Custom Ceauxsters WINNER

Congrats to....

KINDI 

on winning Custom Ceauxsters giveaway!!!

I know where you live. 

And for those of you that know me... I promise this was NOT rigged.  :)

Thanks to random.org!

Cupcake Monday - Banana Cupcakes

 

Do you ever buy bananas with the full intention of eating every single one, or at least making your kids eat a couple, then to just let them sit on your counter getting super ripe and becoming a lovely home for some annoying fruit flies?  I do it more than I'd like to admit...  Yet I still buy them every time I go to the store.  

So, when I was ready to evict the fruit flies, I asked on Facebook what everyone would do with 4 ripe bananas and I got LOTS of great ideas!  I was really wanting to make some cupcakes with them, go figure, and The Party Animal suggested a very yummy banana cake.  She raved about it so I was anxious to try it out... and they did NOT disappoint!!!  To add another little twist, I had some leftover coconut cream cheese filling to get rid of, so in it went to the cupcakes!  They were a HUGE hit on our last night of VBS, very rich, very moist, and very YUMMY!

 

Banana Cupcakes

Recipe via The Party Animal with some alterations

Ingredients: 

Cupcakes
3 Medium or 2 Large Bananas (Ripe) --> I used 4 medium ones.
4 large eggs (room temp)
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 Pkg Yellow Cake mix --> I used Pillsbury
1 C milk (room temp)
1 small box of Coconut pudding

Coconut Cream Cheese filling:
(Courtesy Cook Like a Champion)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.  
Mash up bananas in your stand mixer, add eggs and beat.  Then add butter, yellow cake mix, coconut pudding, and milk and beat until just combined.  Do not over mix!  Fill cupcake liners 2/3rds full.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until centers spring back when touched or a toothpick comes out clean.
Then I stick mine immediately in the fridge/freezer for about 15 minutes to stop the baking process.
Remove the centers of the cupcakes, saving the tops and you are ready for the filling... To see how I remove the centers click HERE.


Filling:
-Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
-Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream.
-Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract.
-Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable.
-Add additional confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin.
-Fold in the shredded coconut.
Then add the filling to a plastic baggie, snip the end with some scissors, and squeeze the filling into the hollowed out cupcakes.  Pop the cupcake tops back on.  These are very moist cupcakes, so be prepared to wipe your hands off after replacing each top!  :)

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.)

Keep them in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to serve so that the cream cheese will set up and not spoil.

I must say, I have an amazing little kitchen helper...

As I was trying to take some professional photos of the cupcakes to share with y'all, I notice something in one of my shots...

 

Hmmm... What the dickens is THAT?

Oh, it's just Jillian and her nail clippers.  

The little stink!

 Then she was in rare form for the camera...

Sorry, couldn't resist....

Now go rescue those poor innocent bananas from those pesky fruit flies and make something banana-y!

TGIF! Aqua & Orange Twin Boys Circus Theme

 

Today's Friday Party Feature goes to...

Mae Armstrong and her twin boys,

Ryan & Will's, 

Aqua & Orange Circus Theme

1st Birthday Party! 

 

I love this color scheme!  

Everything looks so great on the table.

 Homemade caramel popcorn... yum.

 Excellent way to re-use those old baby food jars!

Mae filled them up with jelly beans!

 

Seriously, what do you think the chances are of having a co-worker, who just happens to play the bagpipes, and then to have them come and play a few songs to honor your twins' half-Scottish heritage?

 

Did we mention it was Dad's birthday, too!?

Here's a little of what Mae had to say about getting ready for the BIG party...

""After creating the party invitation, everything began to fall into place. I sewed a simple elephant themed fabric pennant and a crochet banner. I repurposed my old baby food jars into these pretty little containers for Jelly Beans. I whipped up some homemade caramel popcorn as another party favor, we added a jar full of animal crackers and goldfish to our dessert table. I made birthday shirts, pj's and bibs for the boys. I also created three giant smash cakes. The party hats were handmade too!"

