{Sugar Bee} Have a Merry Sweet Christmas!

Once again inspired by The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle and her Mrs. Claus cookies, I decided that I wanted Mrs. Claus to have her day to be recognized. After all, Santa is always getting all the hype and attention, well it was Mrs. Claus' turn (I am sure she is doing all of the preparation and organizing for Santa anyway)! So I created Mrs. Claus sugar cookies! 

I thought, what would be more fitting than accompanying the sugar cookies with chocolate covered Oreos to look like chocolate chip cookies....those are Mrs. Claus' specialty after all. This cookie duo will look lovely tonight on a platter ready for the little ones to dig in!

From my family (and Mrs. Claus) to yours, Have a Merry Sweet Christmas!

{Sugar Bee} Santa's Workshop Lumps of Coal

Looking for ideas for a small and funny gift for a friend, coworker, or neighbor? Or do you need inspiration for a party favor for a holiday party? Well this year I created a sweet treat that also works as a gag gift, so it is fun but still a treat! They are lumps of "coal" straight from Santa's Workshop! Each tag has Santa's official postage stamp and logo, and of course the "Naughty" box is checked! These will surely put a smile on those who receive them! The best part of these treats is that they are SUPER easy to make and I am offering the tags as a FREEBIE to my readers!

Ingredients needed:

Marshmallows

Chocolate or Candy Melts

Oreos (standard size or mini)

Step 1: In a gallon size plastic storage bag place several Oreos inside. Using the backside of a large spoon, crush the Oreos. You can also crush the Oreos using a food processor. 

Step 2: Melt the chocolate or candy melts in a dish or coffee mug. Stir frequently.

Step 3: Take a toothpick and insert it into a marshmallow then dip 3/4 of the marshmallow into the chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off. 

Step 4: Immediately after dipping the marshmallow into chocolate, roll the marshmallow in the crushed Oreos and cover as much surface as you can.

(If you want to have plain chocolate covered marshmallows, eliminate this step)

Step 5: Place on a tray covered with wax paper and place into the refrigerator to harden for 3 to 5 minutes. 

Step 6: Take the toothpick out of the side with the exposed marshmallow and dip into the chocolate and then roll into the crushed Oreos. Place into fridge and let harden.

Step 7: Put "coal" into the plastic bags and tie tags with ribbon.

Now they are ready for gifting! 

Everyone will want to be on the naughty list for this treat!

To download the Lumps of Coal Tags click HERE!

{Sugar Bee} RUN RUN as Fast as You Can, You Can't Catch Me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

I don't think that these sweet treats will make it far! Straight into the mouths and tummies they will surely go!

 

{Party Bee} Hot Cocoa Bar Printable Collection

Add a "Cup of Cheer" to your holiday gatherings this season by including a Hot Cocoa Bar! This printable collection is rustic in feel and compliments the party collection, Home for the Holidays. Your guests will feel toasty and warm gathered by the fire drinking a hot cup of cocoa!

This collection is $10 and comes with the following:

- 5x7" Invitation (envelope not included) (double sided optional), if an invitation isn't needed the back side works lovely as a sign for a frame.
- "Hot Cocoa Bar" Banner
- "Cup of Cheer" circle tags
- "Baby it's Cold Outside, Warm up Here" 8x10" sign
- Menu tent cards/Place cards
- "Please enjoy your hot cocoa by the fire" 4x6" sign
- Square tags for hot cocoa ingredients (ex. Cocoa Mix, Mini Marshmallows, Candy Canes, Chocolate Sprinkles)

To order this collection, just send me an email with the party information (i.e. date, time, place, RSVP, etc.), receive the files electronically, print out what you need, then cut and assemble!

Have questions? Refer to my FAQ's page or send me an email!

{Party Bee} Baby It's Cold Outside, have a Hot Cocoa Bar!

December is finally here and I just love the feeling of this time of year and how the season just brings everyone together.  With the arrival of the month also begins the many Holiday parties!

This year we hosted a neighborhood block party so that we could meet all of our neighbors and get to know each other better. I wanted to really incorporate a rustic vibe to my decor because I think it exudes a warm and inviting feeling and it was important to me that our guestsfeel comfortable and at home in our house. My rustic decorations consisted mostly of natural elements such as wood, greenery, pine cones, and burlap. But I wanted to add a pop of color so I included red elements throughout the room to brighten up the table.    

