Relief Society Birthday Celebration

At church I am the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator...this means that I get to help plan and decorate for meetings.  I recently got to put together our Birthday Celebration and here's how it turned out:

I did get some of this idea from pinterest...here is my pinspiration:

Pinspiration Picture

The theme for the evening was "Charity Never Faileth," which is the Relief Society's motto.  I loved the wheat idea, so I got some from hobby lobby and made the wheat centerpieces.  I used some burlap ribbon and blue twine to make the wheat stalk centerpieces.  I used 2 frames...one with a picture of Christ in it and another with the Relief Society Purposes Poster.  I also used the book; Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society. I decided to do swags with the tablecloths and use a safety pin to make the swag and stick a raffia bow where the tablecloth was gathered.  I thought the swags turned out awesome.  We also had a fundraiser for a couple of local charities and I was so happy to see how many items everyone brought to donate.

Two things I would have done differently with the decorations are:
 I would have place the frames and the wheat stalks closer together and since we did not have enough gold chargers for each of the tables I should have just kept them off instead of doing every other place setting.

Overall everything turned out pretty good though.  I also enjoyed doing the cake and keeping it with the theme by using an edible print of the Relief Society Seal.  I have done a couple of Relief Society Cakes before...here's some pics:

I love the Relief Society and am so happy to be a part of such a great organization.  I love that I get to use my talents to bring such wonderful women together and to have the opportunity to serve.

Super EASY Minecraft Creeper Cupcake Toppers

Want to make some super easy cupcake toppers like these...

Here's what you'll need:

Wilton's Green Edible Sugar Sheets

Wilton's Edible Black Food Writer Marker

Scissors

Directions...so easy the picture explains it all, but I'll tell you how anyway.

1.  Cut the sugar sheets into squares
2.  Use the Food Writer to draw the Creeper's face

I do wish I had taken a little more time on these, but with a group of 8 year old boys around they didn't last long!

Cat in the Hat Cake for Dr. Seuss Week

Here is a cake I made last year for Dr. Seuss week.  Since it is that time of year again I thought I'd share it. 

Here is how I made it(sorry no pictures):

Bake (3) 6" round cakes

Torte and fill each cake(cut each cake into 2 layers and put frosting in the middle of each layer).

Start stacking cakes by putting a 6" cake board under the cakes.

Stack each cake on top of each other and put frosting in the middle of each cake.

Frost the cake with a crumb coat.  I like to put mine in the freezer for a while before the next step.

Sharpen one end of a dowel and find the center of the cake board that is the base board(the blue one) and push the dowel partially through that board.  I used cake boards to make the base board on the bottom(I will do a tutorial for these cake boards/platters soon). Before the next step make sure your dowel is just shorter than the height of your cake.

Remove the dowel and push it through the center of the cake and through the cake board that is on the bottom of the cakes.  Since there is a cake board between my cake and the base board I like to put a little hot glue in the center of the base board(where I made my partial hole) and then set the cake on top of that and push the dowel down just a little more, so I know it went into the hot glue.  Remember there is a board on the bottom of the cake, so the hot glue will not touch the cake.

Next I covered the cake with white fondant and then made the brim of the hat with a strip of fondant.

The last step was to "paint" the cake.  To do this I used paste food coloring and clear vanilla extract.  By mixing some of the two together you get like a water color type paint.  This is what I did with the red and black.  Only use paint brushes that you use specifically for cake.

This was a fun cake to make and my son's class loved it!  

Ice Cream Buffet

Here is an ice cream buffet I did for a Relief Society Meeting:

The ice cream was served in tumbler cups with cupcake wrappers on the bottom of them.   The cups fit perfectly in the cupcake wrappers.  I just used a little double sided scrapbook tape and that kept them right on. 

The sign was made with my Cricut machine, some cute paper, tulle and ribbon.

 

The toppings are all in mason jars with cute labels on them. 

Some of the toppings we had are:

Heath

Andes Mints

Reese’s Pieces

White Chocolate Chips

Strawberry Wafers

Oreos

Peaches

Pineapple

Strawberries

Coconut

Maraschino Cherries     

Almonds

Peanuts

Whipping Cream

Hot Fudge

Strawberry Syrup

Caramel

Marshmallow Cream

For the ice cream we used vanilla and chocolate ice cream and also had a healthier option...banana puree.  I just peeled and wrapped some bananas in plastic wrap, froze them overnight, then stuck them in my food processor and put it on the dough setting and bam...banana puree.  

Now that I've done this once, I think I will do it again (hopefully even better) for another event...maybe a birthday party!  

100 Days of School Treat

Here is a treat I am making for the 100th day of school coming up next week.  

Things you need to make 100 Days of School Cookie Pops: 

Oreos

Wafers

Lollipop Sticks

White Candy Melts

Cookie Sheet lined with Parchment Paper

Sprinkles(I decided to add these after taking the picture)

Serrated Knife

Bowl to melt the Candy Melts in

First you have to get the lollipop sticks in the cookies. 

For the Strawberry Wafers you need to cut a rectangle with a serrated Knife in a sawing motion to make a spot for the stick to go.  Then scrape that part of the wafer out with the knife.  Then you dip the stick in the melted Candy Melts and place it in the spot you made for it.  Once that sets you can dip the whole wafer in the Candy Melts.  

For the Oreo you just twist it open and dip your stick in the chocolate and place it in the Oreo and close it back up. Once it sets you can then dip the Oreo in the candy melts.

I like to dip them twice.  Once in a bowl I think of as a crumb coat (like on a cake).  When you dip it the first time some crumbs will get into the melted chocolate.  After it sets you can dip it in second bowl of Candy Melts that doesn't have crumbs in it and it makes the whole thing look much better.  Right after you dip them you can sprinkle them with any sprinkles you'd like. 

After the 1st dip

             

After the 2nd dip and sprinkles

Once you are done you have your 100 Days of School Treats

Coming Soon...I will be posting how I made the pop stand in this picture!

Switch Sides if...

Last month I was looking for a getting to know you game that I could do with a large group of women for Relief Society.  After searching for something we could play I came up with my own game.  It is called:

It is a spin off of the "This or That" game. Here is how it works:

We started by having everyone stand on whatever side of the line they wanted.  Then I asked everyone to “switch sides if” the statement applied to them.  After some of the statements they were asked to tell someone next to them a little more about themselves. 

I wasn’t sure if the game would go well, but it ended up being a lot of fun and got everyone talking.  It was really neat to see who switched sides on some of the statements and who had the same things in common with each other and with you. 

Here are some of the statements:

You like to cook

You prefer summer more than winter

You have been on a mission… if you switched sides tell someone where

You have 4 or more kids

You prefer dogs more than cats

You were born in (the state you live)…if you didn’t switch sides tell someone where

You like to sew

You have any grandchildren… if you switched sides tell someone how many

You prefer spring more than fall

You have ridden a horse

You have lived in another state…if you switched sides tell someone where

You prefer pie more than cake 

You have 4 or more siblings

You have a pet… if you switched sides tell someone what pet you have and it’s name

You prefer morning more than night

You were named after someone…if you switched sides tell someone who

You like to sing

You have participated in a race (like a 5K or marathon)

You speak another language…if you switched sides tell someone what languages you speak

You prefer mountains more than beach

You prefer books more than movies

Play an instrument…if you switched sides tell someone what instrument you play

You like to play sports or have played on any teams

You prefer dark chocolate more than white Chocolate

You have traveled out of the country…if you switched sides tell someone where

You prefer washing dishes more than doing laundry

There are many other things you could add to this list to fit your "getting to know you" group.