Category Archives: Food

Frozen at Five

Earlier this month we had a big celebration … Esther turned FIVE.  Like most little girls she had been counting down to this special day for months.  So much so that we had put a ban on talking about her birthday until after Christmas.

As a child there aren’t many times that you get to make BIG decisions but choosing your birthday party theme is one of them.  For a while she was leaning towards a Barbie party.  Michael Luke and I were almost positive her choice would have been Frozen.  Sure enough though with a few weeks to go before the big day she decided her party should definitely be Frozen.  I had to pull my mom card at that point to make sure this was our final theme.

After searching around town for party decor it appears we may be riding the Frozen birthday party train out of town.  Decorations were few and far between but I found some good stuff and had fun transforming our dining room into her Frozen fantasy land.

Frozen Birthday PartyEsther and I found the Frozen streamers on sale at Target.  Back in December I had an inkling that she would choose Frozen for her party theme so I went ahead and bought these Elsa and Anna plates and napkins.  Frozen Birthday PartyFor the backdrop I considered drawing a scene from the movie like I did with Noah’s Belle birthday party but I really didn’t feel like I could execute a good ice castle. Instead I bought a couple of table cloths from Dollar Tree to hang from the ceiling.
Frozen Birthday PartyI couldn’t find any Frozen cupcake toppers…except on Etsy and  I didn’t have enough time for those to arrive. Etsy has lots of cute party supplies though. Maybe I can plan ahead more for Noah’s party this fall and order some decor from Etsy.

I got creative though and bought an Elsa figurine doll for the cupcake topper.  I stuck the bottom of her feet into one of Chloe Coscarelli’s chocolate cupcakes and then piped the icing around it to make the skirt of her dress.

The most exciting part about the day for Esther was getting to wear her Elsa dress.
Frozen Birthday PartyThe week before you would have thought we were shopping for a prom dress.  She absolutely loved going to the mall and picking out her dress. I don’t know what it is but when Noah and Esther pass a window display or rack full of formal dresses they immediately stop and gawk.  I’m afraid it gave me a glimpse into the future!Frozen Birthday PartyNoah was more than happy to play the part of Anna for the party.  I honestly don’t understand all the fascination with Elsa. Sure she gets an ice castle but in the end she’s the one that is single.  I guess you could say I’m a part of #teamanna.

We added cute little Frozen touches all around the dining room and living room like this Olaf tablecloth and Olaf doll for the gift table. .Frozen Birthday Party Frozen Birthday PartyCookies were adorned with Frozen blue sprinkles and flavored with Citrus Fresh essential oil. Flavoring the dough reminded me of my grandmother because she always flavors her cookie dough.
Frozen Birthday PartyEveryone had such a fun time eating multiple courses at Noah’s birthday party that we decided to do the same thing for Esther’s party.  Between each course the kids would dance and singalong to Frozen songs.

We served hot chocolate with melted snowmen (marshmallows).  Frozen Birthday PartyI laugh thinking back to this part of the party because I set a bowl of marshmallows out so that the kids could grab a few to add to their hot chocolate. Many felt like the ratio should be around 50 marshmallows to half a cup of hot chocolate.  They ended up needing spoons to finish their drinks!
Frozen Birthday PartyAfter singing along to Love Is An Open Door where Hans and Anna realize they are perfect for each other because they “finish each other’s sandwiches” we served ham and cheese sandwiches.Frozen Birthday PartyWe also had Frozen Pops. While these may not be the best looking chocolate covered Oreos they were made with love and PAIN.  Let me just say melted chocolate is HOT and BURNS. I’m talking burns so much you need the lavender afterwards to soothe the skin.  It was hard to dip those things and I couldn’t get the chocolate at the right consistency so I got the best that I could under the circumstances.  Oh, and if you want to recreate this make sure you buy the double stuffed Oreos because the stick does not fit in a regular Oreo.
Frozen Birthday PartyParties are fun but dressing up as your favorite princess for parties is even more fun!  We had a few Elsas grace our presence that day.  Esther asks me occasionally if I used to play dress up when I was little.  I really don’t remember having dress up clothes besides cheap dance recital outfits.  Do you remember having dress up clothes when you were little?

Frozen Birthday PartyEsther’s party was so much fun and I’m thankful for our sweet family picture that we captured before the fun begin.

Frozen Birthday PartyI’m not sure when children grow out of themed birthday parties but for now we are having fun planning one each year!

Oh, and that’s another thing… I don’t remember having decked out themed birthday parties either.  They were loads of fun but I think this whole “theme” thing is somewhat new.  At the most I remember having Big Bird cupcakes one year with a mountain of icing on top and an Easter Egg Hunt party another year because my birthday fell on Easter. What do you remember about your childhood birthday parties?

 

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Enter your email address below to receive new posts via e-mail.:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

A Fancy Party for a Fancy Girl

It’s been almost a month now but I couldn’t blog on without first sharing about Esther’s Fancy Nancy Pink & Purple Birthday Party.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Invitation

Like most soon-to-be four year olds this was the biggest and best party to ever grace the face of the earth.  A party so big that she started planning it last summer.  Months before Noah’s birthday party.

Ballerina Birthday Outfits

 

In all honesty though it was a pretty big deal.  This was Esther’s first big party since joining our family over a year ago.  Last year’s celebration was low key because Esther had only been home for a few weeks at that point and we were still in the bonding and attachment faze.  Anyway, back to the party at hand.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

Esther fell in love with Fancy Nancy last summer when the girls got to meet Jane O’Connor and Robin Glasser, the author and artist behind the creative Fancy Nancy series.  I realize these books may not be on everyone’s must read list so I’ll fill you in on the whole Fancy Nancy thing.  Nancy is a little girl that always insists on everything being fancy. Her wardrobe is fancy, her room is fancy, and even her vocabulary is fancy.  The books are beautifully illustrated and captivated Esther from day one with the possibility of anyone being that fancy.  So it came as no surprise when she insisted that her birthday party be a Fancy Nancy party.

