Lego Brick Bunting, Ninjago Decorations, and What Was Missing

Tags

birthday, decorations, diy, Lego, ninja, Ninjago

While the Sugar High Sushi was probably my favorite part of this party, the Lego brick banner was a close second. I saw lots of cute Ninjago bunting ideas on Pinterest, but I wanted to work the Lego part of Ninjago in a bit more. Delia Creates has the perfect free printable Lego bumps and lots of other cute Lego ideas. I took her printable, turned it landscape (without auto-rotate) and printed at 137% to create two 3×4 Lego bricks per 8.5″x11″ page.

I then printed my letters in 300 point Chinese takeaway font, cut them out, and applied them to my Lego blocks with pop dots just like I did for the antique book bunting. This, like all the other banners I have created, now hangs in the birthday child’s bedroom.

We re-used lots of dragons from Chinese New Year, like this guy with the bamboo sticks and gold pipe cleaners left over from New Years Eve, and Lego dragons from the old castle sets.

The giant Lego brick back drop is made from disposable table clothes and paper plates, although I would have used Delia Create’s Lego bumps again if I had papers in the right shades. The nunchucks hanging from the chandelier were an impulse buy at Dollar Tree which basically became yet another gift for my son along with the Ninjago Green Ninja t-shirt we spotted while picking up last minute party supplies.

The balloons (weighted by ball jars filled with Legos) would have had Ninjago eyes if I hadn’t run out of time. There was also a “7” candle and a tall jar filled with Legos ala this first birthday party centerpiece, but it showed up (with my parents who were filling it) right as the party started and I didn’t grab a photo. Of course the birthday party wreath was hanging on the door to welcome our guests. You could use the same font to add your child’s initial just like we did for the Mario birthday party.

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Setting a Spooky Scene

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decorations, Halloween

We love Halloween; everyone loves a good ghost story, right? There is just something fun about the macabre, especially in a house with little boys. Sometimes I use family dinner as a way to teach about lesser known holidays, but this Halloween place setting is about the fun of a spooky story and maybe trying to gross each other out a bit because that is what boys do.

1. A small sampling of treats – some candy but also small toys – pre-set keeps short attention spans occupied, allowing you to make the event more dramatic, bringing out freaky food from the kitchen with a flourish and a story.
2. A small bag of plastic spiders can go a long way. There were some in each child’s treat cup and bag, but they also attach easily to plastic utensils (it’s all in the details) and coordinated nicely with the spider web chargers.
3. I think I had the most fun making the Witches Brew Mocktails. I just took an all natural variety of ginger ale and added a couple of drops of green food coloring. A green sugared rim and gummy worms can complete the look, but every kid needs a bat straw. I especially like that the Creative Converting margarita glasses are plastic and light enough for a child to lift safely, although the straws do help keep the food coloring off the table cloth.
4. Next time, I would use one of the coffin utensil caddys to hold extra napkins because there can never be too many napkins when kids are involved.
5. White candlesticks become instantly creepy when red wax is drippeddown the sides.
6. Hanging the skull in front of the fireplace is a really strong statement, while other decorations often blend in on the mantle or side tables. While he is meant to be hung in a window, I really like the look of the candles glowing behind him.

I love creating a festive atmosphere in my home. Sometimes it is nice to have “parties” that are just us. As the kids get older and older, I am sure my decor is going to have to go from spooky to creepy, but I am sure it will be a fun challenge.

This post was originally written for the Party People blog. Creative Converting provided all the supplies mentioned in this post. Opinions, as always, are entirely my own. 

