party Archives | Life is Beautiful

My Daughter’s White and Gold Baptismal Party

December 4, 2015~ PARTY

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GiftDeliciously#CollectiveBias Just a few days before my daughter’s baptismal party, I got approved to throw a party using OREO cookies, and I thought how perfect! I planned on making my daughter and my husband’s favorite OREO cake balls any way! My husband isn’t too big on sweets but he loves these cake balls! We had about 8 left from the party and he didn’t even let me eat one. I’ll be sharing with you the recipe as well as how to throw this gold/white party!

Invitations designed by Kayelas Art. We’be become friends this year and she is one of the best illustrators I’ve ever seen. I mean, look at that sheer skirt of the dress! Adalie wanted the Hawaii temple in the background and I couldn’t be more happy with the invitation. Thank you so much Kayela!

These delicious coconut-cream sugar cookies are from The Fix, and turns out, the owner is Karissa, a girl I went to elementary, middle school and high school with! Such a small world!

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Food menu for my daughter’s baptism party:

Lunch: Korean BBQ kalbi, Kalua pig, rice, caesar salad, and pani popo.

Dessert: “8” shaped sugar cookies from The Fix, Coconut mochi, chocolate covered strawberries, Oreo cake pops, coconut cake, gold candies(rolo’s, caramel candies, chocolate nugget), grapes, pineapples & strawberries.

I had dreamed of making my daughter’s baptismal dress and her wedding dress. But it was so busy and I was feeling so overwhelmed. But feeling like I’d feel like a failure as a mother if I didn’t make her dress(not that if another mother doesn’t make her daughter’s dress makes her a failure, I was just putting pressure on myself since it was something I dreamed about doing for a long time!), I went to a thrift store and bought a dress to refashion, but still not loving it. Then Jesusspeakstome contacted me literally 1 1/2 weeks before the baptism and offered to send me a dress! Still feeling the mom guilt, I planned on refashioning the other dress too, and have her wear two dresses, but when I received this dress, my mom guilt was swept away because this dress is such high-quality and exquisite, there was no way I could top this dress. If I did, the materials itself would have cost so much money! I wanted to take more photos of my daughter in this beautiful dress, with natural lighting outside but it’s been so cold I wasn’t going to make her pose outside in the freezing cold! Anyway, they’re not paying me, this is really such an exquisite, well-made dress and I was so appreciative of them sending it to my daughter.

My son has been sick and as long as he was holding his OREO cake pop, he was happy!

My family is not perfect, but they’re perfect for me, and oh boy, how I love this family of mine with everything that’s in me.

How to Throw a Gold/White Party

Backdrop:

Purchased the baroque frame at Ikea, spray painted it gold. Cut out 1/2 of the white poster paper for the background and with the other 1/2 of the poster paper, using a letter A I found online, I traced the letter A with a pencil, then cut it out with an exacto knife on white poster paper, and spray painted the letter gold.
Purchased 2 gold sparkle paper at Michael’s and a 1 1/2″ inch circle puncher. Punched out the circles, then taped it to the wall using double sided tape.

Table:

Gold sequin tablecloth
Spray painted sparkling cider & root beer bottles gold, put in a single white rose with fillers.
The gold candies are rolos, werther’s caramel candies, and Hershey’s nugget.
The coconut cake was bought, the “8” shaped cookies from The Fix, cake pops, coconut mochi, and chocolate dipped strawberries are homemade.

Located right at the check out, you can purchase Chips Ahoy!, Nutter Butter, OREO Double Stuf & OREO and RITZ Crackers for 3 for $3 at Wal Mart.

White Chocolate OREO Cake Pops

Ingredients:

36 OREO cookies

1 pkg. cream cheese

16 oz. white chocolate candy melts

Gold sprinkles

Supplies:

Candy sticks

Parchment paper

Directions:

1. Crush OREO cookies. Mix with cream cheese.

2. Shape into 1″ balls. Freeze for 10 mins.

3. Stick the candy sticks into the ball and dip it in melted candy melts.

4. As soon as it’s dipped, sprinkle gold sprinkles on top.

5. Place on parchment paper and let it dry.

Check out more ways to #giftdeliciously.

I’d love to hear about your creative ideas!

Korean Bulgogi Recipe + Football Party Ideas

September 1, 2015~ EAT, PARTY

This Football inspired party has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. This party is dedicated to my friends who love Korean B.B.Q and Diet Coke, you know who you are! I will be sharing a Korean bulgogi recipe using Coke, how perfect is that? #ShareYourSpirit #CollectiveBias

I purchased the COKE at my local Sam’s Club. Did you know that you can order online at Sam’s Club and instantly go pick it up? I’ll be using that service more often, it makes my life way more convenient!

