Tie Dye Cake

Lately for birthdays, I've just been making cupcakes and putting them on simple little homemade cupcake stands.  I can match the stand to the party's decor and it's a lot easier to frost a cupcake than it is to try to decorate a cake.  However, for my daughter's Tie-Dye Birthday Party, I decided to try my hand at making an actual Tie-Dye cake, instead of just cupcakes.  I happened to find this Shirt Cake Pan in my basement when I was looking for other party supplies in my basement, and it ended up working out perfectly.  Of course a regular cake shaped pan would be just as cute.

Check out our Tie-Dyed Cake...

Pretty cute, don't you think? 

Here's what you'll need (feel free to make any of this from scratch, I just used store-bought supplies)...

* box of white cake mix + ingredients to make it
* 2 containers of white frosting
* shirt cake pan or any other shape (I happened to get mine years ago at a garage sale and it seems Wilton no longer makes them, but you could check Ebay or Amazon (affiliate link)for used ones, or just make your own shape from a regular sheet cake pan)
* food coloring

Here's what to do...

1.  Mix up your white cake mix according to package directions.  Separate the batter into 4 separate bowls, then add food coloring to each bowl to make the colors you want  ( I think I used about 15 drops of coloring in each bowl)

2.  Pour your batter into your greased cake pan.  I just did a little bit of one color here and a little bit there, until the whole pan was filled with random blobs and swirls of color.

 

3.  Bake according to package directions and allow to cool.  Then invert your cake onto the tray that you'll be using for serving.  (Don't worry if the colors look a little brownish and muted, they're nice and colorful inside the cake.)

 

4. Spread a fairly thin layer of white frosting all over your cake, then divide your remaining frosting into separate bowls and tint with food coloring.

5.  Use a toothpick to sketch a rough tie-dye swirl design in your frosting.  (My photo of the toothpick sketch was too faint, so I've drawn on the design I followed)

 

6.  Add your tinted frosting to your cake following the swirl design you sketched.  I put all my colors on first, then filled in the sections so the colors were touching.  (Notice my fancy cake decorating plastic spoon, I told you I don't decorate cakes often! ;)  )

7.  Finally, use the end of your fancy cake decorating spoon to draw the color from one swirl to the other, wiping off the spoon after each time.

 

8.  That's it!  Stick in some candles, serve your colorful cake to your birthday kid and be proud of your handiwork.

Oh, and things were way too hectic at cake serving time to get a well-photographed shot of the tie-dyed inside, but here's a quick, somewhat blurry, photo I grabbed before the girls came back inside and I had to start cutting seconds.

You can read about all the other details of our Tie-Dye Birthday Party HERE!

Make-Your-Own Lollipops

We made these yummy lollipops at my daughter's recent Tie-Dye Birthday party.  They were a fun little treat for the girls, but they were so easy, they'd be a fun little treat to make anytime.

Check them out...

Now look at how easy they are to make!

Here's what you need...

* Hard candy (photo shows Jolly Ranchers and Lifesavers, but I found that the Jolly Ranchers "melted" the best)

* parchment paper (affiliate link) - found in the baking aisle

* a hard object (to smash the candies)

* sturdy plastic bags (small freezer bags worked great)

* lollipop sticks (affiliate link) - found in                                                   the cake decorating section of most craft stores




Here's what to do...

1. Unwrap your candies and separate by colors in your plastic bags.  Close up your bags then use a hard object to smash your candies into smaller pieces.  ( I used a large wrench ).  You don't want to pulverize them into candy dust, but a variety of smaller-sized chunks.  

2.  For our party, I put the crushed candies in a divided tray so the girls could easily scoop out each color, but you could just go straight from the plastic bags if you want.

3.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to be the size of your cookie sheet, then draw circles with Sharpies to be the guidelines for your lollipop size and placement.  (they do spread out a decent amount, so leave some room between each lollipop)  Flip your parchment paper over so the actual marker circles are underneath, but you can still see the shape - that way the Sharpie doesn't bleed onto your actual candy.

 

4.  Preheat your oven to 225*.  Then allow the kids to scoop out the colors/flavors of the choices and mound them onto the circle shapes.  If you're doing this with more than one kid, allow them to write their name in Sharpie next to their lollipops.

5.  Put your tray into your preheated 225* oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until candies are melted.  

6.  Carefully take out your tray and immediately add your lollipop sticks, rolling them in the melted candy to completely coat the top part of the stick.  Note:  The lollipops will harden quickly, so move pretty fast with this step.

You'll notice that some lollipops were unevenly melted, that was the Lifesavers candies.

