Santa Hat Pizza

I might be getting ahead of myself. Its not even Thanksgiving yet.  Its just not fair to us, crafty bloggers that three major holidays happen back to back.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  How to to keep up?

I thought up this idea a while ago, but waited until an appropriate time to make Santa Hat Pizza.  My only child is 12 months old.  He was happy to eat Santa Hat Pizza in the beginning of November.

My little Santa Hats are made of Pepperoni and string cheese.

I cut my santa hats out of pepperoni using kitchen scissors.  I simply sliced string cheese to make the Hat poof.

I used a mixture of white and yellow cheese. I wanted to make sure that the white on the Santa Hat could be seen.

I also put a layer of spinach on this pizza.  I like to trick my child into giving him vegetables.  Also, this is a Christmas pizza, so a little green can show.

I baked this pizza for about 12 minutes.  I was not sure how this would turn out.  I was happy with the result.

What a fun and easy way to celebrate the holidays!!

Cucumber Dip Cups

I am always looking for cute ideas for presenting food.  But seriously, I am not going to spend hours working on a food display when you know people are just going to eat it.  Individual cucumber dip cups are a great way to present vegetables and dip.  And these little cuties only take a few minutes to make!

The best part is, is that you can eat your entire vegetable cup AND you will get an extra serving of your daily vegetables!

I really love cucumbers.  They are crunchy and refreshing. I also like cutting up cucumbers into squares and eating them on salads or in tuna or chicken salads.  It is always nice to add a little crunch to your meal:)

How to make Cucumber Dip Cups 

1) cut a cucumber into generous thick slices
2) Using a melon scoop, scoop out the center of each cucumber

3) Make a dip to your specifications and add a dab in each cucumber cup.

Use Whichever dip you prefer.  I usually don't keep " dip" around my house.  But if I do need dip for something, I just mix a little sour cream with whichever "Tastefully Simple" spice I happen to have.  If I am just making a dip for my husband and I to have, I will mix garlic with sour cream. = yum:)

4) Cut up some vegetables and place them into the cups.  I just used carrot sticks.  Celery sticks and bell peppers cut into sticks would also work well with these.

See how easy these are?  They are so easy.  And now, you won't have to worry about people who double dip!

Words I Wish I Wrote #4

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend!  My parents drove in from the Chicago area for a visit.  We made "make your own"  Naan Pizza and had a fun but pathetic game of euchre.  The weekend is almost over.  Back to reality tomorrow.

Here are my picks for this week.  Enjoy!

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"
My new favorite food blog crush is an amazing blog called Sumptous Spoonfuls.  You should really visit it.  The photos are beautiful and the recipes are creative.  One of my favorite posts is a tutorial on Fire Roasting Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.  Head over to check it out!

Kids themed craft " I wish I wrote"
Now that I have a one year old, I am going to try hard to make Christmas special for him.  I LOVE this idea of a felt Christmas tree!  Head over to Things for boys to check out how to make one!

DIY Craft " I wish I wrote"
I know that I have not ever really been a blogger during the Christmas season, but I LOVE to wrap presents!  I saw this DIY gift wrap over at With a blast .  and thought it was genius! Please go visit and find out how they made this beautiful gift wrap using wax paper

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 !