Ginormous Birthday Party Post

All of my energy lately has gone into planning a super-fun and super-sized birthday party for both of my kids. Their birthdays are a day apart (one turning 3 and one turning one), so we combined them for a huge backyard bash. We did a gender-neutral carnival theme, and everything was big and bright.

Invitations

I love planning out fun invitations to kind-of set the stage for the party. I found a post online awhile back with links to really cute circus fonts. Using Circus, Big Top, and Cast Iron, I created several inserts for the party. One held all of the specifics, one asked guests to consider donating to one of our favorite charities in lieu of gifts, one was an admission ticket, and one was a bag topper. I also included a film strip with pictures of the birthday kids and a red balloon. I packaged them in cellophane bags, stapled the bag topper on, and sent them in red envelopes.

The Attire

Using my Cricut, I made t-shirts for the kids to wear with their age on the front. This was a simple, inexpensive, and precious project. My daughter is already talking about her number 4 shirt she wants me to make for next year. =)

The Party

Activities:

My favorite part was the photo booth. I set up a colorful sheet on a section of our fence and filled a bucket with accessories for people to choose from for a super-silly photo op. We're using these pictures in our thank-you's.

We also rented a bounce house and set up a handful of very simple carnival games. When I throw a party, a big part of my plans include trying to make everything self-serve so no one has to man anything the entire time. I want everyone (myself included!) to be able to relax and enjoy the party and not have to work.

Games:

Ping Pong Ball Toss:

I filled an old metal wagon with empty babyfood jars filled with water. Guests had to toss ping pong balls into the wagon trying to land them in the jars. The water helped people to grab the ball out of the top without having to pull each jar out every time.

Lid Launcher:

I used a snack jar on a table as a target, and guests threw babyfood jar lids adorned with scrapbook paper circles frisbee-style at the jar.

Penny Pitcher:

I covered an old coffee table with butcher paper and circle cut-outs of pictures of the kids. Guests tossed pennies onto the table trying to land them on the birthday girl's picture for 3 points (since she was turning 3) or the birthday boy's picture for 1 point.

Bean Bag Toss I made a handful of colorful, polka-dotted bean bags and set them up with a bucket at which to aim.

Guess the Gumballs

I filled a Mason jar with colorful gumballs and set them on a table with a basket filled with tickets and pens for guests to make their guess. The closest to the correct amount (267) got the jar.

We also set out bubbles and our sand table and labelled them with signs for fun. The Prizes:

And, of course, no carnival is complete without prizes. I made some tickets for each of the games, and our guests could trade them in for loot (Fun Dip, circus peanuts, Ring Pops, silly straws, stickers, and tons of other little trinkets).

The Decor

For decorations I used colorful scrapbook paper to create accordion-folded circles. These were used for the centerpieces (holding pictures in bright, plastic pots) and for the Happy Birthday banner above the food table. For all of the game signs, I created them in Word using some fun circus fonts I downloaded.

Colorful tablecloths and balloons rounded out the decor.

The Food

The menu was simple: hot dogs with all the fixin's, peanuts in the shell, animal crackers, chips, and sodas. Cupcakes and popsicles were dessert. I just made boxed cake mix with store-bought frosting to save time. I topped them three ways - with sprinkles and a gumball, with sprinkles and a tuft of cotton candy, and with marshmallows I made to look like popcorn (cut an x into the top of a mini marshmallow, then brush on a mix of about 1 tablespoon of water plus 1 drop of yellow food coloring).

My goal was to make this an economical but over-the-top party that my kids would enjoy. I wanted to do as much work ahead of time as possible to my husband and I could be a part of the joy the kids experienced, and I think it was a huge success. I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Baby Shower Activity Idea

Me, Leslie, Casey, Kim

A couple of weekends ago I helped to host another baby shower for one of my very best friends. She is expecting her second boy next month, and we wanted to bless her socks off. I am a big fan of doing something at a shower to create a lasting memory for the guest of honor. In this case, we made personalized onesies using fabric backed with heat and bond. It was such a hit, and everyone was so super creative. But the best part about this idea is that you can be as simple or as filled-with-creativity as you are comfortable with being. It really works for anyone.

The set-up

I made a sample to get the ball rolling

Instructions and supplies

We hung the onesies as decoration. Guests could go pick one and take it into the dining room to embellish.

The process: tracing, cutting, iron, embellishing

Some of the finished products - SO cute!

More party details: Cupcake toppers courtesy of the Cricut

Favors: Candy bar in the shower colors

This was probably one of the most fun I've ever had at a shower. If you're interested in the idea but don't feel up to re-creating it, look for the kit in my etsy shop this fall!

Cookies and Milk

I threw a mid-morning cookies and milk baby shower for a great friend (at another great friend's house) a couple of weekends ago. It was a fun, simple morning, and I thought I'd share the details in case anyone needs any ideas.
The color scheme was chocolate brown, cream, and turquoise blue. The budget was very limited, so it was a fun challenge coming up with cute details at very little cost.

For these centerpieces, I just rolled diapers, tied them with raffia, and filled some blue glass vases we usually have in our master bedroom. Then, using double-sided tape, I wrapped them in ribbon to finish the look. Simple, practical, and precious!

Here's the cookie bar. I chose cookies that froze well. So I spent one week making one dough a day and freezing it. Then I just pulled them out the day before the shower and just baked and baked. The containers were all clear glass tied with raffia and a label in the color scheme.Lots of the details were made using the Cricut, a tool I'd highly recommend!
We played 2 games that turned out to be a lot of fun. The first was a game where I listed 20 crazy celebrity kids' names, and everyone had to guess whose child it was. The second was a match-the-mom-to-be game. I provided a word that's typically associated with a phrase or saying. Then people filled in the blank afterwards with the first thing that came to mind. For example, one was Little Boy _________. Another was Mom __________. We all had to fill in what we thought the mom-to-be would say. The prizes were the cookie-in-a-jars pictured in the center of the table below. Both game ideas were my talented, creative sister's.

