Tag Archives: theme

Dub Nation Birthday Celebration

July 17, 2018 Aubrey Leave a comment

This year my boys turned 5 and 6…and for the past year they have been ALL about basketball, specifically our hometown Golden State Warriors who just happened to prevail as back to back champions in June. So, their birthday party these was a no brainer…a Dub Nation Birthday Celebration! My boys have been spoiled when it comes to (NBA) basketball. Not only did both of their births coincide with NBA Championships (in Miami), but in both of their lifetime’s, they have only known living in places with NBA Champions! We are clearly a basketball family, so this year I got the wheels turning to play up a blue and gold theme fit for my basketball kings! I made a custom “ticket” invitation via Paperless Post to announce the event, you can see those details here.

I created a dessert table using a backdrop of alternating blue and gold streamers, and I stuck a warriors sign from Party City in the middle. I covered the table with a coordinating yellow table cover and added Warriors logo plates and napkins. We already had a couple Warriors basketballs, so I propped them up on clear glass cylinders stuffed with matching tissue paper. I got the Warriors themed sheet cake from Safeway and ordered blue and yellow frosted cupcakes. I topped the cupcakes with their age (5 & 6) numbers, along with team logos, that I sized and printed out myself, then glued onto toothpicks. I found mini blue popcorn boxes which I filled with Boom Chicka Pop Kettle Corn, and filled the small candy jars with basketball wrapped butter mints.

The other desserts I added were rice krispy treats and chocolate dipped marshmallows, both made by me and both decorated with blue and yellow cake sprinkles. I also had a tray of (Costco) chocolate chip cookies, because cookies make everyone smile!

Over the years we’ve collected and saved various Warriors signs, so I thought, why no string them up and use them for decorations. That was really easy since we had several signs. I just punched holes in the corners and used twine to string them up.

Since it was an outdoor party at the park, I just made a couple centerpieces (you never know how the wind will factor in). I took a couple metal pails and filled with rocks for weight – found these at Dollar Tree. I then placed (free) foam fingers and clap sticks we’ve gotten from games, added tissue paper and stuck a “5” and “6” balloon to finish the look.

We played with water balloons….

Destroyed a basketball pinata, which I personalized with a Warriors logo print out…

You know it was a GREAT party when there was lots of laughter and smiles all around!

I also found the perfect thank you gift to give our guests, a Dubble Bubble “Slam Dunk” dispenser and I custom created a thank you tag to stick on them.

Thanks to all our friends and family who celebrated our boys with us and made it a very memorable occasion!

Mommy 101

Spiderman Birthday Party

July 13, 2017 Aubrey Leave a comment

Two parties in six days, that was my life this past week. We started with TMNT for my 5-year old, and finished the birthday week with SPIDERMAN for my now 4-year old.

We chose to have this party at a complex near us, called Bladium. The nice thing about Bladium is that you can choose what activities the kids can do during your party. We chose Rock Climbing as our main activity the first hour, then for the second hour they moved us into another area where the kid’s had use of the basketball court and a giant inflatable slide!

At this venue, all the parties are done in 2 hour blocks and they include pizza and drinks for the kids. I liked that they allowed us to bring additional food (aside from pizza) to serve to our guests. They assign you a party host who stays with you and watches all the kids during your event.

When it came to the cake, I got ours at Safeway and elected for the cupcake cake! We had both white and chocolate cake and what I like about these cakes is that you don’t need a knife, just pull it apart!

I didn’t go all out on decor for this party, I had a themed tablecloth, plates and napkins…but I did make the “happy birthday” banner that I found at this website.

What I did do though is get a pinata, which was hung from the basketball hoop and it was a big hit with all the kids!

We also sent pour guests home with their own “Spidey Web.” I picked up Goofy String from Dollar Tree and transformed the cans with this printable. It was super easy and a big it with the kids..I just had to politely ask them to wait until they got home to start spraying!

So, now I’m birthday party planned out…until next year, I’ll have two very happy super heroes!

