Store Bought Cupcakes Turned Bunny Cupcakes

So, here is part two of my bunny party posts. The cupcakes!!

Now look, I love to try and make things from scratch but this past week it was just not going to happen. I ended up ordering a dozen cupcakes from our local grocery store (Publix). I went with vanilla cake, custard filling and a strawberry flavored buttercream icing.

Here's what they looked like when I picked them up. But I wanted to turn them into little bunnies.

I found this great idea and followed it as my guide. (The from scratch coconut cupcakes she made sound awesome if you want to give those a shot! )

What you need:

Bag of sweetened coconut flakes (small bag was just enough for the 12 cupcakes)

Small bag of large marshmallows

Pink sugar sprinkles 

Toothpicks

You can click through the above link for a picture step by step but here is what I did.

• Sprinkle coconut flakes over the icing. You have to lightly push down to get the flakes to stay. I ended up pouring the coconut flakes into a plastic bowl so they were easier to get to and the coconut that didn't stick could fall back into the bowl.
• Cut marshmallows in half diagonally.
• Dip sticky side into pink sugar sprinkles.
• Insert toothpicks into bottom of marshmallow ear and stick into cupcakes.

And there you have it. Super cute, spruced up store bought bunny cupcakes!
You could always do a white icing (vanilla or cream cheese) but I was stuck on the strawberry icing and was fine with them being slightly pink bunny cupcakes.

In total, the cupcakes with the added decorations cost under $15 for a dozen. 

Side note: I did end up getting the cupcakes for FREE from the grocery store because they couldn't find my order. I had to wait for them to remake the cupcakes and the bakery manager felt bad and sent me home with them at no cost. AWESOME customer service!

Think you'll be making these soon just because they are cute and yummy?! Oh, and totally easy.

Linking Up with:

Tatertots & Jello

Bunny Party Table Decor {for under $17}

So the 2nd birthday bunny party is over and turned out great! After the first birthday, I've tried to keep the birthday parties more simple with family only. We like to take the kids to a special place and then theme a small party at home around where we took them. I also like to keep the decor in one area, so typically we keep decorations on and around one table.

This year for my daughter we took her to the local petting farm. I knew there were bunnies at this petting farm, so that is where the idea of the bunny party came from. I was able to pull the decorations off for under $17 because I used a lot of items from around my house, made things from leftover craft supplies and gathered all of the bunnies my mom, mother-in-law and I had around our houses. All items purchased were from Dollar Tree, Michael's and Wal-Mart. 

 Table Decor 
White Plates $1 // Pink Cake Plates $1
(3) Pack green baskets $1 // White Table Cloth $1
Orange Straws $.50

The table runner was made from craft paper I had at the house. I cut a piece about half the length of the table, cut it in half long ways and taped it together to create a runner.
All of the bunnies, plastic cups, bucket for the straws, plants and serving ware I already had.
You can also see in the last picture below that I had one of the bunnies on the left sitting on something. I used an old sage green square fabric box that we had, flipped it upside down and used it as a little shelf for the bunny.

 Balloons
(4) Heart Balloons $4 // (2) Silver balloon weights $2

Carrot Utensils

(2) bags of green silverware $2 // Pack of orange napkins $1

Green curling ribbon - on hand // Basket - on hand

These 'carrot' utensils were simple and such a cute touch. I got the idea from this website although I couldn't find great step by step directions on how they were rolled up. I just played around with it until I got them rolled the way I liked it. The goal was to try and end up with a 'V' design at the front top. Tie with green or even orange ribbon and you are done. 

"Some Bunny is Two"  Sign
Black Posterboard $.97 // White Paint Pen $1.97
Cotton Balls & Construction Paper (on hand)

I printed this bunny template out and used it to trace the bunnies onto pink construction paper.
I looked at some fonts online in order to draw out the 'Some Bunny is 2" letters with the paint pen. Lastly, I took cotton balls and lightly pulled on them to puff them out like a tail and hot glued them on. Beware: if you have animals in your home you might want to hide your sign until it's party time! Either my dog or cat chewed the cotton balls off the night before the party. lol

 Window Detail
Tulle: Leftover from her 1st birthday.
Triangle Banner: made with construction paper and pink ribbon I had on hand. I just created a triangle template, cut out the pieces, put two hole punches in the top and strung the ribbon through them. Once I had them spaced evenly I taped the ribbon to the back of each piece of construction paper.
Tassel Garland: made from some bright green yarn I had on hand from a previous project using these instructions as a guide.

I'm really happy with how this turned out! I definitely learned to save things from previous parties and projects because you can use them again  in a whole new way! It was amazing how much stuff I had that I could use which largely cut down on my decorating cost.

Linking Up with:

Tatertots & Jello

1st Birthday Party: Watermelon Picnic Theme

Good Morning! Hope you had a great weekend. Time to kick off another week! 

