This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support! A couple years ago, I showed you how I made this Daniel Tiger birthday cake for my daughter's first birthday. That has been one of our most popular posts, so I thought today I'd show you what I did for her third birthday party! She has been adamant for a few months that she wanted an elephant birthday party. So I set about figuring out what one does for an elephant party. I am going to show you the cake I made and give you the recipe for it. I also want to tell you about the games we played. First, a word on decorations. I went with easy and got grey balloons and plates. I got small clear sparkling cups for drinking. Now, on to games! Creating a twist on the classic pin the tail on the donkey game is always fun and easy to do for a kids birthday party. Since this was an elephant birthday party, of course I had to make a pin the trunk on the elephant! I'll be uploading a copy of this to our subscribers only page this weekend, so you can print it and have a pin the trunk on the elephant game for your own elephant party! So make sure you subscribe to get a copy of it! Of course, all the rules to this game are the same. This is a picture of her cousin after he pinned his trunk perfectly (we think there may have been some fraud involved). It is a fun game for all ages! The second game we played was one my MIL came up with. She ran to the store and found a bag of unshelled peanuts (no small feat in December when they aren't in high demand.) She and Emily hid them around her yard. Then when her cousins came over they went on a peanut hunt. All of her cousins at the party were her bigger cousins, so they let the 3 year old birthday girl win. But a hunt is a fun activity when the weather is nice. It'll help the kids work up a nice appetite for the elephant cake you'll eat later! A few other fun ideas for elephant party activities are making elephant masks for the kids to wear, like these here. I was pretty happy with how this cake turned out. Drawing is not my forte, everyone else on this blog is much better at it than I am. Fortunately, an elephant head is a pretty simple shape to duplicate! So, if you're like me and think you can't draw well AT ALL (honestly people, my stick figures don't usually turn out right) I am here to tell you, you CAN make this elephant cake! You can see from the picture the eyes are a little uneven and the trunk isn't perfect. Guess what, it's your kid's birthday party so, it's okay! Emily loved her elephant cake, and that is what mattered. I even drew these little elephants on the side. They weren't perfect either, but they still looked like little elephants. I am really happy with the overall look of this cake, and you will be too! The recipe I'm sharing with you is my go to recipe for chocolate cake. It comes from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. It is such a moist, delicious chocolate cake! It also holds up well for stacking! There you have it. A simple formula for a fun elephant birthday party.
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With 2020 being what it is, I have been secretly thinking about Halloween for months. What will happen to the usual festivities of trick-or-treating, parties, haunted houses!? Many of these aren't conducive to social distancing guidelines (though I have heard many communities are putting out suggestions for safe trick-or-treating). And if you are trying to not engage in social activities because you're high risk or are in contact with someone who is high risk how will you keep the magic of Halloween a thing for your family?
If you have young kids It's likely they won't realize Halloween isn't the same, but your older kids and teenagers may be a little sad to miss out on the festivities. That's why I have put together this post of fun ways to celebrate Halloween at home in quarantine: Quaranween! Celebrating Halloween at Home in 2020
Three years ago I wrote a post about what you need for a perfect Halloween party. I think this would be a great place to start. Throw your own family Halloween party. On that post I give suggestions for treats, decor, costumes, and music for your party.
Halloween Food
Today I would add this fun spider candy dish as part of your decor, so easy to do but makes a spooky statement.
You could also include more than sweets at your family party and make the whole night a fun and spooky evening starting with dinner. Here's a list of yummy appetizers with a Halloween theme. And for dinner what could be more festive than a pumpkin themed dinner?! Lucky for you, Lindsey is the Pumpkin Queen and has made NUMEROUS pumpkin recipes for all tastebuds (pasta, chili, baked chicken, etc etc). You're sure to find one your family will love. Halloween Activities
What if I told you you don't have to give up trick-or-treating? Even when you're staying home. All you need is some decorations (the Dollar Tree is a great place for decor), costumes, candy, and however many doors you have in your house!