Food

Dinosaur Dig Dessert

March 26, 2017 Aubrey Leave a comment

This post is long overdue! Last summer while crafting my boy’s’ joint 3rd and 4th “Dinosaur Dig” birthday party, I had so much fun planning decor and activities…and I also managed to find inspiration and create a themed dessert that looked like dinosaurs in the dirt! You can browse around this site for more ideas.

It was super easy to do and tasted pretty good as well, although I do think some of the preschool crowd was a bit skeptical until they discovered what was inside!

At any rate, it was super easy to do and here’s what you’ll need:

Chocolate pudding – I bought a couple packs of the 12-cup Snack Pack pudding

Oreo Cookies – generic chocolate creme cookies work too!

Dinosaur Gummies – I had to hunt around for these and ended up ordering (more than I needed) on Amazon.

Once I had all my ingredients, it was easy to assemble day of the party – my baby sister and sister-in-law assisted! We emptied out about half of the pudding from each cup into a clear cup – so if you buy a 12-pack, you can actually get 24 treats out of it, then added a layer of crushed cookies (do this ahead of time), I simply took a handful of cookies and put into a zipped plastic bag and crushed them up! Then, for the final touch, add a few dinosaur gummies to the top…honestly, 2 is good, 3 is plenty. And, that’s it, ready to serve! RAWR!!

Mommy 101

10 Tips for Celebrating When Your Baby Turns ONE!

April 1, 2016 Aubrey 3 Comments

A guest post written for 53 Weeks.

Your baby is turning 1!!! It’s time to enjoy and celebrate this major milestone! Here are 10 tips that helped this mama out!

Pick a theme

Picking a theme can be fun and it helps you stay focused and helps organize the direction of the party.

We decided to go with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme. My daughter has an adventurous spirit and is full on wonder so it was a natural choice for us!

Ready, set, shop!

Now that you have your theme, it’s time to set a budget. Remembering that in the end it isn’t how expensive your party is but how memorable and fun it was for everyone.

The first place to start for me was shopping online at party supply sites. They have great deals and so much to choose from! From there check out your local dollar store. It’s amazing what you can find for a $1! I headed to a local wholesale lantern store to purchase all the colorful lanterns that we hung from the ceiling. I ordered most party supplies on Black Friday and took advantage of the discounts. If there is a holiday coming up take advantage of the savings!

Guest list

Make a list and check it twice! You’ll need to know how many people you want to invite in order to plan successfully. This will help you decide on location, budget and overall work. Surround that little one with loved ones who have made the year so special! It takes a village, right?

We decided to invite about 75 people. Below is our group shot (blurred to respect privacy).

Location, location, location

Now where to have the bday bash? Keep weather in mind – not so fun having a jumpy house outside if it’s raining. Can you accommodate all guests in your home? Is a restaurant more your style and letting staff handle the set up & clean up?

We decided on a recreation center. The blank space allowed us to decorate freely and there were no time restraints which allowed us to enjoy the party without watching the clock.

What’s on the menu?

Try to be creative and work with your theme. Also, keep in mind how convenient it will all be. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen during their child’s party.

We decided on sandwiches which were individually wrapped with salads as sides. This made it easy for all and allowed many variations and choices. Best of all – no one is heating anything up or running around. For the cake, I decided on going with cupcakes which are very convenient. No cutting, no passing out, no mess. I purchased a cupcake stand on amazon for presentation. Our daughter, of course, had her individual smash cake. I was able to find a cute cake topper on Etsy.

Planning ahead will help you stay sane (kinda).

A first birthday is a big deal and one may feel the pressure to have it all be great. But now that you’re a mom, who has the time to be Martha Stewart? I started planning about two months prior. The time also allows for extra creativity and DIY projects. I shopped online, made calls and completed projects all during my daughter’s naps.

Dress the part!

Get your guests involved and make everyone feel like they are part of the fun! Children love to see fantasy come to life.