Since I'm in the middle of putting together a (much smaller) 2nd birthday for my daughter, I thought I'd share some pictures from her 1st birthday. Everything was homemade or purchased at places like Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, Michael's and Target.
I couldn't decide on a theme but saw a bunch of great ideas with watermelon so I went with a watermelon picnic party theme. (OK and with a splash of tutu fun!) We rented a bounce house with a slide that day but it rained buckets! Some of the kids went in anyway and got soaked but the poor birthday girl missed out.

Warning: Not the best pictures. They were taken in a hurry, bad lighting and I had to crop a bunch of pictures to show specific details.

Watermelon Cakepops
These were made with watermelon cake mix and cream cheese frosting. Dipped in green candy melts and the rind lines were drawn on with this tube icing. Hot pink and green ribbon was then tied in a bow on the sticks.

Tutu Cakepops

My daughter wore a tutu for her birthday party and I just had to make these. They matched the color theme. ;-)  Vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting dipped in hot pink candy melts. Then they were rolled in hot pink sugar and we tied hot pink tulle to the sticks. 

Food Station

Watermelon (duh)

Chips in a basket with a pink towel

Carrots and Celery in small plastic cups with ranch

Goldfish crackers in picnic tablecloth patterned cupcake holders

Cubed Cheese in picnic tablecloth patterned cupcake holders

Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches with watermelon toothpicks

Watermelon toothpicks (similar) and cupcake holders (similar/similar) // Michaels

Serving Station

Paper Plates and napkins // Dollar Tree and Wal-mart.

Silverware // Dollar Tree

Silver buckets with white polka dots // Target Dollar Bin

Party Favors

Note says: Thank you for coming to my birthday picnic, hope you had a TUTU-rific time!

Paper Bags // Wal-Mart

Silver Glitter Washi Tape (bottom of the note) // Target Dollar Bin (similar)

Watermelon Clothespins // Michaels 

We included: bubbles, pink heart wands (seen below), and watermelon lollipops (similar) from Michaels.

Drink Station

We served pink lemonade in this drink dispenser we picked up at Ross.

Pink with white polka dot straws // Target

Decor

Lanterns //  Target and Dollar Tree (similar)

Hot Pink Tulle //  Joann Fabrics

 Clusters of hot pink tissue pom pom's //  Made my me
Watermelon Slices //  made by me from construction paper

Smash Cake
We made a homemade cake using Ina Garden's recipe and home made cream cheese icing.
We added strawberry juice to the icing to give it a little pink color.
Hot pink sugar sprinkles around the edge of the cake. This cake was SO DELICIOUS!
Yes, I ate some of my daughters smash cake. lol

We also decorated her high chair with light pink tulle and pink ribbons.

Birthday Accessories
Headband // Dollar Tree (Mother-in-Law added the tulle)
Tutu // Mother-in-Law made by tying on strips tulle and ribbon to a piece of elastic.

So, that's it! A tutu-rific watermelon picnic party!
Like I said, terrible pictures unfortunately but hopefully it can lend a little inspiration if you are party planning anytime in the near future.

Don't Pinch Me!: A St. Patrick's Day Party

Welcome to March, kiddos! Hope you had a lovely weekend.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up on March 17th so I wanted to share a little party I put together a few years ago. It was just the family but it was super fun!
Maybe you can get some ideas and inspiration and throw together a fun and inexpensive party for you and your fam!

I picked up a bunch of decorations at the Dollar Tree.
One of my favorite places to get party supplies.
I purchased three leaf clover cut outs, light up sticks, napkins, paper plates, a plastic three leaf clover dish, leprechaun center pieces, leprechaun hats and table clothes.

We made a green St. Patrick's Day Punch to drink.
I combined ideas from recipes here and here.
I sliced limes and placed them around the edge of the glass pitcher. Next, add scoops of lime sherbet. Then I added pineapple juice and topped with lemon-lime soda which caused the pretty bubbles you see at the top. I don't think I followed either recipe with the exact amount of ingredients since the pitcher was a smaller container.
You can eyeball it to your preference.

We used fresh fruit and veggies to make a rainbow display with a pot o' gold {green coins}. And you see what I did there? We needed some dip for the veggies so I made a cluster of clouds with some small white condiment dishes.

The food we served was just an assortment of appetizers that did not have much to do with St. Patrick's Day. But we did have a 'traditional' dinner of corned beef and cabbage. We only have this once a year and I really look forward to it. I'm hoping I can do a recipe post on it soon. It's a one pot meal and fairly inexpensive as the corned beef goes on sale this time of year.

So like I said, just a simple family party we had. If I'm not planning anything big I love to just stop by the Dollar Tree and see what they have to decorate and get a little creative with what I might have around the house.

Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day? Any family traditions?

Linking Up with:
Tatertots & Jello