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! 

 

 

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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. 

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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!  

 

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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.  

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

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

It's  time to Dare to Share! 

Happy Friday! 

Do you do anything for April Fool's Day?  We normally don't do anything. I do think some of the tricks are funny though, especially when they are nice tricks like making regular food out of sweet treats. It's always fun to have a surprise like that. 

Speaking of sweet treats, the preschool/day care where I work had a Candyland themed party for the kids this week. While I was not able to take pictures during the party, because I was too busy helping the kids, I did take some pictures of some if the decorations.  

Earlier this week I wrote a post on how I made a large party cupcake using Dollar Tree items.  I personally did not make the giant suckers, but they are made from pool noodles and duct tape which you can also buy at the Dollar Tree.  

While the preschool had a lot of decorations already from past parties, I added a few characters.  We had many lollipop decorations, so I thought the perfect character to add was Princess Lolly. I drew her on poster board and colored her with markers.  

**this post contains affiliate links 

Dollar Tree has presentation boards that are white on one side, and cardboard on the other. It was the perfect size and price to make Jib the gingerbread.  They kids at the center had already made many gingerbread cut outs, so we added them to the wall, along with large chocolates.  (styrofoam plates covered with silver wrapping paper) 

I also added some signs using fonts from Creative Fabrica.  On the site they have thousands of clip art and fonts available.  You can either buy them separately, or buy an annual subscription.  For me the subscription is definitely worth it, because it's where I find so many great files for my Etsy Shop  where I sell seasonal printables and party games.  If you have ever thought about making digital printables of your own, I highly recommend the course I took from Gold City Ventures. I have learned so much from them, and my shop has become a great side gig.  If you are interested their course is open now through Monday, April 3rd. 

If you would like to know more about making passive income with printables,  you can also see more with their free workshop.

Well now that I shared what is new with me,  I want to see what you want to share.  It is getting to be time to get the party started, so link up and HAVE FUN! 

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How to make a large Dollar Tree Cupcake

 

I recently started a new job at a preschool.  This week we are having a Candyland themed party for the kids.   As you know I am all about planning childrens' parties, so I was asked to help with the decorations.

One thing I have been thinking about making for some time is large cupcake decor.  

I am happy that my idea actually turned out well, and all you need is a few Dollar Tree items.  

                    

**this post contains affiliate links 

 All you need to make your giant cupcake, is a plastic tablecloth, crepe paper, striped party bags, a red ball, poster board and a Dollar Tree laundry basket. 

The first step is to  weave crepe paper through the basket.  I makes the basket look like a cupcake liner. 

The next step is the make the base of the cupcake.   I traced the top of the laundry basket on a poster board and then cut it out. 

Attach the cupcake base to the top of the basket with clear tape. 

The frosting is also pretty easy to create.  Open the plastic tablecloth most of the way, but sure to leave the centerfold still folded.   Wrap that fold around the top of your cupcake and secure it with tape.  

Once the fold is wrapped around and attached to the basket, fluff the tablecloth to look like a pile of frosting.  

You can usually find some red balls in the Dollar Tree toy aisle.  This ball is the perfect size for a cherry on top of the cupcake.  

I attached the ball to the fluffed up tablecloth with a little bit of shipping tape. 

While you can use any paper to make sprinkles, I like that these party bags make uniform strips in sprinkle colors.  

Well it seems I do not have a good picture where you can see the sprinkles, but it is there.  You can add as many or as few sprinkles as you would like. 

Dollar Tree also sells trifold boards that are often used for presentations, or science fairs. One side is white, the other side is covered with cardboard.  It was the perfect color to draw and cut out a gingerbread boy (Jib) from the Candyland game. 

I used the chocolate alphabet font from Creative Fabrica to make the Chocolate Swamp sign. I love using Creative Fabrica for all clip art and fonts for my party items and Etsy Shop. 

 If you have ever thought about creating your own digital printables to sell, now is the time! My favorite making digital printables for Etsy course goes live tomorrow! (Wed March 29). It is one of the more affordable courses out there, and it has helped me earn hundreds of dollars on Etsy.  If you are interested you can find it here at E-Printables Side Hustle course. It truly is my favorite course I have ever taken.  

   

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Dare to Share Saturday

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

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I had intentions to post a new post this week, but I worked different hours this week, and had to do some after work training.  I have been working on something fun that I will be posting about very soon through.  We are having a themed party for the kids next week, and they put in my charge of the decorating for the party.  I LOVE the theme they are doing. We are giving the kids a Candyland party.  They do already have decorations from past parties, and I am in the middle of making a few more.  One of the teachers made a Mr. Mint and Frostina for a previous party.  I enjoy making characters from poster board and cardboard like the dinosaurs at my son's dinosaur party, so for this year's party  I am also making a Princess Lolly, and a Jib Gingerbread boy. In addition to the characters, I am making some signs with different fonts of the different lands, and a large cupcake for our Cupcake Commons party. I will be posting more about our party this upcoming week. 

