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Friday, April 29, 2011

A ONEderPOOL 1st Birthday Party & A GIVEAWAY! *CLOSED*

One of my sweet friends from high school recently hosted a super cute and fun pool party for her daughter's 1st birthday!
I LOVE this table spread!  I love the color scheme and of course the cupcakes, but I think my favorite part (besides all the yummy looking food and goodies!) would be that birthday banner!  How creative is that?!?!

 




{What a cutie pie birthday girl!}

And now for the FUN part of this feature....

Check out these cute favor bags that Aubrey made for the party!
They are glassine bags that you can print and customize yourself!
And because Aubrey is so sweet, she's given me 20 5x7.5 in. glassine bags to giveaway to one lucky Pirates-n-Princesses fan to use as you wish for your next party!  Sweet, huh?  :)

I'm keeping it as simple as possible...
To enter all you need to do is go FOLLOW Aubrey's blog and come back and leave a comment telling me you did, super simple.

This giveaway is going to end Monday, May 2 at noon.
GOOD LUCK!

And if you have a party you'd like featured on Pirates-n-Princesses shoot me an e-mail at QueenieH@aol.com!!!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hanging Flower Jars

 
Check me out HERE today!!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Kinley Turns ONE!!!

 

My stinkin' cute niece, Kinley, turned ONE this weekend!
She's a little Easter baby!
I had the pleasure of helping out some with her party. 
Mainly these little pretties...



I made white and chocolate cupcakes and topped them with pink buttercream frosting.
These cupcakes were YUMMY, if I do say so myself.  Super moist and fluffy!
Stay tuned to the end of this post for the super simple recipe!



My sister-in-law, Kindi, you may remember her from the Thirty-One giveaway awhile back.  She did some bartering with Thirty-One products to get Kinley's smash cake.  BARTERING is key, people!  If you can trade services to help cut costs on your parties, DO IT.





 

 {Seriously... So.Stinkin'.Cute}


Great job on the party, Kindi!  Everything was so cute!  
You and your mama are a GREAT team!


Super Moist White Cupcakes
Courtesy- Sara Banze

Ingredients:
One white cake mix - I used Pillsbury
2 C. milk (room temp)
2 egg whites (room temp)
1/4 C. oil 
1 small box vanilla pudding

Directions:
Mix together all wet ingredients.  Add cake mix and pudding and mix until combined.  Do not over mix!  Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until they spring back when touched.  As soon as you take them out, pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes.  Top with your favorite frosting.  

YUM. 





Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Spring Paper Bag Bunting

Check me out over on A to Zebra Celebrations today!
Click HERE! 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Connye's Coconut Cupcakes




My sweet friend from church, Connye, is amazing
Definitely a gal after my own heart with her Texas style, love for Hershey's chocolate coffee creamer, and awesome baking skills.
After an evening of Bunco at her house, where I must add, I went home a Loser, she shared this de-lish Coconut Cupcake recipe with me.  If you LOVE coconut, these are a must try.  Very good, very moist, and very coco-nutty.
Thanks Connye!  Definitely a keeper!

Connye's Coconut Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 lb (3 sticks) unsalted butter (room temp)
2 c. sugar
5 extra large eggs (room temp) - I just used large since that's what I had in the fridge.
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 t. almond extract
3 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. buttermilk
14 oz. sweetened shredded coconut
Directions:
Cream butter and sugar till light with mixer on low, add eggs one at a time, add vanilla and almond and mix well. Add together flour, powder, soda and salt. In 3 parts, add dry mixture, alternately with buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with dry. Mix just until combined. Fold in half of coconut. bake 25 to 35 minutes. (I baked mine at 350 for 15 minutes, then popped them right in the freezer for 10 minutes.)
Icing:
Ingredients-
1 lb cream cheese room temp
3/4 lb unsalted butter
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
1 1/2 lb. powdered sugar.
Directions:
Blend cream cheese, butter and extracts, add in sugar.
Ice cupcakes and sprinkle with remaining coconut. 

Friday, April 15, 2011

Easter News Segment

 
Tonight was my Easter news segment for WCFN.  
Here's a clip of the segment in case you missed it...but now WHY would you do that???  
Click HERE to see me in action! 

 
I LOVE this table set up! 
Sweet Nancy over at A to Zebra Celebrations was so sweet to lend me her polka dot table runner and ribbon table skirt for this segment.  And as a "thank you" for guest blogging over on her blog, she's letting me keep the table runner.  Sweet!!!  I think it added such a cute and feminine touch to the table, plus it was pink, polka dotted, and ribbons...only three of my FAVORITE things!
You can check out her etsy shop and all her other goodies HERE and her blog HERE.


 

How stinkin' cute is this little bunny?  I found them at Pier 1, and guess what...
they were on SALE for 20% off.  SCORE.  They came with the little stick and everything, so all I needed to do was stick him in the pot.  EASY!

