Easy Pasta Salad

I was contacted by the California Black Olive Company to see if I was interested in posting a recipe using black olives. I love olives and will eat them right out of the can. However, I have a super, duper, quick and easy pasta recipe. It is so simple even I can't mess it up. I am not one of those cooks who measures things (that's why I can't bake) but this recipe you really can't mess up.

All you need is~

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite size pieces

Box of 3 color pasta, cooked and cooled

1 can California black olives (I cut them in half)

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, cut up (I actually use 2 jars...I love artichokes)

1 small bottle Kikkoman teriyaki sauce

1 small bottle of Italian dressing

optional ~ 2 red, yellow or green (any mixture) peppers, cut up (I didn't use this time)

It's an all in one bowl type recipe! Just mix pasta, chicken, olives, artichoke hearts and salad dressing together. Add teriyaki (and peppers) to taste. I actually used a half bottle of the Italian dressing and a half bottle of the teriyaki. Add more teriyaki and/or Italian dressing to taste. Toss well and serve. SO yummy! So Easy!
How about making some for New Year's....get all fancy and put it in a martini glass and garnish with an olive!

Disclaimer~ I was provided the California Black Olives and supplies for review and no compensation was given, real or implied.

New Year's Eve with Kiddos

I'm quite the boring one when it comes to NYE. I have so many parties all year round that this is one night I honestly don't do anything. I can't remember the last time I was even awake at midnight on New Year's Eve. Lame, I know! However, I was thinking of "pretending" (like at 7 pm~LOL) it is midnight so I can have a little celebration with my hubby and Madison. I've always like the clock cookies but found some other cute kiddo ideas on Family Fun.
Kids can toast the New Year with a cute bubbly Jell-O parfait.

How cute are these chocolate covered ice cream cones as New Year's Eve party hats? The kids can help make them then fill with ice cream to eat! For those of you with little kids, what do you do on New Year's Eve?

Old School with a Twist!

When I was growing up, every party my mom had she served deviled eggs. My mom had tons of special deviled egg plates for every holiday and occasion. I hardly ever see them anymore! Deviled eggs are easy and inexpensive to make so why not bring them back with a twist? Of course, I love interactive stations at parties~ they are fun for your guests...(not to mention they cater to your guests specific taste buds) but stations are easy for you to prepare and maintain as well. So why not try a DIY Deviled Egg Bar at your next soiree?

Southern Living recipes

Suggested Toppings: chopped cooked bacon, smoked salmon, chopped black olives, chopped Spanish olives, sour cream, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and chopped fresh herbs (dill, parsley, chives cilantro), cheddar cheese, cooked baby shrimp, cooked crab meat, chopped ham, and roasted red peppers.

Carnival Party

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas!! I certainly did! Santa was very good to me and Madison! I ended up taking the day off and not posting the winner of the iTunes gift card...well it is LaToya ~ Congrats....you won a $50 gift card my friend!! Well, one of Santa's gifts to me was a new camera!! Yippee! Now maybe I can take better photos of my events! (Once I learn to use it properly) Here is a Carnival party sweets table that I did a few weeks ago for a 9 year old girl. As you know my company does the whole party and I have usually only 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours for complete set up. (a sweet table is included in every party but is only one aspect of the party)
These photos were all taken before topper was on cake...bummer! Anyhoo, I love the classic red & white carnival prints that are easily found. However, just add a few fresh spins on things and it will make your event memorable!
I am a huge believer in asking stores for display items. Many times these items just get discarded so why not ask? The worst they can say is no, right. SO if you see something that you like in a store that is being used for decor or display....ask. I got the red and white striped boxes that the marshmallow pops are in from Dollar Tree.
I already showed you my clown cake pops on Facebook from my cake pop diva Jen. To display them, I used Dollar Tree party hats that I covered in red wrapping paper and glued on white pom poms for buttons.
The cupcake toppers are Meri Meri Circus. Cupcake liners were also included in the package but when you are short on time some things you just don't have time to include. These are so adorable!
All of the food labels were custom designed by Trinity St Studio on Etsy. Mary is super easy to work with and her designs are fresh and simply beautiful! Click on her link to check out her designs!
I love using cones in displays but realistically they don't work for some food items. Cotton candy is one of them. Unless eaten right way cotton candy shrinks and gets hard. For this display, I put the cotton candy and the circus peanuts in Zip Loc bags and used double stick tape to secure red & white striped paper for topper.
We had to move the party indoors 2 days before the party due to forecasted weather conditions so all of the plans and entertainment had to be changed at last minute. I ended up securing a wonderful magician and indoor animal show last minute! The birthday girl loved it and gave me the biggest hug! I'm such the lucky girl!

