Fabulous (and cheap) birthdays!

My girl Ladybug will be having a birthday next month. We've been talking about party ideas, and to hear that she wanted to have friends over to the house was wonderful! I say this because the economy is awful and just because I still have a job doesn't mean I won't be without later. In our area, birthday parties at restaurants, kiddie arcades and stores will set you back at least $200, and that is on the conservative side.

Now, I realize this means I will have to clean the house beforehand, prepare the food and clean the house afterward, but I'll save some money and ... here's the kicker ... Ladybug asked for the house party.

I was looking around online for ideas and along came this one from www.kraftfoods.com. These are the prettiest cupcakes I have seen in a long while, and the good folks at Kraft had party ideas. One I plan on throwing my girl's way is a Spa Party, where she and her friends can paint their fingernails and do girlie things, but there were plenty of other cute ideas.

Here's the recipe for the pretty Flower Power Cupcakes shown here, and please, post your party ideas:


What You Need!
1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 cup boiling water
1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
Few drops food coloring, any color
24 JET-PUFFED Marshmallows
24 JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
1/4 cup colored sugar or colored sprinkles
Make It!

PREPARE and bake cake batter as directed on package for 24 cupcakes; cool completely in pan. Pierce cupcakes with wooden skewer or large fork at 1/4-inch intervals. Add boiling water to gelatin mix; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Spoon 2 tsp. gelatin over each cupcake. Refrigerate 3 hours.

TINT COOL WHIP with food coloring; spread onto cupcakes.

CUT each large marshmallow crosswise into 5 pieces with clean kitchen shears to resemble flower petals. Arrange 5 petals in flower shape on top of each cupcake. Place 1 miniature marshmallow in center of each. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Keep refrigerated.