Chocolate Coconut Nests Recipe for Easter

I was experimenting in the kitchen a few days ago with some chocolate, and suddenly had the urge to try and make some cute little spring nests out of chocolate and coconut.  I could have gone with the more realistic chocolate brown color to make these nests, but decided that I wanted them to be lighter, a pretty blue pastel color perfect for spring!  

These little nests were a breeze to make, take almost no time at all to make, and are perfect for kids to help with.  You can use them as Easter or spring treats, or even as place settings for an Easter brunch.  They are just so irresistibly cute… 

Ingredients:

• Chocolate Melts (I used Wilton's)- in any color you like
• Shredded Coconut

To create the nests, you can either shape them yourself, or use some kind of mold.  I used an egg holder that I just bought from World Market, and it worked perfectly.  I also tried to make a nest with the smaller half of a plastic egg, and that also worked.  You could even use an egg carton as a mold to make these nests…. be creative!  

Directions:

1.  Spray whatever mold you are using with a cooking spray so that you can easily remove the nests.  Don't go skimpy on the cooking spray, or your nests can break when you are trying to remove them!

2.  Melt the chocolate melts according to the directions on the package.  I have a small Wilton chocolate  melting pot that I use and it works well to keep the chocolate warm so that I don't have to keep reheating the chocolate in the microwave.  Either way works!  

3.  Place some coconut in a small bowl, and add some melted chocolate to it.  Mix thoroughly, then drop by spoonfuls into the molds that you are using.  I wanted to be sure that the chocolate didn't harden too quickly while I was working with it, so I did this in small batches to make about three nests each time.  After dropping a spoonful or two of the mixture in my mold, I would use a spoon to push the mixture up the sides of my mold and hollow out a space in the middle so it looked like a real nest.  

4.  Let cool, and then use a butter knife to trace around the chocolate nests before carefully popping then out of the mold.  If you used enough cooking spray and enough chocolate, they should come out fairly easily.  Fill with robin egg candy, jelly beans, or any other egg-shaped candy that you'd like!  

But be careful.  If you leave the eggs in their nests for a few minutes, you just might come back to a nest full of hungry chicks.  ;)

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Tuxedo Chocolate Covered Almonds

Oscars week continues on the blog this week, and I am so excited to share these cute treats that I came up with that are perfect for the occasion!  They were pretty easy and fun to make, and I fooled my husband and kids that I had spent hours making them… tuxedo chocolate covered almonds!

My husband bought me a HUGE container of chocolate covered almonds for Valentine's Day, so I decided to get creative with them and make these tasty treats.

Chocolate covered almonds wearing little tuxedos would be great to serve at an Oscar's party, a Hollywood party, prom, a wedding, or any black tie affair.  I mean, who can resist chocolate in a tux?

I made a small handful of these, and then mixed them in with the rest of the regular chocolate covered almonds.  Unless you have a ton of free time on your hands, I think this is the best option for serving these little cuties.

Tuxedo Chocolate Covered Almonds:

• Chocolate covered almonds
• White chocolate melts or bark
• Dark chocolate melts or bark
• Toothpick

First, melt a few of the white chocolate melts or bark according to the directions.  

Use a toothpick to add the white chocolate to the almond and create a V shape coming down from the top.  Repeat with as many almonds as you'd like to use.  

Melt the dark chocolate, and then use another toothpick to make a tiny bow tie shape, along with two or three buttons.  I found that it was easiest to make the sides of the bow first, and then connect them in the middle with a small dot.

I think I'm in love.  These little guys are just so easy and adorable, don't you think?

Here's a quick recap in case you missed the rest of my Oscars posts this week.  So far I've shared free printable Oscars party invitations and printable Oscars ballots.  

Make sure to visit tomorrow to see an Oscars party I put together using amazing finds from one of my favorite stores on the planet- World Market!

xo, Laura

Sharing here:  Show and Tell

Free Super Bowl Printables + Cupcake Bar Ideas

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Rubbermaid and Sharpie but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #RubbermaidSharpie http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

So who is ready for the Super Bowl?  I have to admit that while I love football, I'm not sure which team  I want to win this year.  But of course I'll still watch the game and the fun commercials!  And we can't forget about the best part of the Super Bowl- the food!  I created an entire set of printables for the big game that I think you'll love, plus I'll show you how easy it is to serve up some yummy treats without a lot of time in the kitchen… you wouldn't want to miss those commercials now, would you? ;)

I thought it would be fun to serve up some cupcakes for my Super Bowl party, and to let everyone garnish their own cupcakes with their favorite toppings at a cupcake bar!