12 Days of Christmas~ 11th and 12th Day of Christmas

I love my IPhone and IPad!! I also love iTunes so for my last and final gift for this holiday season....Maddycakes will give an iTunes gift card. I am not telling the amount .... yet. It could be a little or a lot! So make a comment below if you are a fan of iTunes. What is your favorite app?

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and I will be announcing the winner on Christmas Day!

12 Days of Christmas~ 10th Day of Christmas

It has been such a hectic holiday season...so thanks for hanging in there when I'm late posting!!

On the 10th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me Cozy Comfort package. One of MM blog followers Krystal had sent me a sample of Tastefully Simple products. I always entertain plus I love to make homemade meals for my family. However, I don't always have the time to make everything from scratch so I love it when I find products that taste awesome and help make things easier. Well, I'm now in love with Tastefully Simple! Krystal so generously offered a Cozy Comfort package for a day in our giveaway.

Cozy Comfort Includes:

Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix

Nana's Apple Cake Mix

Bountiful Beer Bread Mix (this is AWESOME) and all wrapped up in a teal Taffeta gift bag! You got to try these products you simply have to add a few ingredients for homemade, taste like you slaved in the kitchen all day flavor! :) Leave a comment below to enter. Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas EVE!!!!????

Winners of Push Up Pops book are Party Planner Jen and Nikki Lofton-Journey. Message me on Facebook your mailing address or email it to me. Don't forget these books are on pre-order so when they are released your copy will be sent.

12 Days of Christmas~ 8th & 9th Days of Christmas

** UPDATE~ Many of you want this book so we are extending this giveaway to the 9th Day of Christmas as well. SO there will be 2 winners!! I have read that some are having problems writing comments on this blog post~ don't worry...I am counting FB comments as well. Good luck!

On the 8th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me Push Up Pops book! I am so excited to see that fellow party gal Courtney Dial Whitmore from the famous Pizzazzerie has written a book. How does this girl do it all!!!??? I am so excited to get my book!! It is on pre-order so if you win this giveaway...I will add your copy to my pre-order! Courtney is always on the cutting edge of what is hot so can't wait to get my book! I told you HERE that push up pops were the next great thing, didn't I??? (I just wanted to toot my own horn....toot toot!)

12 Days of Christmas~7th Day of Christmas

On the 7th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me Bakerella's Cake Pops book? I just love Bakerella! She was here in Phoenix on a book tour and I was planning on going with my cake pop diva and friend Jen but had to cancel due to having too many things to do for a party the next day.
Well, Bakerella posted pics from 5 cities of her book tour...and there is a pic of Jen with Bakerella and a link to Jen's amazing cake pop roller that she invented. Click here to check it out.

If you already own the book then give it to a friend. To enter, leave me a comment on which cake pop design is your favorite. I will post winner of Sprinkles on Facebook.

12 Days of Christmas~6th Day of Christmas

On the 6th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me a cupcake card from Sprinkles cupcakes! Not much has change since last year's giveaway.....I still love Sprinkles cupcakes! Red Velvet is my all time favorite! I just get giddy when I get one and a bottle of Coke.
Now Sprinkles is offering cupcake cards that can either be mailed or emailed. They are making it super easy to get your fix on! So for today's giveaway (valued at $25) let me know your favorite Sprinkles flavor! Don't worry if you never had it or there isn't one in your area...you can order the cupcake mix and make your own at home!

Leave a comment at the end of post~Good luck! Don't forget to check out the rules here.

12 Days of Christmas~ 4th & 5th Day of Christmas

As you know I'm a party planner so today was a work day for me so I'm sorry not to post new 4th day of Christmas. So I will play catch up and post 2 days.

