Posts Tagged ‘Birthday Parties’

Year two of the Pirate Birthday theme! (You can see last year’s here!)

The whole new baby thing started to become more real for me as I was picking a date for Eli’s birthday party. Our new lil’ human is due 4 days after Eli’s actual birthday… but what if the baby came early or I was just to miserably big to host a par-tay? I thought maybe I could do something after the baby was born… yeah right! It probably wouldn’t happen. I really didn’t want Eli’s birthday to get overlooked no matter the circumstance of the lil’ fetus. Who frankly, I have never met. (Have I ever told you how it takes me a good 7-8 months to like my babies?? …No? Well, that’s a whole other post!)

Anyway, I opted to do a party asap. So the evite went out for the following weekend!

Here is how the it all turned out…

We started the day finishing up the cake decorating!

I’m huge on the whole homemade-with-love cake thing. But I’ve noticed most of the cake time is spent baking, trying not to have a lopsided shape, then frosting the thing without getting crumbs all over the place. (Can you tell I’m not blessed in the kitchen?) Now I buy a plain cake (usually from Sam’s Club) in the flavors/base colors I want and with their pretty writing, then I’ll decorate it for a homemade touch!

Eli wanted a big volcano. He got it! (brownie bites)

I did some cupcakes too – each with a mini volcano (pictured farther below).

The menu: Subway sandwiches, various fruits & veggies, pirate bootie and oranges, so none of our guests would get scurvy!

Drinks: Lemonade and water. I used my new beverage dispensers (thanks mom!!) from Sam’s Club as well! (3 gallons, $19.95!!)

Favors: I made some bags out of pirate maps, filled them with gold coins, pirate tattoos and such, then added a picture and thank-you note from Eli at the top.

Easy party tip: Take one picture and use it for everything! I picked a picture from our family date night at Pirate Dinner Adventure then used photoshop to add the wording I wanted. I labeled the sandwich flavors (pix w/ wording taped to skewers), the drinks (pix w/ working and fabric strips), and the fun scurvy oranges above! It’s functional and adds to the decorations. Easy peazy!

Uncle David came dressed like a pirate… it was RAD!

We beat the heck out of a treasure chest pinata.

And sung the birthday song!

I got the group kiddo shot… which I’m totally obsessed with getting at every event!

And you better believe the fam was in coordinating outfits!

It was a good day!!

I haven’t linked up to Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday in 3 weeks! So I am today with all my faves from the weeks… (it’s my blog, I’ll do what I want to)

A little camo makes an awesome family night/4th of July activity! Isn’t being a mom RAD!! (See the full story here!) 

We went to see one of our favorite bands, OC Supertones at FishFest. They are Eli’s favorite band. Isn’t is so much fun when your kiddos like the same kind of music you do?? While we were waiting for the OC Supertones to start we discovered another great singer, John Mark McMillan. He has a song called Skeleton Bones which was a HUGE hit with Eli! (we love pirates!) I can’t get enough of his sound either. The kiddos ask to hear the song everyday and it’s just precious to hear them singing the lyrics! AND it’s long – just the right length for picking up toys. aka – “How many toys can you pick up before this song is over?” Don’t you love it too…??

Siblings pushing each others’ buttons.

We went to Pirate Dinner Adventure. The Christmas Eve headband  I made for Cora Jane went great with our pirate ensembles. (see how to make them on this OC Family TV) Which she promptly broke on the way home. Totally recommend the dinner if you have a pirate obsessed child. (They have a deal for my readers – $20 for the matinee on the 21st… that’s over half off!! See details on the Eli’s Lids Facebook wall.)

We so the beach every Sunday after church. Cora Jane fell asleep in the midst of playing in the sand and Cy couldn’t stop eating sand.

Join us!

Cy got these awesome shoes in the mail from some of our closest friends for his birthday. I can’t wait till he can rock them!

A full update on Cy here. A few people have asked what the final diagnosis was, and the answer is – nothing!

YAY!!

We still have an appointment with the infectious disease doctor but I think it will be a-OK!

We went on a super fun Sunset Hike with Inside the Outdoors. If you are in the OC join us for the next one!!

We had a Breakfast Beach Birthday for Cy and it went off without a hitch.  I can’t wait to share all the details with you!

Weekday evenings have been filled with twilight rides.

One of our first Easters I got Hot Hubby a big picnic basket as his Easter basket. He said we would never use it. So I promptly scheduled a couple of picnics a week. REALLY! If you have a rad picnic basket you’ll use it! (Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy… we had left over pizza, salad, veggies and a sleeve of Oreos!)
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Follow me on Instagram so I can follow you!! @elislids

Have a great weekend!!

We REALLY do wear our Lids all the time around here, and of course I’m always snapping pictures. Somehow they just don’t make it to the blog… till now! We’ve added Lid-Tastic Tuesday! Most Tuesdays we’ll do a flashback post of pictures I never got to put on the blog.

