Ella's Frozen Birthday Party

Obviously I just post whenever I throw my kids a birthday party.  Frozen is hot right now (for good reason) and my daughter is into big time.  Her birthday fell THE DAY BEFORE movers came to our house to move us out of state.  It was a stressful and bittersweet time.  Here's her party:

I separated the party into two sections, Arendelle (the dining table) and The North Mountain.  

I made an Olaf after seeing the very popular pin on Pinterest.  Since there was no tutorial on how to make him, I kind of winged it.  Ella's party was in January, so I was able to take advantage of after Christmas sales.  I used the snow blankets to make him but I think cotton batting would work as well.

Olaf's feet

I just balled up pieces of the snow blanket and gathered it in one spot.  I used lots and lots of hot glue to hold it together (I was burnt a few times!)  For his body's balls, I wrapped the snow blanket around some cotton stuffing and put the seam in the back, securing with hot glue.  Same thing for his head, only less at the top where his eyes are and shaped it to be Olaf-y.  I made his buttons by using black yarn to make pom poms and securing with hot glue.  Arms, eyebrows, and hair are all pipe cleaners.  His face, if you look at the original pin, is actually just a printing of his eyes/nose combo and mouth.  So I did the same using this Olaf's face.  I adjusted his head to about the size I needed and cut out the eyes/nose together and his mouth.

Mine did not support himself very well, so I rolled up more snow blanket to sit his butt on so he wouldn't topple over.  The kids loved him, but unfortunately, he ended up in the trash soon after the party since we were about to move :/

I used a tree branch with blue rock candy hanging from it, I had clear cutlery in white snowflake pails that I got on clearance at Target, blue table skirt with white top.  I served (but didn't photograph) white cheddar popcorn, snowcaps, and pizza.

The backdrop is two iridescent doorways curtains to add to the frosty theme.  I was inspired by multiple pins, but I'm unsure which!

I used Ella's mini dolls to decorate her cake.  I intended for the "ice" behind them to be taller, but I didn't plan out how much I was going to have to shove them into the cake to stand.  To make the ice, I used a recipe for candy glass and added food coloring.  The little flakes on top are these little edible flakes I bought at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.  The white pearls are gumballs from Party City.  

We lucked out that Frozen party decorations where just starting to come out right before her party.  I didn't get a lot of theme-y stuff.  Just the napkins, cups, table cloth, and goody bags.  Ella loves having flowers, so I had to buy her some roses for her birthday!

I didn't photograph her goody bags, but inside I put in snowflakes crayons that I got on clearance at Target, blue mini flashlights, reindeer chocolate crackers (that I put a sticker of Sven on and called Sven Snacks), and a Frozen pencil.  I think there was something else, but oh my gosh, it was such an insane time in our lives!

Here is my Pinterest board that I had all of my inspirations for her party.  Hopefully this helps someone planning a Frozen party of their own!

Pokemon Party revisited

So long overdue, but here is how the Pokèmon party went down.

 The simple cake for his actual birthday

I recycled some of my husband's golf balls to make pokèballs for putt-putt 

The wagon held the Pokèball cup favors from Birthday Express and had space for gifts to be dropped off at.

 A little of the set up.  I was in such a hurry so the photos aren't great in quality or quantity.

Some signs I made to make the activities relevant to the theme. 

We tried to stick to a mainly Blue, Green and Yellow color scheme.

The balloon garland was very festive and fun!

Pokè Putt-Putt 

Pokèmon in the wild 

 For the cupcakes, I ordered the ring toppers from amazon and the cupcakes in the colors I wanted from Sam's Club.

It was a whirlwind and he was a very happy boy!

Pokemon posters

The Pokemon that I made from poster boards, construction paper, glue, and sharpies (for the outlines)

L-R: Pikachu, Piplup, Tepig, Snivy, Charmander, and Oshawott.

I used construction paper vs painting or markers so that I wouldn't get the brush marks.  I made a U out of wire hangers and taped them to the back to use as stakes.  I wish I would've used the same manilla color that I used for Charmander's belly for Snivy, but it doesn't bother me enough to do it over.

Less than two weeks before my little man turns 6!  I can't believe it!

Caleb's love for Mario has evolved into a love for Pokemon.  He's all about the Nintendo stuff!  This year I was hoping we could do Super Mario all over again (I still have most of the stuff, despite moving from FL to IN) but he's insisting on Pokemon.  So now I'm trying to learn as much about his passion to throw an awesome party.

 While not the most original idea for a Pokemon pinata, the pokeball is certainly easy and works.  It sure beats paying $30 for a Pikachu pinata from Party City.  All I did with this was paper mache a big bouncy ball, let dry, pop the ball, fill the hole, and covered with streamers.  I took crepe paper streamers and "fringed" several pieces at a time.  It covers the lumps and wonkiness of the pinata and gives it that definite pinata feel.  I ordered mini pokemon figurines from an ebay seller in Japan to put in there with candy.

Pokemon Cornhole, "Feed the Munchlax"  This is cabinet door I had in the garage that I drew out the Munchlax on.  I cut out the mouth with a jigsaw, primed, painted, and spray protective coating on it.  I stapled felt for the teeth.  The berries are orange hacky sacks from Party City.  They have a sun design in yellow.  I glued the green felt on the sun design and voila!  They are PERFECT!

These things I am getting so sick of making but they are cute!  I am using poster board, construction paper, glue, and sharpies to make these.  I plan on making and Oshawott and Piplup as well.  Our backyard has a natural/wild area around the perimeter and I will be placing these in it to look like the Pokemon are in the wild!

It seems like Pokemon Parties are few and far between in the blogging world, so I'll throw mine out there for folks that need some ideas.

Neglected blog is neglected.

Here's how Caleb's 5th birthday went down last year...

 The backdrop was part inspired, part copied from Chica and Jo

Fill Your Own Treat Bag!

Chocolate Mustaches (I bough the candy mold from Amazon)

Super Mario Hats (red hats from  Oriental Trading Co) I used fabric glue to attach the felt

Some "Princess Peach" tiaras for the princesses (from Oriental Trading)

Bubbles

? Block with candy can be bought at either Party City or online (I went through Amazon)

"Princess Peach Pops" (Oriental Trading)

In the buckets I had Tootsie Pops, M&Ms and Super Mario fruit snacks

My labor of love, the paper mache piranha plant in action with a lot of atomic fireballs!

That's the pinata doubling as a centerpiece.  Its a giant ? block.  The five I made from construction paper coins.

The banner I just added Mario Characters to a banner that we had.  There were originally Backyardigans on it. 

Balloons, Cardboard Stand-up and the placemats are from Birthday Express.

  

The dangly things from the chandelier are also Mario characters I printed off and attached to a former Backyardigans decoration.

It was a super fun party!  Very successful and memorable!  Now that this it out of the way I can start blogging about his 6th birthday party, Pokèmon!

First Post and Super Mario Birthday Party

My first public blog!  I've kept a personal blog for many years now, but lately I've been so inspired and busy by craft blogs that I thought I'd throw one out there to keep track of all the little things I work on here at home.

A little about me is that I'm a mother of two beautiful kids and married to my husband for over five years now.  Our baby girl, Ella, will be turning two in January and our son, Caleb, is turning five next month.  Which brings us to this post.

We're throwing a Super Mario Birthday Party!  There are so many wonderful ideas floating around the blogosphere that while we'll still probably order some stuff from birthdayexpress.com, I am trying to do a lot of the decorations in DIY fashion.

The first project that I want to show you is something I'm pretty proud of.