When I was planning the party I thought, what is more cozy than drinking hot cocoa outside in the cold by a warm fire...so I decided I needed to have a hot cocoa bar. Not only do children love drinking hot chocolate but adults appreciate this warm beverage as well, especially this time of year!

Last year you may recall that I designed a printable collection called Home For the Holidays which had a rustic look. So this year I created a Hot Cocoa Bar collection based on that design! This additional printable collection works well entirely on its own, but looks quite lovely paired with the party collection. 

 

I designed a "Hot Cocoa Bar" banner so that guests knew what the table was all about....if they didn't already know by looking at everything! I also added a couple of sweets to pair nicely with hot cocoa.  I created sugar cookies in the shape of wreaths with bows on top, and mint chocolate covered Oreos with a simple bow to look like little presents.

The hot cocoa bar featured the chalkboard sign letting guests know that they could warm up right there with some hot chocolate. Guests were equipped with disposable cups and sleeves decorated with a printable tag that read "Cup of Cheer", and they also had wooden spoons to use to mix their cocoa powder and yummy toppings. 

Each guest had the option to customize their cup of cocoa by adding, peppermint candy, mini marshmallows, or chocolate sprinkles....or all three if they have a sweet tooth!

Overall the hot cocoa bar was a hit and the kids definitely loved this table! The hot cocoa bar could also be nice with the option of an espresso shot or a shot of Baileys....but that would be for an adult only party of course!

This year if you are hosting a holiday party, try including a hot cocoa bar, your guests will be filled with cheer...even better, a "Cup of Cheer"!

{Party Bee} Printable Letter from Santa

After your kids write their letter to Santa and they are on his nice list of course, it is essential that Santa write back! So I have created an official printable letter from Santa for all of my readers for FREE. There are two versions, one for a little boy and one for a little girl, and even has a coordinating envelope. Watch their eyes light up with excitement when they get this in the mail and read what Santa has written them!

To download this printable for a boy click HERE

To download this printable for a girl click HERE

To download the printable envelope click HERE 

If you have trouble downloading these documents just send me an email!

{Party Bee} Printable Letter to Santa

Christmas time is upon us and all the Elf on the Shelves are out and ready to start their job watching your little ones to make sure they are being good for Santa! Well if your kids are anything like mine, they are ready to send Santa their letter asking him for a few specific presents for Christmas this year. So just for my readers, I have created a festive and FREE printable to make letter writing easier and little more fun!  They can even say hello to a friend in the North Pole (perhaps their Elf, Mrs. Claus, or even Rudolph)!

This would even make a fun activity for the kids to do at a Christmas party or a small get together with friends.

To download this FREE printable click HERE

{Sugar Bee} Pilgrim Thanksgiving Cookies

We have so much to be thankful for this year! I know my kids are extra thankful to have these cookies for dessert after a big turkey dinner with all the fixin's.

Wishing you and your family a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

{Party Bee} Thankful Printable Collection- Turkey Motif

Also new to the collection is the "Thankful" printable collection- turkey motif! With its simplicity and natural elegance, it is sure to bring a warm touch to your dinner table as well as an additional serving of turkey!

The entire collection costs $15 and comes with the following:

* 5x7 Invitation (envelopes not included)
* "Thankful" banner
* "Happy Thanksgiving" banner
* Menu card
* Circle tags in 3 designs
* 4x6/5x7 Decorative sign
* Name place cards/menu tent cards
* Water bottle labels in 2 designs
* Straw flags

To order this collection, just send me an email with the party information (i.e. date, time, place, RSVP, etc.), receive the files electronically, print out what you need, then cut and assemble!

Have questions? Refer to my FAQs page or send me an email!

{Party Bee} Introducing the Thankful Printable Collection- Pumpkin Motif

I am so excited to introduce my newest printable collection for Thanksgiving this year, the "Thankful" printable collection- pumpkin motif! With its simplicity and natural elegance, it is sure to bring a warm touch to your dinner table.

The entire collection costs $15 and comes with the following:

* 5x7 Invitation (envelopes not included)
* "Thankful" banner
* "Happy Thanksgiving" banner
* Menu card
* Circle tags in 3 designs
* 4x6/5x7 Decorative sign
* Name place cards/menu tent cards
* Water bottle labels in 2 designs
* Straw flags

To order this collection, just send me an email with the party information (i.e. date, time, place, RSVP, etc.), receive the files electronically, print out what you need, then cut and assemble!

