My youngest daughter's birthday is at the end of the month. Because her birthday is so close to Halloween, she's having a Halloween themed party. It's hard to come up with unique ideas but this year I think I've come up with the perfect activity/craft that also serves as a party favor... a Halloween witch's brew necklace! I told my daughter that we were going to make a "potion necklace" for her birthday but I didn't exactly tell her what the potion would do. I made an example of what the necklace would look like and she loved it! A bottle of "Slime of a Frog" and "Unicorn Dander". But that wasn't the end... I had her uncork both bottles and pour the "Slime of a Frog" into the "Unicorn Dander". I wish I would have gotten her and her sister's reaction on video! They thought it was "so cool!". I can't wait for the birthday party guests to make and then use this Halloween Witch's Brew Necklace! I hope their reaction is as fun as my daughters'. In … [Read more...]
Smore’s Cake
Last week I wrote a post about Nutty's camping birthday party. In that post I told you that her giant smore's cake needed a post of it's own. Now you'll know why... As I said in my previous post, this cake took me two days to make, was a little hard, and wasn't very practical but it looked awesome and the girls loved it. The real instructions on how to make this giant smore's cake can be found on Not Just A Housewife. I won't steel her post. I will, however, tell you how making my cake went... Unlike the original cake, I started out making two vanilla cakes. I surprised myself on how well they turned out (i.e. I got them out of the pan without ruining them). I also surprised myself on how I was able to level them (no photo, sorry). Between my cake layers I put marshmallow fluff creme. This is where my first problems came in. The chocolate chips melted just fine but I quickly realized I didn't have a cookie sheet quite as large as I wanted. Oh well, my round pizza sheet … [Read more...]
Birthdays with “The Twin Factor”
More often than not I am asked about my twins and how alike they really are. In a factual sense of the term they are twins: they were born on the same day, from the same mother and they shared the womb. But beyond that they really are quite different (besides the obvious that they are different genders). They enjoy each others company and they are pretty protective of each other, which I think is adorable, and they are generally a terrific two-some. For the first 4 years of their lives I was able to squeak in my own personal preference for "twin-ness" by hosting their birthday parties with themes (prince and princess, monkeys, spring theme and last year was all about the number four). This year, however, it slapped me in the face when it came to their differences. I will admit my heart was a little broken when I realized what was occurring, they were asserting themselves in their own right. They are in different pre-school classrooms this year and therefore they each got to pick … [Read more...]
Horseback Riding–Memories for a Lifetime
For Nutty's 6th birthday, she wanted a horse party. After some research, I discovered it was just as expensive, if not cheaper, to take the party to Sunnyside Stables (and have each girl ride their own horse) as it would be to have one pony come to our house and have the girls take turns! So, we went all-out and took the party to the stables! (In the interest of privacy, and because this post is not about the party, I am only posting photos of my girls) For Nutty, and most of the girls at the party, this was her first time on a real horse (instead of a pony at a petting zoo). For Tottie (who is too small to ride a real horse), this was her first time riding a pony by herself. Their experience is something they will never forget! After first meeting their horses, and then leading them around for a little bit, it was time to get down to the business of actually riding them! Nutty was a little nervous, Tottie was THRILLED! In fact, Nutty was so nervous, she had a helper … [Read more...]
Hosting a Winter ONEderland Party
Planning birthday parties is one of my favorite things to do! With 4 kids I get the chance to get creative every couple of months (tee hee hee). This past month my baby boy turned ONE! I threw him a Winter ONEderland Party. I thought this party turned out so cute that I'd share it with you so that you too could be inspired! The first, and most important part of the party is the cake....of course! It just so happens that our local bakery offers a FREE "smash cake" for their 1st birthdays. Thanks to them I didn't have to pull out the pans and make one, yay! Check with your local bakery to see if they offer the same. (Note- I didn't blot out my sons name because it would have taken a long time to do...this will be the only post in which I will share his name). I asked them to add blue and white dots to the cake to coordinate with the colors. I also had them make a "winter- themed" sheet cake for our party guests. My lovely friend made the gorgeous fondant igloo, penguins, and polar … [Read more...]
creative birthday party ideas
As each year passes I learn more and more ideas of what I can do to make my child's birthday party a sure fire hit. (And if I am being totally honest- they probably would be fine with some cake and a candle to blow out, but the party is so much fun!) For my children's first birthdays I tried to keep with the theme of their rooms (i.e. my eldest child's room was frogs-so he had a frog 1st birthday party). I thought it would be fun to share a few tips, tricks, and ideas I have learned along the way. 1. A "themed" cake- Sure, it's not required but it sure does help bring the theme together. When you choose a cake make sure you keep in mind that for their first birthday you will probably want a smash cake (one they get to dive into all on their own). 2. First birthdays are the ones that most people will come to (so if you want to impress this is the one to do it, wink, wink). It is a ton of fun to share photos of their first year with people but be creative about it, plaster them … [Read more...]
