School Year's Eve- well, afternoon....

I was so sad to hear Cookie Magazine has closed. I looked forward to working with them and feel for all the hard workers who have lost their jobs.

There was always a buzz around school starting when we were kids. We would go to the mall and pick out school clothes, a pair of shoes and new supplies. Maybe it is because I grew up in a very cold dark place and we needed clothes to stay warm. Living in Northern California we don't seem to do the big back to school shop like we did as kids. Maybe it is because Bubbi (grandmother in Yiddish) sends clothes to kidlet, or maybe it is because the sun is still burning brightly and the kids are still wearing their summer duds? For what ever reason we needed a reason to get excited about the new school year California style and Cookie Magazine gave us one.  I recently started working with Cookie and am loving it. They sent me a School Year's Eve Pack, basically a party in a box. School Year's Eve™ is a

 new holiday developed by Cookie magazine and PTA to help get families ready and excited about the new school year.

 I thought, why not try,and win 1500.00$ for my PTA, it would be super to be able to had over a check like that in these times.

My daughter was so excited when the box came and instantly started planning the party. The kit included some goodies like pencils and blowers, a very cute banner, napkins, recipes, and other goodies.

I added socks for each girl and cute pencils, and tissues for their desks at school.  Another great item I added was a discount card from a local art studio called Studio For Art.

You can help out local businesses by promoting them as easily as adding a business card to your birthday gift bags.

To make the cake I bought 3 pieces of cut frosted cake at the store, added green coconut and made quick Rice Crispy treats formed into little apples.

It took about 20 minutes to decorate the 

cake and it was very cute. I stuck with the apple theme after a friend suggested it, you know, - an apple for the teacher.

To make the apples, I made 1/2 a batch of Rice Crispy treats and added red paste coloring just after the marshmallows had melted. I spread the mix out on a buttered sheet pad and let it cool slightly. With buttered clean hands make apple shapes. I just happened to find some green shoelace candy and used that for the stems. My preference would have been to use rolled gumdrops for the leaves but I didn't find them until well after I made the cake. Instead I picked out the green leaves from my Autumn sprinkle mix and added them to the top.

To make the "grass" add shredded coconut and a few drops of green food coloring and shake. 

I noticed that in the party recipe book that Cookie sent was a recipe I have in my book.  Waffle Grilled Cheese, couldn't be easier just toss your sandwich in a waffle iron and press down until it is crisp and melty.

We also had a game or two, the pass the orange game is fun, the girls were having a great time with it. They had to pass it from under their necks with no hands, it was a good laugh.

I can always count on 6 year olds to find a game or make one up, like bowling for chalk.  They stood up the sidewalk chalk and used the oranges from the previous game as bowling balls. It was so cute they "kept score" with hash marks it was adorable.

The day of the party it  was so hot here and I got really lucky and found a Hawaiian Shaved ice machine unopened at Goodwill for ten dollars. I made sure to snatch that goodie up right away. The girls were beside themselves with frosty icy goodness, as was my husband! 

We made the snow cones and used thick mango nectar as the flavoring. 

Being a back to school party I did try to incorporate some reading and problem solving like the pass the orange game and reading the signs and napkins.  They are headed for first grade and all worked on reading the signs as a group, they did great.

overall it was a very fun way to kick off the school year. 

So I hope our photo can win that 

1500.00 for our PTA but even if we don't win it was worth it.