What I like about this party is that it is SO easy to prep ahead of time so that you won't be stuck in the kitchen and missing out on all the action during the game.

I headed to Target and picked up some small Rubbermaid containers to hold all my toppings, and bought some Sharpie markers for the decorations that I'll be sharing.  I also picked up some of my favorite candies and cookies for the cupcakes, as well as some tasty vanilla bean and chocolate cupcakes.

All I had to do to prep my cupcake bar ahead of time was to break up my chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I poured these toppings, as well as some gummy bears, Reese's Pieces, and gourmet jelly beans all inside their own little Rubbermaid container with a lid.  Then I used some Darice chalkboard labels, wrote each topping name onto a label with chalk, and stuck it onto the front of each container.  Easy, right?

So when it's game time, all I have to do is pull out my Rubbermaid containers and my store-bought cupcakes (of course you could make your own, too), and we'll have instant treats that guests and family members can customize the way that they want!  To make my store-bought cupcakes look better, I put them inside these cute paper cupcake wrappers and on these cupcake stands from Wholeport.

To make my cupcake bar REALLY cool, I created some fun free Super Bowl printables, which include cupcake toppers (can be used as straw flags as well),

bottle wraps for soda or water,

mini bunting flags, and large bunting flags.  These printables are awesome because you can use them for the Super Bowl, a kids' sporting event or party, or any big game for any sport!  They're very versatile.

I wanted the printables to look like a referee shirt with black and white stripes, so I kept them all black and white (which also makes it a lot cheaper to have printed- you don't have to pay for color copies).

PLUS, I came up with a fun way for my guests to customize their cupcakes and drinks to show which team they're rooting for!

Friends and family can pick from Seahawks and Broncos Sharpie colors, and color in the letters and decorate their cupcake toppers and drink labels with their favorite team colors!  I love that it's a fun way to show your team spirit.

You can also hang a mini bunting up on a cake, or on the food table.  I also created a large bunting as well, that would look great greeting family and friends as they arrive for the game.  You can leave these  black and white like I created them, or you can let everyone know which team you are rooting for by coloring in your team colors with Sharpies!

To download my free printables, just click on the links below!  Keep in mind these are only for personal use, and may not be sold.

Free Printable Super Bowl Cupcake and Straw Flags

Free Printable Super Bowl Bottle Wraps

Free Printable Super Bowl Mini Bunting Flags

Free Printable Super Bowl Banner Flags

For a limited time, you can text COUPONS to TARGET (just type TARGET into the phone number section on your cell phone, and COUPONS into the message section) and grab a coupon for $1 off Rubbermaid Food Storage coupon and a $1 off Sharpie 4-pack or larger.  This deal runs from January 25th- February 8th, so be sure to take advantage of the deal before it's gone!

So which team do you want to win the Super Bowl?  What are you most excited about- the game, the commercials, or the food?

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Free Printable Pirate Valentines

While it's tempting to go out and just buy Valentine's Day cards at the store, I try to make my own cards each year.  These free printable pirate Valentines I'm sharing with you today are my favorite!  It just doesn't get much cuter than this little pirate face, don't you think?  I designed this guy from scratch, and just love him!

Each card says "ARRR Matey, A friend like you is better than buried treasure!"

All you have to do is download my free printable from here, cut, and glue on some chocolate coins.  I found my coins at the dollar store.  Easy peasy!

Use glue dots to stick the chocolate coins onto the card, and these cute little cards are ready to give away to your child's best maties!

If your kids' school has a no candy policy, then you can print out these free printable airplane valentines and attach a toy plane (only 5 for $1 at the dollar store!) to pass out…. the kids won't even miss the candy if a toy is involved, right? ;)

Get your home ready for Valentine's Day with these sparkly DIY XO glitter letters!

Or this fun and easy Valentine's cupcake liner garland!

