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I thought this would be a fun post. We get so many amazing superhero parties, I thought I show off these awesome superhero cakes!!!

(Click on the photo to  see the party the cake is from.)

For more inspiration, check out these incredible superhero party ideas and check out our superhero board on Pinterest.

I was asked by Kraft to write a post about how I might try something new to "spice up" my life.

What immediately came to mind were all the things I'm afraid to make in the kitchen. In my fantasy, I am a fearless chef who can tackle anything. In reality, I tend to stick to what's safe (sound familiar, per chance?).

So for this post, I decided to take the bull by the horns and attempt two desserts that have intimidated me for years... chocolate soufflé and tarte tatin.

I got so excited to try them, I actually made the chocolate souffle over the weekend (see photo above). And it wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought... I LOVED HOW IT TURNED OUT. It was so rich and creamy and light and fluffy. And the best party is I felt so proud of myself! I will be posting the recipe later in the week.

This weekend I'm going to attempt a tarte tatin. I think they're so beautiful, and I hope mine look something like the ones I drool over on Pinterest.

And for the third dessert I want to try, I was hoping to get suggestions from you of a dessert you're a little intimidated to make, but think I should attempt. If you have a dessert like this, please leave it as a comment in this post or email me at jillian(at) catchmyparty.com. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Here's another picture of my souffles because I still can't believe I did it!

Kraft Italian Dressing only has one goal in mind... tantalizing your tastebuds. And we're always looking for new ways to help you amp up your zest appeal. Like what you see? Let our Zesty Guy show you even more ways to spread a little zest at getmezesty.com.

 

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Kraft via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Kraft.

Have you ever wanted to design your own party printables, but didn't know where to start? Well, Beth Picard of My Friend Beth and Great Graphics, put together this video to show how simple it is to design a banner. And the best part is you get to create it exactly as you like! 

Hi, I'm Beth, and in this video I will show you a quick and easy way to make a banner. To do this, all you need is Photoshop Elements (version 10 or 11). If you don't have Elements, you can download a free trial from Adobe.

There are two ways you can change your pennant letters. You can save each page you make with 2 flags on it by going to "File: Save As" and choosing where to save it, and name it something like "Banner 1."

Or you can print out your banner pages as you go. If you print as you go, you can simply change the letters right on the two pennants you have, by highlighting the text (it still works when it is sideways), and just changing the letters.  I suggest saving each page, however, because if something doesn't print out correctly, you may want to redo it later.

What's so fun about creating your own printables is the possibilities for creativity are endless!

Here are some sample banners people have made using this same technique.

Fiesta Banner by Bella Grey Designs

Football banner by Church Hill Charm

Under the Sea Banner by Pink Wasabi Ink

Thanks, Beth, for this easy-to-understand tutorial. I definitely get intimidated by graphic design (although I'm getting braver) so thanks for breaking it down and making it look so easy!

Beth Picard teaches people how to use digital paper and clip art through her Photoshop Elements tutorials on her membership site, My Friend Beth.  She also sells digital paper backgrounds and digital clip art for invitations, party decorations and other crafts on Great Graphics.

 

Molly Allen from CakeFYI has developed another awesome treat for us!! It you're into salted caramel, you will love this...

There’s absolutely no denying that the salted caramel trend is here to stay. Today, I wanted to give you a simple blondie recipe, but with a kick. I drizzled them in sweet and salty caramel sauce and topped them with coarse salt for that authentic salted caramel look. Talk about the perfect treat!

Salted Caramel Blondies

Makes 9 Blondies with Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C Butter, melted
• 1 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/8 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 C Flour

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Beat melted butter and brown sugar together.

Add the egg.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture and mix until well combined to form a thick batter.

Spread batter into a greased, square pan.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow blondies to cool in the pan on a wire rack. While blondies are cooling, prepare Salted Caramel Sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp Butter
• 3/4 C Brown Sugar
• 1/3 C Milk
• 1/2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3 Tsp Salt

Directions:

Melt butter on low in a saucepan. Once melted, add brown sugar, milk, and vanilla and whisk well. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Do not stir the sauce until it has boiled for 5 minutes.

Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and whisk well. Transfer the sauce to a mason jar to let cool.

Once blondies have cooled, whisk 1 Tbsp of Powdered Sugar into the Salted Caramel Sauce. Drizzle Salted Caramel Sauce over blondies. Sprinkle with course salt. Enjoy!

 

Thank you, Molly, these are making my mouth water!

To learn more about Molly check her out at CakeFYI.

What fantastic parties this week! Here are my favorites which include a mad scientist party, a petting zoo 1st birthday, a cowgirl birthday, and an Alice in Wonderland Party...

Enjoy these, I sure have!!

Clockwise from top left:

Sharnel D's Mad Scientist Party

Amy W's Ruby's 1st Birthday.. Petting Zoo Theme

Festinhas D's Alice in Wonderland Party

Melissa N's Country Western/Cowgirl Happy 6th Birthday

Can't wait for next week!

 The winner is Michelle Adkins!! Congrats, Michelle!!!

If you love specialty party supplies, then you will love our $75 giveaway from Via Blossom! Via Blossom sell all the best party decor, anything you need to make your party extra special and beautiful. In fact, I'm dying to get my hands on the berry baskets, chevron spoons, and vintage bottles... See some of their selection below.

Via Blossom is the result of two sisters, Cristina and Maggie, joining forces to bring you the most innovative and adorable mini-dessert presentations and party décor.  "We believe that love is in the details and delicious treats should always be accompanied by an exquisite presentation. Our handpicked product selection can be coordinated and mixed and matched to perfection, making party organizing a pleasurable experience."

To enter the giveaway, just "like" Via Blossom on Facebook below, then leave a comment at the end of this post saying you did it!

We’ll pick the winner at random on Thursday, April 18th at 10:00 PM (PST).  Any entries after that won’t be considered, sorry. We will use random.org to generate our winner and will notify the winner by email. Open to US residents only. Good luck!

This is a sponsored post.

Here are my newest posts on Spoonful this week. Get ready to see some terrific photos!

First, browse through this gallery of creative cupcakes and you're sure to be inspired.

Planning an outer space party? Here are some great ideas.

There's nothing more beautiful for spring than strawberry sweets and desserts!

For more inspiration, check out all my posts on Spoonful.

Hello everyone – it’s Melissa from My Party Passion – continuing with my series on Mini Parties On a Budget! Today I want to share with you the Earth Day Celebration I threw for my kids on a budget of virtually zero! Impossible? Well, I used all elements from our home and bought nothing new. Talk about recycling and reusing!

To start, I wanted to have something round on the table to signify the Earth and the recycling cycle so I used my grape vine wreath for that. I added a little ceramic bird to represent the animals. Using a plastic green table cloth left over from our St. Patrick’s Day party was a no-brainer.

One of my favorite ideas and elements is reusing these Puffs Tissue Boxes to put our little “trees” in (from Pottery Barn).  They were the perfect colors to go with our Earthy blues and greens.

Probably my next favorite recycling idea is our Earth Day Banner. The girls helped me assemble this fun banner. Using an old book of maps (see the DIY on Catch My Party) and my Silhouette machine, we were able to put together this fun Earthy banner.

The children feasted on fresh grapes, apples and carrots (sadly no one touched the broccoli lol). They did not miss the “sweets” at all.

Coming up with a “favor” for them was easy!  I had bought these adorable sunglasses at a craft store months ago (less than a dollar a piece on clearance) and knew that I would use them someday.  Perfect fit with flowers and bugs on the glasses!

The next favor that I came up with (wanted an Earthy type of favor) was also using recycled materials.  I had made these cute nature notebooks for my daughter’s Woodland Party last year and I thought how perfect to recreate them for this party.  I used a brown lunch bag, a stamp and some jute twine. It was so easy and pairing it up with a twig pencil was perfect!

My mini Earth Day party did not cost me a penny as I had everything in our home already.  However, you can easily go to the dollar store and get most of these party supplies and throw your own for less than $ 10!

Here are some great resources for you to help celebrate Earth Day in your home:

Free Earth Day printables on Catch My Party - an earth-friendly party sign, party circles, and an "Earth Day Rocks" banner.

