One of the hardest part of your child having an egg allergy is making them a cake for their birthday. Last year we did manage to make Nick an eggless cake. I wasn’t about to have my baby miss out on that first birthday cake moment. This year we weren’t sure if we wanted to go that route again, but I still wanted Nick to have a cake. With the way he’s been so picky about food lately though my mom wasn’t sure he’d eat the cake this year. As she put it she wasn’t going to take all the time to make it to have Nick stick his tongue out and go, “yuck.” There aren’t a lot of baked goods that Nick can eat though, so we were left with the alternative of just having Oreos. Nick would have been happy with Oreos since he inhales them, but I wanted something more. The thought of Oreos put my mom’s mind to working though, and she thought of making dirt for the party instead.
I knew everyone in our family would be happy with dirt, but there was a part of me that was still sad that there wouldn’t be a cake to decorate. I asked mom about putting the dirt into a cake pan and she thought that would work. I saw a lot of great looking cakes while doing my Cars birthday party research on Pinterest, and it got me thinking about how we could decorate our dirt cake. I then had the idea of making a road on the cake for Nick’s Cars figurines to sit on. The dirt was already the right color for the road, but we needed a way to make a specific road stand out. That’s when I had the idea of using the vanilla Oreos. The colors made it look just like Radiator Springs!
We were so happy with how our dirt cake turned out. It looked really cute. Nick got a cake that he liked. In fact he really liked it. I loved that we still had a fun cake to display and that there was still a place to put a candle for Nick to blow out (or not blow out as the case was). Another great thing was that since Nick’s toys weren’t sitting on frosting they were totally clean when we took them off the cake. It was just a perfect egg free cake solution all around!
Once May and June hit social calendars are filled up with graduation parties. Those with kids in high school will have a whole lot of them to go to, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of us always get to escape them. The majority of people attending a graduation open house will give a check or a gift card to the graduate. With so much to purchase for college a financial gift is very much appreciated, but what’s the fun in it? Sometimes you want to give a gift that will be remembered, but at the same time you want your gift to be useful and well liked.
My mother felt this way when we started getting invited to graduation parties for close family friends. Gas cards were the staple gift to give in our house, but when she wanted to give a larger amount of money to such good friends it just didn’t seem right. A gas card with a lot of money on it could be a very nice gift, but my mother wanted to do something special. Then someone told her about making a money pizza and the rest is history. Money pizzas became our new staple gift. Everyone we have given has not only been well received, but everyone is always so excited about it that it is shown off to all of the guests. It certainly is a gift that isn’t forgotten. The best part is that it is very easy to make and it takes only a little time.
Supplies:
A large pizza box – It’s best to get a new one that hasn’t been used. Ask at a pizza place for a large box (works best if you’re picking a pizza up at the same time). They might want to know why you want it, but most places will give you one. You can always help sway them by letting them know it’s free publicity because a lot of people are going to see that box!
Thin piece of cardboard to make into the “pizza.”
Red paper – You can use construction paper or tissue paper.
Money (bills and coins)- Go to the bank and take out the amount of money that you want to give the graduate. The amount of bills you need depends on the size that you make the “pizza.” You most likely will need 15 to 20 rolls. You don’t need to give all large bills. You can have a mix of say 20s, 10s, and 5s. Don’t forget to add the amount that the coins add up to as part of the gift amount.
Shredded paper – I just took paper right from the paper shredder, but you could rip paper up too.
Tape
Steps:
Cut out your thin piece of cardboard to make the pizza and cover it with the red paper. It does not need to be a perfect circle. It will have a circular look once you add the bills.
Roll up your bills hot dog length. If you want to give a lot of money, or if you have more bills than you need, then you can roll two bills up together. Once rolled up use a small piece of tape to hold the roll together. Use as small of piece as you can or the graduate is going to spend a long time taking their gift apart.
Tape the bills to the cardboard. Bend them slightly to give a curved look to the outside of the pizza. The bills will go all the way around the outside and then use the remaining pieces on the inside to make “slices.”
Tape coins to the open areas of the “slices” to give your “pizza” toppings.
Top your pizza off with “cheese” by adding the shredded paper. This doesn’t need to be tapped. Just throw the paper on there.
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I can’t believe that it has almost been three weeks since Nick’s second birthday. For the party we went with a Disney and Pixar’s Cars theme. Cars are one of Nick’s favorite things, so he loved the theme. The day itself was a little rough though. Nick hadn’t slept well the night before because of [...]
This is a guest post by Louise Gallagher Cleaning divides opinion – some detest even the thought of cleaning and just won’t even comprehend setting themselves the task of doing it. Others however absolutely love it, seeing cleaning as an-almost therapeutic exercise. Whether you are a lover or hater of cleaning, having certain items to [...]
Do you have a giveaway you’re hosting on your blog? Do you like to get things for FREE? Come join Rock-A-Bye Parents Giveaway Link-Up! You can come here to find the current giveaways that Rock-A-Bye Parents has, and you’ll find a lot of other amazing giveaways from other blogs. If you’re a blogger with your [...]
The force is strong with this offer. For today only (5/4), Mabel’s Labels is offering a special 50% discount off of their Robot and Rocket Sticky Labels in honor of May the 4th be with you! I’ve always thought that was such a corner and cute use of a day all at the same time! [...]
May 3, 2013 Dear Nick, I cannot believe that your birthday month has already come and gone. You’re now a big two year old! I must say that while I am sad that you’re not a baby any more I am finding you to be a lot of fun now. April was quite a month. [...]
Hi! I'm Elizabeth. I'm a busy wife and mother. When I'm not blogging I work in area elementary and middle schools as a substitute teacher. I love to read, sew, travel, and I am a big fan of all things Disney.