 

And I love this precious little bunny.  
If there's anything else you need to know about me besides my obsession with polka dots and ribbon, it is that I LOVE bunnies, baskets, and birdhouses.  So, like I'm going to pass up a PINK BUNNY at Hobby Lobby when it's 50% off.  Ummmmm NO.  
(Have I told you that all the cashiers at Hobby Lobby know me and my kids personally now?  Yea, it's sad.  I'm pretty sure they duke it out over who's going to have to check us out, not that I'm a difficult shopper, but my kids pretty much like to play with EVERYTHING at the check-out...especially those little round tape measure dealy's that you push the button and the tape measure gets sucked back up or because of the time Brock cried for SEVERAL minutes over the fact that I was NOT going to buy him another stuffed animal dog because he already owned the same exact stuffed animal dog.  It was the last one left and he didn't want him to be left alone on the shelf...Such a sweet, gentle heart, but NO, cry all you want, you're NOT getting it...)

Oh, good grief....where was I????? 


 
Awwww...YES.  
The adorable cinnamon flower cookie suckers 
that the super sweet Sara of Dandy Delights sent me.  
YUM-O and too stinkin' cute!
Go LIKE her on Facebook and be amazed at her mad cookie skills!
She just reached 1000 fans so go tell her CONGRATS and that Pirates-n-Princesses sent ya!


 
These are my little Key Lime Pie cupcakes with Peter Cotton Tail toppers.
I wasn't sure about using them, but last minute I tossed them in the tub of goodies going to the station.  Let's just say that was a SMART move.  I was originally going to go with this idea HERE
of the starburst carrots...  Ummm... super cute, but also a super FAIL.  I had them looking all cute and ready to go.  Put them in the cupcakes in the morning, and when I looked at them later in the day, OMGosh, a huge melty mess.  The twizzler tops had fallen out of a few, they were limp, and super glossy from getting too warm.  So, I tried to fix them while I was still at home and work some magic, but when we got to the station, there was NO way I was putting them on display.  They were a HOT MESS.  But, I think these turned out cute, so I was happy.

 

Here are the Easter basket cupcakes 
we made together in the segment so go watch for instructions!!!


 

And here are the little Peeps in bird nests that I shared back on facebook.  I got the idea from The Crafting Chicks so go check them out HERE for a How-To.  You'll also find the free printables I used in that link, too!  They would make cute little gifts for your kids' classmates!


 
Here are the Key Lime Cupcakes.  I got the recipe HERE.
They were good but I think a little more key lime juice would make them even better.
They just needed a little more punch for me.  

 
I'm super bummed this photo turned out blurry!  
This is Jennifer, one of the camera operators there at the station.
SWEETEST thing ever.  I'll get a better shot next month!



Seriously, sidenote, how stinkin' cute is that pink scarf???  
L.O.V.E. it.
I found it at Bella in Champaign.

Now that this segment is over... back to the treadmill and diet.  Testing out all these cupcakes has been KILLER on this gal.  Stay tuned for my NEW FAVORITE white cupcake recipe which is what the Easter basket and flower pot cupcakes were  up there!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

YaY!!!!!!

Thank you EVERYONE for voting for 
Jillian's Dora & Boots party!!!!
It won Party of the Month over at 


Best.Fans.EVER!!!  XOXOXO

Easter Cupcakes

Check me out over HERE today!!!
And set those DVR's...I'll be on the news tomorrow night with a fun and SUPER DUPER cute Easter spread!!!!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

DIY Easter Chalk

 
Come check me out over HERE today!!!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Baby Shower Cupcakes









I made these cupcakes for my sweet friend, Susan, who was helping host a baby shower at her school.   The mom-to-be loved white cupcakes, so we went with half white cupcakes and then half of the BEST chocolate cupcakes, which I made earlier this weekend.  I am STILL searching for the ultimate white cupcake recipe, I've got two I still want to try so until then these from my Aunt Betty's recipe box will have to do.  *wink*wink*

Friday, April 1, 2011

The BEST Chocolate Cupcake

So, I asked on facebook how to get moist cupcakes...
My AMAZING fans delivered!
I got LOTS of advice and even a recipe suggestion from 
which I decided I MUST try...I mean it does say it's the BEST in the recipe!

 I'm not exactly a chocolate cake fan...
Don't get me wrong, I'll eat it, but I'm not sure it'd be my first choice.
But these cupcakes...YUM.
Taking suggestions from Allyson Jane, an AMAZING cookie artist, and my friend Christie, who is super creative and throws beautiful parties, like this ONE, I decided to do a little experiment.  After baking my cupcakes, I took one pan and stuck them directly in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  The other pan, I just left out on the cooling rack.  I had my taste tester hubby try both of them.  First up, the non-freezer ones.  Verdict...YUM.  Then he tried the ones that went straight to the freezer.  When frosting them, I immediately noticed they felt quite a bit heavier than the other cupcakes.  Verdict...SUPER YUM.  They were both moist, YIPEEEE... but the freezer ones were even more moist!  I actually tried a non-freezer one and thought they were delicious.  Topped with yummy buttercream frosting and mini chocolate chips swirled inside, these are sinful chocolate cupcakes.


I wanted to get a shot of the inside, so you can see that it WAS moist, but since I had already eaten one, I just used Jillian's.  All she likes is the frosting anyways, so excuse the licked off frosting and just admire the MOIST center.  It made a very delicious supper.  
Hold on...someone's calling me...


Oh, it's just my treadmill.

Thank you Kevin & Amanda for sharing an AMAZING recipe!!!

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix *I used devil's food pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a very large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.
*Mine baked for 20 minutes and were good.

Basic Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)