Jake and the Neverland Pirate Party

This year for Kenzley's 4th birthday she wanted to have a Jake and the Neverland Pirate's party. She has been talking about it since her party last year and hasn't forgotten about it since. I was really worried about how I would be able to pull off the theme because the tv series is so new and it made it hard to find things. I knew I didn't want the party to be to boyish, especially since we were only inviting girls. I started on my search for a cute girl invitation and I found this one on etsy. The lady did an amazing job, she was fast, offered free printables for other parts of party, and most importantly she was inexpensive. One of Kenzley's main requests for her birthday was that we had glow in the dark cotton candy. I hadn't ever heard of it either, but apparently she saw that Katy Perry had it at her party and so that meant that Kenzley had to have it at hers. This was probably the hardest idea we have ever tried to pull off. I could find images of the cotton candy all over the internet and on pintrest, but I couldn't find anywhere to actually purchase the sticks that needed to be used. For the cotton candy you can't just use any glow in the dark stick, it has to be certain ones so that the cotton candy lights up the right way and also so it will stick. I came across a cute shop in Kentucky and the lady was willing to make them for me and overnight them to me. After talking to my husband but the cost involved we decided to keep searching for the sticks so we could do it ourselves. There is a guy in californing who sales the sticks in bulk, like 500 in a box, and so I called him to see if he had any idea where I could buy them individually, because I only needed 12. He gave me the number of a guy in north carolina and that guy was willing to sell them to me individually. For the cotton candy part we decided to purchase a cotton candy machine of our own instead of renting one because it was more cost efficient that way. 

They really are pretty neat, they are battery operated and very durable, we were able to reuse them when the kids were ready for more cotton candy. With being pregnant and having so many problems with my pregnancy I was really nervous about how this party would turn out. I wasn't feeling up to much and I feel like my guests may have noticed but I still tried to make it a great birthday for Kenzley. Once our guests arrived I had each child start coloring their pirate bandanas. I was able to find these on oriental trading and the girls loved coloring and designing their own bandana. 

When they were done coloring their bandanas I had them go to the pirate make up table, where they could get their pirate make up. None of the girls came out looking like a ragged pirate of course but it was a good excuse to put on some play make up. Each girl also got an eye patch and some pirate tattoos to put on their body. Once everyone was dressed like a pirate we took their pictures.

 Here are our cute little pirate ladies.

After we were dressed like pirates, it was time to go dig for our treasure. I purchased a small plastic swimming pool and filled it with play sand and then hid necklaces, rings, bracelets, and golden coins throughout the sand. I gave each girl a bag put their treasure in once they retrieved it.

Once everyone got their treasure we decided it was time to eat. We had shark's blood to drink (hawaiian punch), fresh fruit, cupcakes, and of course the cotton candy. I purchased plastic Jake and the Neverland Pirate cups that I found at Wal-Mart for each child to drink out of and take home after the party.

Once we were done eating it was time to open presents and just let the birthday girl enjoy playing with her friends. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us!

Tangled Birthday Party

Brinley turned 5 on September 30 and this year for her birthday she wanted a Tangled party. This theme was hard for me because there weren't too many ideas on the internet to help me get my creative juices flowing. It also was hard because we just moved a little over a month ago, and while I am thankful we moved, it sure put a little kink in my party throwing plans. With that said, this was probably one of the most enjoyable parties I have thrown since I started doing at home parties for the girls. I started with a fun invitation created by this lady! I aboslutely loved how the invitation turned out and she was very reasonably priced!

My best friend is always willing to help me with these parties with whatever I ask her to do. I have kind of started giving her an assignment for each party, that way, it kind of ensures that she will come. For Brinley's party I asked her to make Rapunzel's tower. I didn't want it for any other reason besides a photo op. I love being able to take the kids' pictures by or with something fun at each party and I thought this would be perfect. The tower was perfect and all the little girls loved it. I loved how it turned out!

For our first activity at the party, I thought it would be fun to let the kids paint the wall like Rapunzel does. I brought home a couple of sheets from work and a few rolls of table paper. I hung a sheet on one of my bare walls and then taped the table paper horizontally across the sheet. I also covered the carpet with a couple more sheets and our art wall was ready. This was a huge hit at the party and everyone loved painting the wall. Even after the party was over a few little artists were found back in the room painting again.

For our second activity we made our very own Princess Rapunzel crown. We got a template from familyfun.com and I cut out and glued them together. Then I let the girls decorate them with foam stickers and sequins. While we decorated we decided to eat our pizza too.

Once we were done eating we and our crowns were on we played pin the nose on flynn rider. I was able to google and coloring page of flynn rider without a nose. I printed it out and took it to my nearest kinkos and had them blow it up. I also printed out a coloring page of flynn rider with a nose and cut out his nose and then blew it up on the copier at my work. The girls loved this game. The person that got their nose the closest won a princess dress up kit. Our winner was Taysee, congratulations Taysee!

