Kid Friendly Beach Drinks

A beach inspired party wouldn't be complete without some beachy drinks.  Pina Coladas, Mai Tais, and Daiquiris all make delicious options for adult drinks.  However, kids love fruity, beachy drinks, too.  I rounded up the following tasty kid-friendly drink ideas for your littlest guests to enjoy at your next beach party.   

Sparkling Peach Punch from Better Homes and Gardens

Pineapple Cranberry Orange Punch from Cooking Light

Blueberry Coconut Slush from Sunset Magazine

Papaya Ginger Smoothie from Martha Stewart

Southern Breeze from Southern Living

Watermelon Cooler Punch from Better Homes and Gardens

Pineapple Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

After creating the Beach Party Inspiration post, tropical inspired desserts were on my mind.  Pina Coladas always make me think of the beach, maybe because my Grandma used to order them with dinner every night on our summer beach vacations.  I made these Pina Colada inspired cupcakes using traditional tropical flavors - pineapple and coconut. 

Pineapple Cupcakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
8 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper muffin liners.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.  In another bowl, mix canola oil, milk, vanilla extract, eggs and sugar.  Add crushed pineapple.  Slowly add flour mixture to batter, mixing with an electric mixer about 2 minutes.

Spoon batter into muffin cups.  Bake about 18-20 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from muffin tins and cool completely on wire racks before icing cupcakes.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
3 ounces of cream cheese, softenend to room temperature
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2-3 tablespoons of milk
2-3 cups of powdered sugar
3 tablepoons of toasted, sweetened coconut flakes

Cream together butter,  cream cheese and cocounut extract.  Gradually add 1/2 cup powdered sugar alternately with 1 tablespoon of milk, beating on low speed until blended and smooth after each addition.  If desired, beat in a little more milk or powdered sugar until reaching desired sweetness and consistency.  After icing the cupcakes, sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes.

Beach Party Inspirations

The beach is my happy place!  There's nothing better than the warm sun on my skin, a light tropical breeze, the sound of waves crashing against the shore, the smell of saltwater and the sound of constant giggles from my kids while they play in the sand or water.   Do you have a favorite part of the beach?

We are lucky enough to be going to the beach very soon with my family!  My kids are thrilled and the countdown has begun.  My mind has been focused on the beach, this week.  So, I gathered some of my favorite beach party pictures for a little inspiration!

A beautiful beach party tablescape ideas from The Tablescaper.

Gorgeous seashell wreath from Martha Stewart.  It would look great on the front door or as a backdrop for a dessert table.

I love these napkins wrapped with twine and a lifesaver from the Princess and the Frog Blog.  What an inexpensive, cute and yummy way to decorate napkins for a beach party.  We always put mints in our guest bathroon for guests when we're hosting a dinner party.  But, here your guests already have their after-dinner mint!

What a lovely sunset beach dinner party from Toast.

These adorable cupcake toppers are from the wonderfully talented Rebekah at A Blissful Nest , seen on Amy Atlas Blog.

This candle from Better Homes and Gardens would make a great centerpiece for any beach themed table

A clever message in a bottle placecard from Martha Stewart.

As a child, I spent many afternoons on the beach looking for sand dollars.  They were my favorite.  I just love these beautiful cookies made by Bees Knees Creative for Frog Prince Paperie.

This romantic beach tablesetting found on Mackenzie Horan would be great for a special occasion.  And these dreamy cupcakes found on Gathering of the Vibes would be a perfect end to a beach themed dinner. 

Preppy Camo Inspiration Board

Two dear friends are throwing a joint 40th Birthday Party for their husbands and have asked me to help out.  One of the birthday guys loves hunting, fishing and pretty much any outdoor activity.  The other birthday guy is super preppy -- he's been known to wear embroidered pants, ascots, bowties and other preppy gear.  They are an unlikely pair, but great buddies. 

The goal of the party is to honor both of their unique styles.  So, I came up with the idea of using a whale image, like the one from Vineyard Vines, but to make the whale using a camouflage design.  Here's an inspiration board I created to start some ideas for party decorations:

Images, starting at top left, working clockwise:

1.  Vineyard Vines bowtie
2.  Cast Iron Cauldron from Amazon
3.  Camouflage Cupcake Liners from The Cupcake Social
4.  Vineyard Vines  Rosecliff Polo
5.  Little Outdoorsman Party by Celebrations at Home
6.  Wine Bottle centerpieces from Hostess with the Mostess

Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe

Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe

This is the recipe I used to make the Lemon Sugar Cookies for the LemonAid Days Party.  I  used a modified version of the most fabulous Sugar Cookie Recipe from the amazing Glorious Treats, which can be found HERE. 

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest of one lemon

Mix together flour and baking powder, set aside.  Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, until combined, about 3 minutes.  Mix in egg, lemon extract and lemon zest.  Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until combined.