I'd recommend just sticking with the Jolly Ranchers, or doing a test batch 

with other varieties of candy.

7.  The lollipops will be cooled and hardened in less than 5-10 minutes.  Just peel them off the parchment paper and they're ready to enjoy!

Sharing our lollipops at:
Tatertots and Jello
The Frugal Girls

Trix Krispie Treats

I made these yummy treats for my daughter's Tie-Dye themed birthday party because the colorful swirls had a tie-dye effect.  However they were really yummy and super easy, so I know I'll be making them often as just a regular treat.

The recipe is really simple because they're basically just Rice Krispie Treats, but with Trix cereal instead.

Here's what you need...

* 6 cups Trix cereal ( I used the swirls one)
* 1 bag of marshmallows
* 3 Tbsp. butter






Here's what to do...

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the marshmallows and stir often until they're completely melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the cereal.  Using a greased spatula, press the mixture into a greased 9 x 13" pan (or you can use a smaller pan for thicker treats).  Allow to cool, then cut with a sharp knife.

And here's the finished treats - easy, colorful, and really good! 

Snowman Sundae

Here's a cute and yummy little treat for the Winter months.  We made ours at our Cousins Christmas party.

Check it out...

Here's what you need:

The ingredients are really pretty flexible, but here's what we used...

• waffle bowl
• vanilla ice cream
• red Twizzlers cut into smaller pieces
• marshmallows
• orange and black gel icing
• miniature Reese's peanut butter cups
• chocolate chips (I intended to use these for buttons, but actually forgot to get them out of my bag ~ oops!)

 Here's what to do:

So simple, just put a scoop of ice cream into the bowl and let the kids add the snowman's features.  Stick in the Twizzler arms, draw a face on the marshmallow with the gel icing, stick on some chocolate chip buttons, add the Reese's cup hat and then ENJOY!

Cute and yummy!

Sharing our Frosty treats at:

The Frugal Girls 

Saltine Toffee

I love making recipes that are easy and delicious, but have a cool little twist.  I first found this Saltine Toffee recipe years ago in one of those community cookbooks where everyone submits their favorite recipes.  I love making it because it's so super simple, but tastes absolutely awesome.  (I've heard of it referred to as "Christmas Crack" and I can see why, it's really addicting!)  You wouldn't think saltine crackers would belong in a candy recipe, but the slight saltiness and crunch that they give this toffee is just perfect.

Take a peek...

Here's what you need:  (It's only 5 ingredients!)

• saltine crackers (about 1 sleeve of crackers out of a box, plus a few extras)
• 1 cup of butter (that's 2 sticks)
• 1 cup of brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 cups of chocolate chips, either milk chocolate or semi sweet (that's about 1 bag)
• approx 3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Here's what to do:

1.  Preheat your oven to 400*.

2.  Line a jelly roll pan (which is a cookie sheet with sides), with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

3.  Line up your saltine crackers in a single layer in your pan.  You'll want them close together, but not touching.  You can break some crackers in half if you need to so the whole pan is covered.

4.  Put your butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, then allow the mixture to boil for 3 minutes, stirring only once or twice.

5.  Pour the mixture over the saltine layer.  Try to pour it fairly evenly over the top, reaching all the way to the edges.  However, it will bubble up and spread out in the next step, so every cracker doesn't need to be completely covered.

6.  Next, put the tray in your preheated oven and bake for about 5 minutes.  The toffee mixture will bubble up and soak into the saltines.

7.  Take your tray out of the oven and sprinkle on the chocolate chips.  Pop it back into the oven for just a minute so the chips soften and melt.  Then use a rubber spatula to spread the melted chocolate evenly over the saltine/toffee layer.

8.  If desired, sprinkle the optional chopped nuts over the melted chocolate layer.  Set the whole pan aside for it to cool completely.  It'll take a few hours for it to cool and for everything to harden.  If necessary, you could put it in the fridge to speed up the process.

9.  When everything has cooled, break the toffee apart into bite sized pieces and enjoy!

Vanilla Wafer Banana Bites

Here's another post using one of our favorite fruits ~ bananas!  I can't remember where I first saw this idea years ago, maybe in some kind of "cooking with kids" book.  Regardless, it's an awesome little treat that kids can totally make themselves (but it's yummy enough that adults will enjoy it too).  

Check it out...

Don't they look like such cute little treats?  Wait till you see how easy they are!

Here's what you need...

Yup, just a banana (you want it pretty ripe, but it doesn't have to be spotted yet like ours) and vanilla wafer cookies.  You'll also want some sprinkles (not pictured).  They're optional, but the addition of just a little bit of sprinkles takes things from a "just a snack" to a "special treat" in our house!

