80's Gala Centerpiece

I've been on a crafting craze this last month or so and I've gotten so far behind on sharing!  I'm sorry and I'll try to do a post a day for a while to catch up.  So here is a little eye candy for those of you that still totally love the 80's!

My sister's in charge of a fundraiser for our school with an 80's theme, so we wanted to do some fun centerpieces.  Serenity and I went hunting for branches, I painted them bright yellow and hot glued them into a brick to hold them up.  Then I added the slinkies!  It's about four feet tall, so nice and dramatic, for almost no money!  Slinkies from the dollar store and oriental trading, some paint, and a dollar cereal bowl from Target is the whole cost on this.  Around 5 dollars a table.

Like Totally 80's Party =)

I'm helping my sister plan a gala fundraiser for our kid's school, and the theme is 80's!  To get everyone in the mood, we decorated the lobby yesterday!  Check it out!

I found the idea for using the tablecloths as streamers here.  It's really dramatic, especially in person!  The checkerboard backdrop is covered with bright geometric shapes, we have pac-man and guess who to represent the games we'll be playing.  It's like totally awesome! =)  Next up will be centerpiece planning and then I suppose I ought to consider dressing appropriately for the party. =)  Should be fun!

Valentine Post Office Party!

Valentine Post Office Party!

When I was trying to plan Serenity’s class party, I asked her what made her most excited about Valentine’s day.  I really had no idea what she thought about Valentine’s Day, since we’ve only ever done a few heart related crafts in the past, and she has a book or two about it.  She told me she was excited to deliver lots of Valentines to her class!!  So I decided the theme of the class party should be Post Office!

The party was a success!  All the kids in Serenity’s class seemed to have a blast pretending to deliver mail.  We kept recycling the letters so they got to deliver them over and over during the party.  I made the huge mailbox out of cardboard.  I had the big box and red paint on hand.  It has a slot in the top, a door in the back to get the mail out, and the drawer at the front that opens just like a real mailbox.  To make the curved top, I just creased the cardboard at regular intervals by folding over a yardstick.  We also added white wooden letters that spell mail.  If we keep playing with it at home, I may add a key slot for the door at the back. 

The pretend mail was one of the kids favorite part!  Each child had three pieces of mail to start with.  One was addressed to a classmate, one to a teacher, and one to a generic family member like Mama or Daddy.  For the teachers, I actually wrote out the address of the school for each one.  That way if they take it home and play more they can learn about addresses, zip codes, and so on.  I made lots of postcards using craft foam, and then addressed a few envelopes as well.  I put a few dozen pieces of extra mail in the mailbox to get them started too.  We kept recycling the letters throughout the party, and the kids were happy to deliver them over and over!!!

Each child also had a mailbag.  To see how I made them, check out thispost.  Basically I used some canvas to make a little messenger bag with a red grosgrain ribbon strap and wrote “mail” on the side with Silhouette vinyl.  Oh, I still need to write about the joy of using my Silhouette.  I know it can be awesome…I just seem to need a Silhouette for Dummies instruction manual.  I managed to get 24 of these finished in time for the party though, and so I’m content for now =) 

I found the perfect little tin mailboxes in the Target dollar spot, and had one for each child to decorate with stickers.  We wrote their names on labels, which turned out to be a great idea, as they kept getting lost.  Turns out a class party for three year olds is a bit chaotic.  =) 

We also decorated cupcakes and the other parents in my class brought other snacks and treats!  It was so much fun!  I’m on a party high right now, I so want to plan another!!!  If anyone needs help brainstorming for a party, leave a comment and let me know!  I’d love to help. =)  

As far as decorations, we couldn't decorate before the party because it would be too distracting to the students.  So I kept that simple and just picked up balloons from the Dollar Tree.  They had heart balloons in four different colors so you could get a neat ombre effect.  The kids all went ooooh when Eric walked in the classroom with them. =)  The dollar tree lady was very helpful loading them up.  She tied them to balloon weights very short in groups of six, so I was able to carry them in two regular grocery sacks and fit half in my trunk, half in the floorboards.  I could even see out, which was a neat trick!  I was worried about driving those across town in my little Honda but it was fine! =)  

Valentine Class Party Planning!!! (Post Office)

Well, after way too much mental debate, I settled on a theme for Serenity's class party: Post Office!  I asked Serenity if she was excited about the Valentine party and she said yes, we need to deliver things!  So I thought we could play post office.  I had seen this great cardboard craft on ikatbag.com and I made my own version of the big mailbox!  It has a slot at the top, and a flip down drawer thingy, and a door at the back to get mail out of.  I plan to make lots of pretend mail for the kids to deliver to each other and their teachers.

