I love hosting tea parties for kids! They work for birthday parties big and pink and small with costumes — plus fun afternoons at home. Tea parties for kids are fancy, fun and easier than you think to pull off but best of all…tea parties are great for teaching manners. “Oh, thank you so much!”…
How to Make Mermaid Tail Cupcakes
These mermaid tail cupcakes are the cutest — and very close to easiest — cupcakes I’ve ever made. What you need to make mermaid tail cupcakes ll you need are three things: Silicone mold Candy melts Sugar pearls How to Make mermaid tail cupcakes Melt candy melts in a microwave safe dish. Fill silicone mold,…
The Most Colorful Cake Ever (Inside and Out!)
Making this colorful layer cake is not hard. But let’s just say that I watched 3 episodes of The Crown while making it. The results are adorable and the technique nearly foolproof, so if you have a few hours (and a hot British import on demand), I say go for it! How to make this…
Star Wars Birthday Party Ideas (Including Brilliant Storm Trooper Cupcakes)
When George told me he wanted to have a Star Wars birthday party for his fifth birthday, I started searching the interwebs ASAP, luckily I found inspiration–then put my own spin on everything. The goal: Easy but adorable ideas a real lady with lots of small children could actually pull off. These adorable storm trooper…
Easy Little Lamb Cake
Decorating this little lamb cake was one of the easiest kids’ birthday cakes I’ve ever made. With just about the most adorable results. When I saw this lamb marshmallow cake I online, I had to wonder: Is it really as simple as it looks or am I going to end up with a whopper of a…
The 2-ingredient chocolate frosting recipe that’ll become your new favorite
I love this 2-ingredient chocolate frosting recipe so much. It’s a variation of a recipe I saw in the New York Times but I gave it a Foodlets update (which always means it’s either faster, healthier or cuter and in this case, it’s the second one. #healthierfoodforkids) What you need to make 2-ingredient chocolate buttercream…
The Last Minute Side Dish Your Kids Will Love: Veggie Cups in Mini Bread Bowls
Maybe this has happened to you too. The clock said 5:45pm and I had just stumbled in the front door from a big consulting job. Much later than usual. And, cue the meltdowns. That’s because after anxiously looking at the clock for the last 15 minutes of my day I finally cut off a co-worker who kept saying things like…
The Perfect 3-Step Waffle Bar Setup for Kids
I thought putting together a waffle bar for kids would be a kind of a pain. But it wasn’t. Yes there was set up and clean up but let’s face it, even sandwiches don’t make themselves. For a fun lunch (and an amazing idea for a kid-friendly dinner party), I set up a waffle bar…
Got a Tea Pot & a Halloween Costume? That’s All You Need for the Best 4th Birthday Party Ever
When Estelle turned four this year, we had a tea party for four friends. All the guests wore costumes. It was our simplest party ever, and it was awesome. Number of guests: 4 + siblings The Food: This was a mid-morning tea party, so we served snacks. Lots of them. A tray full of kid-friendly snacks…
Why I’ll Never Buy Another Piñata: 5 Things I’ve Learned About Throwing Birthday Parties for Small Kids
We’ve jumped the gun so many times as parents. There was the time we took preschoolers camping. (They were scared, they had to go potty. Unzipping and zipping the tent a million times at night is less restful than you think.) When my husband tried to share a classic movie he enjoyed as a kid, “The Apple…
15 Healthy Cakes & Cupcakes for 1st Birthday Parties
Healthy cakes and cupcakes for 1st birthday parties were hard for me to find when my oldest daughter turned one. But now we’ve got a bunch of great healthy cake & cupcake recipes for kids. And when I say “cupcakes” I also mean muffins. Why not? Every yummy muffin and cake on Foodlets is low…
Healthy Party Food for Kids: DIY Raw Veggie Cups
Party food for kids needs to be festive. Fun! Colorful! Fresh! And with any shred of hope, simple. Nothing says “Happy Birthday” like getting so stressed out about entertaining a group of kids that I’m shrieking at my own offspring all morning long. Enter veggie cups. We discovered kid-friendly raw veggies served in cups with a dollop of Ranch dressing…
Low-Sugar Hummingbird Cake
It’s already been a year! We celebrated Violet Agnes’ first birthday in exactly the way you’d expect. With balloons, grandma visiting from the West coast and of course, a low-sugar birthday cake. This one is our version of a “hummingbird cake”, which Wikipedia calls “a banana pineapple spice cake common in the Southern United States”. My mom…
how to make little fish cupcakes
We’ve had our eyes on these little fish cupcakes for a while. Cute, right? Our version of little fish cupcakes is very similar, except we skipped the special eyes and just went with M&Ms. I’ll show you how we did it right here. These are the big finish for our pool party food drive birthday party…
No Presents Please! How to Host a Food Drive Birthday Party
I CAN’T DECIDE WHAT I LIKE MORE about this food drive birthday party. Helping families in need or cutting down the clutter in our own house. (Selfish, true. Now back to the story!) For my kindergartener’s birthday party we’re asking friends not to bring presents. But to load up on groceries instead! It took a couple of…
how to make mini marshmallow flowers
SHHH. There’s a very small person sleeping right next to me, which is the only reason I’m able to post today’s cupcake recipe and how to make mini marshmallow flowers tutorial. That, and even on Father’s Day, my brave husband has taken all three of our “bigger” kids out to breakfast and to church. Alone….
maple syrup sweetened chocolate cake & 5 things I learned about throwing kids’ parties
WHEN I ASKED ESTELLE WHAT SHE WANTED for her 3rd birthday, she said, “chocolate cake with chocolate frosting”. Okay, then I explained that she could ask for presents too, like at Christmas time. “Oh!,” she said. “And a chocolate bear.” That’s what she got in her stocking, apparently making quite an impression–more so than the…
mini mac & cheese cups (with carrots too)
LAST WEEK WE HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY LUNCH for 6 preschoolers to celebrate Estelle’s 3rd birthday–and at the birthday girl’s request, these mac & cheese mini cups were the main course. Like our broccoli & cheese pasta cups, they’re essentially macaroni and cheese (with a built-in veggie) to go. And like our broccoli & cheese pasta…
a pink tea party birthday theme, perfect for a 4th birthday party
WHEN EMILEE ASKED FOR A PINK TEA PARTY, her mom, Amanda, put together an event straight out of Steel Magnolias (minus any of the sad parts). Pink and pink! From handmade paper flowers to homemade strawberry preserves and scones to his and hers dress up stations, this was a tea party every pirate and princess…
A “Cupcake Wars” Inspired Birthday Party
SHE DID IT AGAIN! Remember the rainbow spa birthday party? Or the sweet shop birthday party? Now Amber, who blogs at Cake Pops and Squats, has created a birthday bake off competition for her 10-year-old’s big day. It was “Cupcake Wars” for 14 ten-year-olds in one kitchen, and if you’re wondering how she pulled it off,…