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Circus parties are so popular these days. Check out some of the best new trends here.

Need construction party ideas? We've got them here!

How cool would a paper plate backdrop look at your next party? Learn how to make one.

Check out all the recent posts I've done on Spoonful!

Summer is right around the corner. In fact it's been so warm here, it already feels like summer.

As I've written in my blog before, we have a ginormous lemon tree in our backyard, so lemons are one of my favorite ingredients. I've already shared my lemon cake recipe and my lemon sugar cookie recipe, so of course I had to share my sparkling strawberry ginger lemonade recipe. This lemonade is refreshing and sweet. It's got a little spice from the ginger and earthiness from the lemongrass, perfect for a hot day!

STRAWBERRY GINGER LEMONADE

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 12-15 lemons)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large strawberries
• 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger (a little bigger than a walnut)
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups of sparkling water or club soda
• 4 cups of ice

Directions:

Peel and quarter the ginger. Trim the bottom 4 inches of the lemongrass stalks, and cut in half. Put the ginger, lemongrass, salt, and sugar into a saucepan with two cups of water. Put it on medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is just about to boil. Then take the pan off the heat, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Strain the liquid into a pitcher along with the lemon juice. Mince and add the strawberries. Now you can add the sparkling water (preferable chilled). Serve in glasses filled with ice.

I was also asked by Target to make a wish-list (scroll down to see it) of some of my favorite summer beach and pool items, including my favorite beach towels. By the way, I always buy my beach towels at Target. They're colorful, thick, and not too expensive. I'm especially loving the bright new patterns this year. I can already tell that my daughter will be all over that popsicle towel!

I also picked out some of my other favorite items like the hammock. I'd be so excited to have a hammock in my backyard. What could be better than lounging on one while reading a book. That is truly my dream.

I'm a big fan of the outdoor poufs. How fun would it be to ask your guests to pull up a couple of poufs to join the conversation. :)

One of my all-time favorite summer items at Target is their melamine plate sets.  I have a bunch of their white melamine plates and our family actually uses them all the time (not just in summer). I like this bold leaf pattern. I think some of the trays might work well with what I already have.

And finally, I love the big red outdoor cooler on wheels. Not only would it be functional for entertaining, but I'm grooving on its industrial look.

I always get excited for summer... long days, warm nights, and lots of casual get-togethers with friends and family.

It’s Time for Springtime.

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

 

Little Man Mustache Bash parties are so popular on our site! The theme works great for baby showers, 1st birthdays, and even older boy birthdays.  The whole idea of a boy pretending to be a man is so inherently cute, and then put a tie and a mustache on him and you've just upped the cuteness factor by a power of ten!

I'm super excited to be giving away these little man mustache bash party printables designed by my friend Michelle at Printabelle. Add some of our free mustache photo booth props and you've got yourself a complete birthday party or shower!

This collection includes: invitations, welcome sign, cupcake toppers, water bottle labels, treat toppers, mini candy bar wrappers, "Little Man" banner (big and small), gift tags, thank you and menu/place cards.

DOWNLOAD THE HIGH RESOLUTION FILES FOR PRINTING HERE:

• Free little man mustache bash printables
• "Little Man" Banner

Here are the individual files...

Thank you, Michelle, what a fun collection.

And remember, if you’d like any of these printables personalized, Michelle will do it for $3 per file! To learn more about Michelle and see all the printable collections, head to Printabelle and the Printabelle Facebook page.

For more inspiration, check out the Little Man Mustache Bash parties on our site!

Wait until you see this delicious recipe Molly Allen, our new baking contributor, and the woman behind CakeFYI created for us. After this, you'll never think of carrot cake the same way again!

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing is always a classic favorite around my house. However, sometimes, classics can be made better when you switch things up a bit. For these cookies, I’ve taken the flavor of moist, fluffy carrot cake and combined it with sweet brown sugar icing to create the perfect sandwich cookie.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing

Makes 12 Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup Butter, softened
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• ¼ Cup White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups Flour
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• ¼ Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• ¾ Cup Grated Carrots

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy.

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract and mix well.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and beat until a soft dough forms.

Beat in grated carrots.

Drop by tablespoons full onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to cool on wire racks.

While the cookies are cooling, make the Brown Sugar Icing.

 

Brown Sugar Icing

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup Butter, softened
• 2 ½-3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Milk
• ½ Cup Brown Sugar

Directions:

In the bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter and a 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar.

Add the vanilla extract and milk and continue beating.

Continue to add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

Beat in brown sugar until well combined.

Assembly:

Once cookies have cooled, spread brown sugar icing on the bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie. Press together lightly, making sure the icing spreads all the way to the edge. Let icing dry for one hour.

  Enjoy!!

Thanks, Molly, for the yumminess. To learn more about Molly, check her out at CakeFYI.