Mae, everything looked amazing!  

Great job and congrats on being today's featured party!!!!

To see more photos of this party and hear more about it in Mae's words, be sure to go check out her blog HERE.

Don't forget to get your entries in to win a set of CUSTOM made coasters.  You can choose whatever you wish to put on them if you win... a cute photo of your family, kids, dog, alma mater... you name it!  Go check it out HERE!  They'd make a sweet gift if you won!

Custom Ceauxsters GIVEAWAY!!!!! *CLOSED*

A little while back I passed 1,000 facebook fans!

WhooOOo HoooOOoooOO!!!

So, it's time to CELEBRATE with a fun GIVEAWAY!!!

My amazing brother and lovely sister-in-law have recently started up their own etsy shop, CUSTOM CEAUXSTERS, selling  

custom ceramic made coasters.  

They got started making coasters when they were trying to figure out what they were going to use as wedding favors at their wedding.  They turned out so stinkin' cute and were such a hit amongst the guests that they have now turned it into a fun little business. 

Here's how they were displayed on the tables at their reception...

So cute!  

But what's really unique about using their coasters as your wedding favors is that they can be custom made to fit YOU and your personality and style!

 {French Quarter Coasters}

 {Hotel Monteleone, 

where we stayed for the wedding}

 {HUGE LSU fans!}

{A streetcar, like the one we rode to the rehearsal dinner}

Have you guessed yet where this amazing wedding took place?

Dustin & Stacy LOVE New Orleans!

They got married at Latrobe's and everything was perfectly planned from the Second Line down Bourbon Street...

 

 

to the beautiful flowers and gorgeous cake...

 

 and they customized all the coasters to reflect that LOVE of NOLA.

They wanted to create a lasting memory of their wedding and favorite town for their wedding guests!

Soooo..... 

Custom Ceauxsters is offering one 

lucky Pirates-n-Princesses fan their very own, CUSTOM MADE, set of 4 coasters!  You can select from their image gallery (which they'd send you),  send them any image of your choice, or choose a custom creation! 

They are a 4" X 4" square tile and 3/8" thick with a cork protective backing and professional quality gloss finish!

*We got some custom made ones as Christmas gifts and they come in so handy and are super nice to have around!

Here's how to win...

(You KNOW I like to keep it SIMPLE!)

1.  Go LIKE Custom Ceauxsters over on Facebook HERE.  Come back and tell me you did!  (MANDATORY!)

2.  Leave a comment telling me what image you'd like to have on your very own customized coaster.  (Don't worry, you aren't stuck with that choice if you do win!)

3.  Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment saying so, or if you already are (AWESOME!) then just leave a comment saying you do.

4.  LIKE Pirates-n-Princesses on Facebook HERE and leave a comment saying so, if you already do.... SWEET. 

5.  Share this giveaway on facebook, making sure to tag Pirates-n-Princesses and Custom Ceauxsters in your post.  

FIVE chances to WIN!  

You can do only the mandatory entry, or all five, it's completely up to you!  You MUST leave separate entries, if you put that you did all five things in ONE post, you get ONE entry! 

This giveaway ends June 28th at Noon CST.   

If you win, you have 24 hours to claim your prize or a new winner will be selected.  The winner will be selected using random.org.

It's best if you leave your e-mail address in your comment to make sure I can get a hold of you! 

Now, if you aren't the lucky winner, and you live in the New Orleans area, they are selling their coasters at The Bride's Lounge on Magazine Street in New Orleans!  So, go check them out!

 

Cupcake Monday - Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

 How cute are these little guys???

Awhile back I made these for an order and now I'm totally kicking myself for not sharing them with y'all sooner!

The only other time I'd made ice cream cone cupcakes was for Jillian's 1st Birthday that you can see here...

Oh my goodness, memories...

So, I figured what the hey, I've made them before, no prob-lame-O.

Well, turns out... it had been too long...

