party planning

Dinosaur Fifth Birthday

Dear Sis,

It’s hard to believe William is five! We enjoyed celebrating with a nice collection of family and friends. Our decor was simple:

The banner and plates are from Target. We found the piñata at Hobby Lobby. The foam dinosaurs are from a Michaels craft kit. 

We enjoyed a simple lunch of chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, carrots, corn on the cob, and grapes. Our meal concluded with ice cream cake.

The kids made quick work of opening cards and gifts. We spent the second half of the party busily crafting.

Crafts & Activities

It was a wonderful day!

Love,

b

Barnyard Birthday Party

Dear Sis,

I’m so glad you were able to join us for Charlotte’s 2nd Birthday Party! It was small, simple, and sweet:)

Decor

The banner, metal pig cut out, and farm animal center piece were all found at Hobby Lobby. The ceramic blue truck and fancy party hats were found at Dollar Tree. We already had the Little Blue Truck book:) It is one of Charlotte’s very favorite books we were lucky enough to snag at a yard sale some summers ago. Naturally, the party began with a lunch of all Charlotte’s favorite things! Don’t all toddler’s eat lunch at 11AM?!

Menu

Chicken Tenders

Macaroni and Cheese

Cracker Barrel Style Carrots

Corn on the Cob

Chick ‘oil a Half Cut Tea & Whole Milk

Cupcakes

Our piggy crazed girl with so excited about her cupcakes!

The cupcakes were made with the following recipes:

Beat-the-Box-Mix Funfetti Cupcakes

Swiss Buttercream Frosting

Homemade Fondant

Homemade Fondant

Simple, messy, and money saving!
Print Recipe
Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 1 (10 oz) bag mini marshmallows
  • 2 T water
  • 1 (2 lb) bag powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Pour marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl. Drizzle with water. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring, until marshmellows are melted.
  • Stir in powdered sugar a cup at a time. When it is too thick to stir kneed it in powdered sugar until smooth.
  • Wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container.
  • If too hard to work with. Microwave a few seconds on a plate before working.

Notes

If you need a single color of fondant. It is easier to stir color in before adding powdered sugar.
Keyword homemade fondant

I prepared the frosting and fondant earlier in the week, but baked the cupcakes the day before so they will be nice and fresh. Having only worked with fondant minimally in the past, I wasn’t sure how much time to set aside for decorating. It took me about three hours to make fifteen cupcakes, three of five different animals. Much of the time was spent kneading color into the fondant. I was inspired by a half dozen posts of Pinterest. I found the blog Rose Bakes and You Can Too! helpful in sourcing cutters and practical advice.

Play Dough Table

I made homemade Chocolate Play Dough. A single batch is plenty for a half dozen kids to play with at once! We also used our Melissa & Doug Wooden Farm and Tractor Play Set and some of the trees from our train set.

Opening and Playing with Gifts

We got Charlotte her very own yoga mat so she will no longer be underfoot when William and I try to do yoga:) I found this pink kitty toddler sized yoga mat in the dollar spot at Target.

William gave baby sister her own backpack, so she will quit trying to fun off with his on school days. It was filled with goodies he picked for her at Dollar Tree and the Charlotte’s Web 1973 DVD. The Great Aunts got her serval wonderful gifts, but in this picture they are figuring out how to open the Buzz ‘n Cut Play-Doh Barber Shop.

Mama Jenn found a crochet pig! Charlotte was instantly taken with “Baby Pig.”

Craft

I found these wooden piggy banks in the dollar bins at Michaels months before the party. We used pink, brown, and ivory acrylic paints and sponge brushes to paint them. 

Thanks to all our friends and family for a truly wonderful birthday gathering!

Love,

b

 

 

Out of this World Space Party

Dear Sis,

I can hardly believe William is 4! He has been fascinated by all things space for the better part of six months, so our party theme fell in place very naturally.

We found the solar system banner on Amazon, and plan to put it in William’s room after the party, to go with his new space bedding.

Book

The Story of Space: A first book about our universe by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams William wanted his party to be like book club:)




Cake

I baked the cake in a bowl to get the half sphere shape. I used a heating core to create a more even baking atmosphere. We tinted the tinted the frosting with black Wilton food coloring paste to make it gray and pressed black candy melts into it to create the look of craters. We topped it off with an astronaut figurine and 4 sparkler candles. It was one of the easiest themed cakes I’ve ever made!

We served it with cookies and cream ice cream and vanilla astronaut ice cream. The kids enjoyed trying it, but preferred the real ice cream:)

Crafts

We painted rocket ship picture frames. Before party day, I asked all the moms for photos of their kids, so I could have them ready to go.

I found these cute guys at Michaels and got one for each kid.




Favor

Free Printable: Over the Moon Party Favor Tags

Lunch

Cheese, Sausage, and Veggie Platter

Green Beans (for Charlotte, who is obsessed with canned green beans)

 Mini Chocolate Doughnuts (Black Holes)

Lemonade & Water

Sloppy Joe Sliders (Planets)

Tater Tots (Asteroids)

Montessori Birthday Celebration

  1. Ask kids to sit in a circle.
  2. Place a candle in the center and explain that it represents the sun.
  3. Give the child you are celebrating a ball that looks like earth.
  4. Explain that each time the child circles the sun a year passes. 
  5. Light the candle, and count each circle the celebrated child makes until you reach their new age.
  6. Allow them to blow out the candle. 

This concept is described more thoroughly in How to Raise and Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin, the president of the Montessori Foundation. This is more favorite application book for practicing Montessori at home with my kids! I’m reading some books on theory too, but we’ll get into that another day:)




Song

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

If you want to take a trip

Climb aboard my rocket ship

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! 

We learned this song at library story time last year with, Miss Sarah.

I wish I had more pictures of the occasion, but Josh was working, so I was too busy hosting, to have more “mom” time at the party.

Love,

b