Her 6th Barbie Birthday Party

Hello Readers!

Wow, Ms. Bree is now 6 years old!  I still can’t believe that my youngest, my baby girl is now 6!

It was a bitter sweet moment if I’m being totally honest.  I truly love and enjoy seeing my children grow every day and seeing them accomplish many things in life but I wish they could remain little forever! Okay, maybe not forever, but at least for a little bit longer. 

February has been a very exhausting but exciting month.  While our daughter celebrated her sixth year of life, she continues to improve in her studies as well as gymnastics and dance.   Our son successfully passed the SRI and MAP Test required to be promoted to the 3rd Grade.  Soon my first born will turn 9 years old and will be a third grader.  Time is going way too fast if you ask me.

I have always aim to make my children's birthdays memorable and this year was no different.  For this year’s theme Ms Bree picked Barbie! 

Since we were celebrating her 6th birthday…. I wanted to do something different, something that expressed her girly and fun side, something MEMORABLE!  And I truly believe I accomplished just that.  While I found Barbie Theme Decorations at our local Party City I was not very impressed by their look.  I wanted something more.  

With the help of some of our friends and sponsors, Ms. Bree’s Birthday Party was epic, a celebration that lasted THREE DAYS!!!

The Decorations

 After spending many hours and pinning many ideas on Pinterest, I came across Cupcake Express- Cupcake & Party Supplies Etsy Shop.   

Kristi has many DIY Printable Party Decorations and her Barbie Theme design was exactly what I was looking for.  It gave the party the feel of being a celebration for a young girl whose no longer a baby.. Make sure you visit her site!! 

You can buy each item individually or you can buy the package.  I opted to buy the Deluxe Package which included the following: 

-"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Banner (each piece measures 5x7.5 in. there is 2 pieces per sheet)
-Cupcake toppers ( 4 designs) * Personalized*
-thank you tags (2 designs) 
-labels (3.75x3in. 6 designs)
-invitation (5x7 jpeg or PDF format) Photo or no photo ( you pick style) * Personalized
-cupcake wrappers (4 designs)
-printable paper (4 digital papers sheets)
-water bottle labels ( 5 on a sheet)
-mini candy bar wrappers (4 designs)
-8 in Circles ( 4 designs)
-Welcome Sign * Personalized
-Straw Flags ( 4 designs)

-Pendant Flag banner ( 2 designs) 

Candy Wrappers

Water Bottle Labels

Straw Flags

Cupcake Wrappers

Pendant Flag Banner

The Invitations 

Hair Style

Introducing Brianna England! Brianna has been my hair stylist and friend for a very long time, so I briefly told her that Ms. Bree wanted her pony tail to imitate the style of the silhouette on the decorations.  Ms. Bree loved it!  

Birthday Outfit:

Our friend and sponsor, Tyree Edwards, owner of Miss Teeny Fab Couture has designed a few items for Ms. Bree.  Tyree's designs are out of this world and are worth every single cent. 

I explained to her what I thought I wanted, provide her with the colors and she took my little idea and turned it into this AMAZING design... bow included! 

To see more of her designs read our post on Miss. Teeny Fab Couture!

Barbie Cookies

YUM, the cookies! Let me tell you about these tasty cookies! They were the hit of the party as well with her classmates! 

Made specially for us by Tiffany's Homemade and they came from New Jersey! When I approached her with my idea, she was excited because this was the first time creating this particular design.  I never doubted her ability to bake the most fabulous cookies! 

The size, the taste and the detailed on each cookie were amazing... I can honestly say they are addicting! They were so pretty I didn't want to eat them, but nobody could resist the taste... 

Barbie's Pink Popcorn

Barbie's Pink Pearls

Barbie's Vintage Cake

Barbie Thank You Bags

 

Product Review by Ma Vie en Pink

Hello Readers!

Today I will be sharing my friend Emily's very simple routine using two amazing products.  While I have not tried these products on Ms. Bree's hair or mine, Emily sure is a fan of these products and is definitely enjoying her curly hair thanks to the results she is able to accomplish.

THE PRODUCTS: 

1. Oyin Handmade Hair Dew- Daily Hair Quenching Lotion; and 
2. Nuance Salma Hayek, Blue Agave Curl Cream.

From Emily...

Hello friends: I have a very simple routine for my wavy/curly hair but since adding/switching the two products pictured above.   I am having so many more GREAT CURLY HAIR days, therefore, I thought I would share this with all of you. 


I usually wash and condition my hair with whatever is in the shower at the time (I know, I know...). 

