#DisneyKids Preschool Playdate Party: The Magic is Endless

We received a box of fun goodies from Walt Disney World to host our own #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate to celebrate Natalie's preschool class graduating from Pre-K4 this year and heading to kindergarten next school year! We had a great time celebrating with her friends and we had lots of endless magical fun!

Check out our unboxing of the box that Disney sent us!

On party day, Natalie was so excited to host her friends, she wore one of her favorite Disney customs - that we routinely wear on our Walt Disney World vacations - and picked one that had multiple princesses on it, because she just couldn't chose one! I wore one of my favorite princess shirts that also had multiple princesses on it, so we had a more the merrier theme for characters this year!

I kept things simple with food this year, and served light snack and finger foods. We've been cutting down on sugar for our own girls, so I did serve cookies but cut out serving cupcakes this year. There were chicken and swiss rolls from Costco, Mickey inspired fruit, pretzels, and cheese!

At the party, the kids were able to dress up as their favorite Disney character, we had plenty of Disney toys for them to play with, and we also played fun games like Disney Character Charades, Disney Fab Fortune Teller, and find the Hidden Mickeys! I had 8 Hidden Mickeys around the house it was adorable watching the kids run around trying to find them all!

We also made a few fun crafts - a Solo cup Enchanted Rose, inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast - and some Michael's foam character crafts!

Watch our #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate on YouTube!

All in all, it was a wonderful time spent with friends and we thank Disney for the extra magic they provided us for the playdate! Disney magic is truly endless even when it is inspiring fun at home!

If you're looking for more party planning ideas, check out our Disney Playdates from previous years as well!!

2016 #DisneyKids Playdate - Princess Theme!

2015 Disney Side @Home Celebration - Princess & Pals Theme!

** We were sent complimentary items from Walt Disney World for purposes of hosting a Disney Kids playdate. All opinions are my own.

How to make the Grey Stuff!

"Try the Grey Stuff, it's delicious! Don't believe us..." Well you know who to ask!!

We of course couldn't have a Beauty & the Beast dinner without making some of the "Grey Stuff" for dessert!! This yummy treat is available at Be Our Guest restaurant inside Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, but you can also duplicate it at home with this simple to make recipe! I've made it a few different ways, so I will share what has worked the best for me and I like the color to be a rich silvery color.

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What You'll Need

This is such a simple recipe! Bake cupcakes and use it as a frosting or serve it on it's own (what I call "plated") to be a perfectly thematic dessert!

You'll need to have a container of Oreos, 14-18 Oreos for a large batch mix, and 6-10 Oreos for a smaller batch. Container of whipped topping, one full container for a large batch mix, or half a container for the smaller batch. Box of chocolate instant pudding or other chocolate powder. And for the larger batch, it makes sense to use a instant vanilla pudding box and you'll make the entire thing. If you need only 4-6 servings, you can make the grey stuff out of the ready made pudding cups, which I'll share that recipe down below!

I used a blender to pulse the Oreos, and you can use a food processor or other item to get them chopped into a fine cookie powder.

How to Put it Together

There are a few ways to make it, the vanilla instant pudding box way has been shared in a number of times in the Disney Facebook groups over the years, and I put my own spin on how many Oreos I use - the ingredients remain fairly simple, so there's no way you can mess this one up! This is truly one of the quickest desserts you can make!

Large Batch Grey Stuff

This recipe makes a larger batch of the grey stuff that you can use to serve on top of cupcakes or on individual plates. It can stay refrigerated for a few days if you don't use it all at your party, and makes a great snack if I say so myself!

- 1 package vanilla instant pudding mix blended together with 1.5 cups of cold milk
- Chill the pudding in the fridge while you blend the cookies
- Crush 15-18 Oreos into pieces to put into the blender and pulse them to get a fine cookie powder. I like to do only about 5 cookies at a time in my blender.
- Mix together the cookie pieces and vanilla pudding.
- Add in 1 full container of whipped topping
- Add 4-6 tbsp of chocolate pudding mix powder (just powder) to get a silver grey color

From here I chill in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes, I place the mixture into Wilson's decorating bags and used a star tip to spread the Grey Stuff on top of cupcakes or onto plates!

