Monday, May 7, 2012

Ready To Pop!

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my little sister. It is her first little one and we are all so excited for her! I can't wait to have a new nephew to brainwash to love me spoil!
Look he already knows his favorite aunt! He started jumping for joy when he could sense that I was near!
I guess you can't really tell, but he was moving around like crazy!

One of the new "hot" themes for baby showers right now is "Ready to Pop" and I loved it, so I went with it. Here is the invite that Jason made. He had fun with the top half while I was writing and tweaking the bottom half.
I think it turned out super cute!

So I went with a popular theme, but I really wanted it to be different from all the others that I was finding online so I brainstormed a bit and decided on some fun food ideas and a few games.

I got help from my sisters with the food (thank goodness)! They did a great job and it was all so yummy! Thanks!

Here is the whole spread...I wanted to take the picture down, but decided since we were at the church I didn't dare. Plus I think somehow it fit nicely...

Now for the close-ups:

Jolly Rancher Lollipops. We found this fantastic idea on Pinterest.

Natalya's step-mother-in-law brought these. I had never heard of them so it was fun to try out something new. They were pretty good, but kind of had a weird texture. Jason said they are like eating rice cakes...

My mom used to make these Corn Pops all the time. They are super yummy!
Here is the recipe, make a batch and be happy!

Corn Pops
1 family sized bag corn pops
1 1/2 c. Butter
1/2 c. Water
2 c. Sugar
2 T. Corn Syrup

Put the corn pops in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a pan. Cook to soft ball stage. Stir constantly so it doesn't burn.  Pour over Pops.  Stir to coat pops evenly.
**Note: use a medium-large sauce pan.  The sugar mixture bubbles up quite a bit.  If your pan is too small it will bubble over!
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MMMMM White Chocolate Popcorn. I can't really say anything more than that. Oh wait, yes I can. Addictive!
Make these and eat with caution. Or just throw caution to the wind...

White Chocolate Popcorn

4 bags light butter microwave popcorn
2 bags White Chocolate Chips
1 bag Caramel Pieces (the kind you find with the chocolate chips)

Pop the popcorn and put in large bowl. Set aside. Melt chocolate chips. Pour over popcorn. Add caramel pieces. Stir to coat.

This recipe is super flexible and all to personal preference. Adjust the amount of chocolate and caramel as you like. Or add little candies like M&M's
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I made the cake pops. Every time I make them I always wonder why I don't make them more often. They are so yummy!
I thought about giving you the how-to for these, in case you haven't made them yet, but honestly just go over to Bakerella, nobody makes them better than her!

The empty plate to the left of the cake pops eventually held Jalapeno Poppers, which were delightful!

We wanted to keep things simple. It was kind of hard to do it, but I think I was successful. The decorations were mostly found at the food table and then just a banner type thing hanging above where Natalya sat.

The happy mommy to be!

So the shower started with lots of visiting. What do you expect when you get a bunch of women together. Especially when there are new babies to be passed around!
And after the initial visiting and yummy treats we ended with a few games.

The first game we had was a POP QUIZ! I took everyone back to their school days where they weren't allowed to talk to their neighbors. And with all pop quizzes if you didn't do your homework you were bound to fail. But like all nice and awesome teachers I gave two easy bonus questions to help redeem themselves. The quiz's topic was, of course Oliver. Check it out and see how well you know Oliver:

POP Quiz All About Oliver
According to name-meanings.com the name Oliver means:
a) He who Supplants
b) Born on Christmas
c) Olive Tree
d) Hollow
Where is the Town of Oliver located?
a) England
b) British Columbia
c) Ireland
d) Rhode Island
Oliver USA makes
a) Footwear
b) Furniture
c) Jeans
d) Camp Equipment
Oliver, the singer is most known for what song?
a) “I Got Life”
b) “Eyes Look Your Last”
c) “I Believe in Love”
d) “Good Morning Starshine”
Who is Oliver Cromwell?
a) An English soldier and statesman who helped make England a republic
b) A prime mover in the trial and execution of Charles I
c) The Lord Protector of England from 1653-1658
d) All of the Above
What song was NOT performed in Oliver! The musical?
a) “Oliver!”
b) “As Long as He Needs Me”
c) “That’s Your Funeral”
d) “Why Should I Worry?”
The Oliver Gang is a collectors group. What do they collect?
a) Oliver and Hart-Parr Tractors
b) Vintage Oliver Bakery Equipment
c) Stocks in Oliver Products
d) 1st Edition books of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
What is Oliver in Disney’s Oliver and Company?
a) Poodle
b) Man
c) Cat
d) Great Dane
Bonus Questions:
1- What is baby Oliver’s Middle Name?
2- When is Oliver’s scheduled birthday


 This is me being the teacher and passing out the quizzes.

It was a lot of fun. We had two people tie with five right answers!
The second game we played was bingo...sounds super original right? Not really, so I had to mix it up a bit and stick with my theme.

Popping Bingo!

First I started out with seven feet of the big bubble wrap
Then I cut them down to 5 bubbles by 5 bubbles. I got about 35 bingo boards (WAY over planned but I wanted to make sure there was enough)
 

Then I made things hard on myself and wrote all the words on the back of the bubble wrap, backwards so you could read it. The easier route would have been to print the words on a sheet of paper and attach it to the back. So why didn't I do that you may ask? I have two words for you...no printer. A problem which is now remedied (just a week too late for this project).

But printed or hand written it was a blast. The room was filled with popping and shouts of "BINGO" and it was perfect.

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it! We had a lot of fun and it was so good to see everyone!



6 comments:

  1. look at you already planning awesome parties for your nephew. I think you are definitely the favorite aunt already. looks like lots of fun! wish I was there to eat your delicious treats. I may have to try my hand at the chocolate popcorn deliciousness.

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    1. DO IT! It is delightful and you will be so happy that you did!

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  2. Jennifer DeWeeseMay 7, 2012 at 8:21 PM

    That is sooo fun Jenessa! Super great idea with the popping bingo! :D

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    1. Thanks! I won't lie, I am pretty proud of that bingo. Even the ugly backwards writing. And I will be using it again for something else!

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  3. I am so STUPID!!! I can not believe that I missed this! More so that my mother in law didn't call or e-mail to remind me. She always does that. Looks like you all had a blast!!!

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    Replies
    1. It's okay! Life happens! But we did have a lot of fun! And we missed everyone who wasn't there!

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