Harper's Birthday Party

We had Harp's 4th birthday party last Sunday (April 1). With a 6 week old, his party really snuck up on me and we kind of waited until the last minute to throw it together.

Harp is not much for big crowds, so we decided to just stick with our immediate families (and my two childhood BFFs ) which was a good move...10 minutes into the party he told me there were too many people here! :) 

he chose a pirate theme: 

sea water

pirates blood

birthday cake...i made this right before the party started...long story about what happened with his first cake!

food

blowing out the candle!

it was lots of fun...but thank goodness we are D.O.N.E. with birthday parties for the year! all three boys birthdays are within the first 4 months of the year, so we don't have to worry about hosting another until next January!

Batman Birthday Party

**so first and foremost, my oldest baby is 5! like every mom out there, i simply cannot believe how quickly this all goes by! i could write some sappy note about how my baby isn't technically a baby anymore, but i'm afraid my hormones will get the best of me!**

the big 5 year old on the morning of his birthday!

when carson said he wanted a batman party, i wasn't thirlled...but its his day, and if he wants a batman party, then a batman party he will get!

**i will warn now that i didn't get a lot of pictures and the ones i did snap are not great quality...i was busy hosting 12 kids (not including my two!) and their parents...oh and our families as well. it was SO very worth it, though!

one more side note: i made all of the labels for the food. i simply googled-imaged the batman logo and added the food name to it (i used photoshop, but you can literally use any photo-editing website like picnik). sent the files to my husband who printed everything out for me at his work (amen for unlimited access to office supplies!) and i laminated the labels at home. 

first up, the food layout:

the party punch:

(2 liter Hawaiian punch, 2 liter ginger ale, 1/2 gallon Orange Juice, served cold)

Bottled Water:

i made the labels on photoshop. copied them onto a word document. printed them out. cut them out in strips. and then used packaging tape to secure them onto the bottled water. honestly, i just kinda winged it because i didn't have a lot of time to work on them. they worked though!

Cookies:

a quick shot of the far left side of the table:

oh, and of course the cake:

my mom and i made the cake. we squirted yellow dye into a container of white frosting. frosted the cake. i printed and cut out the batman logo and then placed it on the cake. my brother outlined the logo with black icing. after we removed the paper logo, my mom painstakingly filled the entire logo in.

I didn't get pictures of the rest of the food, but the snacks included:

Penguin Popcorn
Catwoman Cupcakes
Gotham City Party Dip (a cream cheese dip and a spinach dip...compliments of my mom ;)
Robin's Raw Veggies (a vegetable platter)
Poison Ivy's Pretzels
Riddle Me This Party Tray (pepperoni/cheese/cracker tray)
Two-Face Oreo Cookies
Batman Birthday Cake

and the beverages were:

Joker Juice (aka party punch)
Bottled Water

i also made batman masks for the kids to wear. i printed and cut out this template and traced it onto felt. (each sheet of felt can fit two masks). i cut them out and tied elastic to them. total cost for 16 masks: $3.50.

harper was my tester:
(bad cell phone picture to follow)

as far as activities go, it was pretty standard party stuff. we had a play-doh table and a batman coloring table. we played the batman version of pin the tail of the donkey (aka pin the batman logo on batman's chest;) and musical chairs.  

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can i just say that planning, creating, and implementing this party at 34+ weeks pregnant with #3 was REALLY hard on this mama.

but it was SO worth it. 

birthday preparations

carson's birthday falls exactly 3 weeks after Christmas Eve.

so that raises 3 problems:

1. what kind of present does a kid need just 3 weeks post-Christmas? 