Smaller Serving Ready Made Pudding Grey Stuff

This is the alternate way of putting it together using smaller single serving pudding cups! You'll need 2-4 of these cups and you mix the ingredients together the same way, it just saves a bit of time, makes a smaller amount, and tastes just as delicious!

- 2 ready made vanilla pudding cups
- Pulse 5 Oreos in blender
- 2/3 cup whipped cream topping
- 1 tbsp chocolate pudding instant mix (just the powder)

Mix the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Chill for 10 minutes, and you're ready to serve! Quick, easy, and perfect for a small family!

Small batch Grey Stuff is just as yummy!

Check out my video below showing the quick and easy process to make the Grey Stuff!

Have you had the Grey Stuff at Be Our Guest restaurant at Walt Disney World?? It's one of my favorite desserts there and I love that I can make it at home anytime I want now!

Check out all of our other Beauty and the Beast party prep posts!

** This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Enchanted Rose Table Centerpiece DIY

"Tale as Old as Time..."

This week on the blog we are going to have a number of Beauty and the Beast inspired activities to celebrate the release of the new live action movie by Disney!!

We had a movie viewing party where a Beauty and the Beast inspired dinner was served, along with some special desserts and treats - then we watched the animated classic movie. It was a fun night and I wanted to share some of the things that we did in case it gives you some ideas for your own movie screening party - or even a birthday party!

The Enchanted Rose makes a great table centerpiece and actually was quite easy to make! I collected materials from Michael's and Hobby Lobby earlier in the day, and completed it in under 10 minutes while I was making dinner! Not too bad!!

How to Make It!

Collect your materials! Here's what I used: glass cloche jar from Michael's. From Hobby Lobby: silk rose, loose rose petals, floral foam, dried moss, clear glue and sparkle accents optional. I also already had an LED mini light strand on hand from Target DollarSpot. They typical have these out at holiday times and cost around $3 per strand.

Once you have your things together, it goes really quick and easy! I trimmed the rose down the height that I wanted and also cut the foam in half. It was the smallest round floral foam, but I still wanted it to be a bit slimmer profile. I used the included adhesive with the foam to secure it to the wood. I wove the LED light strand through the rose petals so that light could shine through the petals in some places and wrapped the wire down the stem.

After the LED lights were in place, I was ready to place the rose in the floral foam and cover the foam with dried moss. I added a few gold star accents using clear glue as a finishing touch, and that's it! 

It also looks super cool lit up at night!!

I'll have additional videos coming up showing how we made the Grey Stuff and LeFou's Brew at home as well!

Watch the Tutorial on YouTube

Check out this video to watch how to put together the Enchanted Rose!

We had so much fun with this movie party at home! I'm looking forward to sharing all of the details with you! Just let me know if you have any questions!

** This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Beauty & the Beast Week!

It's Beauty and the Beast week around our house - the new live action movie starring Emma Watson and Luke Evans releases on March 17, 2017! We've already been having lots of imaginative fun inspired by the classic Disney movie!

We had a great time enjoying a Beauty and the Beast inspired dinner, which included some fun decorations, themed food, and watching the classic animated movie at home!

Coming up, I'll be sharing different recipes and planning tips in case you're planning on having your own Beauty and the Beast movie release party! I thought I would share an overview in this post and I will link the recipe posts as they come available on the blog.

We are looking forward to seeing a new twist on this magical classic! Join in on the fun this week and "Be Our Guest" for Beauty and the Beast week!

Check out how to make an Enchanted Rose Centerpiece HERE.

Grey Stuff Recipe HERE.

LeFou's Brew at home HERE.

** This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.