holidays Archives - TaylorMade

Holiday Apple Tea Punch

November 28, 2017 By Taylor Leave a Comment

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!! The holidays are here and one thing is for sure… there will be holiday parties! I absolutely LOVE hosting but this time of year can be stressful because it’s as if a whole year’s worth of celebrations, eating and parties all come together into one little month! If you are anything like me, you worry that you are not enjoying the season because everything rushes by so fast. When I am having a party (any time of the year) my single most important tip is to make anything and everything you can make ahead of time! Finish the decor then make the food and the drinks the day before too! That way you can enjoy your company and visit instead of playing short order cook.

I came up with a super fun and very easy Holiday Punch that you can make, pop in the fridge a day early and the flavors will only get better! I love Iced Tea so this is a fun and festive spin on that. I used Milo’s Tea which I love because it is fresh brewed, and made from natural ingredients with no preservatives or added acids! It has a super fresh taste like you just brewed it at home! Milo’s is a Holiday must have; they offer Unsweet Tea, Tea Sweetened with Pure Cane Sugar, No Calorie, Decaf… even Lemonade. I used the “No Calorie” because I just need all the help I can get this time of year haha. Milo’s was started years ago in Alabama by a woman named Bea when her husband Milo returned from WWII and they have been brewing fresh tea ever since… How cute is that?! I found Milo’s at my local Randall’s in the refrigerated juice and dairy section but they are available at lots of retailers. Find a store near you by using the store locator.

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:

2 cups Milo’s No Calorie Sweet Tea

1.5 cups Club Soda (or a little less if you like it sweeter)

1/2 cup Apple Cider

the juice from 1/2 of a Lemon

a dash of Cinnamon

Sugar

Cloves, Cranberries, Apples and Lemons for garnish

Mix the following ingredients; Milo’s Tea, Club Soda, Apple Cider and Fresh Lemon in a pitcher.

Then add a dash of Cinnamon and mix together. Slice apples and lemons and drop in the punch. Add a few cloves and cranberries and refrigerate for a few hours or even overnight.

Before you serve your punch, you can really impress your guest with cinnamon sugar rimmed glasses. Just add a little sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon to a flat plate and mix it around. Then take a lemon slice and slide it around the rim of a glass a few times and dip the rim in the cinnamon sugar. Everyone will think you are very fancy ;) Let that set for a few minutes. Then add ice and pour in your Holiday Apple Tea Punch… so festive, fresh and tasty!

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® andMilo’s Tea Company, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PassTheMilos http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

A Peppa Pig Tea Party Birthday

October 11, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

This summer our sweet Bee girl turned three! We had a Friday Morning Playdate party with a friend who has a birthday the same week as Bee. They were in the same class in PreSchool so we just invited their class :) The other birthday girl was planning a tea party and Bee was excited about a Peppa Pig Birthday so we mixed the themes and threw a Peppa Pig Tea Party… Super fun!

I made the invitation in Illustrator and I love how it turned out! The other mom saw the wording on an invitation on Pinterest and it went perfect with our theme… I had it printed at our local copy shop and the best part was that we handed them out to the class on the last day of school in May so we didn’t even have to mail them.

How cute is her little birthday outfit?! I found the shirt at Old Navy, the skirt is from Amazon (HERE is the link) and I just hot glued some felt on alligator clips for the little piggy ears :) It was a water party so she later changed into a Peppa Bathing suit… she’s very fancy with her party costume changes haha.

I did a little mini balloon arch over the window in my breakfast room with all of the food. We all know how I love a good balloon arch :) I usually try to choose 4/5 colors for most parties so we tried to stick to Pink, Lavender, Yellow, Green and Light Blue.

For the food we went with a “tea party” ish menu. We had tea sandwiches, fruit salad, pasta salad, goldfish and popcorn in baking cups, watermelon and pigs in a blanket. My mom also made little “tea cakes”, snickerdoodles and sugar cookies. We also served raspberry sherbert punch for the kids and mimosa punch for the moms :)

The other mom throwing the party with me did the flowers in the piggy rain boot which I thought was so cute! And how perfectly girly are these flowers?!

For the backdrop behind the table I used a science fair board and taped the sides flat and covered it in felt. I cut the Peppa family out of felt and attached them together with hot glue. All of the Peppa Pig characters are reposition-able so Bee actually played with this for weeks after the party! Our other friend made the big “3” for her sons party earlier this year and asked if I wanted it… I have been hoarding it ever since haha!

