When the husband and I hosted a Super Bowl party this year a friend made these cute little oreo truffle footballs.  These little guys were extremely addictive.  So yummy!!!!!

Our friend was kind enough to share the recipe with me after a few reminder *wink wink*.  Although I’ve been meaning to make the truffles for a while there hasn’t been a good occasion to give the recipe a try.  We had some friends over this weekend to check out the new place so I made the oreo truffles as a littler treat for  our friend.  They were a big hit!

Ingredients:

1 package oreo cookies (entire cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate

Crush cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency.

Stir in softened cream cheese.  I had to use my fingers to get it all mixed together well.  The suggestion to use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together just wasn’t working for me.  Or maybe it was taking too long, but either way my hands were very effective.

Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.  I would actually suggest doing 1/2 inch balls. These little guys are super rich and the 1″ balls is about 2 bites. I think having one bite truffles would have been a little better.

Melt white chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. (Tip:  it helps to freeze the uncoated balls for a few minutes to keep the mixture from starting to fall apart in the melted chocolate.)

Once dry, refrigerate.  This makes about 36 truffles (or 72 if you do the smaller truffles as I suggested).  I mean seriously these are SO easy to make and they taste SOOOO good.

Happy Cooking!

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I planned a small/intimate surprise birthday party for my husband turning 30.  And let me tell you he was SHOCKED when he walked in the front door.  I decided early on that I wanted the party to be beer themed, which clearly meant the cake needed to go with the theme.  I was very inspired by a bottle cap cake I found on a blog.

Unfortunately when it came time to making the cake I didn’t have enough time to make fondant.  So I went with option B.  Swiching from a cake to cupcakes. I mean cupcakes are in anyways so win!  Then I made made little bottle cap decorations for each of the cupcakes.  They are super easy to make.  AND how cute are these???

What you need:

Toothpicks
Glue
Beer Bottle Caps

Place a small dot of your duco cement in the center of the bottle cap. Let it dry for 30 seconds or so.

Place the toothpick at an angle into the glue dot.  Roll the toothpicks in the glue a little.  Then hold it in place. Unlike my husband try to put the toothpick at an angle and against the bottle cap edge.

Instead of holding the toothpick while it drys, which takes FOREVER there’s a better option! This took me a while to figure out, but in the end it was a life saver.  Put a second bottle cap on top of the bottle cap/toothpick like so …

Let dry for at least 15 minutes.  The longer the better and depending on the glue you use they will dry at slower or faster rate than mine did.  Then stick it into the cupcake and away you go.  I think it would have been nice to have a few more different types of beer bottle caps, but over all I am very pleased with how they turned out!  Check out the little display:

The color theme of the surprise party was yellow and chocolate brown.  The cupcake liners had yellow stripes on them.  You can find them here and they are pretty cheap and come in a lot of different colors.

Remember how much I wanted to use barbershop straws again? I got them for the surprise party!!  The other small decoration included brown and yellow balloons.

Oh and one more fun little detail for the party … custom napkins!  I had wanted to do custom napkins for our wedding, but it didn’t work out. I would never plan another party without custom napkins.  I love how they turned out!!

Surprise parties are so much fun and all the little tidbits and extra details all the difference in making the party look so cute.  :)

Happy DIY and party planning!

Don’t forget to leave your tidbit by commenting below :)

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As I wrapped up the layout and picture choices for our wedding album with the photographer this week I realized it has been a while since I blogged about wedding stuff.

Wedding blogs turned me onto all sorts of fun little items which make for adorable details at a wedding … or a bridal shower, baby shower or any kind of party really.  One of my biggest must haves for my wedding was purple barbor shop paper straws.

I Googled purple paper straws for weeks and … NOTHING.  I could find gray, pink, red, blue and other colors, but no puprle.  Then I got my Dad to look online.  As always he worked his magic and WALAH …

Check ‘em out:

Photo Credit – ThePartyFairy 2012

They are totally affordable at $21 for 150 straws. I purchased 150 straws with a guest attendance of ~100 people (PLANNING TIP).  The straws were well received by the guests and people were asking for the “fun straws” in whatever drink they were ordering. YAY!

Here’s a couple of my favorite pictures of barbor shop straws:

Photo Credit: Korie Lynn Photography (left) & Guest Picture (right)

Photo Credit: Guest Photo

And for my absolute favorite purple straw picture …

Photo Credit: Sara without an H

Oh my I love that picture!  I’m dying to buy more straws maybe in pink or yellow, but first I need to find a party to help plan and/or host.  Anyone hosting a baby shower or have a bridal shower coming up?  This little detail would be fabulous!

Happy Planning!