It was hard picking just four parties this week. So many wonderful ones were added to our site. But if you want to see some amazing parties, you won't be disappointed with these!

Clockwise from top left:

• Alison J's Ready. Set. Joe!
• Kelli M's Ava's Strawberry Shortcake Party
• Little Wish Parties' Peter Rabbit Tea Party
• Nikki C's Hello Hazel

Can't wait to see what I find next week!

 

 

 

In case you missed them, check out these three recent posts I did on Spoonful!!

Need mermaid party ideas?

Bumblebee parties are perfet for both 1st birthdays and baby showers!

And if you'd like some cake pop eye candy, here you go!

To see more, check out all my Spoonful posts!

Target has a new line of products for the home called Threshold. And to try them out, they gave me a gift certificate for a hundred dollars. Woo hoo! How awesome! But not so fast...

There was one problem with this deal. I went to Target, found a bunch of cool Threshold stuff, and ended up spending more... a lot more out of my own pocket. I couldn't get over the styles, the quality, and definitely the price!

To give you some background, we moved into our house in September. Before that, we got rid of a ton of our things, so it was a lot like starting over.

We bought a bunch of basics, but it's the little details, the fun pieces that gives your house warmth, that we've been missing.

So that was my goal with my shopping spree, to find interesting things that will show off our personality.

The place I started was with pillows. We have a streamlined grey couch that was screaming out for some pizzazz. So I bought these three pillows, all different patterns and textures and I love how they look together. The ikat is my favorite because for some reason I'm really drawn to ikat patterns these days. The red is more of a plush velour and the mustard has a cool texture of interesting seams.

Then I moved on to the throw blanket. Again, I like the neutral color, the texture, and the warmth it brings to the couch. Plus, with our big windows we can definitely use it on chilly nights.

And because of our windows, I've been dying to hang a mirror on the opposite wall to bring the outside in, and I found this retro sunburst mirror that I thought worked perfectly.

And finally, I bought these two votives because I wanted to bring some hammered metal to the space. I put two flameless wax LED candles in them so my daughter can play with them and I don't have to worry about fire. Plus, they smell really good!

Take a look at this Threshold video and I promise you too will find something you want...

It’s Time for Springtime.

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

 

Need some ideas for last minute Easter treats for your celebrations this weekend? Check out these cool Easter treat ideas!

I'm a huge fan of Laura's Little Party. She makes the most original treats and throws the most gorgeous parties!

Here's a photo of some marshmallow pops she made for her Hoppy Easter Party. If you'd like to make some yourself, check out this decorated marshmallow pop tutorial I did on Spoonful.

 

I was asked by Naked Juice to share how our family stays healthy and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

As I've mentioned a lot in my blog posts, I am a huge fan of the farmer's market, so I tend to buy a lot of our family's fruits and vegetables there. While my husband, David, and I eat a ton of vegetables, I must admit my daughter is not always a fan. :( One solution I've come up with is to buy her smoothies. That way, when she refuses to eat anything fresh and green, I know real nutrition is still getting into her body.

So when Naked Juice asked us to try the Strawberry Banana and Mighty Mango flavors, I did not have to convince my daughter to taste test. Strawberry Banana is actually her favorite flavor so she was very happy to help. We'd never tried the Mighty Mango before, and if you like mango, you will love this variety because it's got some serious mango punch.

One thing we also tried, was freezing the smoothie into ice cubes and putting a few ice cubes into a glass of sparking water. It definitely added nice fruit flavor, but was not too overpowering. It's definitely worth a try if you're looking for a little sweetness in your sparking water.

Now on to the kale chips... My husband and I LOVE these and can devour them like potato chips. If you haven't made them before you are in for a treat. (Even my daughter will eat these on occasion).

SPICY GARLIC KALE CHIPS

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash the kale, and remove the stems. Tear the leaves into 2 inch pieces, and put them in a bowl. Add the olive oil, and mix until the kale is lightly coated. I like to mix with my hands, especially with curly kale so I can really make sure each piece gets a complete coating.

Spread the kale evenly on a cookie sheet that is covered with a Silpat or parchment paper. I usually cook it in two batches so the kale isn't too crowded on the pan. Sprinkle the salt and chili powder over the top. I'll taste a little piece of the raw kale to check the seasoning, and adjust as needed.

Bake for 10 minutes and then check on it. Small pieces, or pieces that are in more contact with the pan can cook more quickly. Remove any pieces that are done. They should be light, crispy, and just starting to brown around the edges. Cook for an additional couple minutes until the rest crisps up.

Hide a little extra for yourself because, I promise, these will be gone quick.

Naked Juice is worth its weight in good! There's a pound of fruit in every bottle. Naked Juice has partnered with charity Wholesome Wave to improve access to fresh produce in communities across the country. You can help by visiting www.nakedjuice.com/gooddeeds. For every coupon downloaded, 1 LB of fresh produce will go to an underserved community, up to 100,000 pounds.

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