sweet success.

I was asked to bring in a treat for Dylan's 2nd grade class Valentine's Day party. I looked like quite the rock star mom carrying these bad boys through the elementary school halls today.

Truth is, my friend Tiece is the real super hero, and she totally helped a girl out. 

I had a vague idea of something involving a Rice Krispie treat and I dunno, some chocolate chips?? As I tried to explain my vision to her over a round of Bunko, she smiled politely and told me I really should just head on over on Valentine's Eve. {Tiece has quite the talent for cake makin' & decoratin'}

So head on over I did. And in the spirit of paying it forward, I wanted to share with you the process that took a box of ordinary Rice Krispies treats (yes, a box...Costco: thank you very much) to extraordinary so you too can impress all the 2nd graders {& their moms} in your life.

1. Start with aforementioned box of Rice Krispie treats. Costco. You won't be sorry.
2. Buy something called Candy Quik (Vanilla). Meijer, baking aisle, top shelf.
3. Forget to think through the whole stick part of the equation. Bring ridiculously huge Popsicle craft sticks. Accept graciously when your friend offers you her super cute, very fun paper straws {she bought hers here}. Cut them in half.
4. Melt the Candy Quik on the stove top. Not sure of the technical cooking term here...double boiler? Dutch oven? Anywho, we used a glass bowl with handles that fit on top of a pot with water in the bottom. Turn up the heat until you're getting a good melt without any burning. Stir often. (Heating the Candy Quik this way means it will stay melty longer, even when you remove it from heat, because the hot water in the pan keeps it warm.)
5. Take your straw / stick and dip the end into your bowl of Candy Quik and push it into the bottom of the Rice Krispie treat. Repeat 26 times. Let cool. This will keep your treat from tragically falling off the stick and devastating some poor 2nd grader's soul.
6. Lay out wax paper. Start dipping your treats. I perfected a method around treat #24 {out of 26}...while holding the stick, start with one long, skinny edge and dip and wiggle, turn the treat, dip and wiggle, turn the treat, dip and wiggle, and keep going until all your sides are covered (not counting the side that the stick is in). The wiggle is important so you fill in all the crevices of the Rice Krispie treat with the Candy Quik.
7. Attempt to stand them up in Styrofoam thinking you'll end up with a perfect looking treat with no flat sides. Realize they are leaning, top-heavy, and quickly becoming wonky. Listen to your friend when she says slowly and wisely, lay. them. down. Set them on the wax paper on their sides, disregarding every perfectionistic bone in your body. 
8. Realize the world won't end just because your 2nd grade treats aren't perfect. Breathe a sigh of relief, smile, and carry on.
9. Once you start the dipping process, you can either add sprinkles right away {the bigger, the better} or you can let them dry completely and add pretty line designs later.
10. To add the designs: melt / microwave some colored chocolate discs {you'll probably need to get these from a craft store rather than the grocery store} for 30 seconds at a time, 50% strength in some nifty little squeeze bottles. This was the really fun part, so feel free to get a little crazy. Reheat the chocolate as needed if it cools down.

That's really it. You could bag these up individually if you wanted to be super fancy and you could obviously switch out the colors on them to fit just about any sort of party. Oh, and as an added bonus, these treats are peanut-free. {Which was one of the reasons why I opted for making a treat vs. picking something up from the local bakery.}

File this information away. Someday you too, will receive the dreaded wonderful phone call requesting umpteen treats for some variety of holiday party and instead of panicking, you can rest easy because you've got this.

{Another mom brought in this craft which I thought was brilliant and the kids loved}

What about you? Any class party tricks to share? Don't hold back...us moms have got to stick together!