We let the kids play for a while after and then it was time for presents. I had all the little princesses sit on the couch and then I called them one by one to go pick out their gift to give to Brinley. Brinley was so thankful for all that she got. It was cute to watch how excited see was and to here her say thank you. Thank you to everyone who came!

Then it was time for cake and ice cream! We sang happy birthday and Brinley blew out her candles! This is where I wasn't very creative. I didn't make any food for her party. I even bought her cake. I am so disappointmet in myself. I won't be doing that again, but she was happy.

 Mike has a coworker at his work that makes all different types of hair bows. Since I was running out of time, and I hadn't put my party favors together yet, I asked her if I got all of the supplies, if she could make the bows for me. She gladly accepted. I ordered Rapunzel bottle caps from here and I ordered some cute polka dot ribbon from ebay. His coworker made a set of hair bows for each child to take home and even made a cute Rapunzel hair bow holder to put them on. Thanks Sarah!

Thank you to everyone who came! We appreciate all the love and support you give us! Happy birthday Brinley! We hope you had a wonderful day! We are so proud of you and the beautiful little girl you have become!

Dora Adventure Party

Let me first start by saying that Kenzley LOVES Dora! It has become a serious obsession for her. When I was going through the themes of which party she could have, of course this is what she chose. It was one the easiest parties I have ever done and probably one the funnest. I started by gathering ideas for invitations, I thought about making my own invitation and making it look like a map for our adventure, I thought about doing a map for the directions to our house, and I also thought about making the invitation into a puzzle, but none could have turned out as cute as the invitation I chose to have made. I found this cute shop on etsy, fell in love with what they did, and knew that I had to use them. My next step was putting the adventure together. After several Dora episodes later, I was able to come up with quite the list of places we could stop on our adventure. I wrote the list down and asked my husband to pick 3. He choose bubble garden, chocolate mountain, and cupcake tower. Once I had my places figured out it was time to figure out what we need in our backpacks. I thought about making each child a backpack, but I didn't have enough confidence in my sewing skills, I thought about going out and buying backpacks, but that was pretty pricey. I turned to the trusty etsy website to help me find something creative. I was able to find another aDORAble (no pun intended) shop that had just what I needed. She was able to make our backpacks happen and I was so happy with the way they turned out. I then headed over the oriental trading website to help me find things we could put in our backpacks for the adventure. We needed telescopes, flashlights, friendship bracelets, & maracas. I also purchased a tunnel that we would have to go through. At my work in the gift shop they had some dora silly bands that also went in our gift bags backpacks. For bubble garden I knew I would need something that could create a lot of bubbles. I needed it to create enough bubbles and distribute them evenly for 12 three year olds. I went to walmart and found the perfect bubble machine to do the trick. For choclate mountain I wanted to create a fruit palm tree that the kids could partake of and have a chocolate fountain for them to dip their fruit in. You may think I'm crazy for doing a chocolate fountain with a bunch of three years olds, but trust me, it was a huge hit and they all loved it. For our last stop I needed to make some cupcakes and put them on a tower. We couldn't have a Dora adventure without Swiper paying us a visit, so I made some cupcakes and put them outside along with swiper the fox. When the children arrived I had the Dora theme song playing, the kids played a little bit while we waited for all of our birthday guests to arrive. Once everyone had arrived, I gave them their backpacks filled with their goodies, and we headed out for our adventure. Our first stop was at bubble garden, which was located at the front of our house. We went out our back door, took out our telescopes, and spotted the bubble. We ran to bubble garden, where the children were able to pop bubbles, we also had the popping bubbles song playing so they could pop the bubbles to the music. Next we got out our flashlights so we could go through the tunnel. I had placed the tunnel in our garage and closed the door so it was dark and the flashlights would have the right affect. The kids loved crawling through the tunnel to get to chocolate mountain. We went into the house from the garage to chocolate mountain, which was in my kitchen. The kids were given their very own Dora plate and were given free reign over the fruit palm tree and chocolate fountain. Our last stop was at cupcake tower. While the kids were busy eating at chocolate mountain, I went over and looked out our back door. I got the kids' attention by telling them that Swiper was out there and he was trying to swipe Kenzley's cupcakes. We quickly ran outside and said, "Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping." He of course said "Oh man!" Then we played the we did it song and we all danced around so proud of ourselves! It was a wonderful time and the kids absolutely loved being able to take home their backpacks and their reusable dora plates. I had orginally hoped that the kids could make their friendship bracelets at the beginning of the party, but when I got them, I realized the beads were just to small and so I put them together before the party. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and that our little girl is 3! Happy Birthday Kenzley Jewell! We love you!

Princess and the Frog party!