Pink and Purple Fancy Nancy Birthday PartyPink and Purple Fancy Nancy Birthday Party foodPink and Purple Birthday Party

As the months went along and so did the party planning, her party planning dreams also began to include pink and purple decorations.  So I took her ideas and ran with it.  Esther’s birthday conveniently falls in March… the month after Valentine’s Day.  Michael Luke and I kept our eyes peeled for pink and purple decor and scored almost all of the decorations for a fraction of the original price because of awesome after Valentine’s Day sales.  Everything else we picked up at the dollar store.

Fancy Nancy Pink and Purple Birthday Party

I found adorable plastic stemmed glasses and pink square plates to use as part of the fancy place setting.

Pink and Purple Vegan Birthday Cake

Per Esther’s request I created a pink and purple heart with sparkles on it.  My favorite part about her cake is that it is Chloe Coscarelli’s recipe so both sets of grandparents (vegan and meat lovers) were able to enjoy it.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

I used cute little notebooks that the girls got last summer at the Fancy Nancy book signing to decorate the fruit tray.  I tried to use as many foods as possible that were pink and purple.

Instead of sugary drinks I made strawberry infused water… it was a little something fancy to drink.

Strawberry Infused Water

Ever since Hong Kong Esther has been a huge fan of gelatin or jelly as Esther likes to call it.  It took me days in Hong Kong to realize that what she called jelly is not the same as what we Americans call jelly.  There might have been a few days before this realization that she consumed sever packets of jelly from the breakfast buffet at our hotel.  I figured out the difference though and love to surprise her with this treat occasionally.

Dress Up Party FavorsIn honor of all things fancy each guest was presented with a box of dress-up goodies.  Inside the boxes were clip-on earrings, necklaces, rings, and a crown.  Each girl then got to sit at the dress up table and “fancy” themselves up.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party Dress Up TableEsther loved this part and especially enjoyed her special birthday crown.  It’s become a normal part of her daily dress-up routine since the party.

And because the lines of weddings and birthdays are a little blurred Esther got her father/daughter dance with Michael Luke.

IMG_20150315_211936

The day was absolutely magical for Esther.  She  had the pink and purple Fancy Nancy party she had been dreaming, got to eat lots of cakes, AND open presents all while dressed like a little fancy ballerina.  What more could any four year old ask for?

Ballerina Birthday OutfitP.S. We gave her ballet shoes and ballet lessons for her birthday.  I think the picture above pretty much sums up how she feels about that.

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Enter your email address below to receive new posts via e-mail.:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Peppermint Sugar

We decorated our house for Christmas this past weekend but like most projects, the house ended up in a little bit of a mess afterwards.  So, I’m busy getting the house back in order and will be back later in the week with a Christmas tour of our house.

In the meantime I just had to share something new I have discovered.

Peppermint Coffee!!!

Why am I so excited about it?  Well first let me preface by saying a don’t drink a lot of coffee… it’s sort of like a special treat for me. I love it.  I really do, but usually if I drink for more than one or two days in a row I end up with a headache.

In case you don’t make a habit of keeping up with every detail of my life or are new here at Color Transformed Family (welcome!),  for over seventeen years I suffered from migraines.  It’s a whole other story and you can read more about it here. The short version of it is that now I am able to keep my migraines at bay by eliminating certain foods from my diet.

Occasionally, I splurge on my diet and treat myself to a cup of coffee or something else.  Coffee is a tricky one though because most flavored coffee contains artificial flavors and other chemicals that can give me a headache.  Boo!

So, I normally use unflavored coffee and stick to using just milk and sugar to it.  Friday I was craving a cup of coffee so I decided to treat myself. I poured my cup of coffee only then to realize we didn’t have any sugar!  And then I remembered that I had a jar of peppermint sugar scrub that I made a few weeks ago at a holiday party.  I took a few pinches and added it to my coffee, mixed a little milk in, and then took a sip.

Peppermint Sugar

YUM!!!

It was delicious… and free of artificial flavors.

How?  Here’s the recipe.  Check out how simple it is.

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

2 cups of white or cane sugar

¼ cup organic extra virgin coconut oil

10-20 drops of Young Living  Peppermint Essential Oil

Red food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Pour sugar into medium sized mixing bowl

2. Add coconut oil until desired consistency is reached; stir

3. Place a few drops of peppermint essential oil into the mixture

4. Divide your sugar scrub mix into two equal portions

5. Add a drop or two of food coloring into one of the portions (be careful not to add too much!)

6. in mason jar, alternate pink and white layers of sugars to create a “candy cane” effect. Press sugar down with a spoon to compact between layers.

This recipe makes several jars worth so you can give the rest away as last minute holiday gifts if needed.  And the red food coloring is totally optional.  It does make for a cute candy cane looking presentation if you use the food coloring.  I used food coloring because I originally intended to use this as a sugar scrub… but now it doubles as sugar for my coffee!

The next day I tried my new concoction out on Michael Luke and he loved it!  His favorite part was that the peppermint was not super overwhelming but instead a light refreshing touch to the coffee.

You could easily add this to homemade hot chocolate too if you wanted.

For more information on how to purchase a bottle of Peppermint essential oil individually or for information on purchasing Peppermint essential oil as part of an amazing group of oils with lots of other goodies click here

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Enter your email address below to receive new posts via e-mail.:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.