Football Food and Decorations

Tags

decorations, favors, food

I love football; I mean, I love football. Mondays, Thursdays, and at least two games on Sundays. I certainly believe football season is worth celebrating. Last year my AFC team (Indianapolis Colts) and my NFC team (Chicago Bears) went head to head for opening Sunday. Creative Converting offers several football lines that I enjoyed mixing and matching to create the party atmosphere that was right for us. The detail in the Touchdown Time and Team Sports Football lines make me smile every time I see the texture on the printed goods. Of course the kids enjoyed the Pom Poms more than anything else. It was fun to watch them choose their favorite team (or color) and try to determine the right time to say “touch down”, “first down”, or “go Blue!”. Add a little printed tag and the Pom Poms make awesome party favors for everyone to take home with them. The plastic White and Black Tablecover that easily caught the guacamole and queso spills might have been my second favorite part.

I definitely think decorations do a lot to set the theme and atmosphere for a party, but the food is essential to a football party, especially if we plan to stretch from the early game to the afternoon game. A crockpot of chili, popcorn, and chips and dip are easy foods for both grabbing on a commercial break and eating in front of a television. Most of my friends and I are gluten free, but corn tortilla chips are always a hit. The football dip tray gives everyone their favorite dip whether it is guacamole, salsa, or queso. Tip: to draw the lines for the football field, I put sour cream in a plastic zip bag, cut off the corner, and used it like a cake decorating squeeze bag. I also like to make my own salsa which makes things a bit chunkier (and scrumptious). For the Super Bowl I made a large football shaped cocoa Rice Krispee treat, but individual sized footballs would work better for a party.

I know not everyone will celebrate the NFL weekly like I do, but as you look forward to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, you have time to practice all your favorite football recipes. If we can plan a menu that accommodates everyone’s food allergies and preferences for organic food, you can too. Football season does not have to sideline healthy eating, even if you are celebrating every week like I do.

This post was originally written for the Party People blog. Creative Converting provided the party decorations, but the football fever is all my own. 

John Deere Farm Birthday Party

Tags

balloons, decorations, Farm, favors, John Deere, Johnny Tractor, tractor

Beyond the awesome cake and Farm Food, we used lots of details to create our John Deer Farm theme for GR’s 2nd birthday.

I dug through all farm toys and books to make sure there were tractors, tractors everywhere. It also gave the kids plenty to do in different stations.

I strung John Deere balloons as decoration, but they quickly became a party activity as well.

The photo backdrop from Oriental Trading Company with personalized photo props from Let’s Get Decorative on Etsy (with some other items I gathered) was both decoration and fun activity.

The only other decorating I really did was the birthday banner. I was sad to discover that there were no John Deere scrapbook papers. I made this from these digital papers (but it took a lot of ink). It probably isn’t the most efficient method, but I prefer printing the letters, cutting them out, and gluing them in place.

Johnny Pop microwave popcorn made an easy party favor. The Johnny Tractor thank you cards were right; we had bales of fun!

Beach Themed Birthday Party Planning

Tags

beach, birthday, decorations, favors, oriental trading co, pinterest, water balloon

My friend Michelle tweeted that she would love ideas for her son’s 4th birthday party, so it wasn’t long before I created a Pinterest board just for her. But Pinterest is really only a part of my party planning. It’s where I start. It’s a source of inspiration, but no one can use all of the ideas on Pinterest. You have to pick your favorites. And you have to make it your own.

Michelle’s son is turning four. The party is at a playground with a sand feature, so she wanted a beach theme. A 4th birthday party needs sweets, snacks, and other food; games; and decorations at a minimum. Some of the many things you could include in a beach birthday party are sand castles, seashells, surfboards, fish, sharks, octopus, beach umbrellas, beach balls, palm trees, sunglasses, shovels and pails, grass skirts, sailboats, the sun, flip flops, and lifesavers/lifeguards. This theme really leaves so many options! These are some of my favorites, but Michelle can see all of the other ideas on Pinterest also to make her son’s party truly unique!