It was totally trial and error on how high to fill the cones with your batter so my first batch I didn't fill up enough so those were worthless.  Then, for some reason, these little suckers need to bake LONGER than a normal cupcake, so there went batch #2.

I thought for sure by batch #3, I'd have it down pat... and thankfully I DID!  

So, here's the trick...

Then bake them for at least 20 minutes.

Maybe a different cake batter would be different, but I used my chocolate cake recipe and it seemed to take F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Then top them with some buttercream and sprinkles and you have sweet, little, kid friendly ice cream cones cupcakes.

And it's soooo nice to have handy husband's and mama's who will cut little circles in a box for you to help in the transportation of these little suckers.  :)

TGIF- Let's PARTY!

Weekends...

Time most party planners have been preparing for ALL week long...

I would love to start sharing your hard work & wonderful parties on my blog on Fridays, so if you have a party you would like to submit, please e-mail me at Queenieh@aol.com

First up...

An ADORABLE Winnie the Pooh Party!

I'm pretty sure that Rebecca of Faith Family Home Friends blog and I would be instant BFF's if Arkansas and Illinois weren't so far apart!  Her sweet, gentle spirit and her ability to put together gorgeous parties for her family and friends is amazing.  Just check it out...

 How stinkin' cute is her little girl?

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this 

cake made by Rebecca's sister!

 What would a party outdoors be without a snow cone machine??

I heart snow cones!

 Party favors included honey flavored rock suckers, Pooh ear headbands, vintage Pooh sacks filled with treats, and homemade HONEY BUTTER for the grown-ups to take home.  YUM!

Such a cute family!

Thank you Rebecca, my sweet blogger BFF, for letting me feature your sweet little girl's Winnie the Pooh party!  It was amazing and I look forward to your future events!
Too see more photos from this super cute party you can check out Rebecca's blog HERE.

Don't forget... if you want your party featured, just shoot me an e-mail!!!  :)  XOXO

DIY Burlap Garland

 

Come check out my guest blog

on A to Zebra today! 

Cupcake Monday - Almond Joy Cupcakes Take #2

This past weekend I had an order for my Almond Joy cupcakes, but I really wanted to jazz them up a little bit from my original idea.  Luckily the lady wanting them was super flexible and let me do whatever I wanted... nice.

So...

 I made my yummy white cupcakes...

 And scooped out the centers with my little do-hickey cupcake scooper-outer, that I can't remember it's real name that I got at Bed, Bath & Beyond...

 Then I piped in a coconut cream cheese filling... YUM.

 And popped the top back on... just make sure you trim the topper off a little because you can't squeeze it all back in with filling in there.  You can try, but just trust me on this one...  :)

Then after stuffing them and putting the topper back on, I dipped them twice in Chocolate Ganache and garnished them with an almond.

Then pop them in the container and forget to take individual cute shots of your hard work...

Almond Joy Cupcakes #2

Ingredients:

CAKE-

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.  

For coconut cream cheese filling:
(Courtesy Cook Like a Champion)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
-Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
-Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream.
-Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract.
-Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable.
-Add additional confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin.
-Fold in the shredded coconut.


For the ganache frosting:
(Courtesy Georgetown Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Callebaut semisweet chocolate chips (6.4 ounces; or other good-quality semisweet chocolate chips)

Lay a large piece of wax paper on the work surface.
Combine the heavy cream and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water and place over medium-low heat. Place the bowl over the saucepan and let the mixture melt, stirring until it is shiny and smooth.
Remove the bowl of chocolate ganache from the saucepan; let it cool slightly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Working with 1 cupcake at a time, carefully dip each cupcake top in the warm ganache, twisting your wrist as needed to make sure the cupcake top gets completely coated. To prevent drips, quickly turn the cupcake right side up and place on the wax paper. Allow the ganache to set for 5 minutes before serving.
(If the cupcakes are dipped once, you'll have about 1/2 cup of ganache left over.)