Ideas for How To Throw A Mini Planting Party:

Plant Protectors Club – FREE From the EPA They have downloadable products and fun products you can order on line for FREE!

We LOVE this resource and pull it out often in our home school!

Arbor Foundation – you can order 10 trees FREE when you join for $ 10 (6 month membership). They will arrive to your home in the season in which they can be planted.  This is a GREAT way to teach the children about our Earth and planting!  Invite 10 friends over and these would make excellent take aways at $ 1 a piece!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found some great ideas and resources for celebrating our Earth!  Until next time – Party On Friends!

Thank you, Melissa, what a way to have fun and teach our children to be mindful of the earth! To learn more about Melissa, visit her at My Party Passion.

 

Melissa Newell from My Party Passion, is here with this easy Earth Day DIY. Look for her Earth Day Party on a Budget post tomorrow!

Happy Spring!  The flowers are blooming, the trees are alive, and the snow is still in melting mode (hehe).  Regardless of the weather, April is HERE and there is no going back!  I am excited that Earth Day is fast approaching. We always have a great time learning about our planet and what we can do to help preserve it.

TODAY, I am bringing you a tutorial on how I made our Earth Day banner for this year’s celebration -  using recycled maps.

Our public library holds a “used book sale” twice a year.  Books, to our home, are like GOLD!  A few sales ago, I found this HUGE hardcover Atlas with pretty maps in it for $ 1.00!   SCORE!   I knew that I would use them for our schooling in years to come.

diy-earth-day-banner

When I was thinking on what colors and “theme” to go with for Earth Day this year, I decided blues, greens and whites (typical Earth colors) and what better way to incorporate those colors then to use MAPS!

Using my Circle Cutter (Martha Stewart brand), I picked a few maps that would show off  vibrant colors in hues of blues and greens (even snuck in some browns).

Cutting 7 inch circles out – using them for the base of the banner.

Next I found some scrap cream paper to use for the 2^nd layer of the banner.

Cutting – 6.5 inch circles from this paper.

earth-day-party-banner-diy

For the next layer, I enlisted the help of my Silhouette SD Machine (one of my party planning staples)!   I cut the word EARTH and some leaves for embellishment.

Layering these elements, gluing them all together and using some curling ribbon to tie it all together…

Here is the final product!

I bought nothing at the store and used all scrap and materials we already had. My daughter helped and we love the final results!

Be watching for our Earth Day Mini Party on a budget coming tomorrow!   Until next time  - Party On and Protect the Earth!

To learn more about Melissa, visit her at My Party Passion.

Talk about creative! Nicole from Tikkido and Tradewind Tiaras is back with this ingenious DIY as a way to help you bring a little romance back into your relationship! 

Picnic season is nearly upon us. One of my favorite easy "date nights" with my husband is to walk with the family to a nearby park, set up a picnic blanket, and enjoy dinner and conversation and a glass of wine as the girls play on the playground.  It's nice to get a little bit of romance and quiet adult time, even when we don't have a babysitter.

Materials:

• Heavy Duty Pliers (I use lineman's pliers)
• Thick bamboo skewer
• Floral grapevine wire
• hot glue gun
• silk flowers (optional)

 

Directions: 

First, cut a 30" length of the grapevine wire (available in the craft department of major craft stores).  Bend 8 to 9 inches back over itself, and twist to create a double-strong length of wire at one end.  Leave about an inch of the wire sticking out like a tail.  Wrap the single-thickness portion of the wire tightly around the bamboo skewer, starting at the non-pointy end (you want to leave the pointy end free to push into the grass).

Coil the double-thickness portion of wire into an open C shape that gets wider as it spirals upwards so the wine glass can sit nicely in it.

The wire should be pretty secure already, but I give it a little extra permanence with my hot glue gun.  Embellish with a few silk flowers, if desired.

These wine glass holders take only a few minutes to make, and are such a wonderful tool to use on a picnic.  What's your favorite way to bring a little romance to an average evening?

My way, Nicole, is for my husband and I to ask each other what made our day special and really listen.