Faith, Family and Fun

Legend of Zelda, and other Birthday Party Ideas!

May 8, 2012 in family, Kids party with 1 Comment

One Happy Birthday Girl sporting a Zelda t-shirt from Cafepress.com (organic, too!)

We have had some awesome parties for our youngest. Here are just some of her themes & cakes so far:

The Princess Castle – everything glittery and pink, of course!

The Dinosaur Birthday Cake and party – This year, our little girl wanted everything dinosaur! Her brother built her a “dig” site where the kids went searching for dinosaur bones!

The Horse Birthday - Can you tell what she was into this year?

free-form horse cake made by her brother

The Tangled Rapunzel Birthday and how to make the Tangled cake – One of my favorites.

3 D cake

Having so many brothers and a sister to help makes for super fun times! For most of the past years, her eldest brother would create the cake, with younger brother cooking it another brother and sister decorating for the celebration. Yes, I did some too, but I have to give credit where it is due!

This year I was worried about what my daughter wanted. She wanted a Legend of Zelda themed party. Now, we have a bunch of gamers around here, but Mom isn’t one!

Still, I really like Link and Zelda and the beautiful music and great artwork of Zelda. So, I was on my own quest, to make a Zelda party that didn’t stink.

First off, I looked for something a little special for the birthday girl. I decided on a Zelda t-shirt for the big day. I could find very few for kids, much less a girls shirt. I love the one we got and it is even organic. Thanks cafepress.com!

The Cake

My son, Nick, is our resident chef. He was really excited to make a great Zelda cake. He immediately knew he wanted to make a Hyrulian Shield Cake. He went ahead and drew and cut out his own patterns

for the shield design, which he recreated with thin layers of colored fondant over a lemon cake (Emma’s choice). The cake turned out to be simple, using a large rectangle shape and the shield design on top. A bit of silver fondant paint added the final touch. The cake actually looked AND tasted great!

We also found some great games and party treat ideas on this site, The Zelda Party Channel.

We tried out the Red Potion Punch, Triforce Cookies, and Pieces of Heart Rice Krispy Treats! Sometimes giving these things Zelda names just helps so much.

Paper Party Supplies

I did look around locally for some Zelda themed party supplies. But, they did not appear exist in VA. So, I went online. Ebay had some things, but I found a good deal through Birthday Express, getting one big pack of Zelda theme party supplies. I was too late to wait for cheap shipping. I emailed the company to try to get a deal, but that was a no go. Anyway, I was able to find a promo code online, which cut the cost down.

The Party Favors

I found some cheap treasure chests for the party favors boxes. I bought a bunch of chocolate coins to put in. Ha! Of course, I should have gotten rupees somehow! I did find this craft for papercraft rupees, but, my acetate paper did not get here in time. Next time!

Anyway, so we had treasure boxes with assorted candy for the kids. IF I had started earlier, I would have included some homemade Zelda stickers and tattoos. I found out I can buy tattoo and/or sticker paper and just make my own!

The Main Activity

My daughter just discovered Roller Skating at the local roller rink. Now, that’s an easy way to keep kids busy! Apparently, between Zelda theme and roller blading the 90’s are back!

I can’t wait to see what party theme this kid comes up with next. I am having so much fun!

What was the hardest to set up and/or the best party theme you ever created for your child?

Current Giveaways on Faith, Family and Fun!

May 7, 2012 in family, giveaways with 0 Comments

I have some great giveaways going on!

Giveaways:

http://faithfamilyandfun.com/celebrate-mothers-day-with-an-egg-inspired-brunch/

ends 12.01 am on 05/28/2012

http://faithfamilyandfun.com/monster-truck-adventures-great-for-kids-and-giveaway/

ends 12.01 am on 05/16/2012

http://faithfamilyandfun.com/spring-cleaning-and-stanley-steemer-giveaway/

ends 12.01 am on 5/18/2012

Celebrate Mothers Day With an Egg Inspired Brunch

May 5, 2012 in family, green living, organic, recipes with 21 Comments

From a Mother’s Day celebration to a weekend brunch with friends to a springtime gathering, eggs are a tried and true favorite ingredient.

Did you know that sometimes even Moms can be wrong?

Seriously! Well, not My Mom of course, I am referring to me. When I first began our family quest to eat only whole, natural and organic foods, I did not realize that some of the tried and true brands I had used in the past would still work for us.

A perfect example includes Land O Lakes. Until I sat down and really looked at their website I was unaware of how many nutritious options they carry for eggs.

In fact, right around the corner at my local grocery store I am able to purchase Land O Lakes® All-Natural Organic Eggs. The price is reasonable and oh so convenient. And, I feel great about serving my family eggs, which are full of protein and no animal by-products, no antibiotics and no chemical additives. A few other options, such as Land O Lakes^® All-Natural Eggs pictured, are available as well.

So, now I want to celebrate! How about a Mothers Day Celebration with an Egg Inspired Party?

(Yes, those burned eggs your kids make you for Mothers Day are priceless, but let’s talk about some delicious Brunch choices that you can serve at any time of day, really.)

A Spring Menu with the bite size nutritious treats below, simple, vibrant fresh flowers and some colorful drinks make a perfect Mothers Day Brunch.

I was recently visiting family and I tried out some of the inspiring recipes I found for adorable bite size egg dishes. Really, they were all so easy to make and lasted well, and the kids felt good…not all full of sugar!

Breakfast Biscuit Bakes smell sooo good!

I strongly believe that fresh, quality products will make delicious meals. I am glad to see Land O Lakes offering these eggs!

I tried the following recipes, with a few small adaptations (for example, I just used my own homemade biscuit dough). All are available on the Land O Lakes website:

All the mini bites plate so well, also!

Such pretty little bites!

For some sweet ideas for decor and maybe dessert, visit the Land O Lakes test kitchen.

Want to win an amazing Egg Brunch Pack?? Look at this!

A premium gift package (valued at more than $100) including an On-Ice Deviled Eggs Server, Mini Muffin Tin, Two-Tier Server with Plates.

Okay. So enter via rafflecopter below. Good luck!
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Spring Cleaning and Stanley Steemer Giveaway

May 4, 2012 in family with 17 Comments

Right before my son’s wedding — you can see an ADORABLE picture of my son and his GORGEOUS bride here –

But anyway, right before my son’s wedding, he was coming to visit us and bringing his bride-to-be along. The two of them had been out of the country for awhile and I was so excited to see them!

I immediately went into overdrive trying to get the family and the house ready to welcome these two as well as I could! A few new towels, some tidying here and there…and I still did not feel ready.

For one thing, my son is allergic to cats and I knew that he would stay with us longer if he wasn’t super bothered by his cat allergies. So, I tried to keep the cat away from that part of the house. Sure enough, I find her sleeping in his room.

Anyway, I started thinking about how to REALLY spring clean the rooms he would mainly be in.

I knew it would be important to deep clean. I heard about Stanley Steemer and I jumped at the chance to do a review of their service.

The process was surprisingly easy. I am in a small town and honestly, I expected it to be a pain to schedule and stuff. Not at all! I went on the website and chose a day for them to come and was able to price everything online, so I planned to spend my $100 gift certificate from Stanley Steemer through Blogspark and a little over to get the downstairs guest rooms and stairs done.

Just to let you know how badly I wanted this…I paid for it upfront because I just wouldn’t wait for my gift certificate! And, yes, the rooms looked great for our company!

The guys came exactly when they were supposed to, and even called ahead to let me know they were on the way. The two men were very polite and hard working. They were in and out in a few hours and the two rooms looked great. My one regret was that I didn’t believe it would take as long for the carpets to dry, so I had my sons put stuff back into the rooms too early. Next time, I would ask to have everything up on blocks to make sure it all dried super well.

Because we are in the woods and this is a downstairs level, I have trouble with those rooms seeming dampish. I am actually going to call Stanley Steemer again (now that my certificate is here) and see if I should get those rooms redone with some kind of protectant.

When I first went online, I realized Stanley Steemer cleans more than carpets:

Not just for carpet cleaning, Stanley Steemer’s expertise extends to hardwood, tile, air ducts, water damage restoration, and more!
Stanley Steemer’s proprietary equipment and cleaning processes remove more than 98% of dry soil from floors
With over 70 branches and 220 franchise locations in 48 states, Stanley Steemer services 95% of the country

All in all, I am very pleased with how this has worked out. Sometimes my Spring cleaning seems overwhelming and this was a really nice pick me up. It just felt clean.

Find out more on the Stanley Steemer Website, or their facebook page, or on their twitter. #MyBlogSpark

Want to win a Stanley Steemer Gift Certificate?

Please enter below!
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