I am going to first start off by saying I'm no professional party thrower, but I do try hard to make sure everyone has an enjoyable time. I wish I could put on a party like some of the ladies in blog land do, but it is very time consuming and hard to as a working mom so I do what I can. After doing Kenzley's princess tea party, Brinley told me she wanted a Princess and the Frog party. Of course she did, I couldn't find any fun ideas online, nobody in blog land had seemed to do throw this kind of party, and I was completely in the dark on what I should do. I first started off by making her party invitations in the shape of lily pads. I added some fun stickers and they turned out very cute.

Next I went shopping for anything I could think of, hoping that I would see something to make the light go on and give me some bright ideas. I shopped and shopped and SHOPPED and still, nothing. At this point I was ready to pull out my hair. Then I decided to talk to my husband and ask him what he thought of my ideas. He of course became my spine and one of the best supporters of this party. These are the ideas I came up with. I first got a life size cardboard stand up of Princess Tiana. I wanted each little princess to be greeted by princesss tiana as they came in the door and have their picture taken with her. I decided instead of each girl coming dressed as a princess and I would make them a tutu to put on as they came in the door before having their picture taken. After all the princesses arrived and had their picture taken, I sent my hubby to the store to develop the pictures for each girl so they could take it home as part of their "gift bag."

I also didn't want this party to seem like a duplicate of the princess tea party so I tried to think of other things I could do that were age appropriate for the girls, but not to boring for the parents that came last time. I decided we would have three princess stations. The first station would be "Pampering the Princess." My best friend Kjersty was in charge of this station. Each princess would go to her to receive their tiara, royal jewelry, and to have their make up done. I bought two princess make up sets from toys r us to split between the groups of girls. Once Kjersty was done doing the make up on the princesses, she let the princesses have a turn putting the make up on her. I'm not sure which part the girls enjoyed more, but they did have fun playing with the make up.

The next station was "Decorate your own prince charming." I made some really great sugar cookies, thanks to my cousin who shared her recipe with me, and some cream cheese frosting. I did the sugar cookies in the shape of a frog and colored the frosting frog green. I purchased each girl their own princess tiana place mat to decorate their cookie on and they could take the mat and their cookie/cookies home after. Each girl got a scoop of frosting on their plate and we let them have free reign over the sprinkles. It made for some very interesting looking frogs.

See that big pile of sprinkles? This is one of the birthday girl's cookies. There is a cookie hidden under that big pile of goodness. Needless to say, we had her go to a different station after this because we needed to make sure every other girl got SOME sprinkles. The next station was "Kiss the frog." I had hopes of making my own home made version of this game, but as I was out shopping this caught my eye and being the lazy person I am purchased the game instead. There was two winners from this game, the two girls that got their lips closest to the frogs won either a princess tiana barbie or a princess tiana polly pocket size barbie with the rubbery clothes.

 Once each princess had at least one turn at each station we went outside and broke the pinata and blew up sesame street bounce house. After the princesses wore off some of their energy we proceeded on with birthday cupcakes and the opening of her presents. I made frog cupcakes, frog jello jigglers, and my mother in law made frog suckers.

In my opinion everything went smoothly, including me sending my husband to develop the pictures. He returned in plenty of time so that each girl could leave the party with their tutu, place mat, cookie, sucker, tiara, jewelry, and princess tiana pictures. Happy 4th Birthday Brinley!



Princess Tea Party Part 2!

We had Kenzley's 2nd birthday party yesterday. It turned out to be a HUGE success and was so much fun. As our guests started to arrive we had them start decorating there crowns and wands. The little girls loved it and they were so creative with the placement of their stickers.

After they were done it was time for tea. Each girl chose their cup and plate and I poured the tea (black cherry koolaid). The girls loved the tea and kept asking for more until the tea was gone. Then we went outside for some bounce house fun. All the princesses loved it and played well together. Considering we had princesses from ages 2-4 they did very well together and there was no tears.

Next we did the pinata! I tried to convince Mike to man the pinata but something about little kids swinging a bat just scared him. My friend Kjersty operated the pinata until the string broke and then David, my friend Leanne's husband, braved the holding of the pinata.

There was a secret to our pinata, that we kept until the end. All you had to do was pull on the strings at the bottom of the pinata and the bottom fell out. We let each princess hit the pinata at least twice before pulling the strings. Each princess then crowded around and gathered up as many treats as the could and put them in their goody bag.

We then let everyone play and have an enjoyable time. They could choose from any of the treats I made and eat their little hearts out while they played. I made 6-layered jello glass slippers.

I also made glass slipper chocolate molds

and then we had rainbow cupcakes with princess crowns on top

Some of the crowns didn't set up very well, but we will have better luck next time. After the princesses seemed worn out we decided to do presents. Kenzley was very spoiled and is lucky to have such great friends. She got 2 shopping carts, a princess chair, clothes, a book, a coloring book, and a princess doll.

We gathered all the princess around for a royal picture but it was pretty hard to get them all looking at once.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZLEY!