Edible Sea Glass Recipe

Are you planning an under the sea, ocean, or mermaid party?  Then I've got the perfect treat for you to serve!  One of my favorite parts of my daughters under the sea party was the edible sea glass that I made.

It is really easy and inexpensive to make, and makes a huge impression on guests because it looks SO realistic!  If you remember when I posted how to make homemade suckers, it is basically the same process, but without the molds.  If you want to wow your guests at your next party, here's the how to…

Edible Sea Glass Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 tsp oil flavor (if using LorAnn's oil, it will be the whole small bottle, 1 dram)- I used mint.
• food color (regular food coloring or gel food coloring both work great)
• Powdered sugar 

Directions:

1.  Spray a light coat of Pam or other cooking spray onto a metal cookie sheet. 

2.  Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup over medium heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Continue stirring, and cook to hard crack (300 degrees F).  When my thermometer is almost to 300 degrees, I go on to the next step, because the mixture will continue heating...

3.  Remove from heat- add flavor and food color.  I used mint flavor and various blues and greens (one color per batch).  When you add the flavor, it's a good idea to turn your head.  These oils are very strong, and when they hit the hot candy mixture there is a little smoke that puffs up that is very strong- best not to sniff it!  Stir approximately 2 minutes, to ensure that the color and the flavor are evenly mixed.

4.  Carefully pour the mixture into the baking sheet, and let cool.  Once it has cooled and hardened, cover the pan with a dish cloth and use a hammer to break up the candy into pieces.  Try to get them the same size as real sea glass so they look realistic.  Don't go too crazy with the hammer, or your candy will get too crushed!

5.  At this point your sea glass candy will look very shiny and sharp.  To make the candy look more realistic, rub some powdered sugar onto each piece to give it that frosted, tumbled look of sea glass that has been battered around for years by the ocean waves and currents.  I also tried to sand down the edges with a dish cloth so that the pieces weren't so sharp.

The kids and parents all LOVED the edible sea glass at the party, and it was so fun to see their reactions when I told them they could eat it!  I told the parents and kids to be careful, because some of the pieces were a little sharp, and as with all hard candy, don't give it to small kids as it can be a choking hazard.  I served mine on a bed of brown sugar and graham crackers mixed together to look like sand, along with some white chocolate sea shells.

You can see more details of the Under the Sea party here and get more inspirations for your next bash!

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

xo, Laura

Sharing here:  Show and Tell

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

Party Sneak Peeks...

Party planning is in full swing over here!

My two youngest kids' birthdays are two weeks apart in August, which makes it a little bit crazy for a mom who loves to plan a big party and make all the food and DIY just about every last detail of the party.... but hey, it's totally worth it to see the looks on their faces at their parties, and to see how much fun they are having with their friends.

Here's a little sneak peak at the themes of my sons and daughter's birthdays...  see if you can guess what their parties will be!

Party #1 (for my son):

Party #2 (for my daughter):

Pretty easy to guess, right?  I LOVE planning parties, and have lots of ideas for upcoming DIY party posts.  Stay tuned!!

xo, Laura

Easy Ocean Animal Cupcakes + My Birthday Giveaway!

Happy Monday everyone!  Today is my birthday (woo hoo!), and I thought it would be fun to do a little birthday giveaway!  

I'll be giving away a $25 gift card and 3 sets of 25 striped straws to one lucky winner!  More details and the easy entry form are at the bottom of the post...

I recently needed a quick treat to share with about 20 of my kids' friends, and so I came up with these easy ocean animal cupcakes as a last minute snack for the kiddos.

If you follow me on Instagram (which I'd love for you to do if you're not already!), you might have seen the above picture of my first batch of these fun fish cupcakes I made for a beach trip with friends on the last day of school.  

I made them again yesterday, but this time I used the Sea Life version of Swedish Fish, which included starfish, dolphins, puffer fish, red Swedish fish, and whales.  I also made some easy little flags to add more color and height to the cupcakes.

