Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

Well its here! My baby boy is officially one!  He was born last year on Sunday, October 30th.  Its just amazing how far we have come this past year. My husband and I  brought home a tiny little baby from the hospital who slept most of the time.  He is now talking and walking and has his favorite things
( Cookie Monster) , and has made friends. He swims, explores  and loves to be outside.  This year has pretty much been fantastic!

Two weeks ago we packed up and drove to the Chicago area, where the majority of our family lives,  to celebrate his birthday!

I, of course, started planning his birthday party when he was 6 months old.  ( You only turn one ONE time you know).  I know that " The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is a very " cliche" party in the creative blogging world.  I didn't care.  I love the idea using a children's book as a party theme, instead of just a T.V character.

I was extremely nervous about baking a first birthday cake.  I am not much of a baker, and I have close to no experience decorating a cake.  Thankfully, my mom helped me bake a great recipe. ( almond bunt cake).  I decided to take the easy route in decorating.  I purchased the pre made frosting in cans that include all the different tips.

The cake is made in a bunt pan.  Once the cake is done.  It was cut to form the shape of the caterpillar.  The very hungry caterpillar's head is made with a small round cake pan.

My brother's wonderful fiancee Celia helped me with all of the stars that appear on the cake.   For the Caterpillars eyes, feet, and antennas, I used mini M and M's.

Here is the food display for Evan's Very Hungry Caterpillar party. Evan had 7 of his cousins attending his party, along with many adult relatives.  I wanted the food to be healthy, kid friendly and wanted his guests to feel like they were "eating" their way through " The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

These Vegetable kabobs are meant to look like caterpillars.  My sister in law Sarah and I put them together.

If you look closely at the fruit, you will see that they have holes in them ( made with a straw) .  My brother in law Alex helped with this element of the party.  ( he is Evan's Godfather and a great uncle for doing this)

This topper, went into a salad.  I made these by taking photo's of the pages in the book.  Uploading them to my computer and then altering them in pixr.

My husband went and purchased balloons for Evan's party.  He and his brother Alex turned them into a caterpillar.  

All in all, this was a wonderful first birthday party.  

Great food.  Fantastic friends.  An Incredibly wonderful family.  Happy children.  Friendly conversation.

 And" One Very Hungry" one year old boy.  

Words I wish I wrote # 3

When I was in college, I read all of the books written by an author by the name of Robert Fulghum. Including his book " Words I wish I wrote."

It is so true that other people's ideas that I see all around on the web often inspire my new ideas.  I sometimes  often see recipes and craft ideas that  "I wish I wrote! "

I am starting a new series where every Sunday night at 7:00 PM I will share with you three projects that "I wish I had written." 

Feel Free to submit projects that you think I would like.  They just might get featured!  Please message my page on Facebook with your submissions

Here the three blog posts for this week that " I wish I wrote"

Recipe "I wish I wrote"
These Skull and cross bones cheese and crackers  snack is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.  They are made by a blog called Hungry Happenings.  Its so nice to see healthier crafty food options.  

Kids themed craft " I wish I wrote"
At the blog tippy toes and tantrums I saw these adorable little tootsie pop turkeys.  I am always looking for ways to make thanksgiving special for my guests.  These are adorable!

DIY Craft " I wish I wrote"
I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to check it out!  This crafter crafted her own baskets by covering cardboard boxes she already had with twine.  I LOVE this!  check her out!

 hope you like my picks and have a great week !

Election night Uncle Sammies

Traditionally, I have always kept Politics a LONG way away from my blog.  I mean come on.  This is a place where I show you crafty food and fun gifts for kids.  You don't need to hear ANOTHER person's political opinions! ( besides.  I am sure you can get plenty of that on your Facebook page).

I must tell you though.  I am a bit of a politics junkie.  Did you know that my bachelors degree is in politics?  WHY yes it is!  Election season is a fun time for us, Nerdy Politics majors:) Would be even better if I could figure who to vote for!

I saw this idea of " Uncle Sammies" on Rachael Ray.  And thought my husband would really get a kick out of them!  Of course I doctored them up a bit by adding my own sandwich elements and added a cute Uncle Sam sandwich topper!

It actually only took a few minutes to throw these together!

I found a picture of Uncle Sam on google images and printed out 2 copies.  I am only making two of these.  As on election night it will just be my husband and I,  yelling at the T.V and perhaps having some friendly discussion between the two of us.  We don't need to expose anyone else to this martial bliss:)

I attached a craft stick onto each Uncle Sam sandwich topper.  I doctored up the sandwich topper a bit by making it say " I want you to eat".  I think "Uncle Sam" would be happy knowing we celebrate democracy in our house.