The favors were cellophane bags to fill with cookies. Then I cut strips of tulle to use to tie them and strung all of the recipes on the tulle.

Fun weekend. Fun celebration!

2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated our little girl's second birthday a little early this past weekend. I was hoping to not be in labor or have a days-old newborn for the party, and it worked out well. I thought I'd share some pictures and ideas that worked well for us.

First, the theme. My daughter loves Elmo. I thought that would be a fun theme to work with, but I'm not a big fan of spending tons of money on licensed-character things. I decided to use the Elmo things she already has to decorate and fill in the rest with red and aqua. So all the plates, cups, napkins, etc. were red, not Elmo. It was inexpensive, and I think it turned out very cute. To decorate, I made red and aqua tissue paper flowers and picture garlands made from pictures of the past year tied onto twine with red and aqua ribbons.

The menu: Since I'm very pregnant, and we wanted to go small, we planned a family and close friends party right around dinner time. Elmo's favorite food is pizza, so we jumped on that idea. Instead of ordering a bunch of pizzas, we chose to do a make-your-own pizza bar. I made a bunch of pizza dough (using this recipe - scroll down to find it) and formed it into individual-sized balls. Then we listed a bunch of topping ideas and sauces and prepared them the day before. We had marinara, alfredo, and barbecue for the sauces. Then I had pepperoni, ham, bacon, roasted chicken, black olives, green bell peppers, fresh onion, caramelized onion, wilted spinach, artichoke hearts, pineapple, tomatoes, mushrooms, and an assortment of cheeses for toppings. People just grabbed a ball of dough, spread it to their desired thickness, and topped it with whatever their heart desired. We baked them in the center of the oven at 500 degrees for 7-9 minutes. They were delicious! Everything was very easy to do ahead of time, so I had literally no cooking or prep to do the day of the party. I just opened air-tight containers and dumped them into the dishes.For dessert I did red velvet cupcakes (from a box) and cream cheese frosting tinted aqua (3 packs of cream cheese and 2 sticks of salted butter softened whipped with 1 tablespoon of vanilla and 3/4 pound of powdered sugar). They were topped with Elmo Oreo balls (recipe here and inspiration here). This was a fun project. I had a good friend over to help me a week or two ago, and we froze them until the party.For favors I used little tin buckets I found at WalMart after Valentine's Day for 30 cents. I made chocolate-covered pretzel rods decorated with red and aqua sprinkles and chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treats. Easy and delicious.Everything was simple but fun. Hannah had a blast which is absolutely most important. I'm so thankful our sweet boy held off until the party was finished. Hope you find some good ideas and inspiration for your next party.

Flower Arrangement Tip

I almost always decorate with fresh flowers for get togethers and events I have at my house. I typically buy them at Sam's Club because they're such a steal. But I was doing some last-minute shopping at Tom Thumb before our family reunion brunch, and their flowers are outrageous compared to Sam's. I found a bunch of already-prepared bouquets that were cheesy but expensive. But their alstromerias (one of my favorite flowers - they last for weeks) and sunflowers were on clearance for $3 per bouquet. I used a tip I saw on Martha Stewart years ago and made my own arrangement that I liked much better than any of the bouquets I saw...and for $6!
Grab a handful of flowers that coordinate well. Make a bouquet in your hand shaping and stuffing as you go and holding the stems firmly in place. When you've used the amount of flowers you're happy with and have them arranged where you like them, slide a clear elastic ponytail holder as high as you can up the stems to hold them in place. Cut the stems to the same length and place in your vase. The bouquet will stay exactly how you arranged it, and you won't be able to see the elastic through the glass. It works every time.

Birthday Decorations

In addition to saving our babyfood jars, I had also saved the empty formula canisters. I originally planned to cover them with Christmas-themed scrapbooking paper to deliver all of our Christmas cookies in last year. I underestimated the job with a 7-month-old, however, so I still had them. I decided to use them for the centerpieces for Hannah's party instead. I just peeled off the label, filled them halfway with rocks, cut a circle of styrafoam for the inside top, and wrapped them with tissue paper
then with polka-dotted celophane.
I tied a giant tulle bow around each canister. Then I printed LOTS of black-and-white pictures of Hannah's first year, mounted them to textured cardstock, and glued them to dowel rods. I stuck the dowels into the styrafoam at different heights for a fun, memory-filled centerpiece.

Birthday Decorations

Obviously I love making things, and I made almost everything for my daughter's first birthday party. I got some amazing ideas from friends and family, and I had to share. I'll be doing a series of posts sharing some of my favorite things here and there. I hope these are helpful!

We had the party at a pavilion at a local park. I made these tissue paper balls to use as a sort of chandelier to hang in the center of the pavilion from eye hooks.

First step: Cut pieces of tissue paper into squares of any size. These are around 5 inches, but I did 3 inches all the way to 24 inches. I used about 14-20 squares for each ball. The smaller balls require fewer squares to make them look full.
Step Two: Stack all of the cut squares, then accordian-fold them as you would a paper fan.

Step Three: Fasten the center of the folded squares. You can use twisted wire, paper clips, staples, yarn, etc.

Step Four: Cut the ends into any shape you desire. You can round the corners, cut them into points, punch holes with a hole punch, etc.

Step Five: Carefully unfold and separate the layers of squares on either side of the center fastener.Last: Fluff the paper until it forms balls like these. To hang, tie fishing line, tulle, or string to the paper clips, and hang at varying heights.