Remember Cora Jane’s Chick-fil-a bday? Some of our good friends (Kendra from Totally the Turtle and Evan from Getting off the Bench and into the Triathlon) have a rainy season bday in their family and decided Chick-fil-a would be a great party place as well! It was adorable!!

Flashing back to January 2011…

The décor… I’m not sure how they did it but I brought everything in the night before and they set it up! Easy-peazy.

The Trucker Lid shots (it is a Lid-tastic Tuesday!)

The Chick-fil-a cow brings out the cake for the birthday song. How fun is that for the kiddos?!!?? (Unless they are terrified of walking 8 foot cow.)

The Moms…

You know I just love traditions, here is a great one from their family – for every birthday they make cookies in the shape of their new age. This has been passed down from Kendra’s childhood… which makes it even more special!

Kick a&$ favors…

The end.

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I just couldn’t do a post about Chick-fil-a without mentioning my friend Jaime! She taught me how to make freezer jam AND she goes to all the openings. You have to read her posts about the shenanigans-o-fun they have!!

All about the latest one in Lakewood.

See Jaime get interviewed at the Brea Chick-fil-a opening… (and I just noticed the husband of someone else I know in the video as well!)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video-news-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5466055

Check back tomorrow for June’s UltraStar Movie ticket giveaway!

Hot Hubby just turned 30!

We decided to celebrate by taking our friends to the Brea Improv for a night of laughter. We {heart} the Improv (remember how much fun we had at Ralphie May?)!! If you go to all the trouble of hiring a babysitter and have a whole night with your sweetie, why waste it sitting silently at the movies when you can get a lil’ dressed-up and whoop it up at a live performance… you know interacting with real people.

Remember?

That thing we did to keep up with our friends before Facebook?

Of course I whipped up a homemade birthday cake…

Getting to the Improv a little early is a must! You’ll get better seats and enjoy some dinner. The food is great and it’s decently priced. Which is awesome because there is a 2 item minimum!

We were already laughing before the show because 2 of our guests had on the same sweater. Who knew Men’s Wearhouse was so popular!??

We said no gifties in the invite and one our our friends gave Brad a gift card to In-N-Out Burger! We were cracking up!!

After dinner the opener/MC Jonny Loquasto killed it. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breath! He has monthly shows at the Brea Improv and I highly recommend you go check one out. I’m sure we’ll be going soon, so we can make it a double date.

The main comedian was Sebastian Maniscalco! So funny!!! So so so funny! We loved every second of his performance. This was one of my favorite bits because of my great love for finding deals at ROSS… 

(side note – after seeing these pix I joined this crazy boot camp. More on that soon!)

Of course I got a group shot!!

We had so much fun!

Thank you to all our friends who made this night so memorable!

Thank you Brea Improv for hosting us for the par-tay!

Today’s post is a guest post from my friend Kristen aka The Party Queen…

I bet you are wondering who I am and why am I giving party advice! Here is a little background on me… I married the love of my life 8 years ago and we have 2 precious little girls that I am blessed to be able to stay home with. I have a passion for photography, crafting and all things girly (I mean, can you ever have too much pink?!?). I have always loved going to parties and planning parties. My mom will even attest that I would always begin planning my childhood birthday parties in June and my birthday was not until October!! At this stage of my life planning parties has become my creative outlet since I no longer have time to scrapbook, quilt, knit etc.

I met Kara Noel at Cal State Fullerton over 10 years ago. We met in sorority and I instantly knew she was AMAZING and someone I wanted to have in my life forever. We were in each others weddings and we had our first borns just months apart. In preparation for our little ones’ birthday parties Kara Noel and I went through 16 weeks of cake decorating classes at Michaels! We had a blast! I highly recommend the classes

(Side note from Kara Noel: I was 8 weeks preggers with Cora Jane in this picture and no one knew!! It was so hard not to tell Kristen AND my mom – who was also taking the cake class at the time.)

We all have regrets…well one of my regrets was wasting the cherry theme (I LOVE cherries – aren’t they just cheery?!?) on my daughter’s first birthday party! Knowing all I now know about parties I could have elaborated so much more on this theme. Let’s be honest you only have about 2 years to do the themes you want before your child has an opinion of his/her own! Oh well, it’s in the archives now. I’m still going to be sharing this party with you, even though it was not the greatest party, because #1 I stuck to my cardinal party rules and #2 Everyone starts somewhere. You don’t just wake up one day knowing how to throw a fabulous party. For me a “good” party is only as good as its details. Follow some of these tips and turn your ordinary party into something extraordinary…

Party tip #1:

Send out an ADORABLE Invitation…this is the first impression your guests will have of your party.

I’m not a fan of the Evite craze. I think something is lost. I love it when I get mail (especially when it’s an invitation to an upcoming party)! I put it up on the refrigerator and look forward to the upcoming event. When I get an Evite, I look at it once and then I usually forget about the party until I get the Evite reminder just days before the event.