I then made my " Uncle Sammie" and tried to make it as patriotic a possible.  I attempted to add the colors of the American flag to elements of my sandwich.  ( your sandwich can be beef, pork or whatever you consider to be the most American)

This is actually a little burger slider.  Can't get more American then this!

White element- onion
Red element- tomato
Blue element- a blue tortilla chip.  Not your usual sandwich element, but nevertheless, blue.

I really liked the way these turned out.  We had these as we watched the debate the other night.  Yes, we watched the debate, ate these sandwiches and enjoyed each others company.  both yelled at the T.V at BOTH candidates.

Have a great election night!  Remember not all people in this world get to vote.  So vote! and enjoy it!  

Thanksgiving Leftover boxes

I feel so out of my blogging element, posting this Thanksgiving craft.  I have never been a blogger during Thanksgiving before.  I started Make the best of everything in 2011.  I had a baby on October 30th, 2011 so needless to say Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas crafts were neglected last year.

My husband and I have been married for 6 years.  For 5 of these years we have hosted Thanksgiving at our house  We usually have about 15-20 people, and I have ALWAYS worked on little crafts and games to make the day special for our guests.

One year I made homemade napkin rings.  Another year, I learned how to formally fold everyone's Thanksgiving napkin. Every year I have printed out formal menus.   Also, since we do have a crowd, I always come up with some sort of " I am Thankful" game to use as an ice breaker.  Fun times.

This year, I thought that making " Leftover" boxes for my guests would be a cute idea.  Because its true that EVERY YEAR I ask people to bring containers so they can bring home food.  and EVERY YEAR. I am left with too much Turkey and several pounds of mashed potatoes that I end up stuffing myself with.

I saw this idea on Pinterest.  Click here to find out where i got my inspiration for this project.

Making personalized Thanksgiving Leftover Boxes was easy.  You can purchase a 3 pack of leftover boxes at Wal Mart for .94 cents.  Super Duper Cheap.

Supplies needed 
- Leftover Boxes
- Cookie Cutter. Optional
- Scissors
- Ribbon
- Card Stock
- Hole Punch.

I traced a leaf using my leaf cookie cutter and cut it out.  I then decorated a little card using the leaf.

I want to let my guests know that its OK to bring home food. ( well hopefully they will want to bring it home) .  Handing each guest a leftover box with this card will hopefully resolve the shyness involved with taking some food home.

I then punched a hole through the leaf and tied it around the leftover box with ribbon.  I made it loose, so that the ribbon can easily slide off. Then, I wrote the names of my guests  on each leftover box.  I want to keep track of who in my family took leftovers home. and who didn't!!

( Ya hear that Dorothy, Celia and Jim?......My family members who are also faithful followers of my blog.)

I hope that this little extra something added to our Thanksgiving festivities will make the day all that more special.

Although a wonderful day filled with the Macy's parade, My mothers cooking ( Yes she does most of it), My mother in law's pumpkin pie, and spending time with the people I love is usually enough.  

Words I Wish I Wrote #2

  When I was in college, I read all of the books written by an author by the name of Robert Fulghum. Including his book " Words I wish I wrote."

It is so true that other people's ideas that I see all around on the web often inspire my new ideas.  I sometimes  oftensee recipes and craft ideas that  "I wish I wrote! "

I am starting a new series where every Sunday night at 7:00 PM I will share with you three projects that "I wish I had written." 

Feel Free to submit projects that you think I would like.  They just might get featured!  Please message my page on Facebook with your submissions

Here the three blog posts for this week that " I wish I wrote"  

Recipe "I wish I wrote"

As all my readers know, I am always attempting to transform vegetables into wonderful healthy meals.  When I saw these roasted cabbage wedges on Kayln's Kitchen.  It was love at first site!  Hop on over and read her wonderful post on how to make these.  

Kids themed craft " I wish I wrote"
As a mother of a toddler.  I am always looking for new activities we can do together.  I saw this painting idea from. As Time Flies and I know I have to try this with my son.  Visit her and check out how to make Masking tape paintings!  

DIY Craft " I wish I wrote"
I saw How to hollow a book on Pinterest and thought it was just the coolest idea!  I need to find a reason to make one of these!  Check out " How to hollow a book" on Mommy Blessings.  

Have a great week!  

Pumpkin shaped carrots

Pumpkin shaped carrots are an adorable way to get into the holiday spirit without overdosing on high fructose corn syrup!  They are a cute finishing touch to any wedding, shower, or get together that takes place during the fall!  And they just take a few minutes to make!

If you read my blog, then you know I have this thing about turning healthy food into fun shapes in order to celebrate holidays!   

During Valentines day 2011, when this blog was a baby. Literally just a few weeks old, I blogged about how my husband and I celebrated Valentines Day.

I had made these cute carrot hearts for our Valentines day salad.