I love how they were sooooo easy and fast to make, and all the kids loved them!  I thought I'd share them with you in case you need a quick fun summer treat to share, or even keep all to yourself ;)

Ocean Animal Cupcakes:

• Box cake and frosting (or you could make it from scratch, too)
• Light blue gel food coloring
• Sea Life gummy candies (or Swedish fish)
• Toothpicks
• Masking sticker set (or washi tape)
• Cupcake liners (I used both these blue and yellow baking cups)

1.  Make cake mix and pour the batter into the cupcake liners or baking cups inside of a muffin tin.  I adore the muffin and cupcake baking cups from Wholeport.  They come in all different colors and two different sizes, and are only $2.29 and $2.64 for 50 of them!  And they are greaseproof, so when you bake directly inside them, there won't be any yucky oil marks seeping through them. Bake according to the directions.  

2.  Let cool, and frost with vanilla or cream cheese frosting tinted with light blue gel coloring.  I LOVE gel coloring!  The colors are so much more vibrant, and a tiny bit goes a long way.

3.  Remove a strip of the masking sticker (or washi tape), and push together the two ends.  Stick the toothpick up into the tape on the folded side, and push the tape together to form a cute little flag. 

Stick the flag into gummy ocean animal, and stand back and adore your lovely little cupcake.  Wasn't that easy?

Repeat for the rest of the cupcakes, and snitch a few of those yummy animals...

Now onto my birthday giveaway!!!  

I'm excited to be giving away a $25 gift card to your choice of one of a few of my favorite places!! The winner can choose one $25 gift card from Nordstrom, The Cheesecake Factory, Michaels, M.A.C. Cosmetics, or Amazon.  

AND, the winner will also receive 3 sets of 25 striped straws in red, yellow, and blue, for a total of 75 striped straws!  I LOVE using these straws at all of my parties and when entertaining- they look especially adorable in mason jars!

Be sure to enter to win below!  

Leave a comment for an easy entry, and follow Make Life Lovely for additional entries (optional).  The contest will end on Monday, July 8th at 12 am.  The winner will be randomly chosen and announced here on the blog on Tuesday, July 9th, and will have 48 hours to email me to claim their prize.  

Be sure to check back on Tuesday so see if you are the winner!  If the prize is not claimed, a new winner will be chosen.  This contest is only open to U.S. residents and is void where prohibited.  Must be 18 or older to enter.  Good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway xo, Laura

Discolsure:  I was given craft supplies in exchange for writing about them. As always, all opinions are 100% mine.

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Surf and Turf Dinner Party + Rosemary Potato & Yogurt Dipping Sauce Recipe

One of my favorite things to do during the summertime is to entertain family and friends.  I love to play hostess and put together dinner parties and get togethers.  I have so much fun picking out the perfect dishes and dinnerware, decorations, and food for the party.

Recently I made a delicious surf and turf meal for my family and parents.  I used lots of fresh, natural ingredients, many of them freshly picked from the garden.  I knew I wanted the dinner to have a nautical theme, so I went to World Market and found the perfect dinnerware and entertaining pieces to use!  

I fell in love with so many items from their outdoor entertaining and outdoor dining collections, and found a way to incorporate many of them into my nautical surf and turf meal.  Be sure to check out their fun outdoor entertainment and outdoor dining items to find just the right products for your summer entertaining!

You might already know I have a slight obsession with anchors (and anything nautical, really), so World Market was THE place for me to shop for my dinner!

The anchor and crab Seascape Plates (pictured above) screamed out my name, so I bought a set of 8, as well as three of the matching anchor and crab Seascape Platters.

One of my favorite little nautical details was this Seahorse Spreader.  So cute!  And of course I had to have the matching Seahorse Servers, too, to serve with the Caesar salad.  You might also recognize the Lagoon dinnerware from my Coconut Macadamia Mango Crusted Mahi Mahi recipe.  I used the large Lagoon Platter for serving the garlic bread, and I used the large Lagoon Serving Bowl to serve the Caesar Salad in. I love the light aqua color, and the way that it almost looks like sea glass... beautiful!

Since no party is complete without World Market's delicious Italian Sodas, I picked up five different flavors for our dinner.  So refreshing!  I served them in the Galvanized Party Tub, which was the perfect size to hold all of our drinks.  I also picked up the Black Metal Party Tub Stand, which held the party tub really well so that I didn't have to use up my valuable table space for the drinks.

I've been looking for a few years (literally) now for the perfect drink dispenser for my parties, and I finally found this beautiful glass drink dispenser at World Market for only $19.99!  I bought two, and am absolutely in love with them. They have a few different styles of dispensers there, so be sure to check them out!  The hardest part will be deciding which one to buy!