Here's what to do... 

1.  Slice your banana in about 1/4" slices.  Kids should be able to do this pretty easily with just a butter knife or even a plastic knife.  (I told my kids their slices should be about the width of their pinky finger)

2.  Put a slice of banana between two vanilla wafer cookies.  You don't have to press too hard, the stickiness of the banana should hold it together.  (that's why you want to use bananas that are pretty ripe, greenish ones aren't as sticky!)

3.  Shake on some sprinkles for the finishing touch.  (The little ball sprinkles seem to work best!) 

 

That's it!  Takes only a few minutes from start to finish!

Now, these little banana bites are good to eat just as soon as you put them together.  However, if you want a really special treat, put them in the freezer for a little while.  Once frozen, the banana slices taste almost like ice cream!

Sharing this yummy little treat at:

Craft-O-Maniac 
Brassy Apple

Five Fun Ideas for the 4th of July

The 4th of July festivities here in the U.S. are just a week away.  Since it's the perfect, middle-of-summer reason for some fun crafts and tasty treats, I went to our awesome Summer Fun Party themed collection in search of some great patriotic ideas.  

Check out these 5 great ideas that were linked up...

Salad Spinner Fireworks

{ Mom's Crafty Space }

I'm going to have to break out our old salad spinner to 

try out this cool technique.

Don't the paint splatters look just like fireworks?

I can only imagine how much fun the kids will 

have spinning some fun designs.

Patriotic Folded Flag

{ The Chocolate Muffin Tree } 

When I first saw these flags,

I thought the poles were made out of 

some sort of stick or straw.

Upon reading the whole post,

I discovered the flag and pole 

were both made from a single sheet of paper.

We'll definitely be making some of these.

Handprint & Colored Rice Fireworks

{ The Iowa Farmer's Wife }

What a perfect craft for the little ones 

(and bigger kids too).

Make your handprints using paint,

then use glue and colored rice 

for some added dimension.

(Simple directions for coloring rice is given in the post)

Jello Firecrackers

{ Phaedra's Adventures }

We love making treats using Jello 

and these red, white & blue layers look awesome.

(Look at those maraschino cherry fuses!)

Phaedra tells us how to make the kid-friendly version

(as well as how to add the extra ingredient 
if it'll be for adults only)

Red, White & Blue Popcorn

{ Phaedra's Adventures }

Wow!  Phaedra has another awesome recipe 

using Jello to make a patriotic treat.

With just powdered jello and a few other ingredients

you can make colored, flavored popcorn.

I cannot wait to try this out myself

(and you could make different colors for different occasions too!)

Weren't they awesome?  I can't wait to give them all a try for the 4th of July next week (or for any other Patriotic Holiday).


As I mentioned, I collected all of these ideas from among the almost 250 amazing links at our Summer Fun Party.  Check it out if you are looking for some inspiration for kid-friendly fun!

Oh, and even though the title of this post is "5" Fun Ideas, I'm throwing in two more bonus ideas of our own.

 Guest post from JDaniel4's Mom

We've made versions of these smoothie stars

several times now since Deirdre shared her guest post

and my kids love them.

It's amazing how much presentation is the key.

Regular smoothies are good,

but frozen smoothie bites in fun shapes

are just so much more special!

Patriotic Strawberries

These strawberries were so simple to make

but looked so festive and fun.

Plus, if you eat a few, you can count them 

as your serving of fruit for the day! 

I hope you found some fun ideas in this post and I hope you have a happy and safe Fourth of July! 

Sharing these great ideas at:

I heart Nap Time  

Red, White & Blue Frozen Smoothie Stars

I'm really excited to be sharing my blog this summer with several fabulous guest hosts.  About once a week, you'll be treated to a fellow blogger sharing some of the ways they've come together with their own kids.  I'm thrilled to introduce our first guest post with an awesome idea for a frozen summer treat. 


Here she is...

I am thrilled to be guest posting here on Come Together Kids today. My name is Deirdre Smith and I am visiting from my blog JDaniel4’s Mom. My blog is about raising my four year old son, the adventures we  have, the special meals we create, the crafts we make, and the learning we do.
With the 4th of July right around the corner I thought I would share with you  strawberry, blueberry, and vanilla pineapple smoothie stars. They would be wonderful  dessert to pull out for guests attending a 4th of July picnic or playgroup gathering treat for both moms and kids. 