Place dough on parchment paper and knead a couple of times.  Working with 1/2 of the dough, roll it into a ball, then roll out the dough into a log shape.  Repeat with the other half of the dough.  Wrap both dough logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about two hours.

After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice dough into 1/3 inch slices.  Place slices on parchment lined baking sheet.  For the lemon inspired imprint on the cookie, lightly press the end of a spool of thread on top of cookie.  Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. 

LemonAid Days Party / Lemonade Stand

LemonAid Days

Do your children love lemonade stands?  As soon as the weather warms up, my children start asking if they can have a stand.  During the month of July, our local news and Salvation Army is sponsoring a LemonAid campaign to support programs at the Salvation Army for homeless kids.  We knew that this was the perfect time and perfect cause for our lemonade stand.  To make it more fun, we invited some of my children's friends over to help host our lemonade stand party.  It was a super hot day, so all the kids had lots of fun drinking and selling the lemonade!  And, the kids were thrilled to learn they made $71.55 to donate to the Salvation Army.

Details:

The first thing I did to prepare for this party was make a coordinating sign and party circles.  The sign let all their customers know that all the proceeds from their stand would be going to the Salvation Army.  I used the party circles as toppers for the Lemon Raspberry Muffins  and to decorate the package on the Rice Krispie Treats.  (If you are hosting your own LemonAid Days stand and want a copy of the sign and party circles, please email me).

In addition to lemonade, we sold Lemon Raspberry Muffins, Lemon Sugar Cookies and assorted Rice Krispie Treats.  The Rice Krispie Treats on a stick were a huge hit with all the kids that visited the stand!

To decorate, I chose a red, yellow and green theme to coordinate with the LemonAid Days campaign.  We hung lemon yellow pom poms from our red open tent (DIY tissue pom pom post).  A green tablecloth from Pomegranate  added some punch to the table.  You might recognize my daughter's ruffled apron from the Rustic Star Spangled Banner Inspired Party-- I repurposed the napkins to make her apron. 

If you are interested in having your own LemonAid Days stand, please visit their website HERE to sign up!

DIY Paper Bag Hanging Stars (or Flowers) Tutorial

 

 

Paper Bag Hanging Stars Tutorial

    

I created hanging stars made out of paper bags to add a festive touch to the Rustic Star Spangled Banner Inspired table (seen HERE).  The stars are very simple to make and the materials are inexpensive!  Here are the simple steps for making your own:

     1.  You will need 5 gusseted paper bags, double-sided tape, string, scissors and a hole punch

      2.  Cut off the ends of all of the paper bags.

     3.  Stack all 5 paper bags and cut the other ends into a point.
  

   
  4.  Place two pieces of double sided tape on either side of each paper bag, near the ends.

 

     5.  Stack all 5 paper bags together and punch a hole in the bottom, middle.  Tie the bags together with string, not too tightly.

      6.  Join the two ends together to make your star.

You could also use 6 paper bags and cut the ends in a rounded shape to make a flower.  

I used white paper bags to make this hanging paper bag flower. Party shops carry an array of colorful bags, so don’t feel limited to just white or tan!  Since these stars/flowers are so easy and inexpensive, I can't wait to try incorporating a bunch of them in a party.  Using 10 to 20 stars over one table would be stunning!  If you try making your own stars/flowers, send me some pictures.  I would love to see how you use them at your next party!

Rustic Star Spangled Banner Inspired Party {as seen on the Hostess with the Mostess!}

This Rustic Star Spangled Banner table was created for an article for my local newspaper about table decorating for the Great American Brass Band Festival.  I am posting this party for July 4th weekend because the elements of the party would work for both a July 4th party and for a outdoor summer concert. 



I chose a red, blue and light blue color scheme for the table.  The color scheme was continued on the party printables, which you can download HERE.  Party circles can be used in so many fun ways throughout a party.  On this table, they were used as cupcake toppers, tags for the mason jar glasses, to decorate the soda bottles (I first removed the original labels), and on the paper bag chip holders.  The star element was also used throughout the table -- the paper bag hanging stars, on the party printables, the pastry crust star on top of the mason jar pie and the star marshmallows in the jar. 

The fabric elements of the party also helped create a rustic, casual feel.  All the fabric also cost about $10, so it was very budget-friendly.  I used a piece of burlap for the table runner.  The red gingham, ruffle napkins were a simple sewing project.  I cut a 12 inch x 12 inch piece of fabric for the napkin.  I finished three sides.  On the fourth side, I attached a ruffle, which was made by folding and gathering a 24 inch x 4 inch piece of the gingham fabric.  The red gingham fabric was also used to cover the mason jar lids. 

For the desserts, the Twisted Sifter made the wonderful Red Velvet and Kentucky Maker's Mark Chocolate cupcakes.  I made the Mason Jar Cherry Pies (recipe) and added the fruit cups. 

Hope you enjoy this beautiful 4th of July weekend!!