birthday party recap

My husband’s birthday. What to say? It was a lot of fun because a lot of great people were there. And it was a little extra festive, because I spent all of my crafting time for the month of August on silly party ideas. Which was a really good thing because I almost never make stuff for us to keep in our our own home. This was a perfect excuse to do just that. There was no one unifying theme to this party, but I will say that I was inspired by the colors of a pack of tissue paper that I bought at Target. Here is the run-down on the crafty details:

I almost never do this, but I did send out paper invites for this one. I already had the card stock and used that pack of tissue paper to cut out little flags. I sewed the flags onto the cardstock and that was that. Sending out paper invitations really does get people to a party.

{Love the toes in this shot.}

I made a pinata and decorated it with that same tissue paper. I used three layers of paper mache. Two layers would have been better for my audience (two kids under three years old). I had to cut the pinata open with a knife because my little man and his cousin couldn’t make a dent in it with the baseball bat. I also made little loot bags for gathering the candy. Didn’t get a good photo, but they were made with a cute squirrel fabric by Lecien.

Yes, I am a sewing nerd. So yes, I did make personalized napkin rings for each party-goer. I have made these as gifts before and really wanted a set for us. So, the next time any of these people return to our home for a meal, they will have a napkin ring to wrap around their napkin…or their ponytail…or their wrist. That is what happened at the party and it cracked me up. These are made like little slipcovers for slap bracelets. Remember those? I hope to post a tutorial for these soon.

{Most creative use of a napkin ring.}

{Profit drinking.}

I set up a little lemonade stand so that my son and his cousin could sell lemonade at the party. He is mildly obsessed with fattening up his piggy bank, so I was pretty sure this activity would go over well. I wanted to buy a new beverage dispenser like this one, but I knew that my sister had a less fancy grocery store version that I could “dress up.” I printed a vintage looking lemonade graphic that I found via google image, covered it with contact paper, and wrapped it around the dispenser. And because every good crafty blogger needs a fabric banner, I made one to decorate the lemonade stand and other bits of the yard. I am excited that I now have one of these to use over and over at future birthday parties and other events.

The drink marker thingamabobs were very simple. And I think they actually helped some people keep track of their drinks. Using pinking shears, I cut small triangles from the scraps that were created while I was making the banner. I then cut a little slit in each triangle, threaded them with baker’s twine, and tied them onto the glasses. I bought a few mason jars because we didn’t have enough glasses and I didn’t want to use plastic. I’ll reuse the jars for canning.

We played a beer tasting/guessing game. I downloaded a free font called Mom’s Typewriter that I found via iDIY to make these little game cards. Guests brought six packs of beer. My sister and a friend selected a type of beer from the cooler, covered the bottles with small paper bags to conceal identity, poured samples into glasses, and people tried to guess the name of the beer they were drinking.

I bought two bunches of zinnias at the farmstand. I love these flowers so much and they are always in bloom right around my husband’s birthday. Of course, I knew my husband would enjoy them, but I considered them to be a little hostess gift to myself. Music was provided by The Flashdance. I just clicked on this link and played the mixes. Way better than any playlist I could have come up with and people definitely complimented the music. Three cheers for generous blogging DJs!

I kept the menu simple and whenever I was offered help, the answer was “yes.” {Motherhood has taught me that skill.} I provided some basics: veggie dip, fresh salsa, cheeseburgers, pasta salad, baked beans, homemade lemonade, iced tea, and the cake, while guests filled out the menu with fancier extras such as grilled shrimp, a pesto, cheese and sundried tomato torte appetizer, spring rolls, salad greens with goat cheese, watermelon, seven layer magic bars and mint brownies. Good eats for sure!

{Oh, the big browns on this little one. !Para comersela!}

I took Jen’s advice and put into action as many little projects as I could without making myself crazy. The diy smilebooth did not happen. I had a theme and props and everything. But I couldn’t work out a way to protect my camera, so I let it go. Of course, I was rushing around even minutes before the party started, but once guests arrived, I just let things happen and really enjoyed myself. And mostly, had a lot of fun watching the handsome birthday boy have a great time on his big day.

Update:  Thanks to Sara at Party Perfect for featuring this party.  I drew so much inspiration from her beautiful blog, so be sure to check it out if you are looking to get creative with entertaining.