It’s finally Friday! With that I have 2 fun graduation themed treats to share with you today. Each are made with one of my favorite cadies (Reese’s!) and great for favors, parties or graduate gift ideas. Enjoy!!

Directions
1. Cut your cardstock into alot of 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" squares.
2. Glue them onto the small end of the PB cups.
3. Cut your yarn into small pieces and glue those in the middle of the sqaures.
4. Punch out black holes with the paper punch and glue those right on top (in the middle) of the yarn.

Directions:
1. Chill chocolates beforehand, on a plate for several minutes, to make them easier to handle (without melting).  Keep them on the chilled plate while working, and if they begin to get soften, return to refrigerator.
2. Unwrap candies, and if you like, arrange groups of squares, peanut butter cups, and choose mini M&Ms to match your school colors. 
3. While the chocolates chill, pull apart sour candy belts into "strings," setting aside the best color for your school; sometimes tassles are in school colors, or yellow/"gold."
4. Cut or snip each sour candy belt into "tassles," long enough to extend from the center of each square to dangle off the side (about 2 inches).
5. Place a large drop of frosting on the bottom of each peanut butter cup.
6. Place a chocolate square on the frosting, centering each around the peanut butter cup.
7. Place a small drop of frosting in the center of each square, and while the frosting is soft, stick each "tassle" on, and place a mini M&M on top. Continue for each pop. Allow to rest long enough for the frosting to harden.
8. Carefully pick up each "cap," and insert a lollipop stick into the center -- enough for the cap to rest firmly on the stick.
9. Place each finished cap into your display.

Both of these make the perfect graduation treat and are delicious! Do you have a fun graduation themed treat that you like to make?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

High School Graduation season is just around the corner for my family with my little brother graduating. *sappy moment here* I can’t believe my little brother is graduating!! Ok, all done! With the graduation season comes the plethora of pre-graduation ceremonies and graduation parties to attend. I remember when I graduated high school it seemed like everyone was having some kind of party whether it was just with family or with half the graduating class. Today I have put together some helpful tips and ideas for putting together your own graduation party. 

Group Graduation Party
When it comes to graduation “season” there will be a lot of social events to attend. When planning a grad party a great idea is to coordinate the celebration with one, two or a small group of your friends. Instead of each person trying to plan their own party (and inviting all the same people), have all the families go in on one party. Everyone will still get to see each other and (your parents will love this!) the cost will be split multiple ways. 

Color Coordination
The best thing about hosting a graduation party? The theme and colors are already picked out for you. If you have a group party you can decorate in the high school colors. You can purchase all the party accessories and decorations in the school’s colors and add basic customization with the grad’s names or just their graduating year. 

Food & Drinks
The best kind of graduation parties are ones that are considered “open houses” that will allow people to come and go as their schedules permits. So when it comes to planning the food it is best to have a good variety of foods that are easy to replenish and eat. Some fun graduation food and drink ideas include drink graduation caps, diploma and graduation cap sandwiches, graduation cookies, graduation cap cupcakes and other foods decorated in your school colors.

Congratulations to all those who are graduating this spring and good luck with your future college/work plans! What did you do to celebrate your graduation?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

I had so much fun this past weekend down at the beach with my family and friends celebrating Memorial Day weekend! We stayed up late having fun, soaked up a few rays, went on a few bike rides and runs, enjoyed some great food and drinks (probably a little too much!) and got to relax a little bit. On Monday the water had even warmed up enough that I was able to take our paddleboard out for a bit. 

I took down a batch of my firecracker cookies that I shared with you all last week along with a set of monogrammed beach spikers from 4 Giggly Girls that I bought for my family. The spikers worked amazingly at the beach and my family enjoyed using them all weekend. If you are having an event at the beach this summer I would strongly suggest these as the perfect favor or gift and Greer Wells, the owner of 4 Giggly Girls, is amazing to work with! It was the perfect Memorial Day Weekend! 

Check out some pictures that I took from this past weekend.

Our pretty new beach house sign!

Relaxing on the beach.

Yes, this is how we do dinner at the beach.

I had so much fun as we had a weekend filled with activities to do. Now I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation! What did you do to celebrate Memorial Day this past weekend?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

Happy Memorial Day to you all! It is time to pull out all those red, white and blue decorations, start the grill and raise your flag in celebration. Make sure to check out some great Memorial Day recipes, a fun summer playlist and some great party ideas below. No matter if you are at the beach, pool or a backyard cookout I hope all of you are having a wonderful time celebrating this weekend!

What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day today?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

It is finally Friday!! First thing first. The winner of the party prize pack celebrating my first year of blogging is….Mary H.! Congrats Mary!! And now on to today’s post. Yesterday I promised to share with you the sweet treat that I made for this weekend. I decided to make firecracker cookies (couldn’t help calling them that!) in celebration of the Memorial Day weekend. They are easy to make and of course are funfettitastic! (Yes, I decided that is a word.)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil and vanilla.
4. Next add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until blended.
5. Once the dough is fully mixed, fold in the sprinkles. Make sure to not over-mix the dough.

6. Finally, spoon drop the dough onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
7. Allow the cookies to cook for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a drying rack. These are very soft cookies (my favorite kind!). This will make approximately 30-35 cookies.

The best thing about this recipe? You can change the sprinkle colors so that the cookies coordinate to any holiday or occasion! I am thinking these might make another appearance this fall with purple and yellow sprinkles. Go Dukes!  Are you making any red, white and blue treats in celebration of Memorial Day weekend?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

I cannot wait for this weekend as Memorial Day weekend is my kickoff to summer. This weekend I will be heading down to the beach for the weekend with friends and family for some fun times in the sun, hanging out at the beach, grilling out and just having a great time!

When planning a fun Memorial Day Weekend event don’t worry about over buying/crafting as everything can be reused for 4th of July and Labor Day. I love how all these holidays share common themes and make summer entertaining so easy! To help you get ready for the first of these American summer holidays I have some great party tips and ideas for you.

Summer Soundtracks. Last year I put together some great summer sound tracks for you. Check out the 4th of July and Beach Party Mixes to help get this summer bash started.

Red, White and Blue Treats. Theming your food is a great way to get creative at your event and go along perfectly with the rest of your cookout menu. These red, white and blue holidays are easy to coordinate with as summertime is filled with bright colored fruits and food coloring that can turn any dish into a patriotic one like these red, white and blue cupcakes. You can also create great red, white and blue themed drinks for all your guests to enjoy.

Decorations. And for the final decorative touches I have some great red, white and blue craft ideas you can try out thanks to the amazing Martha Stewart. You can learn how to make red, white and blue votives, DIY bakers twine cupcake toppers and patriotic fans. I am loving all these red, white and blue crafts for the summer holidays!

I am making so amazing Memorial Day treats for this weekend so make sure to check back tomorrow to see what I made! What are you doing this Memorial Day weekend?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

The summer is filled with red, white and blue themed holidays with the first of them being this weekend. Memorial Day is the first of many extended holiday weekends and with that many people will plan to host their wedding during this time. There are pros and cons to hosting a wedding during a holiday weekend but one great pro is that you have the option of coordinating your wedding colors to the holiday. Today I have put together some great red, white and blue themed wedding ideas that would make Uncle Sam proud! 

The Wedding Party
Stick with the classics when it comes to outfitting your wedding party in red, white and blue outfits. Combining the three individual colors into the outfits is easy to do. For the girls go with a simple dress silhouette in either red or blue and then purchase the alternative colored shoes. For the guys you can still have simple suits or tuxes accented with red or blue (or both) ties and socks. As the bride you can add a colored sash and fun shoes in red or blue. 

Table Setting
I love the use of the red and blue contrasting against the while table cloth. This table setting combines the perfect amount of color while still giving it an elegant wedding reception feel. To add a little more color you could also rent red or blue chairs for your reception tables. And to top off this table setting the wire heart decorations are the perfect wedding accessory! 

Flowers
I love floral arrangements made out of a variety of flowers that are all the same color. So when it comes to choosing your bouquet for this red, white and blue themed wedding I strongly suggest using this trend. The girls could carry a white bouquet to complete their red, white and blue look allowing the bride to carry a colored arrangement. You can accessorize the men with a colored boutonniere as well. When it comes to the reception floral arrangements continue using this trend and keep each arrangement a single color. 

The Cake
Go for a modern twist on the standard red, white and blue look when it comes to designing your wedding cake. You can style single colored tiers or have a designed pied onto the cake with colored piping. This cake incorporates the red, white and blue colors nicely onto the cake design while still keeping the elegance of a wedding cake.

There were a few common characteristics that I found made all these red, white and blue wedding ideas work. Each bride and groom did not overdo the use of their colors, each wedding used the true reds and blues in their decorating choices and they all kept all their patterns simple. What do you think about this red, white & blue themed wedding?

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

It’s time to celebrate! Today is the 1 year anniversary of The Preppy Planner! Thank you to each and every one of you who have joined me in my love of events this past year. Not only have I learned so much more about the industry but I have been able to share all the wonderful ideas and tips that I have found with you. I cannot wait for what the next year will bring!

What would you like to learn more about this upcoming year?

Don’t forget as a part of the celebration of The Preppy Planner’s first anniversary I am giving away a party prize pack filled with great party goodies that are perfect for any occasion! Even if you already follow you can still enter just by clicking on the giveaway tabs below! Just make sure you enter before midnight tonight for your chance to win! 

Good Luck!! I will announce the winner on Friday!

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

This past weekend was prom weekend for my little brother so of course not wanting to miss anything I drove down on Saturday to see him and his girlfriend off. It has been quite a number of years since I had my senior prom, but I think the only thing that changed between the two were the dresses. Once my brother was off to go and pick up his date we just photo hopped from one place to the next until they left for dinner. Check out some of the pictures from my brother’s prom this past weekend!

A family prom picture is a must have for the scrapbook.

You always have be ready to take a silly candid shot too!

To finish up with the prom pictures you have the final group shot. 

For those that still have not had prom here are some great tips to remember when coordinating your pre-prom night activities.

• Find a group of friends to go with and designate 1 person to coordinate your pre-prom schedule. 
  
• If taking pictures at 1 person’s house call the hosting family before prom to see where pictures can be taken and thank them for hosting.
  
• If taking pictures at a venue call about a week out to check and see if there are any events going on at your potential site so that you can find a good time to pop in and get your group shots.
  
• Figure out what shots you would like to get at each photo location beforehand. Browse through Pinterest for some cute picture ideas for you and your date as well as designate 1 person to organize everyone when it comes to meeting up for the group shots. 
  
• For dinner call at least 2 months out to a few restaurants to see if they can accommodate the size of your prom group and if they are offering a prom menu special. You will want to book a restaurant at least 1-1 ½ months out at some major locations.
  
• Allow for some flexibility in your pre-prom schedule. Parents will want to take hundreds of pictures, traffic could be a little crazy and you never know how long the hair dresser will take. When creating your pre-prom schedule allow for extra time for everything. At the very least you can have some extra time at the restaurant hanging out with your friends.
  

What is your favorite memory from prom?

Want to join in on the celebrating? Tomorrow will be the 1 year anniversary of The Preppy Planner so to celebrate I am giving away a party prize pack filled with great party goodies that are perfect for any occasion! Even if you already follow you can enter! Just make sure you enter before midnight on May 21st for your chance to win! Here is how you can enter to win…

Good Luck!! I will announce the winner on Friday, May 24th!

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…

Yes I am a huge fan of cake, especially confetti cake, but every now and then I love a birthday treat that isn’t cake. One year instead of cake we celebrated with a birthday sundae bar which was a lot of fun. My grandmother got a little creative and wrapped one of the cartons of ice cream and attached candles to it so that they could still sing happy birthday to me and let me make a wish. After that we all enjoyed creating our own ice cream sundaes to enjoy. Here is what I like to use when creating a birthday sundae bar.

Ingredients
Bowls or Cones
Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Cream
Chocolate & Caramel Syrup
Toppings: Sprinkles, Cookies, Candy, Fruit, Nuts, Whipped Cream, etc.

I like to stick with basic ice cream flavors since you will be adding a variety of toppings to your ice cream. As an added treat you could add a brownie to the bottom of your ice cream sundae creation. Once you scoop your ice cream have fun “decorating” with sprinkles, candy, cookie crumbles, fruit, nuts and more! One thing is certain, with an ice cream bar everyone will create a sundae they will love!

Good Luck!! I will announce the winner on Friday, May 24th!

xoxo
Megan

You might also like…