But my favorite all time Valentine's Day project are these romantic Valentine's Day fortune cookies!  I show you how to open up (without breaking) store-bought fortune cookies, remove the boring fortunes, and then add in your own hot fortunes to give to your valentine!  I show you how to seal back up the package so your unsuspecting man (or lady) will never know, and I include free printable fortunes for you to download too!!

Happy crafting!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Under the Sea Ocean Birthday Party Details

I'm very excited to share this Under the Sea party with you that I put together for my daughter's birthday.  Her party was at the very end of summer, and for the first half of the party we ate and chatted, and the last half we swam.  There are so many fun details that I'd love to share with you!

I chose to use turquoise and white for the colors of the whole party to give it a nice soft natural look.  I wanted the tables to have an ocean feel to them, so I covered them in layers of tulle and net. 

I scattered sea shells, starfish, and those little round glass marbles (they reminded me of bubbles) all over the tables to add to the under the sea theme.  

I also had some tiny little metal crab name card holders that I bought a few years ago from Pottery Barn that I used to hold the names of the food that fit perfectly.  I created the printable signs and all of the food signs with waves on them so they all coordinated and matched.  

There are so many sweet treats that you can serve at an ocean party!  

One of my very favorite things that I made was this edible ocean sea glass.  It is a hard candy that you can suck on (I made them mint flavored), but looks EXACTLY like pieces of sea glass that have been battered around by the ocean waves.  For the directions and recipe, just click here!

I even made them look frosty, like real sea glass!  I'll include a tutorial for those soon, because they're very easy to make, but are very impressive to serve.  Everyone loved them!

They looked great with the chocolate sea shells that I made.  These too were very easy, but looked great on the table.  I also used graham cracker crumbs mixed with brown sugar underneath some of the food to make it look like sand, to add the the ocean feel.

I made these fun oyster cookies with a "pearl" in the middle, and they were a hit!  I'll write a tutorial for these soon.  

I made some homemade salt water suckers in two different shapes (no salt water inside, I just like the name) using this tutorial I shared with you last year.

Seaweed popcorn was such a pretty color, and was easy to make using this recipe.

You'll never guess what the secret ingredient is that gives the popcorn its' color!  

I made this sign, and placed it in front of the candy and treats, along with these cute little cups from Wholeport that matched perfectly.  The kiddos all loved filling up their cups with candy themselves!

 The kids all devoured these gummy sharks!

What under the sea party would be complete without salt water taffy?  I bought the turquoise, blue, and white colored taffy to go with my party colors.

Now for the dinner… yes, I did start with the treats first! ;) I served a build your own taco bar, with tons of different options and toppings for everyone.

The tacos were absolutely delicious, and it was easy to put together since I did all of the prep work ahead of time.  Plus, everyone could make their own the way that they like it!

Then came the cake.  I just love how it turned out!  I made a lovely four layer hombre cake, with each layer a different color of turquoise and blue.  

I added more graham cracker and brown sugar "sand" to the top, along with some chocolate shells.  Please excuse the darkness of this picture.  I had to get all the kids out of the pool to sing happy birthday and cut the cake, and it was dark outside by then.

I also whipped up a handful of these hanging jellyfish that really added to the party theme.  I love the way the long tendrils would slightly flutter in the breeze.  I could watch real jellyfish for hours at the aquarium, and these were the closest I was going to get to having jellyfish at the party! ;)  I'll write up a tutorial for these, too, because I really had a lot of fun making them.

And now for my sweet birthday girl.  I made her a starfish barrette with just a starfish, some tulle, a clip, and some hot glue.  I also made her a freezer paper stenciled shirt with a dolphin and her name on it using the tutorial I shared with you here.  She wore a blue tutu as well that her sister wore for her Minnie Mouse party.  I always try to make some kind of shirt or outfit for the birthday boy or girl to make them feel extra special!  

I didn't plan any games for the party since all the kids swam for hours after we ate.  The party was a huge success, and I honestly had so much time planning it!  Thanks for letting me share with you!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask below!

For more creative party ideas, check out my son's Jungle Safari party!  From free printable safari passes to a homemade base camp where the kids get outfitted, this party is tons of fun!

Throwing a party doesn't have to cost an arm and a let!  See how I decorated inexpensively with Duck tape for my daughter's Minnie Mouse zebra print birthday party.

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Sharing here:  Show and Tell