4th of July Gift Boxes

I created these small gift boxes for my nine grandchildren for the 4th of July. I found the boxes in the dollar store "Dollar Tree" in the wedding section. They were 12 for a $1. They are solid white and they could be used for any occasion or holiday by adding your own decor to them.

I decorated the boxes using patriotic stickers that I found in a Michael's Craft Store. The stickers were adorable and a great price. The book had 316 stickers for just .70 cents! The regular price was only $1 which is still a great price.

I also like getting the small white bottles of bubbles from the same section of the dollar store. They are 9 for a $1. I added a patriotic sticker and they became a 4th of July party favor for the small gift boxes. The boxes are a perfect size for a few goodies and favors. These boxes were filled with candy, party poppers, a light stick, a bottle of bubbles, and a red, white, and blue tinsel necklace!

Family Birthday Roster

My family has grown from six to eighteen in recent years. We currently have nine adults and nine kids in our growing family. It is getting harder to remember everyones birthdays as our numbers climb. We celebrate every single birthday as a family. To help us all remember birthdays I have created a Family Birthday Roster. This roster only lists the birthdays in our immediate family. You could certainly add extended family if you wish. The grandchildren that read love to read the roster to keep track of the upcoming birthdays too. 

 I work to keep the roster current as the new little ones come along or as we gain more in-law kids. The roster is just a quarter of a computer generated page that lists the birthdays by month, the date, and the name of the birthday person. I also decorate it a bit by adding some fun birthday graphics. I mount it on another piece of scrapbook card stock to create an 1/2" border on the edges.  I then put a self sticking magnet on the back so that it can be stuck to the fridge or to a magnetic board in our homes for easy reference.

This has worked very well for our family. It is nice to have the reference handy and it is a good reminder of who's birthday is coming up next and that it is time to start thinking of our gift ideas!

Sample:

Our Family Birthday Roster

January.....16th  Peter.....28th  Sue

February...5th  Bryan

March.......11th Chris.....19th  Jack.....30th Pam

April..........

May...........3rd Tiffany

I did it this way so that I could get a lot of information into a small space. If we don't have any birthdays in a month I still listed the month so that all twelve months are there. As babies are born or a marriage adds an in-law son or daughter they can be easily penciled into any month until the birthday roster is updated.

This idea has served our family very well. So, if you have trouble remembering birthdays in your family please feel free to give this idea a try. 

Ice Cream Balls

This is a really easy recipe that is delicious and fun to make. I created the recipe myself and it has become a family favorite. It is a good dessert to follow mexican food. 

Recipe:  Ice Cream Balls     yields 3 dozen

8 Cups Frosted Flakes, 4 Cups Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds, 1/2 C. brown sugar, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 14 oz. sweeted coconut, 1 & 1/2 gallons vanilla ice cream.

In a large mixing bowl place cereals, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Crush mixture with hands to a rough crumble and mix ingredients well. Add coconut and toss to blend.

Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper and make room in the freezer for them to sit flat.

Allow Ice Cream to slightly soften.  Make scoops (rough scoops okay) of ice cream and set 3 or 4 in the bowl of cereal mixture. Use your hands to pat coating onto the scoops and round the scoops with your hands. Place on cookies sheets. Repeat working quickly until first pan is filled. Place in freezer to freeze. Fill the second sheet the same way.

Allow to freeze at least 3 hours before serving. 

To serve:  Place the ice cream ball in a bowl. Top with a nice drizzle of honey, top with whipped cream and sliced almonds. You can garnish with a triangle of deep fried flour tortilla coated in cinnamon sugar.

Once the balls are frozen hard you can store them in  plastic ice cream buckets or any other freezer safe container. They keep for about 6 weeks in the freezer.

It is hard to mess this recipe up. You can easily make any size batch you would like.

Enjoy!

105th Birthday!

If I have done the math correctly we will be celebrating our 105th birthday soon!  My youngest daughter above is turning 19 this month. Her older brother celebrated his first birthday in 1977. Their ages along with their two sisters adds up to 105 birthdays. It is crazy to think of how many hours of party planning, party invitations, party favors, dollars on gifts, pinatas, cupcakes to school, bottles of icing sprinkles, candles,  balloons,  party games, rolls of film,  gift bags,  gift wrap, crete paper, party guests, party plates and napkins, and scoops of ice cream that must be.

Birthdays are a big deal in our family and we celebrate every single one with their own party. The grandkids light up whether it is one of their birthdays or one of the adults. We don't always do birthday cake to hold the birthday candles. Some want brownies, others donuts, some ice cream sundaes, and a few favor ice cream cakes. My youngest daughters treat of choice is what we call Ice Cream Balls. They are a recipe I created that is much like the fried ice cream you can get at mexican food restaurants except for way better! I will share the recipe along with a photo of this year's ice cream balls after we celebrate our 105th birthday party.

The Littlest Catering Job

These are photos from a tea party/ birthday party I "grandma catered" about a year and a  half ago. It was for my granddaughters 7th birthday. She and her guests felt like royalty! Many of the dress up clothes were one's her own mommy had played in as a little girl.  It was a very sweet occasion.