I used my silhouette machine to cut teacups out of cardstock and sewed them together to make a teacup garland. I hung that up with a paper strip garland that I did the same way :)

We put a few cheap kiddie pools in my backyard, one was filled with water and one we filled with Jelly Beads (my kids are obsessed with THESE). I also bought this water toy at the beginning of summer (HERE is the link). It did end up with a few holes in it by the end of summer but we got a few months of play from it. The kids had so much fun playing in the hose and splashing in the water beads!

For the party favor we did a spin in the “adopt a pet” idea I have seen and we did “Adopt a Pig”! I found the Pigs at Oriental Trading Co. They had little shirts with sayings on them but I just cut those off. For the pig pen I got a green foam core board and made a little fence from popsicles sticks and just placed the piggies inside.

We have always had all of our kid’s birthday parties in the afternoon and I have to say the daytime playdate party was a fun change! Happy Birthday to two sweet girls!

Classroom Valentine Ideas

February 2, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

Valentine’s Day is such a fun day for my kids. I told them this year they will be WINNING Valentine’s Day thanks to Minted! I posted a few weeks ago about how I was so excited to learn that Minted now carries Classroom Valentines so I thought I would share what we picked out!

I seriously had a hard time picking just three designs, everything was so cute… thankfully there is next year because it was hard to narrow it down. Of course in 2017 we moms couldn’t just pass out a Valentine’s Day Card, could we… hehe :) I think adding a little something extra is fun, mainly because I love a good theme, so I’m going with it!

For the Boys, I gave them each three choices. That way it wasn’t overwhelming but they felt like they had a say. My oldest chose these hilarious Whoopie Classroom Cards. He’s in 1st grade and I know his class with LOVE these! He is a little older so I went with the tic-tac-toe option on the back. There are several backer options, patterns (like I chose for the littles, photos, messages… so cute) The stickers are so cute too! I found the Whoopie Cushions in a pack of 12 for $6 at Oriental Trading.

My middle son is my animal lover! Amphibians, fish and reptiles specifically haha. He chose the “Iguana Be Yours” Valentines then I found these reptile finger puppets, also at Oriental Trading Co. He is OBSESSED with them and cheered when everything came in so I will take that as a great sign haha. I love the back pattern on this one and of course the custom name stickers too!

For Bee’s class I chose these adorable little Llama Fun Classroom Cards with the wavy edge. I can’t handle them… also the Llama Lollipops? I mean come on. They are almost too cute to eat… almost. They are also from, you guessed it, Oriental Trading Co.

Minted as usual did an amazing job, the quality and selection is A+! Check out all of Minted’s Classroom Valentines HERE. Happy Valentines Day everyone! XOXO

Grinch Munch Popcorn

December 12, 2016 By Taylor Leave a Comment

I can’t believe we are 13 days away from Christmas! For some reason this year, the Holidays really crept up on me! I felt like this last year but it really had nothing on my current status haha! We are super busy, I think that comes with having kids that are getting older. Each one of them have more and more functions…. super fun and kind of exhausting. Ha! We are currently in the last week of school over here and you know what the means… field trips, parties, book exchanges, jammie day, and teacher/class gifts.

I have the teachers covered. All of the kids have amazing teachers this year who go above and beyond so we are getting them gift cards to their favorite restaurants. But… that leaves me with class party treats. I came across this Grinch Munch Popcorn from Imperial Sugar and I actually gasped at how perfect it was! Imperial is an amazing resource if you are looking for last minutes gifts (like me haha) that your kids can help with or just for fun crafts to do together over Christmas break. This treat is super cute and yes, it is sweet, but I think popcorn is a pretty decent snack that kids actually love. This one is super simple but pretty, so people will think you went to more trouble than you actually did haha!

You Need:

-Popcorn Kernels

-Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar

-Vegetable or Coconut Oil

– Sea Salt

-Green Food Coloring

– Christmas Sprinkles/Non-Pariels

Start by heating up 1/4 c of oil in a skillet or dutch oven with a lid. I like to use coconut oil with popcorn, but vegetable will work fine too. Put 2-3 kernels in the oil and when they all pop you know the oil is ready.

When the oil is ready, add in 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, 1/2 cup of Imperial Granulated Sugar, and green food coloring. Remove from heat, add lid and wait about 30 seconds.

Put back on heat and watch carefully (so you don’t burn the sugar) cook for 4-5 more minutes or until the popcorn pops slow down :) Add your Christmas sprinkles or non-non-pariels and sea salt.

This batch I made was huge so I bagged some up for the class party and my kids all had a really festive after school snack! This would also make a super cute girlfriend or teacher gift in a cute bag with a custom tag, So may options! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar for more Christmas Recipes, and Holiday Crafts with kids. Imperial is also hosting a Holiday Baking Bonanza Contest with tons of amazing foodie loving prizes. Check that out HERE. Happy Holidays everyone!