How to set a Football-inspired Party Table

-Green tablecloth

-White ribbon or tape

-Banner

-Football cut-outs

-Party zone tape

Lay the green tablecloth on the table. Tape the ribbon vertically onto the table, I used 5 strips. This is your “football field”. Put the banner up on the backdrop along with the football cut-outs and tape the party-zone tape across the edge of the table.

How to Make an Easy & Fast Football-inspired Treats

For a football ice-cream sandwich:

-Ice-cream sandwiches

-Ready-mix white frosting with tip

-Popsicle sticks

Stick the popsicle sticks into the ice-cream sandwich. Draw the football design on the middle of the sandwich with frosting. Serve and enjoy!

Football brownies:

-Round brownies from the bakery section

-Ready-mix white frosting with tip

With frosting, draw the football design onto the middle of the brownies. Serve and eat one or two yourself!

Korean Bulgogi Recipe

1 pound bulgogi beef
1/3 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
¼ cup Coca-Cola
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3-4 large cloves garlic, crushed (1 ½-2 tablespoons)

¼ large onion or ½ small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped green onions (about onions)
½ teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt
½ small Asian pear, pureed(use 1/2 small apple if you don’t have a pear)

1. Ask the butcher to slice the meet thin to 2-3 mm. If you are slicing it yourself, slice it while it’s still a little bit frozen for easy slicing.

2. Puree the Asian pear. Add onto the remaining ingredients except for the meat.

3. Pour the marinade onto the meat, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins. or overnight.

4. Grill, or saute in a pan until the meat is cooked.

Check out more delicious COKE recipes.

4th of July Party

June 29, 2015~ PARTY

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. We are throwing a big 4th of July party over at our house and I needed some quick and easy dessert ideas(because my motto lately is to simplify, simplify, and simplify some more to make my life easier :), so I threw this quick and easy party to help you get inspired for the 4th of July! #TwizzlersSummer #CollectiveBias

How to throw an easy 4th of July Party

The backdrop:

Silver cut-out stars from a party store
Blue & Red paper lanterns from a party store
2 white tablecloths from the dollar store
Clear fishing lines or strings
double-sided tape

Using double-sided tape, tape the white table cloth on the wall as the back drop. Lay the other table cloth over the table. Stick the stars on the white wall and using the clear fishing lines or strings, hang the lanterns from the ceiling.

American Flag Cake:

1 container of whipped cream
White cake mix
1 bag of Strawberry Twizzlers
1/2 c. blueberries(rinsed)

Bake the white cake in a rectangle pan following it’s directions on the box. Spread a layer of whipped cream all over the cake. Using the Strawberry Twizzlers, make stripes, cutting some as necessary to make the stripes fit. On the left top corner, use the blueberries as “stars”.

Basket Holder Cupcakes

12 cupcakes
1-2 Pull N Peel Red White N Blue

Cut the Pull N Peel Red White N Blue in half or 1/3(the mini cupcakes I cut 1/3), then pull it so it’s one color of each(red, white & blue). Place both ends on either side of the cupcakes and press onto the frosting.

I purchased all the ingredients at Wal Mart, I am sure you’ve seen the Twizzlers Summer Fun aisle if you’ve been there recently.

Now that I’ve shared with you some of my ideas for the 4th of July celebrations, are there any recipes that you make for the Holiday? I’d love to know, please share below!

My perfect gift for Mother's Day + a giveaway!

May 3, 2015~ Etc.

I threw an adorable party for my mom for Mother’s Day! This party is sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone as always. Thank you for supporting this blog of mine! #BestMomsDayEver #CollectiveBias

Do you like these cute printables? Jones Paper Craft has offered a free download printable for both of these! Check out Jones Paper Craft on Facebook as well.

download Mother’s Love is Endless printable

Download Home is Where Mom is printable

Mother’s Day is approaching and every year I stress about what to get for my mom. What do you get for someone who has sacrificed her whole life for your well being and happiness? For someone who has always put my needs first before hers? I’ve always appreciated my mom growing up but it was a whole new different perspective and level when I became a mother myself. I remember becoming a mother to my oldest and found this whole motherhood thing so hard. One night I cried as I was holding my newborn child because I was delirious and exhausted and so overwhelmed and had no clue what I was doing. Then I thought of my mom and started bawling even more! I thought to myself, “This is what my mom went through for me.” Then when my child got hurt and she looked at me with tears in her eyes and as my heart was breaking and wishing I could take her pain instead, I thought, “This is what my mom felt like when I got hurt.” I am sure as my kids get older and go through the teenage years of not being home by curfew or sneaking out at night to go to their friend’s house(wait what? I am just speaking hypothetically, not from experience ;), I will say to myself, “This is what my mom felt like when I didn’t come home before curfew!” as I pace around the house nervously and praying for my children to get home safely.

