Do you want to build a snowman?

I'm so excited about tomorrow, because it is the Academy Awards. You know what that means. I get to celebrate with my family/the usual Sunday dinner crowd in style. We'll be dressing up as characters from the nominated flicks, eating Oscar-inspired food, voting on the winners and enjoying the evening together, as we have for years. Remember last year's post?

Hayden can't wait, too, since she is a big fan of "Frozen" and its nominated song, "Let It Go." Just like every other little girl (let's make young and old a like, as well as some of the boys), she's been singing it everywhere we go. Sometimes we even change the words to "Let It Snow," although I think I've had enough of the white stuff around here.

In the movie, the sisters also sing about building a snowman, so we thought little raw vegan coconut "snowballs," served with carrots (every snowman needs a carrot nose) and chocolate chips would be perfect for the festivities tomorrow. Here's how we made our coconut "snowballs."

This recipe isn't an exact science, so feel free to make adjustments as you go. To start, put equal parts date paste and coconut oil in a food processor, along with some sea salt and vanilla. I believe I used about 4 Tbsp. of both the date paste and the coconut oil, as well as a sprinkling of sea salt and a Tbsp. of vanilla.

Next, add in some coconut flakes (please don't use the sweetened ones for this). I started with about a cup, and then added more as needed.

I processed the ingredients into a nice "dough," as seen here. I think I used about 1 1/4 cups of coconut flakes total.

Then, I formed the "dough" into one dozen equal-sized "snowballs" ...

... which I rolled in more coconut flakes.

The finished coconut "snowballs" can be chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. They sure look cute displayed, as shown, so you really can build a "snowman."

Now I need to figure out our attire. I actually have a dress-up outfit Hayden can wear to be a character from "Frozen," I think she wants to make one out of paper instead. Have you seen Mayhem, the 4-year-old who makes paper dresses with her mom (thanks April, for the link)? Hayden couldn't wait to start creating one of her own, as soon as she saw her.

Here is our first attempt at making a paper garment, which we easily taped together in a matter of minutes. The best part is that you can take it apart and reuse the paper to make another one (at least that is what we plan on doing, rather than wasting all of that paper). So fun to be #inspiredbyMayhem.

Anyone else excited about the Oscars? What are your plans?