been up.  So link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Flower Cupcakes for Mother's Day

Now that Easter is over, it is time to think about Mother's Day.

 This year it will be interesting celebrating Mother's Day, because not only do I live in a different state than my mom, I now also live in a different state than my kids who are college age.

We will probably spend the day with my boyfriend's mom that day.  She is like a bonus mom to me, so I might be making some of these flower cupcakes.   I made them a few years back for one of my best friend's birthday which is right before Mother's Day, and she loved them. 

After you bake and frost your cupcakes (I used a box mix), it is time to make the candy flowers.  You will need a bag of candy fruit slices, which you can find reasonably priced in most candy aisles.   Sprinkle some granulated sugar on a flat surface, and lay the candy piece on it.  

 The sugar is needed to keep the candy from sticking when being rolled out.  Make sure both sides are covered with the sugar as you flatten it.  It should about 1/8 th of an inch thick. 
 

Cut the flattened candy in half lengthwise.  You will need to have about 3 strips per flower, so if you make a dozen cupcakes, plan on making at least 24 strips. (12 pieces of flattened candy) 

 Once you have all of your candy pieces flattened, it is time to assemble the flowers.  Start by rolling the pieces, and pinching the bottom as you roll to make it stick together.  Use about 3 pieces for each flower, or until you get the size flower that you like.  It's okay if it looks little blobby at this point, because it looks much better when it's placed on a cupcake. 

Once you have made the flowers, it is time to make the leaves.   To make a leaf, you will use green chewy candy. To be honest, I can not remember what kind I used on my cupcakes, but light green color was a pretty addition.  Place the chewy candy in the microwave for a few seconds and until it is soft enough to shape in the a leaf. 

I added the leaves to the cupcakes, and also some red sprinkles to a few plain cupcakes.   My friend was definitely surprised and loved her cupcakes.  

Another gift idea for mom to give her in addition to the cupcakes is to give her coupons.  I have several versions like this one, and some other Mother's Day printables in my Etsy Shop if you are interested in checking them out. 

It's Party Time! It's Dare to Share Saturday!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

If you celebrate Easter, Happy Easter weekend!  This week has been a busy, but very good one for me. I worked at the preschool everyday this week until today, and my Etsy Shop has been the busiest it has ever been.  It has been exciting as one of my listings has become a best seller this week. Thankfully it is for a digital product, or I would be too busy to do anything but make and ship products. 

I was able to share a post of my favorite Easter Bunny Treats that I have made over the years.  All of these were big hits with my kids They are all easy to make, and perfect for Easter get togethers.   

One of my favorite Easter recipes is Leftover Ham Casserole. It doesn't look like we will be having a big Easter meal this year.  My bonus kids are invited to visit some relatives on their mom's side of the family, and one has to work. I will be seeing my own kids in Michigan in a couple of weeks for my son's birthday.  Even if we don't have a traditional Easter meal, I still may see if I can get some ham, and make a batch later in the week.  

 

Well it is looking like it is time to get this  party started. I would love to see what you have been up to this week.  Link up and HAVE FUN!  

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Bunny Treats for Easter

 

Easter is right around the corner.  Are you ready?  As I was going through some of my older blog posts, I realized that I have shared many bunny treats over the years that are easy to make and perfect for Easter get togethers 

I made this sweet bunny cake for Easter Dinner at a friend's house one year.   It is super easy to make.  All you need are a box of cake mix, two cake pans, and frosting for the bunny cake, and some cardstock for the ears. 

You will have some cake left over if you make the Easter cake, so you can use it to make some Easter Cake Pops.  This was one of my first blog posts on this blog. My photos are horrible, but the treats turned out to be really cute. 

Need some easy Bunny Cookies?  You can make these from Nutter Butters, candy melts, marshmallows, melted chocolate and a heart sprinkle. 

  While my Bunny Treat Boxes are not actual treats, they are used to hold yummy treats like jelly beans.  To make this boxes you just need mini storage boxes from Dollar Tree, some tiny pom poms, google eyes and white pipe cleaners.

Do you make any special Easter treats? I would love to hear about it in the comments.