I remember growing up, I always wished I had a lot more money to buy my mom an expensive gift for Mother’s day and giving her my small gift with somewhat of a shame and thinking she must feel somewhat of a disappointment. I promised myself that when I grow up and earned lots of money, I will buy my mom expensive gifts that she sure deserves. Then I became a mom and every single drawing, every single phrase they say to me, every single “gift” they make for me melts my heart and I can’t think of a more perfect gift I would rather receive. I tell my husband every year for my birthday or Mother’s day that all I want is a card from him. Words written down on a paper from someone expressing their love and appreciation for you is honestly the best gift I could think of and means the most to me. And it’s the same for my kids! Every Mother’s Day I tell the kids that all I want from them is a card saying how much they love me. I don’t need fancy or expensive gifts in order for Mother’s Day to be a perfect day.

My mom is one of the two most perfect people I know, besides my dad. She is so giving, charitable, pure, without guile, so sweet, so so so patient(she has never yelled at me, not even once. I wish I had her patience!), happy, bright, fun, strong, resilient, and an amazing person with character and integrity. I look up to her so much and I know I am one lucky girl to have her as my mom.

So for Mother’s Day this year, I decorated this party using her favorite color, mint and turquoise! And got cute printables from Jones Paper Craft with the phrases, “Home is where my mom is” and “A mother’s love is endless” because those two phrases couldn’t be anymore true. The link for a free download is above! I bought the frames from Wal Mart for $7 each. The banners were also from the same shop and I couldn’t love it any more! I also got some of her favorite chocolates, flowers, dog and the jewelry stand and the best gift, which is this giant American Greetings Mother’s Day card! I wrote “100 reasons why you are the best mom in the world”. I personally would LOVE it if my kids or my husband wrote me a card with 100 reasons why they love me or think I’m the best mom, it seriously would be the best gift in the world! I would laminate it and frame it! Jay honey, are you reading this, hint hint! 😉

I was able to get most of my gifts from the “One Stop Shop” by American Greetings at Wal Mart. Be sure to check out this “One Stop Shop” for your #BestMomsDayEver.

Also American Greetings is having a giveaway of over $4,000+ in gift cards for Mother’s Day! Enter below for your chance to win.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and also to all the other women that teach, nurture, and love orhers in one way or another.

Disney Princess Easter Party

March 18, 2015~ PARTY

My kids and their friends had so much fun at a Disney Princess Easter Party I threw last week This party has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, and all opinions are my own. As always, thank you for supporting this blog of mine! #DisneyEaster #CollectiveBias

To prepare for this party, I went to Wal Mart to buy all the supplies for decorations, like the Disney Princess plush Easter basket, the Princess design tablecloth I used as a backdrop, pink/white polka dot paper straws and bunch of toys to stuff in the Easter eggs(Princess favors, Cadbury eggs, Starbursts, mint candies).

My daughter was so excited to help me stuff all these cool Princess themed toys inside the Easter eggs!

After the kids ate their snacks, we made a Easter egg rice krispies(recipe below) and went on a Easter egg hunt! Throwing Easter egg hunts in my home is our family tradition we do every year. I love throwing private Easter egg hunt parties because the public ones are always so crowded and some kids get so competitive, but more so the parents of the kids! Every year I see the moms and dads running around the egg hunt grabbing everything they could see and stuffing it inside their kid’s egg baskets. And happily looking at what their child got and how full the basket is while some of the other kids are walking around with just a few eggs and crying because they didn’t get so many. That just boggles my mind. We do go on as many public egg hunts as possible, but I make sure my kids go around and look for any kids that are sad or crying and share their eggs. And I certainly don’t help stuffing their egg baskets, of course. So the private ones that I personally throw are nice because there’s not as many kids and every kid gets a fair share. After the egg hunt, all the kids sat and opened their eggs and traded toys so they all had at least one kind of each toy. I wrapped up the treats in a Princess party bag and everyone went home happy!

How do you feel about public Easter egg hunts? Do you participate in them or no and why? They sure can get crazy!

Easter Egg Rice Krispies

Ingredients:

rice krispies

a plastic egg

treats to put inside the egg

Directions:

1. Make rice krispies as usual. Put a chunk of rice krispies inside the egg and with your fingers press down to the sides of the eggs(mine was about 1/2″ thickness).

2. Put treats inside the egg and close the egg.

2. Let the rice krispies harden for 20 mins.

3. Open up the egg and there you have a Easter egg made out of rice krispies!