Nicholas had a fabulous time celebrating his 11th birthday last weekend with friends and family. His celebratory weekend began Friday evening at a place called Grand Slam. His friends met us there at 6 PM for pizza, cupcakes, mini golf, bummer cars, laser tag and arcade games. He was super excited to celebrate with Ruben, Logan, Robbie, Jordan, Max, Carter, and his brother Luke. (Missed you, Mason!)

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

And he loved being spoiled by all the attention, excitement, fun, food and of course…gifts!

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

The next day Grandma and Papa Jandro (who live an hour and a half away) drove up to visit us. We all went to see Nick play football with his team, and then we came home to a late lunch/early dinner meal topped off with cake and ice cream. The weather was wonderful and it was so nice getting all that quality time and catching up with my husband's parents. (Love you, Edie and Fred!)

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

Then on Sunday we had one more celebration. But because we were also celebrating cousin Robbie's birthday, we had a big meal and a BIG cake to share with the Tessman side.

How fun it was to see little cousin, Yvette again. She LOVES birthday parties and was in a festive mood that evening. She kept us laughing, and the older boys did a lot to keep her entertained.

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

The cake hadn't quite turned out how I pictured it was going to be when I picked it up at the bakery. (Wish I would've taken a "before" picture.) So I added the spiky clear pieces of candy on top. Fun, huh?

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

Want to know how to make the spiky pieces?

On a baking sheet put parchment paper and then unwrapped Jolly Ranchers. Put them close together on the sheet in the oven at 350 degrees F and bake for about 5-8 minutes?…It depends on how many you have close together. It's okay if they bake to the point where they bubble. But to have really great color, take them out when they are flat and not bubbling too much. Allow the candy to cool completely.

I broke the sheets to look like shards of glass. Since they were sharp, we made sure that out little cousin Yvette didn't have any with her cake. In fact, no one really ate them. LOL But they gave the cake a more dramatic and fun look. (Thanks mom for finding this idea on Pinterest for me!)

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

I still can't believe that I have an 11-year-old! Gosh, time flies.

Nick's Birthday & Jolly Ranchers Cake Accents... #stampyourartout - Stampin’ Up!® - Stamp Your Art Out! www.stampyourartout.com

Check out my creative Stampin' Up!® ideas! Stamp Your Art Out! blog...www.StampYourArtOut.com

 

 

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