To add to the nautical theme of my surf and turf dinner party, I included a net onto the table and used it as a runner.  On top of that, I used my DIY American Flag Garland that I made out of burlap and some spray paint. 

I love the color that it added to the table, and it matched perfectly with another favorite World Market find- the American Flag Pillow, perfect for the Fourth of July!  I picked up two of these adorable pillows. 

For our surf and turf dinner, I decided to go with shrimp and lobster tail and top sirloin steak. Yummmm!! We grilled the shrimp and steak, and boiled the lobster tail.

The meat and seafood tasted absolutely perfect! To go with main dishes, my mom and I made some delicious salads.

I made a Caesar salad, and my mom went out to the garden and picked fresh tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and dill to make a tomato basil salad and a cucumber onion salad.  The salads tasted so fresh since the ingredients came straight from the garden!

One of my favorite side dishes I created for this meal were the Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper and Dill Dipping Sauce.  I love that I can smother my potatoes in a tangy, creamy dipping sauce without feeling guilty, since this sauce is made with a Greek yogurt base (instead of heavy mayonnaise) and various herbs and spices.  No guilt at all!

The many different flavors in the sauce all fuse into one, and are amazing with the potatoes, but could also easily be used as a sauce for the shrimp, lobster, or steak.  Here's the recipe so you can try making your own!

Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper & Dill Dipping Sauce:

For the potatoes:

• Red potatoes
• Olive oil
• Fresh rosemary, chopped 
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Diced onions (optional)

For the dipping sauce:

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1 Tbsp. capers, chopped (I used canned)
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
• Sea salt, to taste

Mix up the dipping sauce first so that the flavors can meld together while the potatoes are cooking. 

If you aren't familiar with capers, they are a small round edible flower bud used in pickling and flavoring fish, seafood, salads, etc.  I bought a small jar of capers, as well as my white pepper, at World Market.  Their white pepper tastes great and is very strong, and is the perfect color to blend right into the creamy caper and dill yogurt dipping sauce.

Add all of the ingredients to the Greek yogurt, and stir well to mix in all of the ingredients thoroughly. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Now on to the potatoes!  Wash and slice each potato to about a 1/4" thickness.  Place in baking pan and drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil.  Add the chopped rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and diced onions (if using), and stir to mix.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Halfway through cooking, carefully add another 1/4 cup of olive oil to the potatoes. 

After 20 minutes, pull out a potato slice with a fork, and test for doneness.  If the potato is cooked, then you may either:

1. Remove the potatoes from the oven (and keep warm until ready to serve)  or 

2. Place them in a grilling basket for about 10 minutes away from direct heat on your grill.  This will allow the potatoes to have a slightly smoky, grilled flavor.  If you do the grilling option, make sure that the potatoes are away from direct heat, and be sure to check them regularly!  We also added a few large sprigs of rosemary and some large slices of red onion for extra flavor and color. 

To serve the dipping sauce, I used these lovely large natural baking shells that I bought from World Market.  They come all clean and ready for food to be placed, or even baked, inside of them.  The shells were the perfect size for individual portions of the sauce, and fit in perfectly with my nautical theme!

Good food, a loving family, great weather, and World Market!! The perfect combination for an amazing summer dinner party!

Oh, and a few books and someone to read them to you is crucial, too.  Just ask my daughter ;)

I hope you enjoyed all the fun details of our delicious summer dinner!  If you are doing any entertaining this summer, be sure to visit World Market (in store or on-line) and see all of the amazing entertaining items they sell.  

Cost Plus World Market has partnered up with Southwest Airlines to offer four Great Summer Getaways!  Enter for a chance to win a trip for 4 anywhere Southwest Airlines flies!

There are 4 weekly Grand Prize Packages that include airfare for 4 on Southwest Airlines, hotel accommodations, AND a $500 World Market Gift Card!  You can also earn bonus entries for liking their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr brand pages for more chances to win.

Be sure to enter the sweepstakes here!  And good luck!!  Wouldn't that be so cool if one of my readers won?  Fingers crossed for you!

Are you doing any entertaining this summer?  Any fun vacations planned?  I'd love to hear about it!

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

I am a member of the World Market Trendsetter Tribe, and I was compensated for this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

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