On the 4th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me another dozen of cakepops!

I see that it is quite popular (as should be) so we will give out some more. Check out the cakepops that Jen from Heavenly Cakepops made for a Circus theme party I had today. Don't you love?? I put the clown cakepops in a party hat (from Dollar Tree~ it had balloons all over it). I covered in red wrapping paper then glued on white pom poms for clown's buttons.

For the 5th Day of Christmas, Maddycakes gave to me, $25 gift certificate from Dollar Tree. You know I love me some Dollar Tree! I get so many party "muses" when I hit those aisles! You know you can get a lot with this gift certificate!

The winner of the 2nd Day of Christmas popcorn is JoEllen.

The winner of the 3rd Day of Christmas cakepops is Mariah from Giggles Galore.

Since the 4th Day of Christmas was today....I'm using the comments from previous cakepop post and randomly selecting another winner......and it is Brandi. Please send me your mailing addresses via message on FB or email it to me.

I'm leaving for the mountains tomorrow...Madison is so excited to see snow and Santa Claus....I will share more later. However, I will have my laptop so will continue to post 12 Days of Christmas and may even get to post some pics of my many parties this month!

12 Days of Christmas~3rd Day of Christmas

The 3rd Day of Christmas Maddycakes gave to me, a dozen of cakepops from Heavenly Cakepops!

(BTW, sorry for late post...will keep it up longer to make up~my Internet wasn't working!) As you know, I talk about my AMAZING cakepop diva Jen all the time. She makes me look good at all of my parties! We have worked together now for 3 years and she has become one of my best friends. She is just the most giving and sweet person and she truly believes and supports me in my dreams! Isn't that great to have???? I so blessed so of course I had to feature her as one of my favorite things to give to my peeps!!! Here are pics of cakepops she has made for a few of my parties.

Santa theme dessert table

Snowman party

Burger Bash

Tea and Twirlies party (Easter)

Super Mario party

Happy Owl-O-Ween party

Princess party

Go Steelers!!

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I told you she was awesome so to win make sure you follow the rules HERE~ and leave a comment on what party you would use cakepops for? Also, today if you have a blog and talk about this giveaway...you will get an extra entry~send me URL in comments or on FB Good luck!

I am announcing winners on Facebook!

12 Days of Christmas~2nd Day of Christmas

On the 2nd Day of Christmas, Maddycakes sent to me any choice of Gourmet Popcorn. Pappa Maize popcorn that is! I am paying homage to the company who gave me this 12 Days of Christmas idea last year plus it's my go to spot for POPCORN here in the Valley. No worries, we will ship to you! To enter for your choice of any flavor gourmet popcorn....check out their site for flavors and leave the choice of flavor in your comment. (My personal favorites are smore's, strawberries-n-cream, candy bar caramel, and apple cinnamon...Christmas crunch is yummy too) For official rules to enter click here. Good luck!!!

12 Days of Christmas~1st Day of Christmas

Can you believe that it is only 12 days until Christmas??? This has been an amazing year and I am so blessed that my job is what I love and my passion. I have been so busy that I went from blogging almost every day last year to much less this year. I am finding that I can link onto many of "muses" so much faster using Facebook. I'm grateful for all of you that chat with me on a regular on FB. There are a lot of changes with my party planning business that has happened in recent months but I embrace change~change is constant for growth. There will be changes to the blog in the new year so stay tuned.
I am so blessed that you visist my blog and FB page so remember last year the 12 Days of Christmas???? It's baaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkkk! I want to show my appreciation for you by giving away gifts every day for 12 days! The gifts will either be from my preferred vendors or just things I love!

To enter daily drawing you must:
1. Be a follower of Maddycakes Muse
2. Be a friend on Maddycakes Muse Facebook also. (I will check) :)

You may receive a total of two (2) entries by selecting from the following entry methods.
1. Leave a comment in response to prize on each blog post that you want to be entered to win.
2. Share on FB regarding giveaway for each prize you want to win and make sure to tag Maddycakes Muse.
3. Tweet about selected giveaway and leave URL to that tweet in comments.
Winners will be selected via random draw and will be notified via email.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise another winner will be selected.