We offered our guests their pick of hats as they walked into the party. Hats were purchased from a party supply store. Some of us wore costumes and had a blast! Our mini Alice looked adorable in her light blue tutu!

Gotta entertain the littles.

Try estimating how many children will be coming to the party and their ages. Kids want to enjoy themselves and be a part of the theme via games and activities.

I purchased a corn hole game and covered it with green fabric and glued some flowers on it. My husband printed out posters at work. We also printed out some coloring pages for the younger kids. We also hired someone to face paint and hand out balloons.

DIY with Love.

Crafty? Time to put your skills to work. Not crafty? Recruit friends and fam who are. Or now will be the time to become great friends with Pinterest and DIY tutorials on YouTube. Why DIY? Because sometimes you just can’t find what you want or need in a store. It can also be great way to save money.

For me, I enjoy DIY projects because I’m taking the time to do something out of love. Some DIYs I made were garland made out of dollar store playing cards, Queen’s guardsman which were made from dollar store poster board and construction paper and our table runners were also made by simply purchasing some fabric and sewing the sides. I also had some items which included pictures of her first year.

Have fun!

When all is said and done…ENJOY this special day! In the end it isn’t about the décor, it’s about celebrating their sweet life. A year has gone by and it probably all happened in the blink of an eye (despite the sleepless nights). So take it all in, these moments go by way too fast. Remember to take lots of pictures so your little one can look back on the celebration! Congrats you made it! Happy Birthday little one!

Mommy 101

Party Time: Breakfast at Nia’s

September 28, 2015 Aubrey 3 Comments

My cousin, Kitty, threw a very cute “Breakfast at Nia’s” themed birthday party over the weekend powered by NIA & Co. Her daughter just turned four and I absolutely loved her take on the Audrey Hepburn classic for this birthday bash.

Kitty gushed, “One of my most favorite things to do with my daughter is snuggling up on the couch when she can’t sleep at night and watching Audrey Hepburn classics. So when she asked for a Hepburn-themed party for her 4th birthday, I was over the moon.”

It was truly a group effort, a family affair putting this beautiful soiree together – from pictures to food, planning and decor. It began in the planning stages with an Audrey Hepburn themed-photo shoot to create images to use for the invites, favors and decor… I’m in love with Nia’s sunglasses and the black tulle dress!

Of course there was lots of that signature Tiffany Blue used to highlight the theme. Kitty, took blue favor bags and tagged them “Nia & Co.” and she wrapped up those famous little blue boxes with “diamond rings” inside…okay they were bubble rings, but still SO cute and perfect for this theme! And — who doesnt get excited to open up and see what’s waiting for them inside a little blue box.

“Pearls for the girls. Bowties for the guys.” Cute favor neckwear for the little guests.

Dessert included these sophisticated macarons with chevron print and pearl accents…

…and these stylish sugar cones filled with blue velvet cupcake and topped with cream cheese frosting and pearls of course!

Then they created this simple photo back drop with metallic silver streamers hung on a plain wall and adorned with a birthday banner on top.

Finally, the perfect birthday cake for a princess in Tiffany blue and a bow on top… Happy 4 to Nia!

Mommy 101

Construction Zone Birthday Party

May 22, 2015 Aubrey Leave a comment

My boys were invited to a “Construction Zone” themed birthday party and I thought the Mom-in-Charge pulled together the theme really well!! First off, check out the cake, what a fun cake with great use of chocolate and work vehicles.

Decor included orange cones, caution tape and construction hats…there were hot pink ones for the girls in attendance.

There were also lots of balloons in orange, black and yellow…along with this Tonka Truck!

Favors were stuffed in these cute Home Depot aprons, filled with bubbles, cookies and candy.

