a reprint from my family blog

We like to celebrate Aprils Fools Day at my house.  Here is a peek at the "chicken pot pie" I made a few years ago (2008)...

For our April Fool's dinner we had chicken pot pie and for dessert we had cupcakes.

Where is the fooling in that you ask?  The pot pie was made with vanilla pudding for gravy, dried pineapple slices for chicken, and candy for corn, peas and carrots.  

I was especially fond of the corn.  Who knew that nuking some Starbursts in the microwave could create such a good "clay" to mold little corn kernels?!?!?  The carrots were also Starbursts and the peas were nuked Airheads rolled into little balls.
The cupcakes were made from meatloaf and covered in purple mashed potato frosting.  We have had the cupcakes for previous April Fool's dinners  so the kids weren't as surprised by them (Luke was - he was obviously to young to remember the last time) but the chicken pot pie was a hit.  

pride and prejudice wedding

I have no time to post but had to share this wedding by Amorology - love it!

to my favorite peeps

Cute, huh?  I'm so making these for friends.  Get the free download here @ eighteen 25.

thank you spammer man

What is it with spammers?  I have had so many spam comments left on this blog as of late it's driving me crazy. 


I have always felt like blogs should be open for anyone to comment (kinda the point of blogging) and I have never used word verification on this blog because I think it's nice for people to not have to worry about it (besides sometimes it's impossible to read those dang words)  Well that is about to change.  I have now added word verification to comments thanks to some spammer in Japan.  Sorry for the inconvenience.


Things like this make me mad (not to mention I'm a little irritable as I'm living on no sleep because of the flu in our house and the last few crunch days before the big Spring Formal I'm decorating for - will Saturday ever get here?!)


So I apologize to those of you that will no longer be able to just leave a comment but instead have to retype some crazy word that you can't always read.  I also apologize for my bad attitude and promise that once I've had some decent sleep I will be a much more pleasant blogger.

queen bee market - let the shopping begin

I have a great friend that I have yet to meet in person but we are in her words "blog bffs"  Mique is the genius behind 30 Handmade Days - a great resource for ideas, ideas and more ideas on anything from crafts, parties, sewing, etc.  If you haven't visited her site, you really should and tell her Denise said hi.  I'm sure you'll love her as much as I do.  

As if Mique wasn't busy enough she is now taking on more and I couldn't be more excited.  I wanted to share with you Mique's newest venture... Queen Bee Market - a hip, modern, and fresh art and gift show in the San Diego area.

Held on Saturday, May 1st, perfectly timed for the week before Mother's Day and beautiful San Diego weather (but really, when isn't it beautiful weather in San Diego?). 

Unlike any other craft fair or boutique, Queen Bee will feature vendors from all over the handmade scene. With purses, jewelry, home decor, children's items, accessories, baby products and more- you won't want to miss out. There's sure to be something for everyone.

In addition to unique products, we'll also be focusing our attention on giving back to the San Diego area. For more information, read what we're up to on our charity page.

You can also visit the the Queen Bee Market blog or check it out on Twitter and Facebook.

For those of you that are interested in selling at the market go and check out the vendor information.  What a great way to get the word out about the products you make.

I'm making plans now to get myself down to San Diego to enjoy some sun and shopping and I'd encourage you to do the same.  It would make a great girls trip!  So pass along the info.  Perhaps I'll even finally get to meet my "blog bff"   See you there Mique!

my soon to be bald boys

I'm interrupting this party blog for an important message from my boys, Nathan (10) and Luke (8).  I'm so proud of them for wanting to help and finding a way to do it.

Hi, this is Nathan and Luke and we are going bald.  Our mom is a little sad to see our hair go :) but it's for a good cause.  

Our cousin Talitha has cancer.  You can read about Tali here.  

We wanted to help so we decided to join with St Baldricks and have our head shaved to show support to those that have cancer and to raise money to help fight cancer.  We are each trying to raise $500.  If you can help us that would be great.  If you don't have the money right now, that's ok too.  Please just say a prayer for Tali and her family - that would be a big help too.

You can check out our websites.  For Nathan go here and for Luke go here.  You can read more about Tali and other kids fighting cancer on our site and there is also a place to make a donation.

You can forward this on to anyone you think would be interested in helping.  We hope that we can get lots of us together to help fight cancer and help lots of kids feel better.

Thank you a lot

Nathan and Luke

st patricks day: lucky you!

It's your lucky day...TomKat Studios has great St Patty's Day printables for the low cost of...FREE.  


Such a great inexpensive way to make the day just a little bit brighter.  I'm thinking I'll use mine in cupcakes for my kids OR maybe I'll cover our corned beef with cute little toppers - I'll start a new trend, meat toppers.  I am totally kidding.  


Click here to download.

hollywood party: the oscar goes to...

I know these amazing cookies from Bakerella are making the rounds on the internet but I love them so much I just had to post them here.  I have Hollywood on the brain as I try to finish up the decor for the Old Hollywood Spring Formal that I'm decorating for.  Do you think I could whip up 400 or so of these cookies for all the high schoolers attending the dance? Um, NO!

alice in wonderland party idea

I just got this in my inbox.  Thank you Disney Family.com!

Perfect little edible teacups for an Alice in Wonderland party.  Here's the how-to.  


I CAN NOT WAIT for this movie.  Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are movie magic in my book.  Friday can't come soon enough.


For my Alice in Wonderland craft ideas go here.

road trip parties

I love taking the party on the road.  Remember when we took our Harry Potter party to the movie line instead of having at our home?  My favorite on the road party was a few years back when my husband and I took off to Tahoe with some friends to see Jason Mraz in concert and have some fun in the snow.  


The party started in the car on the way up with specialized car kits for all the vehicles making the trip.  This kits included traveling tunes, food and more.  As soon as I can find pictures from this trip (I really need to organize the photos on my computer better) I'll post them.


I'm so wishing I had seen this idea before that trip.  Honestly, how cute is this?

I love this homemade car freshener found over at Design*Sponge.  What a brilliant idea!  The tutorial can be found here.

valentine treat - rice krispies

Yes, it's March.  


Yes, I should have posted this before Valentines so people could make them if they wanted.  


Yes, I'm lame.


But we move on.  I'm feeling so bad for neglecting this blog that I thought I'd do this quick post to let you see what I made for Valentines Day.  I can't remember where I saw these but kudos to whoever it was that created them.  They were easy to make and oh so cute.  We delivered some to friends and I also used them at our place settings for our Valentines meal.


All you need is...cones, rice krispies (dyed pink or other color of choice), melted chocolate, and a gumball. I think you can get the steps involved by looking at the picture but if you have questions about the how-to leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.