My Favorite Peanut Butter Balls

Well, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Every year I get together with a good friend of mine to make homemade candies for the ones we love. Chocolate covered strawberries are always an easy must. In the past some of our favorites have been caramel dipped pretzel sticks and chocolate covered Oreos. Lately I can't get over these super tasty peanut butter balls. The crisped rice adds a great crunch. I think these are way better than Reeses!

I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 4 cups confectioner's sugar
• 3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 2 cups Wilton milk chocolate melting discs

DIRECTIONS:

• Melt peanut butter and butter in saucepan, over low heat. In a large bowl mix crispy rice cereal and confectioner's sugar well. Pour melted peanut butter and butter mixture over cereal and sugar and bled thoroughly (you may have to get your hands dirty).

• Form into 1-inch balls and lay out on cookie sheets. Chill in refrigerator until firm (overnight is OK).

• Melt chocolate in double boiler and keep warm. Dip peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate and lay out on wax paper to cool. Let sit until the chocolate hardens. 

For my wedding I made the peanut butter balls in advance and kept them frozen for about two weeks until I was ready to dip them for the reception. It saved tons of time. 

Circus Party Invitation

It's been a while since I posted anything on here. I started school back in August and life has been in fast forward ever since. A few weeks ago I had an assignment in my Illustrator class to design some clip art and apply it to a print document. I have been wanting to throw a circus themed party for a while, so I decided to use that as the theme for this assignment. Hopefully I'll get to use it before too long. But I figured instead of leaving it on my to-do list, I might as well share it with you guys for whatever circus themed party you may be planning. Here is the invitation I designed.

Download the clip art for free:

circus elephant.jpg

circus elephant.png

circus tent.jpg

circus tent.png

Another Ice Cream Bar

I was asked to put put together an ice cream bar for a surprise birthday party. Here are a few pictures. 

Download the Ice Cream Shoppe labels for free here:

Ice Cream Shoppe - pink 

Ice Cream Shoppe - blue

The square dishes were a steal at Dollar Tree. I bought several for my collection of party dishes.



Ice Cream Shoppe Party

Over the weekend we had some friends over for an ice cream party. I found some great inspiration for this party from the blog Eat Drink Chic. 

I wrapped scrapbook paper and ribbon around this vase I bought with a 40% off coupon at Michael's. I found the marbles in the floral section there, too. 

Ross is one of my favorite places to buy serving trays, bowls, and containers for a steal. I bought all three glass jars below for $10

 Buying candy by the color gets easier and easier with the growing popularity of candy buffets. I found the blue gummy bears at WinCo and the blue sixlets at Zurchers

Switching out the knob with a 99 cent one from Lowe's and attaching scrapbook paper and ribbon to this jar was a very inexpensive and easy way to spruce it up a bit.

Download the Ice Cream Shoppe labels for free here:

Ice Cream Shoppe - pink 

Ice Cream Shoppe - blue

Ready to POP Baby Shower

Over the weekend I threw a baby shower for my amazing sister. While poking around on Pinterest for inspiration I decided on the popular theme "Ready to Pop!"

You can purchase this party kit at my etsy shop here.

These little pink cakes were a cinch to make with my Wilton silicone brownie bites pan

What would this shower be without some food that "POPS"? I filled these popcorn boxes I cut out using my Silhouette CAMEO with my favorite caramel corn recipe 

When I decided on the theme the first things that came to mind were pop rocks and blow pop suckers so I came up with these little favors.

I hope you were able to find a little inspiration here for your own party. Have fun!

Remember, you can purchase this party kit at my etsy shop here.

Baby Shower in the Works

I just sent out invitations for my sister's upcoming baby shower. Check back for updates!

You can purchase this party kit at my etsy shop here.

4th of July

My husband and I were excited to host a Fourth of July bbq for our family this year.

Here are some photos from the party.

The framed American flag was a very easy and inexpensive project I did last minute before the party. I got a frame on sale at Michaels for about $5 and the flag for less than $1

I found these great little star dishes in the candle holder and vases aisle at Wal-Mart for $1.50 each. They made perfect candy dishes (I have since found the same star dishes at Dollar Tree).

I wrapped patriotic paper around tin cans and threw in some fabric daisies I had lying around the house for an almost free centerpiece.

A few weeks before the party I started saving paper towel and toilet paper rolls to make these little rockets. Scrapbook paper and ribbon are all it takes.

Before the party I went grocery shopping with my mom for the food and drinks. She couldn't help but tease me about buying only drinks that came in a red or blue can. I can't help myself! I need cohesiveness throughout the entire setup.

Three inexpensive picture frames, a 99 cent bandana and some wooden letter cutouts from the craft store made this easy project under $10.00

I used my vinyl cutter to make new labels for the water bottles. I also love the red and white Kikkerland  paper straws.

Chocolate stars adorned our cupcakes

Nothing screams summer more to me than homemade strawberry ice cream