Have questions? Refer to my FAQs page or send me an email!

{Party Bee} Thankful Table this Thanksgiving

Every year when Autumn begins, we are so excited for Halloween and all the festivities that the month of October brings and when it ends, somehow Christmas pops up everywhere and Thanksgiving is brushed aside. Even more, the amount of Thanksgiving decorations is quite sparse in the stores. This holiday seems to get overshadowed by Halloween and Christmas, and I can  understand since I do love both of those holidays so much! But it has always been important for me to not let Thanksgiving go unnoticed and unappreciated, isn't that the point of the day anyway, to show appreciation?! So this year I created a printable collection that allows us to show how "thankful" we are for all of the blessings we have in our lives.

I created a very simple, elegant, and natural design so that I could take an earthier look this year. This design has a lovely pumpkin motif, but I also created a collection with a turkey motif for those who want to really celebrate "turkey day"! The banner featured here simply states "Thankful" so that we can be reminded of all to give thanks for this year.....and we have so much!

Each place setting has a menu card outlining everything that is being served for dinner. There are also little mini chocolate covered Oreos as a sweet treat to get the guests palate started. Then as a thank you party favor, each place setting has a large chocolate Covered Oreo with a tag that says "Thankful for you" so each person knows that they are also loved and appreciated.

And of course what table setting would be complete without water bottles adorned with coordinating labels to wash down all the delicious food and goodies!

It doesn't take much to dress a table for Thanksgiving, but it is the little things that go a long way....both in decorating and in life! So this year appreciate the little things in life, sometimes they are what make life BIG!

{Party Bee} Turkey Party Hat Coloring Activity

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it has definitely been hard to keep my kids focused on the day of giving thanks because they keep seeing Christmas decorations and advertisements everywhere they go. So I thought they needed an activity to get them excited for turkey day and what better than Turkey party hats! But these are even more fun since they are also a coloring activity!

As you can see my kids loved the activity and thought they also worked well as turkey puppets (ha ha, they are so creative)!

You and your family can also create these fun turkey hats as I am giving them for FREE as a big THANK YOU to my readers!

To download the Turkey Party Hat Coloring Activity click HERE

Enjoy spending time with your little ones and have fun crafting for Thanksgiving!

{Queen Bee} Kids Thanksgiving Placemat Coloring Activity

October flew by and here we are in to November, which means we are gearing up for the biggest meal of the year... Thanksgiving dinner! As you prepare your list of ingredients and gather your decorations, add this FREE printable to your day's schedule! The Sugar Bee Bungalow is offering a Thanksgiving Placemat Coloring Activity. This is the perfect activity for children to help pass the time as they wait for dinner to cook. It is also useful to help catch the mess that they may make while eating! Your kids will also get to participate in being thankful by filling in what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving!

To download the FREE Thanksgiving Placemat Coloring Activity click HERE!

{Party Bee} Itsy Bitsy Harrison Turns One!

This Halloween was so eventful for me! It started with the most wonderful 1st birthday celebration for a little guy named Harrison! I was so honored to be a part of this sweet boy's special day and I hope he enjoyed his very first birthday party!

His mom came to me with such a brilliant idea to combine Harrison's favorite song (Itsy Bitsy Spider) with Halloween, since he was born just a few days shy of the holiday. I thought that was such a fun idea so away I went designing a collection that was child friendly, playful, and still fit for a spooktacular Halloween!

I used many different kinds of spiders as accents to the table and goodies to keep with the theme. The spider web pull-apart cupcake cake was adorned with a handful of spider rings so that the kids could get a little toy along with their sweet treat. Even the plastic utensils rolled in spiderweb napkins had spider rings!

 

Harrison's mom cutely packaged the party favors in coordinating green bags with thank you tags attached.

Tinsel spiders were also fun and cute, so I placed them on the tables as if they were just roaming around the spiderweb patterned tablecloth!

The water bottle labels  and cupcake paper toppers added some color along with personalizing the decor with the birthday boy's name and age!

Even the sugar cookies had spiders on them...friendly ones of course! I didn't want the kids to be afraid of any of the treats so it was important that they be colorful and have silly bulging eyes and smiley faces.

