Tidbits

Secret Keeper Girl LIVE {Pajama Party Tour}

Posted by Anne Yorks on Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I have a super cool niece. She is smart, funny, and super nice. She is almost 10. 

Usually when we hang out it's with our entire family. We don't get a lot of silly one-on-one niece/aunt time. So, when I found out the Secret Keeper Girl LIVE Tour (check out their website by clicking here) was making a stop in State College, I was totally excited to buy tickets! What a better reason to make a date with my favorite tween.

As if I wasn't already mega exited for the fun night, I was contacted by SKG about making some colorful cookies for their donor reception. I love making these cookies. They are bright, colorful and so so girly. Just my style.

I made some Secret Keeper Girl logo cookies. 

Their actual logo...


And the cookie logo... (I created a pink polka dot background on the cookie with the double flood technique. I think it adds some extra flair to the cookie version)


I also made lots of daisy cookies. Have you seen the Flour Box Bakery logo? I'm a daisy fan, that's for sure!


I love making the daisies. 


I displayed them on my adorable 3-tier dessert tray, a gift from my aunt. (It's cute and it folds up compact. Whenever I fold it up, I always say, "Viola!")


The butterflies were fun to make. And I just recently got a second fold up dessert tray from my sister-in-law. What great timing!


To get the 'feathered' look on the wings, I double flooded them and gave them a few swirls with a toothpick. A little time consuming, but totally worth the effort. I love the final results.


Did I mention there were daisy cookies : ) I made minis, too! These are really my favorite, but they are oh-so-addicting. I just pop them in one by one. Yum Yum.

I made pink,   

white,   

yellow,   

purple,   

and aqua.   

And then, I put them in my favorite daisy serving dish...


The mini daisies matched the daisy on the logo cookie. Neat, huh?


Now before I show the next part of the sweets I made, let me emphasize that I'm a COOKIE girl. I don't normally make cakes or cupcakes. Really because I love decorating a postcard sized canvas, and not a billboard.

But, since it was the kick-off of their 2010 Pajama Party tour, and since I am trying a new lemon flavored icing, I decided to make these French vanilla cupcakes with pink lemon buttercream icing. I tried one of the 'testers' and I have to say they were quite yummy.


I love the white non-pareils against the pink icing. I did one of the testers with disco dust (sorry no photo) and I thought it made the icing look weird. The non-pareils were perfect and had a little bit of that polka dot feel.


And did you notice the fun flags I made? These were a total last minute decision - like hours before the order was due. I whipped them up with a toothpick, a mailing label and a sheet of scrapbook paper. For a moment, I felt like the MacGyver of cupcake flags.


I think they were a nice final touch.


All these goodies were served with punch and a special drink called a Purple Flurp. Just writing that makes me smile. If you want to know what it is, you'll have to buy the book... Danika's Totally Terrible Toss The Legend of the Purple Flurp.

So after putting together all the fun goodies for the donor event, I was definitely ready for a fun night with my niece. I was looking forward to the evening for weeks, but little did I know how much we would both enjoy it. 

The Secret Keeper Girl LIVE show was created by best selling author Dannah Gresh is a multi-media event packed with high energy, performances, music and dancing ... PLUS, lots of great messages for young girls. We learned about dealing with peer pressure, modesty and teaching girls to be themselves. Every message ties back to the amazing love God has for these girls. And the women performing are hip, fun, and solid Christian women - exactly the kind of chicks I want making an impression on my niece and my little girl too. I really don't want Brittany or Miley teaching anyone I know about fashion! 

The theme of the new tour is pajama party - how fun is that? The entire production is geared toward 8-12 year olds. However, as I looked around the audience, there seemed to be a few girls younger and older than the target age and they were enjoying the show, too. I would be lying if I didn't say I didn't get something out of it as well. Even at age 31, I still get dogged by a negative self image and it was cool to be reminded that I was "wonderfully made". (Psalm 139:13). 

The entertainment was non-stop. My niece and I were surprised at how quickly the evening went by. We laughed, We sang, We danced. We prayed together. We learned that apparently I can't learn a new song AND dance at the same time. And then we laughed again.

Here is a photo of the stage set-up...


Aren't those balloon towers amazing? Love the spikey things at the top. Reminds me of my hair when I wake up in the morning. There were balloons all over the entire room - plus the surprise explosion at the end.  I won't give anything away in case you're planning to see the show.

Here is my niece posing for a totally silly photo with a few of the main performers of the show. We got the choice of a serious or silly photo and of course we chose silly! That's Janet on the left (she goes to my church), then my niece, Erin and Melanie. Melanie was great - she was my niece's favorite girl in the show. I think it's because Melanie used the world's largest sling shot to shoot free t-shirts into the audience!


And if we weren't already hyped up from the show, we decided to hit Cold Stone Creamery with my neighbor and her daughter on the way home. My niece and I shared a cotton candy 'Love It' with rainbow sprinkles. We got totally jacked on all that sugar, but that's what aunts are for right? Just don't tell my sister : )

If you want more info about the Secret Keeper Girl program, blog, or books, visit www.secretkeeper.com. Their site is full of fun stuff for girls and moms - plus there is a tour schedule. They travel all over the country and could be coming to a venue near you!!

Have a sweet day,

Anne