The Purple Patch

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Peanut Butter Sushi Tutorial

Kids love when food is fun. And this is fun. Plus, no "special" ingredients required. We Mom's love that.

You'll need bread (1 slice makes 2 rolls), peanut butter and a rolling pin (or soup can, or even your peanut butter jar!).

Trim the crusts off your bread. Use your rolling pin and flatten out the bread.

Flat bread. Doesn't really look any different, does it? lol

Spread peanut butter on the flattened bread.

Roll 'em up.

Slice 'em up. Cut each roll in half.

You may need to trim a little off the outer edges so they stand straight.

Your finished product. Yummy! And, fun!

"Palm" Tree Tutorial

Such an adorable addition to your tropical table setting! And, it's so easy to make. What could be better?

Trace 12-16 "palms" on green paper. Regular, light weight copy or construction paper. If you use anything heavier (like cardstock), they won't hang right.

You'll also need a paper towel tube, one toothpick for each "palm", strips of brown paper (1 1/2 - 2 inches wide), dry floral foam and tape or glue. Glue would be the better option, but I was short on time so I used tape.

Stick your paper towel tube into the floral foam, as far as you can. You'll start to get resistance. At this point stop! You don't want to crush your tube. Give it a little twist and it'll break the foam off and into your tube. You may need to repeat it a couple times so that the foam doesn't just slide down the tube when you press on it. I had to do it twice.

Starting at the bottom of your tube (the opposite end from the foam), tape (or glue) the tape. Wrap the tape up the tube. Continue with the rest of the paper until you've covered the entire tube.

This is where glue would have been better than tape, as you can see the tape on the outside of my tube in some spots. Not quite as attractive as glueing would have been.

Tape (or glue) the toothpicks on the back of your "palms". Then poke them into the foam. I used the larger "palms" first then built up to the top with the smaller "palms".

Your finished product!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tinker Bell Fairy Party

Samantha's 3. I can hardly believe it. But, disbelief aside, it's party time! This year, it's Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell this, Tinker Bell that, so Tinker Bell party. Of course.

the invitation

Choosing the pictures from our fairly successful photo shoot was probably the hardest part about making this invitation. There were just so many adorable ones. Of course, I'm bias.

See what I mean? *swoon*

I bought her GORGEOUS dress from Etsy seller carriecreations. She even customized the colors to go with the party. It's just a beautiful dress!

the cake

The base is a 2-layered 12" cake, frosted in purple. The tree trunk is PVC wrapped in fondant. The top is a "bowl" cake (cake baked in a glass bowl), covered in fondant leaves. The Tinker Bell Fairy figurines were purchased at The Disney Store. The wires they're hanging from are from Duff of Charm City Cakes new cake supplie line. I got them at Michael's.

welcome to pixie hollow

Guests were greeted with a "dress-up" station when they arrived. The girls got fairy wings and wands, the boys got Peter Pan hats and knives. Everyone got a little sprinkle of pixie dust.

The wings and wands. We had 3 baby girls in attendance, they got mini wings and felt wands.

The Peter Pan hats and knives. Made entirely of felt, so no eyes got poked out. I found the tutorial for these at Make It and Love It.

the food

Rosetta's Garden Cups, Caprese Toadstools, Ants on a Log

Peanut Butter Bumble Bees, Butterfly shaped sandwiches

Iridessa's Sunshine (lemon) Cookies, Fawn's Squirrel Snacks (acorns), Snail (sugar) Cookies

Meringue Mushrooms. There are lots of recipes for these online, but I used this one at AllRecipes. I thought they were pretty easy to make and they were a HUGE hit! Everyone thought they were real.