Chalkboard Photobooth {Mason Jar Party}

The plan was to hang a white tablecloth on the wall and the tassel banner along with a pennant banner for the photobooth but since we were cramped for time and space we scrapped the idea.  Luckily, there was a hidden chalkboard on the wall. We opened it up pinned a banner up wrote a birthday message and ta-da, instant photobooth! The only problem with this photobooth is trying to get everyone to stand in front of it instead of sitting. I'll know next time to move all the chairs away from the area. But, I think I may have to figure out a way to make a huge, portable chalkboard background. I love the way it looks. 

I did a terrible job of cropping the photos for you, and by terrible job I mean, didn't even try.

But, when I put the album together for my grandmother I'll crop and edit all the photos. 

Here is a picture of the board alone.

It may have had art added by my little cousins. :)

For the original party post go here. 

Currently

I got kicked out of my own bed this morning. 

These guys watched Ghostbusters on the TV and then played games on my phone in my bed now they've moved on to Mario but they still refuse clothes. 

Apparently they want a lazy day to de-stress from their hectic life style. 

(Imagine a giant eye roll and sarcastic hand gestures when reading the previous statement) 

Now, I'm going to weasel my way in and force them to cuddle me! It's my right as their mother, you know. 

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My 4 year old clearly takes after his father. No matter how hard we try to keep him away from all things scary, he gravitates to them. Needless to say, he LOVES Halloween. He plans his costumes all year long. They usually change multiple times a year, as of now we are planning a Ghostbuster costume. Looks like I better make the little guy a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume while I'm at it. I better get to googling "DIY Proton Pack" and looking for flight suits.

I'm in love with this Etsy shop. If you follow me on Pinterest, I should probably apologize for taking over your feed yesterday with these prints. Sorry, not sorry.

 Homemade peanut butter baking chips!?!? Oh, yeah! Want to guess who will be trying this out? Yeah, that'd be me.

These! Pardon me while I run to the store for some cashews. BRB!

Better grab some almonds for this granola while I'm there!

I'm turning 31 Sunday. Excuse me while I go barf. Why is 31 so much worse than 30 you ask? Because, my best friend and I have this theory that you aren't in your 30s until you have passed 30. So our little mind trick got us through last year without wanting to hide under a rock, but now there is no turning back, nothing I can do about it, it's staring me in the face. I am in fact in my 30s and I feel OLD! Also they say (who is they anyway? and will they please stop saying things I don't like?) you start falling apart at 30. Guess what? I did.

We have a family tradition of Sprinkle Pancakes for birthday breakfasts. But, since I'm having to be very careful of what I eat these days. I plan on making my self a pina colada spinach smoothie and topping that sucker with sprinkles on Sunday.

But, this is what I really want for my birthday breakfast.

So much good food on the internets right now.

I made a Pinterest Board for my Photobooth obsession. I must figure out how to make a GIANT Moon cutout...

What are you doing currently?

Having a Ball Mason Jar Party

Meet my Granny. Isn't she precious? 

I won't show you the video of us singing happy birthday to her and she decided to start singing to her self.

 I clearly inherited much of my weirdness from her!

Here is the basic rundown of her birthday party. 

It was simple, girly and classic. 

It was also thrown together in record time. The room we were promised from her apartment complex had a scheduled singing before the party that ran an hour over! Since we were just starting to set up 15 minutes before the party started, things didn't look quite neat and orderly as we planned but she was a happy camper and that's what matters. 

(also most pictures kind of stink since I was super rushed to get them)

We used white serving pates, with some wooden and black metal serving pieces.

Basic white table clothes were used along with lavender accent fabric and multicolored wild flowers to bring color to the tables. 

The menu selections centered around her favorite foods. 

We chose her favorite color, lavender as the main accent color and punctuated it with light light light turquoise and pale pink. 

We served sweet tea, lemonade and water and drank out of an array of mason jars. She gave me most of her old canning jars so it seemed fitting that we use those. The kids drank from little jelly jars ans the adults used pint jars. 