 
Our smoothies are made of three basic ingredients. We start with a  cup of  frozen fresh or frozen canned fruit  in the blender. Then we add  ¾ of cup of liquid to the blender. The liquid maybe milk or fruit juice. Finally we add a small carton of  fruit flavored low fat yogurt.
After blending all the ingredients, we poured the mixture in to a silicone cupcake or muffin tin. For this project we used one that has a star shape.
The tin is placed into the freezer for a couple of hours until the smoothie mixture has hardened. 

 
When frozen smoothie stars are ready, we just popped them right out of the tin. The silicone tin is really flexible and you can just push the back of each of its cups and the stars come right out.
The smoothie stars were extremely solid when we took them out of the tin. They had to sit out on serving plate for a few minutes before we could eat them.
 If you like smoothies, you will just love these.
If you like cooking with your children, here are a few other recipes JDaniel and I have tried together.

Homemade Granola

Easy Apple Crisp

{ Thank you so much, Deirdre!  Those smoothie stars look delicious!  I'm always picking up those silicone trays because I love all the fun shapes, but then I'm at a loss for what to actually do with them.  My kids LOVE when I make them smoothies, so I know they'll go absolutely nuts for these cool little frozen smoothie shapes!  ~ Laura }

Nutter Butter Flip Flops

Today was the start of summer vacation for my kids.  To celebrate the last day of school shoes and the beginning of flip flop season, we made these cute Nutter Butter flip flops.  I've seen fancier versions where the cookies are dipped in colored or decorated with various edible embellishments, but we kept it SUPER simple and just used a tube of decorating icing gel and the package of cookies.  Still lots of fun for the kids and the results were pretty yummy!

There's really nothing in the way of directions.  Open up the package of Nutter Butter cookies, open up a tube or two of decorators icing (we used sparkly gel ones), and squeeze on your flip flop straps.  I kept my sample ones really simple, but the kids added a lot more color and decorations to theirs.  (They're no dummies, they know that the more decorations they add, the more icing they get to eat!)

Check it out! 

Sharing our super simple edible footwear at:

Tatertots and Jello

Grilled Cheese Crescent Bites

Like most kids (and many adults), my children love grilled cheese sandwiches.  There's something about the ooey, cheesy goodness that just brings comfort and happiness to your kitchen, especially on a dreary day.  While my kids like eating the grilled cheese sandwiches I make, I'm not really comfortable letting them stand in front of a hot frying pan to make their own.  We decided to come up with a more kid-friendly version they could help make using another one of their favorite ingredients ~ crescent rolls!

Check out our awesome bite-sized version...

They're easy, yummy and perfect for kids and adults!

Here's what you need:

 

Don't you love two ingredient recipes?  Get yourself some KRAFT Singles (the best for grilled cheese making!) and a package of crescent rolls.  If you're lucky, you'll also be able to enlist the help of a talented young chef.


Here's what to do:

1.  Unwrap your cheese slices and pop open your can of crescent rolls.  (Anyone else get slightly freaked out when opening a can of rolls?  The anticipation of the "pop" when I push down on the container always makes me anxious ~ it's worse than opening champagne)

You'll use a half slice of cheese in each roll.  We folded them into halves, then quarters, and then in half again before putting it on the crescent roll.  

Baking together and a lesson in fractions! :)

2.  Next, begin rolling up your dough with the cheese inside.

3.  Put the rolls on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter.  (optional, but yummy).   You could also sprinkle with a little extra parmesan cheese, garlic salt, etc.

She loved this step!

4.  When they're all buttered up and ready to go, put them in the oven and bake as directed for the crescent rolls.  (We baked ours for about 13 minutes)

5.  Serve with some tomato soup and you're good to go!

We'll definitely be making these again, they were a huge hit with the kids.  My oldest daughter also made a great point while eating hers.  She said these would be "really good for a party if you have a lot of people because you could make a whole bunch of grilled cheeses at once and they would all be the right size."  I totally agree with her!

A quick cute story...  When she was younger, my daughter was convinced the sandwiches were called "Girl" Cheese and insisted that I needed to make something else for her brother instead.   Even though she now knows the correct pronunciation (and allows her brother to eat them), we still call them "Girl Cheese Sandwiches" as a family joke whenever I make them.  When we made this new version the other night and my son ate about 6 of them, we jokingly said we should call our new recipe "Boy Cheese Bites".

One happy boy with his "Boy Cheese Bites"

"As part of the DailyBuzz Moms Featured Publisher Community, 

I received a coupon for free Kraft Singles and a stipend." 

Sharing our yummy bite-sized Grilled Cheese at:
Somewhat Simple 
Here Comes the Sun
Tatertots and Jello 
Frugal Girls  
I heart Naptime