Well anyway, to make a long story short. I decided to use the same idea, but to turn carrots into pumpkins to celebrate fall festivities!  Halloween or Thanksgiving.

How to make Pumpkin shaped carrots. 

1) Peel a Full sized carrot 
2) Make cuts in your carrot so that the end looks like a pumpkin. 

3) Once you have the carrot looking the way you want.  Cut slices of your carrot.  They will come out looking like little pumpkins. 

4) You may have to " Doctor" up a few of them. 

This is a great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables.  And a way to show off your Autumn spread.  The best part is, Is that is literally only takes 5 minutes to make these cute little pumpkins! I mean carrots.  Pumpkin carrots?

hope you enjoy!!!

Words I Wish I Wrote #1

Welcome to the first edition to " Words I wish I wrote"

I know that many of that " big"  craft blogs always feature other blogs.  I was very reluctant to do this.  I don't want this blog to turn into a " carnival blog".  I was thinking this week though.  When I was in college, I read all of the books written by an author by the name of Robert Fulghum. Including his book " Words I wish I wrote."

It is so true that other people's ideas that I see all around on the web often inspire my new ideas.  I sometimes  often see recipes and craft ideas that  "I wish I wrote! "

I am starting a new series where every Sunday night at 7:00 PM I will share with you three projects that "I wish I had written."

Feel Free to submit projects that you think I would like.  They just might get featured!  Please message my page on Facebook with your submissions

Here the three blog posts for this week that " I wish I wrote"  

Recipe "I wish I wrote"
I follow an amazing food blog called Iowa girl eats.   When I saw these Zucchini whoopee pies. I was seriously like " Why didn't I think of that!!".  You guys all know about my obsession with zucchini!!  
If you want a fantastic healthy recipe almost every night of the week, you should head over to Iowa Girl Eats!.

Kids themed craft " I wish I wrote"
I have a gazillion wine corks lying around and the crafty blogger I am, I am always trying to think up creative things to do with them.  When I saw on Pinterest that The Sweet Spot had come up with wine cork stamps, I was like OMG these are amazing!!!!  Please visit the Sweet Spot  and learn how easy it is to make these!!

DIY Craft " I wish I wrote"

I have never crafted many home decor projects.  However, I am currently saving my pennies to make this amazing penny sign! I just LOVE everything about this!! Visit the Crafted Sparrow to find out how!!

I hope you enjoyed my first edition of " Words I wish I wrote".   Please visit these other blogs and give them some blog lovin!  

Falling Leaves Quesadilla

My newest recipe.  The Falling Leaves Quesadilla.  Not only does it look like fall, but it tastes like fall.  I saw this cookie cutter of a leaf, and I just could not resist!

I really love spending time outside during fall.  I LOVE the changing colors of the leaves.  I LOVE going on walks when you get to step on all of the falling leaves and make them CRUNCH!

The leaf shaped Quesadillas are also made with the colors of fall. These babies are also CRUNCHY.  These  quesadillas are crunchy and gooey cheesy inside.

I chose tortillas that have fall colors.  I made these Quesadillas with Sun dried tomato and Black Bean flavored tortillas so they would look like fall leaves.  These Quesadillas have squash and apples in addition to sharp cheddar cheese.

OKAY. So I know there is a lovely picture of a butternut squash up there.  BUT.  I was making lunch while my 11 month old was in his high chair and POUNDING on his tray for some food.  I just did not have the time to peel, cook and puree an entire squash for my quesadillas.  SO I simply opened this jar and used it as an ingredient.  Great way to hide some veggies in my baby's lunch.  ( and mine)

Using baby food in a recipe can be a great idea.  If you just need a little bit of something for a recipe.

Falling Leaves Quesidillas 

Ingredients. 
1/2 of an apple.  Peeled and Chopped. 
1/2 container of squash baby food
1 pouch Tuna ( optional) 
4 tortillas. of your choice 
2 cups cheddar cheese 

1) Peel and Chop 1/2 an apple.  Cook them on the stovetop for 5 minutes. 
2) Using a leaf cookie cutter,  Cut leafs out of your tortillas. 

3) Assemble your quesadilla.   Spread some squash baby food on your tortilla followed by cheddar cheese, some chopped apples and tuna.  

4) Cook on a hot pan or griddle for 3 minutes on each side. or until each side gets crispy brown.  

5) Serve Warm.  

I love the flavors of fall.  A Warm, Crunchy, Gooey, Cheesy quesadilla was a great way to showcase these wonderful fall flavors.  The Squash and the warm apples tasted wonderful with the ooey gooey cheese.

My 11th month old gobbled this right up.  He has a very extensive pallet for an 11 month old you know.  However, he did not have his lunch in the shape of a leaf.  They don't sell cookie cutters that small:)