Candied Marshmallows

Yesterday we celebrated my daughter's 5th birthday.  One of the items I put in the favor bags was candied marshmallows made into lollipops.  I saw these in a candy shop and thought they'd be pretty easy to make. In fact, I didn't even do a trial, I just whipped them up on Friday!  Here's what you need to make them: Jet puffed marshmallows (go for the real stuff, not store brand), Wilton candy melts, sprinkles or decorating sugar, lollipop sticks, small clear bags, ribbon and wax paper.

1. Push the lollipop sticks all the way into the marshmallows and lay on wax paper.
2. Melt the wafers in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring between until melted.
3. Dip each marshmallow into the melted candy and then smooth the edges (I used a knife).
4. Immediately dip into your choice of decoration.
5. Lay on wax paper.
6. Once they are completely dry you can put the clear bag over the marshmallow and tie ribbon.

Easy, cute and yummy!

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Train party

For my son's 2nd birthday we decided to do it at a local play area with a Caboose available to rent for parties.  I stuck with a train theme and used primary colors for the decorations.  This was a great location for us since it's already hot here in Texas and the caboose was nice and cold inside.

I had a craft set up inside for the kids to do when they needed a break from the heat.  My little guy was already crafting before the party started.  This told me that I picked a good craft!  The craft was foam visors with foam stickers to decorate (all purchased at Michael's).  The kids all enjoyed doing the craft and even wore the visors while playing in the play houses outside!

This is a really bad picture but for lunch I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and used a train cookie cutter to cut them out.  I served them with a bag of Cheez-its and a juice box.  I meant to take a picture of a plate set up but we were moving around too quickly and I forgot.

As soon as everyone finished lunch we cleared off the table again and gathered the kids back up for cupcakes!  These were made by Cupcake Sally.  I love the candy detail she adds to the top.  Such a nice little detail and touch of color. 

Birthday boy!

Rather than buying typical favor toys that usually end up in the trash I opted for a non-tradtional, non-train theme favor.  I saw some cute water bottles and thought that would be a great favor.  What kid in Texas doesn't need a water bottle in the summer??  I mean not only is it HOT and we all go through lots of water but in my family we're trying to be greener by not buying water bottles.  My daughter added fun-size bags of M&Ms to the water bottles.  I also made Oreo lollipops using red candy to stick with the primary color scheme and then topped them off with sprinkles.  To complete the favors I used primary colored bags and made little train tags tied to the bags that said, "Thanks for coming to my party."

We had a great day celebrating with friends and family!

Linking to:

Just a Girl

Somewhat Simple

Rainbow cupcakes

Wow, these cupcakes were delicious!  They are my new favorite dessert.  I first saw them here and then got the recipe here.  I made them because we were having friends in for the weekend and I thought they'd be fun for the kids.  Not only were they fun for the kids but all the adults loved them as well.  YUM!  I don't think I've ever added sour cream to a cake mix before but it does wonders.  And homemade frosting is splendid.  I don't know why I've haven't done this before.

Ingredients for both the cupcakes and homemade frosting.

The batter.

Batter divided into five colors.

Cupcakes cooling

The beginning of the frosting.

After at least 8 minutes the most wonderful thing happens!

So yummy!

The first taste tester.  He approved!

**Things I'd do differently next time:

Add more coloring to make the batter brighter.

Strain the frosting like directions tell you too.

You can change this up with as many or few colors as you'd like.  What a cute idea for a party!