Tinker Bell 3rd Birthday Party

Our little Addison turned 3 years old this year! Hard to believe she is already 3 and full of sass! This years party theme was Tinker Bell. We decided to rent the large indoor Gazebo this year for her party and forgo the madness of having a party at our house. I'd like to say having the party at the Gazebo was less work but sadly it seemed like more. There were very heavy table and chairs to put up and take down and a lot of cleaning up after the party. However there was a lot of space for the kids to run, play and scream their little hearts out. Our little girl had a blast! If you notice the picture of her crying and think that I am a bad mom for taking it then you obviously don't know our little Addison. She is one very emotional little girl and can break out in tears faster than anyone I know. One day when she looks back on these pictures I have a feeling she will laugh.

As for the party we went with very simple food to please all of the little children and their parents. We did hot dogs in the crock pot, which was an AMAZING idea, thanks Pinterest! I loaded the dogs in the crock and cooked them on low for 4 hours. They came out great. I also, made my family's famous carrot cake recipe. It was to die for! The adults at the party gobbled it up! The kids preferred the cupcakes which was fine by the adults because that meant more carrot cake for them. We also had macaroni and cheese, fruit, chips, beans, veggies and dip to go along with the hot dogs. It wasn't an expensive feast but our guests seemed to enjoy it.

For entertainment for the kids we did a pinata, bubble machine and my husband made balloon animals. The kids had a blast running around with their balloon swords and popping bubbles. They are so easy to entertain at this age. All in all I think the party was a success and I was one tired momma. Thank goodness birthdays only come once a year. I swore after this party I wasn't going to do another large birthday party again for a long time however I know myself and I have a feeling I will start planning for next years parties before the end of this year.

Custom Cards & More!

 

For those who don't know I make custom invitations, cards, baby announcements, banners, cupcake toppers, signs, t-shirt designs and pretty much anything you may need for your special event! Check out my website if you are interested. It's really simple! You email me what you'd like, I create it and email you the digital files to print. You can print cards as photos online really cheap or print from home.

 http://emgraphicdesign.blogspot.com/p/cards-more.html

Owl Themed 2nd Birthday Party

Addison's second birthday party was yesterday. Hard to believe she will be turning 2 in just a couple days. Where did my baby go? The party was a huge success. Addison had so much fun with all of her friends. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends in Kodiak.

I decided this years theme would be owls. I found an owl design online that I liked and went from there. I bought party favor boxes and made everything else. I made a pinata, stuffed owls for party favors, a banner, cupcake toppers and the invitation. I found some really cute cupcake liners from Target in their Easter section and a red two candle. I decided to just make cupcakes, which was a hit with the kids. I made yellow cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate cake cupcakes with lemon frosting and I topped them all with sugar crystals. They were yummy!

I made an owl pinata to match the party theme. It was very easy to make! I blew up a balloon and did paper mache over the whole balloon leaving just the tie out. I used glue, water and newspaper for the paper mache. I mixed half water half glue and dipped thin strips of the newspaper in the glue water and then placed them over the balloon evenly. Then I tapped paper in the shape of ears and and wings on the outside of the balloon and paper mached them. After the paper mache was dry I cut the tie of the balloon so the balloon sucked out of the pinata (make sure it is completely dry before cutting out the balloon or the whole thing will be ruined). This will leave a little hole on the top of your pinata which you can cover up with more paper mache. I then painted the owl to my liking. When it was all done and dry I cut a little flap in the back of the pinata and filled it with candy. It was a huge hit with the kids!

I was having a hard time deciding what to put in the party favor boxes. I didn't want to spend money on junk that would probably end up in the trash so I decided to make little owl stuffed animals. I had a bunch of felt so I cut the shapes I wanted and sewed them together. I think they turned out pretty cute! I also put some candy in the boxes with the owls.

I created the banner and cupcake toppers on the computer and printed them out myself. I used my trusty hot glue gun to glue the cupcake toppers together with toothpicks and ribbon to tie my banner together. All in all I think all the decorations turned out great.

I was worried our house would be too small for 20 plus people but it turned out great! It was raining so we had to stay inside but there seemed to be enough room for everyone. We had tons of food, from barbecue chicken sandwiches (done in the crock pot), smoked brisket, pasta salad, fruit and chips. Everyone seemed to have a great time and Addison had a blast! This will be a tough birthday to beat! Guess I better start planning for her 3rd birthday! 

Candy Land Theme Birthday

My good friend is throwing her daughter a Candy Land theme birthday party for her 5th birthday coming up. I have been helping with the decorations. Even though I'm miles away (her being in Hawaii and me in Alaska) I am still able to help. I have created a lot of things digitally and have emailed them to her. All she has to do is print and cut! Above is her invitation I created (minus the real info for privacy reasons). My friend sent me a sample of what she wanted it to look like. I took that idea and changed it to fit with the theme I've already created. I had already illustrated cupcakes for Shutterstock.com (where I sell stock images) so this made it easier to create her invite. I can't wait to see how the party turns out. I wish I could be there!