And — as far as the venue, this Mom got it just right! It was at a sports complex and in addition to the party room, we had use of a field where they set up an obstacle course and all type sof physical activities for the kids to take part in. I think sometimes it’s a challenge to pick the right location when they are still so little – toddler small, but this was great! The kids were in an enclosed area and could run around and get all the energy out…

Mommy 101

Hello Kitty Birthday Bash

April 23, 2015 Aubrey 3 Comments

The moment I found out I was having a baby girl, I already knew what her 1st birthday party theme would be: Hello Kitty, of course! As a lifelong fan of the red-bowed childhood favorite, it was the obvious choice.

With a sweet tooth the size of California and a penchant for baked goods, I wanted to make the dessert buffet the centerpiece. So I set out to bake cake pops, Rice Krispy treats, cupcakes and sugar cookies. Sounds ambitious, I know — especially since I had never made sugar cookies in my life! (I chose a brilliant time to learn!) But I goaled myself on accomplishing them along with all the other treats. Other than the birthday cake and the popcorn, I spent time over a span of one week mixing, baking, frosting and packaging all these sweet treats myself. I am a little out of practice but enjoyed getting back into baking.

These chocolate cakepops with strawberry icing are my go-to cakepops when making them for a party. Who doesn’t love the flavor of chocolate and strawberry together? Red velvet cake pops with homemade cream cheese frosting, another crowd fave.

Strawberry and Original Rice Kitty Treats – a twist on a classic and pink for our Hello Kitty theme of course! These are just as easy to make and you just add a box of strawberry jello mix to the marshmallow and butter mixture.

Instead of cutting a cake, I baked red velvet cupcakes and yellow cake cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Individual cupcakes are easy to grab and go and no one has to wait until the end of the party to have a bite of cake.

These Hello Kitty sugar cookies were a challenge and a half considering I was a first timer to making them. But not a bad freshman attempt. I baked them ahead of time and frosted them night before the party.

I included some Salted Caramel and Cheese popcorn mix as well as Classic Kettlecorn for a little variety on the table.

My baby girl’s birthday cake was made by Just the Frosting Cakes. Our favorite flavors are the chocolate cake with toasted almond frosting.

The boys’ Badtzmaru favors were made with simple takeout boxes filled with treats.

I LOVE these Hello Kitty favor bags for the girls! I loved how colorful and festive they were, and of course they were part of our theme!

My husband made the Hello Kitty and Badtzmaru photo booth cutouts for the kids (and some adults) by printing the images and mounting them on a tri panel. The kids had fun taking photos with them and they made for a nice photo memory of the event.

I hadn’t baked like this in awhile. And truly, this party for our baby girl was a labor of love. But I was really pleased with how the dessert buffet turned out. And more importantly, I was happy that our guests enjoyed themselves and loved all the treats!

This post was written for 53 Weeks by Anna M.

Mommy 101

Zoo Animals Party Theme

July 14, 2014 Aubrey 5 Comments

This past weekend we celebrated my baby boys birthday at the Virginia Zoo! I had originally had a whole ‘nother theme idea to celebrate their joint party, but after we moved and chose the Zoo for the celebration location…it only seemed right to make it a “ZOOper Birthday” bash!

My uber creative super designer sister Adrienne whipped up these fun in-theme birthday party invites..I didn’t want anything too “babyish” with the animals and this worked perfect! And — the great thing about having a party at this zoo was that included in the “fee” were the room rental, private animal encounter, table clothes, plates, cups, pizza and drinks…all I really had to do was bring a cake, but…of course I decided to do a little bit more! 😉

I decided I’d do one decorated table and found a zoo animal party theme style online to get the coordinating tablecloth, centerpieces, banner, etc… Since it was Isaiah’s 1st birthday, I had a fun “Chalkboard Poster” printed up (ordered on Etsy, printed at Costco) …did one for Raef last year, a nice keepsake to hang in the bedrooms after the party. Then I found cute animal print frames to put each of the boy’s photos in.

Aside from the favor bags which I handed out as my guests were leaving, I wanted to have fun in=party distractions (need those for the little ones), and setup a “Party Animal Gear” area where they could choose from an assortment of animal clappers, animal face “masks” party blow outs and of course the classic party hat!