When the children got to the party, they were able to find their seat by locating their name on a Spider Tootsie Pop! I especially loved the plastic tablecloths that Harrison's mom found. They were perfect for the theme and the Spider Tootsie Pops really looked cute sitting on top.

 The birthday boy was just the cutest! Look at that sweet smile!

 Every child needs to have a party hat!

 As he got ready for cake, his face was just lit up....it was so adorable!

 Smash cake time was fun....making messes always is!

 The aftermath of the smash cake....well done Harrison.

 Such a cute family! Harrison is very loved!

Hope you had a very happy birthday, Harrison!

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your family's special day!

{Party Bee} Itsy Bitsy Spider Birthday Party Printable Collection

Is your "itsy bitsy" having a birthday? Well try this collection for a perfect party to celebrate your little one's big day!

The whole collection is $20 and comes with the following:

* 5x7 invitation (envelope not included)
* "age of child" banner
* "name of child" banner
* Circle tags (these are perfect for cupcake toppers, cookie tags, treat bag tags/labels, confetti, the uses are endless!)
* Circle tags with names of the children attending the party
* Water bottle labels
* Juice box labels
* Thank you labels

To order this collection just send me an email with the party information (i.e. date, time, place, RSVP, etc.), receive the files electronically, print out what you need, then cut and assemble!

Have questions? Refer to my FAQs page or send me an email!

{Queen Bee} Disneyland Surprise!

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I surprised our little ones with a trip to Disneyland. I did this in part because telling them any earlier would result in being asked if we are going to Disney everyday (perhaps every hour) until the day we left.....but mostly because I love surprises and this would be so special! So I thought the best way to surprise my son and daughter would be to just let them get into the car and have it decorated with Mickey Mouse related decorations and little activities and things just for them.

So I created a banner using construction paper and twine. I also transformed a wooden photo box (found at Michael's Craft Store) into Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse boxes and filled them with small Mickey and Minnie themed toys, DVDs, stickers, notepads, t-shirts, and other activities to help keep them occupied during our long ride to California. The best part was that the box was their own souvenir to fill with odds and ends they collected during their vacation! Last but not least, I made Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sugar cookies for all of us to enjoy during our trip. Those were gobbled up!

Once they got into the car they immediately found their boxes and when they asked why the car was decorated with Mickey and Minnie decorations, their faces filled with excitement!

Though it was super tough keeping this trip a secret, these smiles made all of our hard work and secrecy so worth it!

 Disneyland was so much fun and I look forward to surprising them the next time we go to Disneyland!

It was happiest place on earth because it made my kids the happiest little boy and girl!

To download the templates I used to trace onto the construction paper click HERE!

{Sugar Bee} Witches Fingers

Last month my older brother saw some really cool and nasty looking finger cookies on Facebook and asked me if I could make them for him. I said sure! They couldn't be that difficult, right? Plus, they are pretty creepy and fun and I always love a challenge. Well, they were slightly more challenging than I thought. Not because it is hard to roll and shape them, but trying to find a recipe that won't expand and flatten so much that they look like giant ogre sausage fingers. But in the end, I think they turned out pretty well....well enough that even I have trouble stomaching the thought of biting into one! My daughter won't even go near them!

If you are looking to give them a try, I suggest the following: I found Giada's recipe for these cookies to be the best as far as keeping its shape. When you roll them into approximately 5 inch "ropes"/fingers, make sure you roll them pretty thin as they will expand (no wider than 1/2 inch). If you use too much dough, they will be too wide and will lose the finger shape....that is when you get into ogre sausage finger territory. Lastly, if you plan on creating a "dirty" finger look, brush on the cinnamon after the cookies have baked and cooled slightly.

Halloween is drawing near, so these are perfect to make for your family, friends, co-workers, or at your next party! They will certainly turn heads...and maybe stomachs!

{Sugar Bee} Cookies that "Vant to Suck Your Blood"!

It is Halloween time and in our household we celebrate with fun, silly and not so spooky decor and goodies. So after seeing The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle create the most adorable mustache vampire fang cookies a couple years back, I thought what a perfect way to add to the playfulness of the holiday and I had to make them. Not only are these yummy to eat, but they are so much fun to play with as well....just look at the smile on my son's face (well it is behind those silly vampire fangs)!

My son had a blast with his mustache vampire fangs and my daughter thought her fangs were funny, but mostly just wanted to eat them!

 I just love to watch the smiles on their faces as they eat their treats!

What are you making for Halloween this year?!