Activities & Games

• Seashell Search – You could use actual seashells if you have them at home or can pick them up easily, but for four year olds, I would print and cut out drawings of seashells for them to gather.
• Beach Ball Obstacle Races – From The Body Smart Blog… Beach balls can be purchased anywhere at this time of the year or get them in bulk for cheap at Oriental Trading Co.
• Beach Ball Beach Towel Toss – Two children pair up on either end of a beach towel and use the towel to toss the beach ball – or water balloon – to another team of two children who catch the beach ball – or water balloon – with their beach towel then toss it back.
• Musical Towels – Use the beach towels, rather than chairs, for a rowdy game of musical chairs towels. If you hadn’t already pulled out the Beach Boys music for this party, this is the perfect opportunity. “Round, round, get around….”
• Wet potato – Play hot potato with a water balloon. You could either have the last child throw the balloon at someone (everyone else best to run) or at the end of each turn the child left holding the balloon got to throw it at someone.
• Sharks & Fishes – Have the kids play tag, but rather than being “it” one of the kids gets to be the “shark”
• Go Fish – In a bucket or a baby pool, wet or dry; Minieco has great instructions for making your own fishing game
• Sailboat Craft – Crafts are another way to keep kids busy and give them something to take home. This popsicle stick sailboat craft came from Martha Stewart.
• Drip Castles – If sand castles seem a bit technical for your age group, consider these drip castles which require less skill and only a funnel.

Food & Drink

• There are lots of watermelon carving ideas on Pinterest. Michelle’s favorite was the shark. Unfortunately, the link has been removed, so she is left to figure out watermelon carving on her own.
• Another great way to integrate fruit is through a beach ball fruit tray. Hungry Happenings posted a beach ball fruit pizza, but I would eliminate the extra sugar and just arrange fruit in the shape of a beach ball.
• I would save the sugar for the Cake of course! My favorite cake for this theme was the sandcastle cake. My guess is they used graham cracker crumbs on icing for the sand. I found lots of cute cupcake ideas from creating individual beaches to these adorable suns to the sharks that I think Michelle’s son would probably love.
• Punch is something that I really only do for parties. Technically, Martha Stewart’s recipe is for a gelatin fish bowl, but there are other fishy punch ideas. I really liked the idea of using Nerds candy as the rocks at the bottom of the fish bowl (beware this is an Adult beverage recipe).  I would try to combine these ideas to come up with something refreshing and kid-friendly.
• For veggies, this octopus is a must.
• Most kids love hotdogs, so the octopus hotdog is a sure to be a hit.
• Another fun idea is fish shaped cookies in bags marked “Catch of the Day” – these could also be used for favors.
• Part decoration, part food – I think serving snacks in plastic pails with shovels is essential to a beach theme. Any favorite snacks will do, but you might consider swedish fish, goldfish crackers, or gummy sharks.

Decorations & More

The first task in decorating a party is choosing a color theme. Some themes lend themselves to a specific color theme (like my Super Mario Brothers Birthday), but the beach theme could be primary colors or brights or neons… I like sticking to 2-4 colors.

• I would want to use surfboards as a backdrop either for the food table, the park pavilion, or for fun photo opps.
• A baby pool near the sand feature will help everyone stay cool and add to the beach theme.
• Oriental Trading Company sells several items that could be great for decorating – paper parasols that can be hung upside down, 9’x6′ beach scene backdrops, and even beach ball mylar balloons if you don’t want to figure out how to hang a bunch of beach balls from the rafters.
• It probably doesn’t fit for a four year old’s birthday party, but I like the idea of using twine to tie lifesaver (candies) to napkin/utensil wraps. Instead, I really want the birthday boy to wear this lifeguard t-shirt in red.
• Favors – I think my favorite idea is giving out sunglasses for favors. These could easily be personalized by writing each child’s name on the arm of the glasses. Oriental Trading Company sells beach play sets, beach balls, sunglasses, flip flops, and more in bulk for cheap. A fancy tag or other personalization makes for a fun gift for four year olds.

I’m excited to see what Michelle does. Maybe she’ll even let me post photos…?

P.s. While I was in the midst of typing this blog Sarah asked for help coming up with decoration ideas for a bridal shower just four days away. I created a Pinterest board for her too. I thought I was just doing all of this for fun… I’m not really trying to start event planning.