The flowers were in quart and half gallon jars.

 My cousin tracked down cute paper straws and matching hard candy sticks. 

I made a cute little sign that clearly stated the theme of the party and paired it with my Mom's ruffle cake.

 We had a photobooth as well. I planned on including it in this post but the website I use to make collages and do some edits is not cooperating at all. I'll share those Monday and I should have the blank menus and invites available to download by Tuesday! 

I'll be sharing the recipe for the pepper jelly that I made and used at this party and the marshmallow frosting that went on those cupcakes and mini lemon pies in the next couple of weeks.

Cherry Berry Coconut Smoothie {Violet Smoothie}

I have mentioned my picky eater situation before. Since I have to force feed this kid most veggies and several fruits, I decided to get creative. After the continued success with the green smoothie and the fact we have been talking about food coming in all different colors, like the rainbow, I have decided to make him "smoothies of the spectrum." Over the next few weeks, I plan to sneak new flavors into his smoothies and juices under the guise of tasting all the colors in the rainbow. Grocery shopping will be a blast matching all the colors and flavors together. 

   This is the first of colors we are doing is purple. This may not be the only purple smoothie or juice I make through this process because I liked it and L loved it, but C was not totally enamored with it. I'm not totally sure why he didn't love it. Normally, it would have been the type of smoothie he would declare his new favorite, but whatever his reasoning is, he proclaimed this one to be just okay. I should make it again when he's in a more agreeable mood. Clearly from the pictures below that little dude LOVED it, in fact he tried to steal mine. 

Cherry Berry Coconut Smoothie
Serves 3-4

1 large handful frozen cherries
1 small handful blueberries
1 cup coconut water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tablespoon flaxseed

Combine everything in a blender and blend until all produce is broken up, seeds are no longer visible and has a milkshake like consistency. Drink immediately.

Currently

I have to fight for my smoothies with this little guy around. 

I love this. It made nostalgic. If you need me I'll be tracking down every season and binge watching Friends.

These ribs.

If I don't make this pudding for my husband, like, now he may never forgive me.

I waaaaaaaaant this stir-fry. NOW!

I made the most amazing cranberry habanero pepper jelly in the history of the universe. Stay tuned for the recipe. It's coming soon. I've been eating with cream cheese and crackers constantly. There is a pork loin in my freezer that is calling out to be covered in the jelly at this very moment.

Details from another party are also coming soon. I'm finally getting around to editing the pictures and making a scrapbook of the party for my Grandmother. I've made blank copies of the printables that I should hopefully have available to download.

I just bought a couple of these and I love them!

We are in the market for a new bed. Want to see the bed of my dreams? Here it is. I wish. I'll be looking for something a tad more affordable for the time being. But, I'll be buying something like this guy one of these days.

Oh, and History of Rap Part 5!!!!! I love me some JT + Jimmy Fallon!

This is the BEST recipe round-up each week!


P.S. All my links on my banner and side bar should finally work!

Spinach Mango Flax Seed Smoothie aka Mommy's Magic Super Power Boosting Milk Shake Smoothie

   I finally gave up and re-shot the smoothie pictures that I complained about Tuesday. So here is my post I wrote on Monday for Tuesday but had to postpone until Wednesday but then forgot so now I'm posting on Thursday. Make sense? No? Yeah, I don't understand either. Just pretend you're reading this on Monday or Tuesday and it will all make sense.  

   This weekend I ignored my Doctor's recommendation to only eat small meals and stay away from raw fruits and veggies, hard to digest proteins, anything that is highly processed or has a lot of preservatives, basically anything other than carbs and liquids. (I know that a high carb diet does not sound like a healthy thing but it is what I have to do until we can figure out why my stomach no longer wants to digest anything these days) Fast food, lemon curd, cupcakes, rice krispie treats, bacon, brownies, olives, cheese, carrots, strawberries, chocolate cake, a chicken burger, a meatball sub, are just some of the things I devoured. To say that I was/am sick is an understatement! Since I refused to act like a responsible adult this weekend, and chose to eat like a crazed lunatic, I am on a liquid diet today. Therefore it's SMOOTHIE TIME!!!!!