At Target I got little tin mailboxes out of the dollar bin and some stickers to decorate them with.  Easy and inexpensive favors!!!


And see this inconspicuous pile of canvas?  Well, that is the prototype for my next project... mailman bags!  I'll tell more about those later, assuming I can make 26 of them in time. =) 

Some other awesome Valentine ideas that my sister has done with her older sons class include an Iron Chef party, where she got tons of ingredients for crazy rice krispie treats and the kids teamed up to make the best concoction.  Andes Mints, Fruity Pebbles, chocolate chips, all kinds of choices.  Some kids put everything in, and then didn't even want to eat their own creation, but they all had a blast!  Judging was difficult =)
She's also doing a lego party, where the older kids are challenged to make Valentine-y things out of legos in teams.  Hearts, bow and arrows, that sort of thing.  Sounds like fun, I wish I could go!!!

New Years Eve!

Here’s a new tradition for us!  Today, we turned our Christmas Tree into a New Years Tree!  We took down all the Christmas ornaments, added festive blue lights, and covered the whole thing in streamers!  We had so much fun with that, we added a wall of streamers we can run through and streamers above our game table, as the plan for the rest of the night is game night!  We’ll celebrate the New Years with either Reykjavik or Cape Verde, depending on how our kids are holding on.  That means we just keep them up till about 7 or 8pm.  Serenity might get to do both, I’m not sure about Donovan.  We used to do Rio de Janeiro new years, at 9pm, but we had such a busy day I’m sure Donovan won’t last that long! 

I love this redecorating idea!  It made for a fun crafty day, and it probably means I won’t leave my tree up until February, which I have been known to do. ;) 

And hey, with this post, I am meeting my New Years Resolution for last year!  I wanted to post at least ten times every month, and I did, if only barely.  I think it’s much easier now that I have the goal of posting most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, assuming I have something to say. 

My goal for next year is to lose my dependence on drive-throughs for our sustenance.  I have to at least want the fast food enough to drag the kids out of the car, although I’m fairly sure that will almost never be worth it.  I’m going to try and channel my sister and Abbey, the culinary geniuses in my family =)  Wish me luck!  

I'm off to make party hats!  Woo hoo!

New Years Plan

Well, just as I feared, Christmas made me fall behind on my website =)  I had an amazing Christmas with my family, though, and hope you did as well! 

Today I think I'll share my plan for New Years Eve!  We always celebrate with Serenity, but instead of trying to stay up until midnight (which would totally backfire with our three year old) we celebrate Rio De Janeiro New Years!  Yeah, you can countdown with another time zone and the New Year can start whenever your bedtime is.  We will celebrate with Sprite toasts and fun party hat crafts.  Here's a pic from last year's hat!

Gingerbread Party Supply List

I decided to go ahead and write up my shopping list for the Gingerbread House Party to share.  That way I can be ready for next year, and if anybody wants to have a last minute party this year, maybe it will help!

Here's a link to the party details here.

Shopping list for a Gingerbread House Party:

Michael’s:
Cardboard cake rectangles, cut to 7X10

Edible markers

Cellophane and curly ribbon to wrap the finished product

Grocery Store
4 boxes of Graham Crackers (I used three boxes to make 10 houses)

1 box of sugar cones for trees

1 bag marshmallows for snowmen

Toothpicks

Icing ingredients (I made three batches for this party, and we used up most of that.)

2 heaping cups powdered sugar

4 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

Candies
mini m&ms

Skittles

Mini fruit slices or gumdrops

mini candy canes

Christmassy cereal like Christmas Crunch

Gingerbread Cookie People. Oooh,

(other possibilities include lifesavers, kisses, ribbon candy, mints, Starburst, animal crackers)

Supplies at home:

Glue gun and glue sticks

Serrated knife for cutting crackers

Wet wipes for cleanup

Gallon Ziploc bags for piping

Gingerbread House Party

December is crazy, I'm so sorry for not posting for a week!  But I have a great one for today, we had a great Gingerbread House Party!  Here are the details!