Invitations don’t have to be expensive. THINK outside the box. The invitation I used for my daughter’s first birthday was actually made from a thank-you note I had received in the mail a few months before her party. I scanned the thank-you note into my computer, Photoshopped out the words that were written on it and then added my own text to the image. My only costs were the ink and the white cardstock I printed them on. Cardstock can be purchased at Michaels or JoAnns. Take advantage of the 40% off coupon they have in the weekly Sunday paper to use on an item such as this. If you don’t receive the Sunday paper, go online and sign up to receive Michaels and Joanns’ emails and the 40% off coupons will be sent directly to your Inbox.

Party Tip #2:

Use Cloth Tablecloths…plastic ones are so TACKY!

Cloth tablecloths are not only the “greener” choice, they will also class up your party. Pick a fabric that coordinates with your theme. Once again I use my 40% off coupon at JoAnns for the material. I buy one long piece and cut it to the desired lengths at home. If you are wondering what you will do with it afterwards #1 Sell them on Ebay once you are done. #2 Let friends borrow them (Yes, I have had people ask to borrow my tablecloths!) #3 Reuse it in a different manner. If you have sewing skills, use some of the fabric to make an item of clothing, a cute skirt or dress for your little one. I have also been known to make a baby blanket or burp cloth from the fabric and have used them as gifts. Be creative. If you aren’t so sure about committing to that much fabric, use a solid color tablecloth you already have and then buy a smaller amount of fabric. Cut them into large squares, and place them (diamond shape) in the center of the table. I couldn’t find any cute cherry fabric at the time of my daughter’s first birthday, so I bought red gingham fabric instead (which still coordinated with the invitations).

(Please forgive me for the boring centerpieces! Reason #99 why I wish I could redo this party theme!!)

(Side note from Kara Noel: This is me, Hot Hubby & 9-month-old Eli!)

Party Tip #3:

Have an Outstanding Cake or Cupcakes

This is a centerpiece to the party. Take the time and put in the effort to purchase or make a coordinating cake/cupcakes. Making cakes/cupcakes can be fun, easy and inexpensive. Get ideas by going online. The possibilities are endless. I made this cherry cake in just a few hours (bake time included) I had an idea of what I wanted and I just went for it. The cherries were made from a dome pan I actually borrowed from Kara Noel (thanks again KN!). As for the stem and leaf, I made a few sheet cakes and cut them. It was a chocolate cake covered in fondant (you would be surprised, fondant is not that hard to work with). It turned out a bit large, 2 feet tall to be exact, but I had 60 people to serve. Everyone loved it and we even had some left over.

(The epic 2-foot-tall cherry cake and Grace’s adorable smash cake!)

Party Tip #4:

Make/Buy a Personalized Banner

My daughter’s first birthday banner was very simple. I made it using some white butcher paper I had purchased from the teacher supply store and Tempera paint. It wasn’t the cutest banner, but it worked. I have since invested in a Cricut and now make my banners using that, but my LOVE for my Cricut will have to wait for a later post. Birthday banners just give the party a nice personalized touch.

Party Tip #5:

Keep the food simple…It’s only one meal of your guest’s day!

I have NOT been blessed in the kitchen, so I keep my party food pretty simple. Most of the time I serve sandwiches, fruit, and salad. I have purchased party platter sandwiches from Costco, Subway, The Honey Baked Ham Store and Togos. They way I figure it, my guests will be eating 2 other meals that day, why do I have to feed them something spectacular?!? I would be surprised if one of them remembers what they ate, even if you did happen to serve something that was impressive. Personally, I want my guests to be wowed by my décor, not by my food. Sorry to disappoint, if you were looking for some fabulous food tips!

Party Tip #6:

Party Favors Should Coordinate with the Party

Send your guests home with a fun memento. Your launch pad for party favors will once again coordinate with your theme. Don’t send home a bunch of random tchotchke (pronounced: chachkees…one of my favorite words!) from Oriental Trading Company. They are a waste of money and I assure you will just end up in the trash (or if you are like me you will end up with a huge pink box full of them because you feel too guilty throwing it away) within days, if not minutes after the party is over. Keep it simple. I bought cherry gummies that came in packs of around 15 and I divided them up into little sucker bags that I got at Michaels. I only had to buy a few bags. It was a very inexpensive yet cute (and yummy) party favor. I made simple tags on the computer and tied them with coordinating red gingham ribbon. Simple and easy.

Party Tip #7:

Don’t Forget to Send Thank You Notes!

Make/buy coordinating Thank You notes (Do I sound like a broken record yet?? …EVERTHING should be coordinating, at the very least in the colors of the party if not the theme). I made the cherry Thank Yous from the envelope I had received my thank you note in. I scanned in both sides of the envelope and copied and pasted them onto a blank template. I also try and include a picture of the birthday girl in the thank you to most family and close friends. Don’t send it to everyone because chances are it will just end up tossed or lost! Remember sending a thank you note late is better than never…

Thank you Kristen!! I remember how much fun this party was for our new little family. I can’t wait for your next post