Apparently the “zebra” face was the most popular, but the animal faces came in monkey, elephant, tiger, lion and giraffe too!

My little Isaiah was fine rockin’ the traditional party hat with his giraffe shirt from Gymboree!

For dessert I did got a chocolate chip message cake (it was a big hit) and I had cupcakes with zoo animal picks and animal print wrappers. I also found the cutest animal print candles too!

Part of the party package was a private animal encounter for the kids. We had a rat snake, bunny rabbit, centipede and the chicken pictured. It was nice a nice educational presentation with a zoo educator and the kids could ask questions and had the opportunity to pet the animals too!

Finally the favors…I came up with these great little colorful canvas bags with animals on them, stuffed them with boxes animal crackers, zoo coloring books and crayons, animal print sunnies and an animal-themed beach ball too! All in all it was a roaring good time…Happy Birthday to my little guys!!!

Mommy 101

Sesame Street Birthday Party

April 17, 2014 Aubrey 4 Comments

Can you tell me how to get to “Sesame Street?” My family and I weren’t able to find our way to Zoey’s 2nd birthday party this past weekend, and the pictures make me feel a little extra bummed we didn’t make it, because Zoey’s Mom, Alex, did such an AWESOME job pulling together this Sesame Street themed soiree!! She assembled some great decor and fun games that all stayed true to the theme…so, I just had to share!!!

These days every party needs a “photo booth,” and I adore the background constructed for this fiesta! Alex pieced together a plain white background, then added a custom “Sesame Street” light post/street sign and super cute Elmo and Big Bird standup cutouts…clearly the birthday girl is IN LOVE with them.

Feast your eyes on these cute and colorful cupcakes with the Sesame Street toppers…

The veggie/fruit set up is my absolute favorite!! How creative can you be….HEALTHY too. In case, you’re lacking in your Sesame Street character knowledge, from left to right: Cookie Monster (blueberries & blackberries), Oscar the Grouch (broccoli, black olives & carrots) and Elmo (strawberries, blueberries, carrots and blackberry eyes)! This is just amazing looking to me, their likeness is fantastic!

Add some eyes and a nose to plain red plates and you’ve got instant ELMO plates! And — check out her game stations in the photos below…how fun!

Finally, Elmo goody bags filled with take home favors, sure to put a smile on every guest’s face!

Mommy 101

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party

April 3, 2014 Aubrey 5 Comments

M-I-C-K-E-Y … M-O-U-S-E!!! Who doesn’t have a soft spot or a fond memory of the most famous mouse of them all?? So, this past weekend I felt like showing my “Disney Side” as my family attended a “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” themed 1st birthday party… and it was quite the shin dig! Lots of great details at this one, all incorporating Mickey and company…nothing was overlooked! My absolute favorite part of the decor had to be the creative decorations. As you can see in the photo above, a huge set of Mickey ears was created to arch over the cake and “open up” to the candy bar! I especially like the 2 life size Mickey’s on either side acting as “pillars!”

The cake was pretty cool too! At first glance, looked like Mickey himself! 😉

The candy bar was adorned with all kids of in-theme candy, treats, lollipops and canisters filled with goodies…the character backdrop also helped make the display extra festive.

I thought these Mickey cake pops were pretty unique, almost too cute to eat!!!

All the signage used at the party also added to the fun! The gift table had presents not just for the birthday boy, but for his guests as well.

Mickey and Minnie ears were given out in lieu of traditional party hats and bottles of bubbles were provided too!!

And — as if that wasn’t enough, there were 2 designated play areas for the kids, a “Mickey Park” bounce house…and a ball pit for the younger set!

Colorful, squiggly, crazy straws also added to the fun – so amazing what a straw like that will do for a toddler… Plus, I can’t forget the “Hot Diggity Dog Bar,” perfect fare for the kids with an onsite popcorn popper!!! Now if I could only learn the Hot Dog Dance and the RIGHT lyrics to the song!

…and 2 babies later