It's a Graduation, Birthday and Going Away Party All Rolled Into One!

Yes it's taken me almost two weeks to post about this party. I've been sick! I think everyone but my dad and my boyfriend got this terrible cough/cold/feverish thing. And I'm still not over it. Nice way to start the summer huh?

Anywho, I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would like but here's the low down in images..

First time ever making and decorating this type of cookie. I really enjoyed the process and learned a lot. Next time I'll know what to do to make the designs come out even better. All the tips I did learn were from Bake at 350 . And everyone seemed to love them, they were nearly all gone by the end of the party.

The Cake. Another thing I wish I had taken more pictures of. If I had, there would be a whole post on how to make a cake like this. The top layer "18" of course is his age in less than a month. But he'll be in bootcamp then, sob. It was three layers of cake the top and bottom were chocolate and the middle was a yellow cake. In between each layer was strawberry frosting. The middle cake stood for his graduation. Honestly I don't even remember what the cake layers were! But the filling was real strawberries. And the bottom cake was to celebrate his upcoming entry into the Marine Corps. Again three layers of cake made to look like camouflage. Darn I didn't get a picture of it! But trust me, it was awesome. The filling was chocolate. Oh and the lettering and numbers are marshmallow fondant.

The kids having fun playing Wii

After much thought and searching and even asking for help from YAY DIY! for a keepsake I decided to have everyone write a little note to Josh on posterboard then I took a picture of them with their sign. I'll get them printed up and arrange them in a photo album. I got the idea from a website called Chookooloonks .

As you may notice there are a few references to having the car windows rolled up and the heat on. Well yes there may have been an unfortunate incident but he walked away OK. And that's all I have to say about that! *eh-hem*

Josh with his Auntie and Uncle

There was lots of food. In the kitchen along the island I set up a nacho bar. To keep the cheese warm I kept it in a crockpot and then lined up taco seasoned hamburger, refried beans, chips, olives, onions, sour cream and sliced jalapenos. Then in the dining room we had fixings for sandwiches, spinach dip, punch, fruit and pepper garlic chicken wings. Even a potato salad we forgot to put out!

A big thanks to everyone who came and an even bigger thanks to my parents for hosting(and funding) our little shindig!

Grad Gift Help

Now that my son Josh has graduated from high school, its time to party! So in preparation for his graduation/birthday/going away party I asked the ladies Lia and Erin over at YAY! DIY to help me out. Josh not only just graduated but he is turning 18 and going to bootcamp in 1 month! Whew! I really want to give him something special and I've asked the guest to come prepared with a written note to give to him. A congrats, words of wisdom or a memory that they'd like to share. Now what I'm going to do with those notes, I'm not sure yet.

The ladies at YAY! DIY came up with a few suggestions and also posed the question to their readers as well. I'm so excited and grateful for their help. Go check out their post and their blog! And soon I'll let you guys know what I came up with as a gift for Josh.

And just so this post doesn't go pictureless:

How to Make a Candy Lei

It's graduation time and we just celebrated my oldest child's graduation from high school. Lots of grads get flower leis or ones made of money but the candy lei seemed to fit my son's personality best. He LOVES candy! They are really simple to make and don't cost a whole lot either. I had a ton of candy left over from the Candyland birthday we had for our daughter and the cellophane and curling ribbon cost me about $7! My son's school colors are green and gold and it just so happened that the store only had green cellophane left! So I went with that and gold curling ribbon. You could do clear cellophane and use the school colors in the ribbons.

The supplies: cellophane, any color and you could even use plastic wrap. Curling ribbon and candy and scissors.

Step 1: measure how long you want your lei to be. I took the curling ribbon, measured around my neck and cut the length that seemed right. Mine was about 67 inches long, my son is tall. I then cut it to about 8 inches wide. I also cut my curling ribbon at this time to about 14 inch lengths. I think I used something like 29 pieces of ribbon.

Step 2: Lay your cellophane out, grab you candy and start piling it in small groups down the whole length of the cellophane.

Step 3: Next fold each side of the cellophane over the candy. I found it easier to work with putting a weight on one end while I tied the ribbons on the opposite end. I happened to have a pack of wipes nearby!

Step 4: Start tying the sections of candy off. I double knotted the ribbon and used two ribbons on each section.

Step 5: Curl the ribbon with your scissors. Be careful not to pull too hard or the string might break. I did this several times. Oops. Its okay, no one will notice.

Step 6: Now bring your ends together and tie together! Waa-laa!

Here is the graduate wearing his candy lei: