A Frugal Frozen Party and Strawberry Cupcakes

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My baby turned 7. It seems hard to believe that this precocious child has been in our lives for 7 whole years and yet it feels like she has been here forever. As many little girls her age, she loves Frozen, so we decided to have a Frozen themed sleepover party, inviting just her cousins. We kept everything frugal but still fun.

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I went looking for this post and realized that while I wrote it near her birthday in  December, I never hit publish. Smooth move.

Every princess needs pampered, right? Well, our princess girls are no exception. First stop was Sweet and Sassy to get all glittery and shiny. I found a Groupon a few days before and scooped them right up. The girls were so very excited to choose nail polish, makeup, and hair styles. Mixing a gift in as party fun helps keep the party frugal.

Her brothers wanted to buy the movie Frozen for her birthday so we stalked Amazon and grabbed it for $9 on Cyber Weekend. They thought it was fitting that we went to see Frozen for her birthday last year and bought the movie this year.  Gift and sleepover party entertainment all in one? You got it. Frugal.

For dinner she chose what every kid who grows up in a “whole food from scratch meal” kind of home would do, she chose hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese for dinner. Whole Foods pulls off an acceptably flavored organic mac and cheese. She chose her favorite vegetable, broccoli, to accompany dinner.

Once dinner was over it was time for movie night with the cousins. Since no one was hungry enough to finish dinner we nixed the snacks and they dragged every blanket and pillow in the house to the livingroom for movie night. Yes, movie night where they dialogued about the movie and sang to the already well known songs the entire time.

Once the movie was over it was time for cake! My daughter said strawberry is her favorite flavor so I pulled out my strawberry cupcake recipe and made mini cupcakes. I decorated them with bright blue cream cheese frosting and added a sprinkle of silver sugar. The girls pronounced them the best cupcakes ever. Although I will add that they also said “the best ever” about the hotdogs they didn’t really eat.

Next it was off to bed for a sleepover with anticipation for a waffle bar breakfast. I love hearing those girls giggling at night even if it is a little late for them to be awake.

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Strawberry Cupcakes

Author Heather McCurdy

Yield 24 reg/72 mini

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar (raw is my favorite)
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 10 ounces frozen strawberries, pureed

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
4. Mix in vanilla.
5. In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Alternate adding flour and milk to the butter, sugar and egg mixture.
7. I find ending with the flour makes the most manageable batter.
8. Mix in strawberries just until blended.
9. Place paper wrappers in tins – makes approximately 24 regular sized cupcakes or 72 mini cupcakes.
10. Fill tins 2/3 – 3/4 full and bake.
11. -15 minutes for minis and 15-20 for regular sized. ***If making a full sized cake, makes a very moist dense cake, almost like a pound cake.

Do you have a favorite frugal party tip?

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