   This smoothie is also the one way I can get more than a couple of bites of anything green into C. He swears aliens use green veggies to control minds. Yes, my 4 year old believes that if he eats broccoli an alien with take control of him. He makes life interesting, to say the least. This is my answer to it. He will also drink it with strawberry instead of mango. He believes that it will give his super powers a boost. He will tell me his Hulk strength is stronger, his Iron Man Blasters go boom better and he's as fast as the Flash almost immediately after drinking it! Don't judge me for lying to my kid! I'm desperate. He has gone multiple days skipping one or more meals because I implemented the, “You eat what I give you or you don't eat” rule, thinking that he was just being a kid who wanted to be picky, I now believe he honestly has a hard time with certain tastes and textures. I never let him go to the point it would be harmful, but this kids has will power like nothing I've seen before. Now, he will try three bites of anything I give him, often it is still a battle but he does try new things now, but he is simply not a fan of certain textures. I'm the same way when it comes to certain foods. I cannot even look at beans without feeling nauseated. I'll eat peas or chickpeas but they have to be pureed. I cannot bite into a whole, raw blueberry or a grape without gagging. So, I know he is trying and he really does want to like vegetables but right now it is a slow process. So I make him a glass of this smoothie a couple of times a week now. He thinks it takes like a milk shake and frankly so do I.

Serves 1-2 people

1 large handful of spinach

1 handful of frozen mango*

6 oz greek yogurt *optional*

2-3 tablespoons flax seeds

approximately 1/3 cup coconut water

approximately 1/3 cup orange juice

approximately 1/3 cup almond milk

Combine everything in a blender and blend until all produce is broken up, seeds are no longer visible and has a milkshake like consistency. Drink immediately.

*Just about any fruit would be good in this smoothie so feel free to swap things out. And, if you want to use fresh but still want the texture of the frozen fruit pre-freeze bananas and add one to each smoothie.

The smoothie pictured above does not have yogurt but I always add it when my son is going to be drinking it. The texture seems more “milkshakey” with the yogurt and he is more likely to drink anything if he thinks I added ice cream.

Pistachio Cranberry and Goat Cheese Truffles

   This is not the post I planned on sharing today. These cheese truffles are good, I mean, can you go wrong with pistachio and cranberry? I don't think so. My original plan, was to post the smoothie I had for breakfast and lunch yesterday and for lunch at least twice a week for the past month. Unfortunately, when I tried to upload the images they weren't there. I have no clue what I did, but I'll try again when I'm not propping I'm eyes open with toothpicks to stay awake.

      These are a quick and easy appetizer to throw together for a party or dinner with friends. It would be so easy to make and customize them, the possibilities are endless. I made these and my mom made a cream cheese, cheddar and almond version for my Granny's birthday party. This would also be a great little recipe to whip up and stick in the fridge and pull out one with a couple of crackers for a quick afternoon snack.

Makes 18-24
Pistachio Cranberry Goat Cheese Truffles

10 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

In a medium sized bowl , combine cheese and cranberries, mashing with a fork or spatula. Spread Pistachios out onto parchment paper and set aside. Using a teaspoon scoop a small amount out and roll in a ball. They should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches across. Roll the truffle in chopped nuts and set aside. Continue with the remaining cheese mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Currently.

I have had my new camera in my hand constantly this week. Most of my pictures are just so so now but once I get this thing figured out I cannot wait to see what I can capture.

This is what I've been working on and one of the reasons I have been absent this week. It is my Granny's birthday party and I have been making menus, banners, gathering jars. I'll be posting blank 8x10 and 4x6 PDF files for download next week along with pictures and hopefully some recipes too.

My bestie sent this to me this week. It's like she knows me or something.

These make me ready for spring/summer to get here.

I foresee these being hung in the window of my kitchen. LOVE!

I am obsessed with this brunch. It is an annual thing so make sure and click through the links of the older parties.

I just bought this and I cannot wait for warm enough weather.