Lately, it has been Clear Intense Hydration.  After drying my hair off with a cotton T-Shirt, I use a tiny bit of Oyin Handmade Hair Dew Daily Hair Lotion, as my leave in - this stuff is so great I don't even have to crunch my hair. My curl pattern just appears. This thing is a miracle in a bottle once you find the amount that works for you. For my curl type, too much of it will weigh my hair down A LOT. Another plus, it smells delicious! 

                               Their claim: "this creamy, conditioning leave-in is light enough 

                                          for every day. it's great on 'naked' hair immediately after a cleanse,

                                          or as a way to reinvigorate tired hair all the way through your hair 

                                          care cycle. for seriously protective hair experience, try using hair dew

                                          on moist hair (or over a quick spritz of one of our Juices herbal leave-

                                          ins) and then seal ends with one of the Sugar Pomades before gently

                                          manipulating hair into a protective style like braids, twists, or an updo.

                                          days of moisture, sheen, and hair happiness!"

As my styler, I use this cream from the Nuance brand (Salma Hayek at CVS). I apply about a nickel size amount to my curls while my head is up-side-down crunching up my curls and that's it. 

It gives me a soft - not crunchy hold (you know what I mean!). If I want a little extra volume I do use a diffuser on low heat; however, the picture below is just air dried hair (about 60% dry). Anyway, I highly recommend these products because lets face it we could all use more great hair days! 

heart emoticon Ems

Emily sure is a busy mommy! Besides her "twenty four hour mommy job", she has a full time job and is also the proud owner of Ma Vie En Pink Shop! You can find her Etsy Shop here: Ma Vie En Pink Etsy Shop.  Follow her Facebook page at: Ma Vie En Pink Facebook Page and get the latest news on all her latest projects!

  

Valentine's Day Treats

      Hello Again Readers!! It’s been a while since I last posted on our blog, so let me rectify that.

      Today I will be sharing with you two easy recipes that can be used for any event. 

    

     If you follow our Facebook Page (Caramel Curlz & Swirls FB Page), then you may recall me making this sweet and fun filled treat for Ms. Bree’s 6^th Birthday Party.   I will be posting all the details of her Barbie Birthday Bash next. 

     Due to the fact that all her classmates and teachers enjoyed this treat so much, I decided to make it again.  This time the “Valentine’s Day Popcorn” was the main treat which was accompanied by “Sparkling Marshmallow Pops”.

    Both treats are extremely easy to prepare, very inexpensive and it’s guaranteed to make a hit. 

Let’s get started shall we!

THE INGREDIENTS:

1 lb White Almond Bark (Vanilla Flavored);

4 Bags of Homestyle Pop Popcorn (4 bags were enough to make 20 Valentine’s Day Bags);

Red Food Coloring (Magenta/Pink);

Sprinkles (whichever kind your kid loves).

Now, the first time I made this treat I used a large plastic bowl, which was okay but made the “clean up” process a bit difficult.  The melted almond bark becomes hard relatively quickly.  With that bit of information in mind, the second time around I used a disposable roasting pan I got from the Dollar Store. 

This is something your kids can help with. They get to use their little hands to mix the melted almond bark, popcorn and sprinkles! Be prepared, sucking fingers will happen once the mixing part is done!  In another words, this is very messy.  

I tried using a spoon to mix everything but it didn't work as expected, the popcorn would actually get stuck to the spoon, therefore, using your hands was the best advice I was giving so I’m passing this amazing tip to you!

 STEP 1:

Pop the popcorn as instructed on the bags, (Pop 2 bags at a time).

STEP 2:

Melt half a pound of Almond Bark as recommended on the packaging.

STEP 3:

 Add a few drops of the food coloring until you achieve the color you are aiming for.  Mix it well.

STEP 4:

Spread all the popcorn on your disposable pan.

STEP 5:

Lightly drizzle the melted Almond Bark on your popcorn and begin to mix; 
Do this two to three times until you reach the desired results. 

STEP 6:

DROP the sprinkles! Again, you can add as many sprinkles as you (or you little one wants).

AND DONE! 

I used Valentine's Bags that I purchased from Party City.  They come in packs of 20s and they had many designs.  I picked two different designs for the kids. 

               

 

                      Little Man's class                        Ms Bree's class

Pretty easy right!  The teachers loved the popcorn so much the first time I made it, I'm sure there were very happy to get more!! 

This delicious treat can be prepared a day or two in advance.  It approximately took two hours to prepare and filled 40 bags.  

Marshmallow Pops

These pops are even easier to make!  

You will need Wilton Lollipop Wrapping Kit

A bag of Jumbo Size Marshmallows

Left over melted almond bark and left over sprinkles!  

Perfect, do you agree?  You can modify the colors to match your birthday party theme or any special event!

Go ahead, try it and ENJOY!   

~Elena~