Army Party

My son just turned 6 & wanted an "Army" themed party!  I've had camouflage on my brain for about a month!!! :)  I was so excited when I found a super simple, super cheap camouflage party section at Wal-Mart!!  Each item was only $0.97!!  I grabbed some plates, napkins and table cloths!!  Over in the regular paper products section, I found some normal-sized camo Hefty cups!!  (And even had a coupon!! ;)

For the goody bags, I used regular brown lunch sacks, scrapbook paper, glue & die-cuts made with my Cricut machine!  This is what I came up with:

I printed the "6" & tore the edges - attached to a square of camo paper, then glued (with Elmer's glue - my scrapbook adhesive wouldn't stick that well to the bag!) onto the bag!  I made the "dog tags" with a military Cricut cartridge, then attached to the bag with some green jute!  (I found it in the hardware section - it's garden twine & was under $2!)  I found mini grenade squirt guns, camo airplanes & camo bracelets all at the Dollar Store!!  I also got some plastic dog tags & treats at Wal-Mart!

 I found these cool cupcake liners at Hobby Lobby!  You can use them without a cupcake pan, but I wouldn't suggest it - mine spread out & were kind of "fat"!  :(  (Kids didn't mind, of course, but not as "neat" as the others I made!)

 Simple cupcakes, topped with a soldier!!

My son's tank cake!!  Super easy!!  For this cake, I used:
* 6 York Peppermint Patties (or chocolate cookies)
* Chocolate licorice (or mini Twix)
* frosting
* 1 sucker stick
* toothpicks



Here's how to assemble the tank:

 1.  First, I used a small, oven-proof glass bowl, and filled about 1/3 full with cake batter.  (I added green coloring, as you can tell! ;) I baked according to directions, but watched carefully, as it was such a thin cake!

 2. Once it cooled completely, I (tried to evenly) cut off the 2 side pieces.

 3.  Next, I placed the 2 pieces on top of the middle piece.

 4.  Then, I trimmed of the ends of the top pieces.  I put toothpicks through the tops of the two pieces, and a few through the sides, just to make sure they'd stay!

 5.  I "dirty iced" (to quote the Cake Boss ;) the cake, so all the crumbs would stay put!  I let it chill in the fridge for about 10 min.

6. Once chilled, I frosted the entire cake!  I let that layer chill, then added the finishing touches!!  Measure your licorice pieces to fit along the far right & left edges of the bottom layer, and cut enough to fill both sides.  Place as many Peppermint Patties that fit, along each side of the the bottom layer to represent "wheels" - since my cake was small, I only fit 3 on each side!  Use toothpicks to secure.  Lastly, measure a piece of licorice to fit about 1/2 of a sucker stick, and insert the stick inside the licorice.  Using the exposed end of the stick, poke into center of bottom layer, just under the top layer.


Our party was quite simple - just had it at the party with family, but we had a great time!!!  :)