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It’s Super Bowl Sunday PEOPLE!  WOOT WOO! Annnnddd it’s also Rebecca’s very first time guest blogging for Life’s Tidbits. 

This picture was taken at FedEx field when the Pats played the Redskins during preseason in 2009.

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The Patriots are back in the game, hoping for a different outcome than 4 years ago  and awaiting the championship trophy. From Brady to Welker to Gronk to Wilfork, the Pats should be unstoppable! While I’ve been a Patriots fan my entire life and have been to some very exciting games, the one thing that stays constant for each Super Bowl (and every other football Sunday) is the munchies.

From the pregame show through the trophy ceremony there is a non-stop spread of food and drinks – or as my siblings and I labeled it – The “Ultimate” Snack.

While it can be any combination of snack foods, I prefer all finger foods. This is the most convenient way to eat on your lap in front of the television and not miss a minute of the game or commercials. The foods have been changed over the years, but the staples are cheese, pesto, hummus, French onion dip, guacamole, nuts, carrots and many more. Don’t forget the chips and crackers to get these delicious snacks from the coffee table to your mouth.

Cheese

You can never go wrong with cheese, but we like a good mix. After all, you are eating for hours, so moods and cravings can change. The variety can be by animal: cow, sheep, and goat or by texture: hard, soft. Some of my favorites are Pecorino, Gouda and my new obsession Boursin.

Hummus

Use the Hummus recipe from the blog last week!

Guacamole

Avocados are a relatively new addition to the spread. While they have been around forever, we did not truly discover their potential until a few years ago. They are so versatile and are actually good for you (in the correct quantities, of course). For game days, I like to use them as part of guacamole.

What you’ll need:
2 avocados
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsps of lemon juice
1 tomato, chopped (optional)
Sprinkle of salt & pepper

You know the avocados are ready when they are slightly soft to the touch, but you do not want them too mushy. Cut the avocado in half and scoop out all of the green up to the skin. Smash the avocado until most of the chunks are gone. Tip: If you keep one of the pits and put it with the finished guacamole, it will delay the browning process. Use a zester or garlic press to shave the garlic and add it to the mixture. Pour in the lemon juice. If you like tomato, they add good texture to the guacamole, but they are not necessary for the great taste. Sprinkle on some salt & pepper to enhance the flavor and refrigerate until game time.

Once done, invite some friends over, sit back, relax and enjoy the game! Go Pats!

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Thanks Rebecca for contributing to Life’s Tidbits! I’m pumped for the game … see you in a couple hours :)

What are you favorite game day snacks??  We are making pig n’ a blanket, cheese/artichoke dip, buffalo chicken bites and some Guinness Stout Brownie Pretzel Bars for our super bowl party.  More on all those yummy treats later this week.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

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Bridal showers are so much fun, but when it comes to opening the gifts you see a ton of the same stuff at each shower.  Glasses, mixing bowls, towels, baking sheets and well you get the point.  Sometimes it’s fun to get something not on the registry and I’m not talking about the re-gifted item or one that you don’t know what to do with when you get home ;)

Option 1

At both my shower and my girlfriend’s shower we got a version of the coolest gift idea.  I’ve been trying to come up with a proper name for this thing, but can’t … so let’s just go with “wine basket”.  

Mine …

Wine Basket Life's Tidbits

A poem was on each bottle describing when we should drink the wine.  In addition it came with wine bottle accessories such as chocolate, picnic blanket, fire cd and stoppers.  Each extra item went with a bottle.

My Friends …


Photo Credit: Sara Without an H

These had HAND MADE labels (so much artistic talent) and again said the circumstance to drink the wine.

I mean really, how cool are those!?!?!  The best part about this type of gift is it is totally customizable.  It is also wallet adjustable since you can modify the number of bottles of wine and accessories you purchase.

Option 2

Now this item I haven’t actually seen been given at a shower (YET!), but I think it would be a fabulous shower gift.  It’s a “Mrs. Hanger” for the bride’s wedding dress.  You can find these all over Etsy.  If the bride isn’t taking her husband’s last name you could also have the hanger personalized with Bride, I Do or something else along those lines.

I purchased the tiffany blue hanger with the notches (these are key to keeping the dress on the hanger).  The blue hanger doubled for as an extra something blue on the big day. 

Take a look …


Note: This is a camera phone picture

I just LOVED the hanger. It added a little something extra for the dress pictures and I got a ton of compliments on it. Sorry I just had to thrown in a couple pictures of my dress here.  Oh and the hanger too =)

Korie Lynn Photography
Photo Credit: Korie Lynn Photography

I’m dying for more unique bridal shower gift ideas, so please do add a comment with your non traditional gift tidbits.

Happy gift giving!!

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