Chloe's very first request with her Merida party was the cakes.  Not the costume, not the bows & arrows - the cakes.  She wanted cakes EXACTLY like the one in the movie that Merida gives her mom.  Perfect - except she was SO picky and it had to be exact - and I have no clue how that fictional animated cake came to be.  I did exhaustive research into pastries, cupcakes, all sorts of variations.

There were failed experiments with cookie doughs and pastry - some looked ok, but were thick and brick-like, others were flat and ugly.  I was feeling silly and ridiculous for wasting so much time on a child's party, when I finally figured it out!  It isn't exact, but it's close enough to satisfy my Picky VonPickyPrincess.  It's basically a bundt recipe made in cupcake tins, which makes them so dense that the centers sink and the edges round out and become golden. These are SO, SO yummy! They taste a lot like buttermilk donuts somehow, with a slightly lemony flavor from the glaze.






"Magic" Merida Cakelettes
1 box yellow cake mix
1 3 1/2 oz box instant pudding mix (I used vanilla - could use lemon)
4 eggs
1/2 c oil

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  Fill greased cupcake pan with batter (a little more than 1/2 full for each cup).  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes (fork needs to come out clean - make sure they're done, my first batch had extremely doughy centers)

Glaze
2 C powdered sugar
1/4 c lemon juice (scant fourth, don't over-do it)
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp water

Mix glaze together while cakes are baking.

After cakes are done, remove to rack to cool slightly.  While they are still warm, dip/coat/drizzle with glaze.  Back to the wire rack for cooling thoroughly. (tip - put wax paper or something under the wire rack, as the glaze drips)

Filling
1 c chopped strawberries
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over low to medium heat.  Boil on low for about 2 minutes until filling thickens, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and cool.

Assembly
Some of the cooled and glazed cakes will have centers sunken enough to add filling to as-is, but most will require a little extra shaping.  Using a spoon, scoop out a small divot in the center of the cake.  Add  about a Tbsp of filling to each cake's center, keeping it neat and round as possible if trying for the Merida cake look-alike. (if not, no worries!)

To finish off food - Bear-shaped sugar cookies (I know, they should have been chocolate! I realized after the fact), and a basket of BRAVE fruit snacks for the littles rounded up the buffet.


For Decorations, draped dark brown burlap and plaid fabric look both rustic & Scottish.  Coordinated color napkins, etc, of course. I bought supplies to make clan banners, but settled for throwing up a few Brave posters we had on hand when we ran out of time. Oh, and I came up with a digital decor that was a huge hit.  Using my AppleTV, I downloaded a ton of pics from Brave and streamed them one of the slideshow options, together with celtic music from our iTunes.  It ran on the TV in the background and provided a constantly changing decor and atmosphere.

For Fun! Not much was necessary for entertainment after giving kids bows and arrows, but for the sake of fun and whimsy, we had to make the "magic" cakes actually turn the kids into bears, like it does in the movie.
Super simple craft: headbands from the dollar store, black cardstock, metallic markers that color on black, and a hot glue gun.
Kids cut out "ears" and decorated them with their markers to have fuzzy centers.  Some were silver, some were pink, some purple - really cute.  Then I just glued the ears to the headbands - right side of the ear to the wrong side of the headband, then folding the ear up to stand.  The kids loved them and were adorable too.

FINALLY - the Dress. 

I don't usually make a costume for a birthday party, but since Chloe's birthday lands a couple months before Halloween, it was the two birds - one stone scenario.  Luckily there is a pattern that works almost perfectly.  McCalls 5499 is excellent in every way except the sleeve. That was just some trial and error.  Some versions I've seen do a false elbow inset, but I found it just as easy to have the puffy sleeve underneath be a full sleeve with the over-sleeve attaching with strips at the shoulder, like Merida's does. Around the neck it is just a ruffle though, not a full shirt.

For more pics of the dress and cloak: Halloween Costume post

That's it! I did say that I had a ton more ideas though, and here are some of them that I ran out of time, energy, cash.....for. Still, I'll pass them along in case anyone is interested.  Super cute stuff!

This and other Merida Party Ideas

Disney printable and craft ideas - BRAVE themed

Bear mask, in case you prefer it to ears.