I invited Serenity's class over to decorate gingerbread houses.  I realized as I was making the bases that I’d never decorated a gingerbread house before!  And just like my mother, the very first time I made ten of them.  Yay for mass production!  Here’s how I set it up:

I built the bases for the gingerbread houses by cheating, as my friend Andrew would say.  Hooray for hot glue!  I figure no one really wants to eat graham crackers that sit out for days anyway =)  I bought cardboard cake rectangles and cut them in half to make 7 by 10 inch boards.  Then I hot glued graham crackers to make the base.  I read a tip from here at One Charming Party about microwaving the graham cracker wrapped in a wet paper towel for 15 seconds, and it definitely made it easier to cut it without breaking the cracker.  I got too lazy for it after a while, so it can be done both ways.  I cut the pattern for my roofline on a piece of cardstock so that I got the angles the same on the front and back.  I cut about a fifth of the graham cracker off the side pieces so that the roof had a nice overhang. 

The special details that everyone loved included getting sugar cones and green icing for Christmas trees.  Serenity especially loved this and covered her tree with mini M&M and Skittles ornaments.  And she used mini gummy fruit slices for presents under the tree.  Next, I got supplies to make snowmen out of marshmallows.  Big marshmallows, toothpicks, and edible markers.  Finally, I found little gingerbread cookie people!  Pepperidge farm makes a set of these, and the kids loved adding them to their little houses. 

In addition to all that, I bought a ton of candy!  I think next year I’ll buy different candy knowing what I know now.  With the graham crackers especially, the houses are pretty small.  So the big gumdrop bells, Butterfinger bells, ribbon candy, nougats, and even the hershey’s kisses were a bit too big.  We used a couple maybe each, but they weren’t the most fun.

The best candies were the mini M&Ms, and someone brought little tiny candy balls in all different colors.  They looked just like lights!  Next year I’ll totally buy the M&Ms not in a Christmas mix, they’re cuter with more colors.  The mini fruit slices were awesome, and tiny gumdrops.  The mini candy canes were cool too, but since they came in a box of 60 I imagine I’ll still have some for next year.  Oh, and I nearly forgot the Christmas Crunch.  The cereal made cute decorations, and was lightweight and just the right size =)  I also got Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which I forgot to use but I still think would be cute.

I had the icing ready in Ziploc baggies for piping, and that worked great just like at our Cookie Party.  And green icing in a bowl with popsicle sticks to spread it. 

And that was it! I had some cardboard boxes for people to take home their creations.  Next year I might buy cellophane so they can wrap it and tie it closed with curly ribbon.  I could only make so many trips to Target for things I’d forgotten this year =)  Next year I’ll have a list to work from! 

December Day Four: Cookie Fest!

Cookie Party!  I just love our annual cookie party.  It’s great to get together with our friends from college and their adorable children, and I get to play!  Try new recipes, crafts, and games.  This year I set up a cookie decorating station for the kids and an apple cider bar.

Here’s the apple cider bar!  I went all out and actually purchased silver polish for the fancy tray my Mama gave me.  Then I went nuts in the grocery store!  Here’s what we had to choose from:

Torani Syrups in Almond, Pumpkin Pie, and Irish Cream flavors.

Butterscotch and Caramel sundae toppings

Maple Syrup

Apple Slices

Butter Pecan and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

I think my favorite was almond syrup, cinnamon whipped cream, and apple slices.  I also loved butter pecan ice cream with caramel sauce!  Yum!  I found a tip online to keep the cider warm in the crock pot, and it worked perfectly. 

The cookie station was a blast!  Serenity and I had made the cut out cookies the day before (Cinnamon shortbread, mmmm) I put icing into Ziploc baggies and cut the tips off when the kids were ready to design with them.  Even the two year olds could easily squeeze the icing out!  Granted it usually ended up in a big puddle on the cookie, but hey, still delicious. I had a bunch of candies to decorate, but I think the mini M&Ms and the mini chewy fruit slices worked the best.  Oh, and sprinkles of course. 

I made each of the kids a little chef’s hat using this extremely simple pattern.  I just happen to have a bunch of muslin on hand, which I’d purchased to make curtains for Serenity’s room.  Actually this is the second time I’ve bought muslin for that project and used it for something else, I should just keep a bolt of the stuff on hand! =)  

The table for people to put the cookies they brought on.  I put out the veggie tray to balance the sugar a little. =)  Next year maybe I'll think signage earlier, but today I put out green tags for people to write the cookie variety on. 

Saw this in my family fun magazine this month, had to make it cause my husband loves parsley =)

How to Make a Rice Krispie Treat Chessboard

Rice Krispie treats are my husbands dessert of choice, so we've had several very special Rice Krispie treats!  For his 28th birthday I decided to combine his two loves, Rice Krispies and chess. 