Both of my sisters have birthdays close to Halloween, and Madalynn especially loves the holiday. When she was younger, some of her birthday parties were Halloween themed. We would take the kids trick-or-treating around our house. The older kids and adults would be in costume behind the doors in our home and the kids would come knocking. It was fun for everyone. And I think your family could have fun with it too! Older kids could help decorate and create characters to greet the younger kids. If you don't have enough adults or teens to greet the trick or treaters at all the doors, try just decorating behind the door with a bowl of candy there to greet them. Wouldn't it be fun to have one of those bowls that reacts when you grab for the candy? Another riff on this would be to have your house turned into a haunted house. You can divide into teams and each take a room or space and try to make it spooky for people to walk through. If neither of those things seem appealing, try these ideas:
Quaranween
As you can see, my little family had fun with Quaranween this year and I hope you can use some of these ideas to have a fun Quaranween this year. And who knows maybe you will come up with some new traditions for your family to do every year!
How will you be celebrating this year?
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Do you enjoy making a special little treat to mark Valentine's Day? You know, just show a little love by sharing something sweet with everyone. If you've outgrown candy hearts and want something a little more grown up and tasty, flash forward to the other day when I was shopping at Costco and I found a snack that I had to try. They are called Coconut Rolls by Sun Tropics. The things that drew me to them are that they are very coconut tasting (made with coconut cream), organic, gmo free, gluten free, sweet, and vegetarian. (Sorry Maddy, they contain eggs!)
Then, I noticed the fact that each end has a hole, because the Coconut Rolls are hollow in the middle. They reminded me of little cannoli shells. And since they are so sweet, I thought a cream cheese fruit filling with very little sugar would be amazing!
The first thing I did was take a 6 oz. container of blackberries and smash them into a sauce pan, add a splash of lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons of sugar to get the juices flowing. Simmer them for about 5 minutes until the juices start to thicken and then strain out the seeds through a fine mesh sieve. Let that cool while you use about 6 oz. of cream cheese and some powdered sugar to make a filling. I just eyeballed it. I didn't want it to be too sweet, but when you add the blackberry juice a Tablespoon at a time, you may need a little more sugar to get it to piping consistency.
I used a Wilton 18 tip to pipe in the filling from each end of the Coconut Rolls, et voila! Little mini cannolis! Store them in the fridge until serving.
These will be so cute for Valentine's Day. But, can't you picture doing them for a baby shower or bridal shower? You could fill then with a lemon filling or blueberry to achieve different colors. They are adorable and delicious little things!
I used the original, organic flavor, but Sun Tropics also makes Coco Rolls in Espresso and Salted Caramel! I think a caramel filling and dipped in chocolate would be amazing!
If coconut isn't your thing, Sun Tropics has many other products. Their Banana Chips and Mochi Bites come in many flavors.
Of course, these are already gone. So excuse me as I dash off to Costco for another bag full of them! I will have to hide them until I am ready to fill them for Valentine's Day. I can hardly wait!
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Happy New Year Everyone!
How is your stomach feeling? Your weight? Beginning before Christmas with holiday parties, then Christmas Day itself, our family's holiday diet has included food from a birthday, an anniversary, another birthday and now there is tonight and tomorrow, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day! I don't know about you, but I am in a candy, cakes and other treats coma!
I am feeling more motivated than ever before to start the New Year out right and to begin eating in a more healthy way and getting more exercise! So, why not start out tonight and steer away from the sweets and serve some healthier party alternatives? I began by going through recipes right here on the blog that would be great party food with a healthier twist. I found some that I had forgotten all about and I am so excited to make them again and share them with you! Will you join me in celebrating a healthier New Year? Click on the pics to find these recipes!
These Crab Stuffed Potato Appetizers were such a hit when I made them! How could I have forgotten them?
Oh Man! Shrimp, Pineapple, Avocado, Cilantro...You can't go wrong!
Mini versions of these would be awesome at a party!
These are to die for! I may be stretching the healthy part here with so much cheese in these babies. But, they are made with yuca starch rather than wheat flour, so that could be considered healthier for some!
This Salsa is so good, you want to eat it by the spoonful without any chips! But, there are healthier chip alternatives out there, so let's find some!
Add the fresh veggie and fruit platters and I don't think anyone is going to feel deprived at your New Year's Party tonight!
Have a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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