Welcome to Part 2 of the Merida party post!  It seems that blogger finally let me post part 1 in its entirety, and though I've already lost a pic on this post and I've just started writing, I'll keep my fingers crossed that we'll get through to the end.  Because what good are bows without ARROWS?!?  NO good, I say! And of all the tutorials for bows that I found online, I found very little about arrows and had to make it up as I went along, so I need to share and make the world a better place - it's what the blogosphere is about, right?! ;)

Supplies Needed:
Wooden Dowels (I chose 5/8" - the orange tipped ones)
Duct tape
Foam (I used pipe insulation left over from bows, but pool noodle foam or batting would work too)
Paint (optional)

Step 1: Cut dowels to 18".  I bought 36" dowels and cut them in half using a saw.  I sanded the edges a little so they wouldn't be rough.

If you want the arrows colored, now is the time to paint them, before putting the tips and fletchings on.  We faced a dilemma here because we wanted to stay authentic to Brave, and make realistic looking arrows, but we also knew that the arrows were likely to go missing deep in bushes in trees.  Therefore, we opted to paint them neon glow-in-the-dark and attach neon fletchings.  This is the BEST part for kids - they LOVED painting the arrows neon camo - which is a hilarious contradiction in terms ;)

Step 2: Add fletchings. Cut three pieces of Duct tape, approximately 2 - 3 inches long. It doesn't really matter, as long as all three are the same length.

 - Lay the dowel on an approximately 2 1/2"-3" strip of duct tape, leaving about an inch of the dowel at the end to grab on to when shooting (I learned this one the hard way, putting my first flight right at the end).

- Line up a second piece of duct tape, cut to be the same length as the first, along the edge of the first piece, with the dowel coming to the center of the second piece of tape as it does the first one.  Make sure to not let the two pieces of tape touch on the other side of the dowel - leave their sticky sides open.

- Line up a 3rd piece of identical duct tape along the final sticky edge of the original piece of tape.  Smooth to center and the dowel, then match up with second piece of tape and press all tightly to each other and to the dowel.

Looks like this

Step 3: Shape fletchings. Cut each flap into a triangle shape, tapering toward the front of the arrow. (Learned this one the hard way too - tapered my first one the wrong direction and my triangles faced the wrong way.)

Triangles need to look like this

Step 4: Safety Arrow Tips. Cut foam about 1 1/2", then cut in half.

- Wrap foam around tip of dowel.  I used a little glue (E6000) at first, but after a while I realized the tape alone held them on very securely.  *Note, my kids wore through these tips in only a couple of days and we added extra layers of foam.  On subsequent arrows, I started off double thickness and they have been fine - though I recommend checking them regularly as they do need to be re-tipped from time to time for safety.

-Wrapping a strip of duct tape around the fom tip keeps the foam from coming off in chunks when the arrow hits anything abrasive. Then using either electrical tape or more duct tape, wrap the base of the foam, around the dowel joining them securely.

Finished Arrow

Oh, I almost forgot that the arrows do need little notches for nocking them on the string.  You can see it in the Finished Arrow pic, that there is a tiny little groove in the bottom of the arrow.  I just used a file out of the toolbox.

Go to A very BRAVE birthday party - Part 3: Goodies & Fun Stuff

I don't know about you, but I ADORED the movie Brave.  Not sure if it's the celtic thing, or the mother-daughter thing, or the nature thing, but the whole film just resonated with me.  So I was thrilled when Chloe chose Merida as her princess to emulate for her 7th birthday.

Immediately my mind whirred with big, BIG plans!  As usual, barely a fraction of those plans made it to fruition.  I dream on the scale of Disneyland-- I live on the scale of reality.  Reminding myself that even if I don't have 10 ft tall clan banners lining the walkway to my house as guests arrive, we can still have a grand time together keeps me focused on what matters. ;)

This series of posts includes everything I did (if not everything in my imagination) for a fun Brave themed birthday party.  Including:

*PVC Bow construction

*Wooden dowel safety tipped arrow construction

*"Magic" Merida cakes & bear cookies

*Bear ears for those who may, unfortunately, eat the cakes

*A few decorating ideas and links

An absolute necessity for a proper Brave party are bows & arrows - making this a BRAVE party on more than one level.  What kind of COURAGEOUS(insane) person plans a child's party with projectiles?! And on a budget, to boot.  I didn't want cheap dollar store bows that break in moments - I wanted bows that really work!  I was so excited when I found this tutorial and this one too on how to make bows out of PVC.  However, as I did modify and made some changes of my own, including clarifying some issues I found missing in other tuts, I'm going to outline my process:

BOWS

We wanted our bows to look more wood-like and less PVC-like, so we went with brown and opted to wrap the bow in duct tape rather than paint it.  Why?  Well, I got very excited about the tutorials, ran to the hardware store, got my supplies, came home and was looking online for more measurement details when I ran across several warnings that PVC shatters under pressure and should not be used to make bows. Now, granted, this was talking about 8 ft bows that were being used to hunt elk, not little kid bows that wouldn't have nearly the poundage of pressure applied, but it still scared me.  PVC slivers are crazy scary!  After some more research though, multiple recommendations of wrapping the bow in duct tape re-established safety precautions and we were back in business - if the bow splinters at all, the tape holds the splinters in until it can be disposed of instead of going into the operator's hand.

Supplies needed:

1/2" PVC (comes in 10 ft lengths - I got 3 bows per length)

Foam pipe insulation (comes in 6 ft lengths)

Nylon chord

Duct tape

Electrical tape (optional)

Step 1: Measure PVC to desired length.  I was able to get 2 longer and 1 shorter bow (older and younger kids) out of each PVC length.  *Note, I made shorter bows for younger kids (5 and younger) but the older kids told me that actually the shorter bows were more powerful and accurate.  I'm not sure how right they are about that, but it was a unanimous opinion.

Step 2: Cut PVC to length.  I've been told you can get this done at Home Depot when you buy the PVC, but I enjoy using power tools, so I did it myself.  Remember to use safety goggles!  This stuff flies everywhere!

Step 3: Wrapping at a diagonal, cover the entire length of the PVC in duct tape.  The options for fantastically wild colors here are endless, but we wanted ours to be BRAVE-like, so woodish brown is what we chose.

Step 4: Drill a hole through tape and PVC approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inches from the top in only one side of PVC.  Repeat at other end of bow on the same side.

Step 5: Thread nylon chord through hole and out the end of the PVC.  Tie off with a solid knot.

Step 6: Using your feet (or one of your older kids if they're around) to hold the bow & bend it to desired shape, thread the chord through the opposite hole and tie a firm knot, keeping bow string taut.

Melt ends of nylon chord so that it doesn't come unraveled.  This will also keep your knot firm.

Step 7: Add the Grip. Cutting the pipe insulation to whatever length you like (I used 6" grips on my bigger bows, 5" for the smaller), open up the seam and wrap the foam around the center of the bow, right where it arcs the most.

Wrap grip in tape - either electrical or strips of duct tape - remembering to keep it tight.  We had issues in subsequent weeks with the grips spinning due to loose tape.

Step 8: Finish off by wrapping the raw ends in tape - again either electrical or duct, whichever.  I had some of each because I ran out of electrical tape, and both have been about the same as far as durability, though I might give the edge to the duct tape, if I had to.

I was running out of time and turned to my kids to find a solution for personalizing the bows.  I showed them a picture of Merida's bow and how she had carved it, explained we couldn't carve our PVC bows but would like some distinguishing decoration, and they - brilliant children - did this! Electrical tape and curling ribbon from our wrapping paper supplies! I think they're marvelous.  It gave me all sorts of ideas for washi tape, but for being spur-of-the-moment, they worked really well, and surprisingly, 7 months later, after a LOT of use, most of the decoration is still perfectly in tact.

*Note: Due to blogger constantly deleting half my pics, etc as I was typing it, this lengthy post kept getting shoved back in the file out of frustration.  So I've decided to post it in parts - one piece of the party at a time, to shorten the post before it can get deleted - again.  Bonus for readers though, I can now add notes as to what did and didn't stand the test of time and much, much abuse from the kids!

Go to A very BRAVE birthday party - part 2: Arrows

Go to A very BRAVE birthday party - part 3: Goodies & Fun Stuff

This is a bit of a departure for me - I've never posted a recipe before!  But when I put the picture of this silly cake on instagram, people started asking.  So here I go - venturing into the unknown.

My husband is Mtn Dew obsessed.  He doesn't drink it regularly enough for me to call him an addict - it's more like his special treat.  For Valentine's, instead of chocolate, he got Dew.  Said it was the best Valentine's EVER.

So when his birthday came up, I decided to surprise him with a Dew cake.  I looked at several recipes, and, as I usually do, ended up combining ideas from a bunch and then added my own twist.  Which is why I'm posting rather than just providing a link. (Not that the world needs one more Dew Cake recipe. I was surprised to find so many!)

The big difference between mine and every other recipe I saw is orange juice.  I didn't see any that included orange.  Lemon, vanilla, almond, even coconut - but no orange.  Yet Mtn Dew isn't a lemon-lime soda - it's orange based.  In fact, a friend of ours (also a Dew lover), told me that he remembers when Dew used to have orange pulp in it.  I don't add a lot of orange to this cake/glaze- and I think I'd like to even experiment more with upping that quantity (though the cake is already so moist I'll have to be careful about my liquid ratios), but the results are quite good.

Out of my 8 tasters, 5 say the cake tastes just like Dew.  The others say it doesn't, taste like Dew, but is one of the yummiest cakes ever.  I'll take that!  So without further ado:

Mountain Dew Cake:
1 box lemon cake mix
1  3.4 oz box lemon pudding mix
4  eggs
1 1/4 c Mountain Dew
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c oil

Preheat oven to 325 if cooking in a bundt pan like I did. (Don't bother asking about different pans - I haven't tried yet so I don't have a clue!).  Spray and flour pan.

Combine dry cake mix with dry pudding mix. Add eggs, oil, lime juice and orange juice.  Very slowly add Mtn Dew. (V-E-R-Y slowly, unless you like cake mix foam all over your counter top).  Mix at medium until blended and there are no more lumps.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 45-50 min. (again, I'm clueless as to times for other sizes of pans - maybe follow directions on cake mix box?)

Let cake cool a bit (5 min or so) then turn onto plate or platter.  Cool a little more while making glaze, then poke holes in cake using a fork.

Glaze:

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c Mountain Dew

2 Tbs orange juice
1 tsp lime juice

Neon green food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add sugar.  Stir to incorporate. SLOWLY add Mtn Dew, then add lime and orange juice.  Bring to a boil, turning up heat if needed, stirring often.  Boil for a few minutes until glaze is clear and begins to thicken to a syrup.  (At this point, I added a few drops of neon green food coloring to make it Dew colored.  It doesn't show up much on the exterior of the cake, but on the slices, it gives the edges a fun Dew-green halo)

Spoon glaze over cake previously perforated with a fork.  Cool cake completely before serving.  In fact, it's better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Final note, it may be overkill, but a dollop of whipped cream (or some spray cream in my case) on each slice of cake is just heavenly!









**UPDATE** Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing:
In the year since making this cake, our family has discovered the dangerously delightful combination of vanilla flavored additions to Mt. Dew.  Adding vanilla creamer to Dew, or making a Dew float with some vanilla ice cream.  Thus it followed that if I added a vanilla cream cheese icing to my Dew Cake, it couldn't help but be fabulous...and I was right.  Here's the recipe I used:
1/4 c butter (softened)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
3 tsp vanilla
1-2 c powdered sugar
milk (if needed for consistency)

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar.  If necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency, add milk a very little at a time - not exceeding 2 Tbsp. The icing should be thick enough to not run, but thin enough not to form stiff peaks.

Enjoy!

(Funny little inside story, just because it makes me laugh.  Several years ago I begged my husband for a bundt pan for Mother's Day because there was a specific recipe I needed it for.  He has a policy of not giving me kitchen supplies as gifts, so it wasn't until Christmas that he actually gave in and got me the pan I refused to buy myself- by which time I had completely forgotten why I wanted it!  To this day I cannot remember the recipe that made me NEED a bundt pan.  Consequently, THIS CAKE is the FIRST time I've ever used the pan I harassed my poor husband into breaking his gift policies for.  It's fitting that it was for his birthday.)