**this post contains affiliate links 

I am using fonts from Creative Fabrica  to make my party signs. Creative Fabrica is a great sight to get all kind of fun clip art, graphics and fonts.  I also plan on using some ideas from this party for new listings in my Etsy Shop.  If you have ever considered making printables and opening an Etsy shop, now is the perfect time to check out my favorite course from Gold City Ventures.  They are opening the course next week on the 29th.  I will be posting more about the course as we get closer to launch day, but if you would like to see more about it now check out their free ebook or free workshop.

It is looking to be about time to get this party started. I would love to see to what you have to share this week.  Link up and HAVE FUN!!  

 

 

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It's Party Time! It is time to Dare to Share!

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

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   How has your week been?  I had a really good week. After my background check for childcare went through, I started my new job on Tuesday. This week I started doing my training. I forgot how busy preschoolers can be, since it has been awhile since I have had one. I have already learned most of their names, and learning their personalities.  It has been fun so far, but I felt like I needed a nap after I got home like I do every year when school starts.  

*this post contains affiliate links 

This week has also been pretty productive creatively. My St. Patrick's Day items in my Etsy Shop, sold really well this week. I had my best week ever, and I am hoping the same happens for Easter.  :)  I love making printables, and I am so glad that I opened my shop.  If you have ever thought about making printable as a side hustle, I highly recommend the printable course I took by Gold City Ventures.  It was one of the best courses I have ever taken. Julie and Cody have been super supportive, and really want to see their students succeed. Their printables course will be open starting March 23rd next week. I will share more about it and the bonuses shortly.  If you would like to learn more before the course opens, you can try their free workshop or free Ebook.

This weekend our Dollar Tree craft group is meeting again, and we are going to make wreaths.  I plan on making an Easter wreath, and I hope to share it on the blog. 

 

I did have time for one post this week. I shared my Leprechaun Treat Boxes that I made a few years ago. I also have some Easter ones that I will be posting in the next week.  

Well  it is getting to be time to get this party started. I would love to see what you have to share. 

Link up and HAVE FUN! 
 

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Leprechaun Treat Boxes and Games

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Here were already in the middle of March.  While the year feels like it is flying, it does mean that spring is right around the corner.   Winter was a weird one for us this year, we did not get the snow that we normally do in both Ohio and Michigan.  Michigan was slammed with storms the last three  weekends, but thankfully I was still able to go visit this month. 

St. Patrick's Day is a fun holiday to celebrate. How could it not be with tricky elves, lots of green, colorful rainbows, sometimes adult beverages, and shiny things. LOL! As I am typing this post, I am wearing my leggings covered in rainbows, shamrocks and pots of gold.  

St. Patrick's Day is a good time to make some crafts.  One of my favorite crafts to make is  my Leprechaun Treat Boxes.  They are made with cardboard tubes, paint, paper, and a little bit of glue. They can be filled with colorful gold candy.  If you would like to see the full tutorial on how to make them you can find that post  here.

One of our favorite things to do with our kids on St. Patrick's Day was to set leprechaun traps in hopes of catching a one, and receiving their pot of gold. While I was not able to get a leprechaun trap kit put together in time, I have several new St. Patrick's Day items over in my Etsy Shop.  If you would like a scavenger hunt where you can look for leprechauns, you might like my leprechaun hunt.   In this printable game you get three leprechauns that you can hide together or separately.  The second game which has been really popular in my shop this year is my Find the Pot of Gold game.  In this game you use the clues to find a hidden pot of gold.   Both games are a lot of fun, and good for kids of all ages.  

Do you have fun plans for St. Patrick's Day?  I would love hear about them if you do. 

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It is time to Party! Welcome to Dare to Share Saturday!

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

It is time to Dare to Share!  

It has been a crazy the last several days,  so I was not able to post this week.  I have been doing all the things for my new job.  I had to have a physical, a background check, and update shots. There has been lots of appointments and running around, and paperwork.  Hopefully once everything is complete, I will be starting my new job next week.   I also have an update on my dog.  While  she is doing better, her platelets are still lower than where they should be. We are going to continue her current treatment, and do another test in a few weeks.  

This weekend I am spending time with my friends and my kids so the party is going up a little later than normal.  

Since it late I am going to get this party started.  Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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