Taste the Rainbow...

Rainbows are often seen in a lot of St. Patrick's Day pictures.  The end of the rainbow IS where a leprechaun hides the pot of gold!!

   

These treats are adorable, fun, and I am betting absolutely delicious!!  

The link gives instructions for making these as shots using vodka, but they would work just as well as jigglers so that  the kids can enjoy them, too.  My favorite part about this treat is the cherry stem sticking out of the top.  Pretty & functional!!

And now, cupcakes!!  I made these last year for St. Pat's, but too late to use them in a blog.    

The cupcakes above were made by me, but you can get the instructions from the Family Fun website.  The shamrocks are green gumdrops.  To shape these, first flatten the gumdrop.  Sprinkle sugar on them if they get too sticky to work with.  Once flattened, you can cut them into the shapes you need. 


Recently, I saw a picture of what must have been pudding.  (There was no caption with the picture, so hard to tell for sure.)  They had made different shades of pudding (my best guess, add food coloring to vanilla) and layered them in clear plastic cups for the rainbow effect.  I would top this with a golden coin!! 


Another snack idea I love are these fruit kabobs.  Pretty, tasty, and healthy.
                                


All of you Pinterest addicts may recognize the Skittles Vodka below.  I looked at a few different blogs about this project, and this one was the most detailed and easy to follow. 

For the kiddos, I would stick with different flavors of kool-aid. 

                              

Keep the kids busy at Thanksgiving...

     At most Thanksgiving gatherings, there is plenty for the adults to do.  Cooking, setting the table, watching football, or just catching up with each other.  The kids can probably find plenty to do, too, but if you have a few things prepared to keep them busy, maybe they can stay out of trouble!!

     Coloring placemats are one of my favorite things to use anytime I am making a place setting for children.  They are easy to make, and add an activity to any celebration.  For this holiday, I printed a placemat with 2 sides.  Thanksgiving on the front, and pre-Christmas on the back.  The front has pictures to color, but you could also find word games or puzzles for free online to print out.  The most important part is the box for each person to write what they are thankful for this year.  The back is a Christmas Wish List.  Those Black Friday circulars are full of gift ideas and toy catalogs.  There are spaces for both gifts "To Get" & "To Give."

(made by Events DEE-signed)

     I LOVE this tablecover idea from the  Sweet Paul Blog.  You can get this type of wrapping paper at your local dollar store.   

(from Sweet Paul blog)

     Simply draw the placemats directly on the paper, put out some crayons, and let the kids decorate the entire table cover.  After dinner, you can either cut out each child's artwork for a keepsake or, if the table is a mess, just fold everything up in the paper and throw it all away in one quick sweep.  Then the table is ready for board games, or maybe some after-dinner crafting.

     Always have a couple of board games for indoors, and a couple of outdoor game ideas along with balls, frisbees, etc... in case you are lucky enough to have nice weather.  We still have Thanksgiving in my grandparents 2-bedroom house, even though the family has grown to 20+, so if we can send the kids outside, that's just one more enormous thing to be thankful for!!  The kids' table can be board game central, or they can set up in a spare room on the floor.

     Some kids will want to help in the set-up.  There are plenty of simple napkin folds that a child could master.  You can always find tutorials on YouTube.  This one from Danielle's Place is adorable.

(from Danielle's Place)

     Maybe they could help with a very simple appetizer that requires no cooking. This does the double-duty of keeping the kids busy and the adults from sneaking any turkey while everyone waits!!   Most children can arrange pre-cut vegetables or cheese squares onto a plate.  Another cute idea I found on Pinterest (I LOVE that site!!) is to put fruit pieces on skewers and make this Fruit Gobbler from Family Fun Magazine.  They used a cantaloupe, but I think a small pumpkin would be great.

(from Family Fun Magazine)

            I hope some of these ideas will work for you, or at least get your own imagination flowing!!

      

A SpongeBob Squarepants Luau

This particular luau had lots of handmade items to make it one-of-a-kind.  Below is an example of each place setting.

I glued coloring pages onto colored construction paper, and then onto brown shipping paper (which you can find in rolls at Dollar General) to make the placemats.  The kids were able to color while waiting for their food, and they could take their artwork home after the party.

These cups started out plain yellow, and I just used a black permanent marker to draw SpongeBob's face.  Since the cups were short, I also cut the straws to fit without falling out.  These are sturdy plastic and washable, so the guests were able to take them home.

These "chum buckets" are made from clear plastic cups with pipe cleaners glued onto the sides to resemble a handle.  Gummi fish and worms, plus oyster crackers and Goldfish crackers make a pre-lunch snack for all of the guests.  I got the little "shovels" from a local ice cream shoppe.  They are the little spoons used to give out ice cream samples.

Raffia with a seashell hot-glued on holds the silverware bundles into place.

The treat bags were a huge hit.  Everything inside came from either the dollar store or Oriental Trading Company.  The bag itself started out as a plain brown lunch sack.  A few snips with scissors, a marker, and a sticker, and there you go!!

It's simple to personalize the favors.  A return address label fits perfectly around these tiny bubble bottles.

A tropical playlist specially selected for the birthday boy and girl was a special keepsake of their party.  I used a permanent marker and some stickers to decorated the cd.