So are you wondering what the First Day of Christmas gift is?????
A $25 Visa giftcard....everyone can use a little extra dough during the holidays. Merry Christmas!

Halo Party

Last Sunday, Maddycakes had a Halo party for an 11 year old birthday boy. I have had the family for clients for 3 years now (they have 3 kids) and I now feel like part of the family! This birthday boy always challenges me because he is a lover of video games and I have never played any! Remember his Super Mario party last year? This year he wanted a Halo theme....huh? I had no idea what Halo was. The first thing I do is go to "Gaming" store and look at the game to see what muses I can get from it. When I saw that it was basically a military video game I knew that I was fine! (You all know I'm a retired Marine!)
Look at the front entrance! A life size Halo figure created by the birthday boy's dad!

If you are having any theme party go through your house and collect any toys related to the theme and use them in your decor. Here is a Halo toy being used on the entrance table.

I got a huge surprise when I got to the home this year. I usually set up in their game room but it had been converted to the master suite so what I had in mind for set up had to be changed. I ended up setting up in the dining room but the backdrop I had created for behind the sweets table was too big to fit in the niche. Oh well, one thing I have learned from doing weekly parties at client's homes~with only 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour set up time and multiple variables that change what you had in mind....just go with the flow and make it work! At least the painting colors work with the red flowers in my ammo can centerpiece!

A Halo figurine guarding the custom cookies.

I used my camouflage tents to hold mini whoopie pies and brownies.

You can embellish any cake with theme figurines to dress it up.

Camo cake pops from my cake pop Diva of course!

Using another toy as a centerpiece on the table. I got the camouflage overlay from Oriental Trading.

I purchased MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) from the Base to use as additional decor. Then let the birthday boy and friends try them. You could get these from a military surplus store as well.

Then I made my version of MREs by wrapping boxes in camouflage patterned duct tape. You can find Duct tape in any color and so many patterns! Easy to do!

The party favors were mini ammo cans filled with a smore's pack with a custom tag. I will show you more details on this in another post. I painted the kids faces in a camouflage pattern to get them ready for war! We had the Game Truck again this year. The kids had a Halo tournament. It was such a hit. I wonder what theme this young man will challenge me with next year?

Gingerbread Playdoh

I found my party favor for Madison's gingerbread house decorating play date next week~gingerbread playdoh!

What a great idea to have scented playdoh....attaching a cookie cutter....love! Check it out here.

Reindeer Love

I am going to a Christmas cookie exchange party tomorrow and was looking for something different and easy to take this year. I stumbled across these ADORABLE reindeer cookies. Madison is in love with Rudolph this year so I know she will love helping momma with these.

So cute ~ you can find the recipe here.

Love the reindeer noses~of course you have to have Rudolph's nose too! These would be so cute as party favors or just little gifts/stocking stuffers for some special kiddos in your life. Made with 8 malted milk balls and a red gumball.

Breakfast with Santa

Madison had breakfast with Santa at her school. I set up a mini sweets table for the event. I wanted to use the colors red and white in keeping with Santa's suit as well as treats be theme related. I bought 2 yards of velvet material and hot glued white marabou around bottom to make the tablecloth.
My camera decided to die so used my IPhone for pics but I think they turned out great!

I had bought some Christmas Candyland printables from Bird's Party last year and didn't get the chance to use them. So used a few of them for this party. However, I'm doing a Gingerbread House decorating play date for Madison next week so you will be seeing more of Bird's Party fabulous printables then!
When I saw these North Pole cupcakes on someone's blog...sorry I totally forgot where I first saw them....I knew that I had to do them. My BFF Jen (Heavenly Cake Pops) made the cookies, cupcakes and Santa Hats) She is the best....I come up with ideas, send them her way and she nails them every time!!! Her creations are always perfect and yummy!!

I just adore these cupcakes so!!
Aren't these Santa hat cakepops the cutest??? The kids went nuts for them!! (the adults too)

I can only dream of one day making cookies this beautiful! I am doing cookie decorating with Jen this year so maybe some of her talent will rub off on me!
Of course had to have snowballs even though most of Arizona kids don't have first hand experience of an actual snowball!

Linking this to Design Dazzle.