It's very easy to make, and it just takes a combination of regular Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies.  I made two batches of each. One batch got cut into squares to make the board, and the other got molded into the chess pieces. I got a huge piece of cardboard that I covered in aluminum foil (back in those days I didn't get fancier than that with the setup =)  Then I laid out the squares and set up the game.  Molding the pieces wasn't too hard, but you have to be pretty quick.  Put plenty of butter on your hands and prepare to get sticky.  I just eyeballed the shapes.  It turned out very tasty!  And they actually played a game, and ate the pieces they took.  At least the first several. =)

Eric's SURPRISE Birthday!

A few years ago for my husband’s birthday, I organized a birthday kidnapping.  Several of our wonderful willing friends broke into our apartment while he was sleeping, and swept him off to a day filled with all his favorite activities!  Check out the special birthday crown he’s wearing =)  They tossed some confetti on him and bundled him out in his comforter.  I made sure to send him real clothes to wear later! 

Then we all caravanned to Marilyn and Andrew’s place for breakfast.  They made some wonderful egg things and we had hot chocolate.  Eric got a chance to shower and wash the snow out of his hair.  I had packed him a suitcase, but since I didn’t want him to be able to guess what the plan for the day was, I packed everything.  I packed t-shirts, sweaters, a hat, his swimsuit, a tie, his jock strap….  literally some of everything =)  After the shower he first came out in his swimsuit, a tie, and his birthday hat =) 

Then we had a rousing game of Epic Duels!  (A board game we love!)  We had to play Epic Duels on his birthday, it’s getting to be a tradition! Then Eric got to go to a comic book store.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were back at the apartment decorating like nuts!   I bought a BIG roll of green streamers, green and silver stars and silver swirly things that we strung up everywhere.  Oh, and of course balloons.  Everyone asked if Eric liked green, and I said sure, he likes Green Lantern and Kermit the Frog… but really I chose green because it didn’t clash with my Christmas decorations =)  We also started taking pictures of everyone in Eric’s silly hats for his surprise birthday present.  His birthday present from me, besides the party, was a scrapbook of all his favorite pictures.  The ones he likes best are the crazy ones =)  I’ll try to put up pictures of his scrapbook pages later so you can all see the crazy pictures everyone took =)

After decorating and buying out the comic book store, we met Ann and John for lunch at a Pho restaurant. 
After Pho, Eric got to play online games with a bunch of his friends!  After Dota, they went rock climbing and then came back to our apartment where we surprised him with a Rice Krispie Chessboard!  The black squares are made with Cocoa Krispies!  It was so fun, and he and Jack actually played.  Eric didn’t win, at least partially because he actually ate all the pieces he took =) 

Rainbow Party: Food

Food

My sister very kindly offered to make all the food, since she knew I’d have trouble managing it with my newborn baby boy in tow.  Plus she’s an amazing chef!  She made lots of rainbow food, including a rainbow fruit pizza!  I found these little insulated lunch bags at the dollar store that were perfect to hold picnic lunches for all the kids!  We stuck with simple sandwiches, rainbow goldfish, and fruit for the kids lunches.  Oh, and rainbow colored Gatorade to drink.  Adults got a choice of Marinated Italian Veggie sandwiches, Chicken Salad or Turkey Wraps.  Then we of course had rainbow fruit and veggie trays, and colorful chips and salsa.  The desserts were lemon and strawberry cupcakes with bright rainbow icing, and a rainbow fruit pizza!  Desserts are our favorite part of birthdays, and these were particularly tasty.  =)

Serenity's Photobooth Birthday Present =)

At this age I don't really feel a need to buy presents for Serenity, she gets plenty from her grandparents and other family, and we go all out with the party fun, so I like to make her things for her gift.  This year, I decided I want to make her a photo book with pics of all her family and friends in it!  I thought it would be most fun if we had a crazy rainbow photobooth at her birthday to get fun pictures of everyone.  It went so well!  I think people had fun playing with the props, and I got a lot of cute pics!  I had rainbow hats, a feather boa, a chalkboard that my Dad made for messages, and a rainbow picture frame that I painted.

She loves looking at the pictures already, I just have to get them together!  I also plan to photoshop pictures of people who weren't able to attend the party into the photobooth.  I'll post pics of that when I figure it out!

The photobooth itself was made just like this tutorial for the puppet theater, except with larger pvc and a bigger scale.