2. Because it was just Christmas, our funds are drained.

3. After the holidays (which for us always extends until the New Year) I have about 2 weeks to plan AND budget for the birthday party. 

see what i'm working with here?

in the past it hasn't been a huge deal...we just invite close family and that was that. but this year....this year is different. carson is turning the big 5 and he really wants his friends (both from church and school) to come. 

so i've been planning and preparing diligently.

first and foremost: location. we are going to host the party at our church. because it is smack in the middle of January and because the weather is SO unpredictable (it was 15-20 degrees a few nights ago. it will be 70 by Saturday) it will be in the fellowship hall so that we'll have plenty of space to work with....and if it is warmer, then we can let them go out to the playground!

next up: decorations. i ran to party city the other day and picked up batman cups/plates/napkins, etc. it was over $30 and i didn't even get half of what i needed. after re-thinking and checking around, i decided to return the items and go with plain black and blue partyware. oh...and did i mention the dollar store sells 20 (plain black/blue) packs of plates for $1?? yeah, i think i  made a wise choice :)

(source)

another rip-off i was trying to figure out was the batman party masks...party city sells these cheap, cardboard batman masks $3.99 for a pack of 4. so for masks alone, we were looking at around $15...and there was no way i was going to pay that for masks. i found this tutorial for DIY batman masks and i am SO excited about these. i'm heading to A.C. Moore tomorrow for the supplies (black felt and a roll of elastic) but i did make a test one tonight just to see if i could do it :)

here is my test one: (very sloppy and without the elastic headband)

next up: food. we are having the party from 2-4ish so we'll keep the snacks pretty simple. i did make food labels as well as water bottle labels. it was my first time creating the labels and because of time constraints, they are VERY simple. here is a peek at one of the food labels and water-bottle labels:
for the vegetable platter:

and for the bottled water (the original label will be removed and the ones i made will be placed around them.)

and last thing: Cake. i checked around and a Batman-themed sheet cake starts around $25. Oh, and we wanted to do cupcakes for both his class party at school AND for the party. once again, i took to pinterest (my BFF) and my mom and i decided we could totally pull off a batman cake. it may not be perfect, but it will definitely do. and for the cupcakes? my mom found batman baking cups.

so thats all for now! i'm still working on it all but for the most part, i have a pretty good start on most of my projects!

stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

my weekly thing.

yes, i feel like a cow.

yes, i have in fact gained lots of weight.

yes, i do realize now that non-maternity sweaters are not flattering.

and no, i don't want to talk about it.

26+ weeks:

in other news, the nursery is coming along. no pictures yet, but we did purchase curtains, curtain rods, paint for the bookcase, and baskets for the changing table...now if i can actually get all of those things up and functioning! as said before, we aren't really doing a "baby" nursery or even a theme nursery, just a lot of neutral colors to grow on. 

this last weekend marked our first "christmas" weekend of the season for us! kane and i got A LOT of shopping done for our families, although i cannot say more then that because they read my blog ;) we also got all of our christmas stuff out and in the nursery until next weekend when we'll decorate (we always decorate the day after thanksgiving). 

i also finished this:

i have mixed feelings about how it turned out, but i spent way too much time on it to not hang it...so up it will go!

hope everyone has a great week!

DIY

okay so let me be the first to point out that i am NOT a crafty person.

a few months ago, something came over me and i went through a yarn wreath making phase...

honestly, they didn't turn out so bad! i guess it has built up my confidence a bit.

on pinterest, i've been collecting DIY projects to complete for the whole two weeks i'll have off between summer classes and fall classes (a lot of time, right?)

here are a few projects i might tackle:

fabric poms (i've actually already made tissue poms before!)

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Maria on Pinterest

button monogram

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Maria on Pinterest

fabric rosettes

Source: cherrystreetcottage.blogspot.com via Maria on Pinterest

water bottle labels

Source: lifesweetlifeblog.com via Maria on Pinterest

(FYI i'm helping my mother-in-law with a babyshower soon!)

so...if you want to learn how to make any of the items above, you can click on the picture and then click on "source." if you want to check out all of my DIY project links click here (this will take you to my pinterest DIY page).

happy crafting!

she's crafty

I was browsing through danielle's new shop and fell in love with her yarn wreaths. i wanted one, but didn't want to pay the $$. so i read her tutorial and decided to give it a try. let me make something clear-i am not a crafty person. at all. but somehow i did manage to put one together (this project is very forgiving:) best part?? i bought all of the supplies i needed to make two wreaths for only $10. so go check out danielle's tutorial and make a few for yourself. you and your walls will be so happy you did.