I can’t believe it’s Monday already. Mikey’s party went well on Saturday. He had a few close school friends for an early evening party. They had a Nerf gun war, played with swords Mikey, Nicholas, and the Mister made the night before, and set off cola bombs in the front yard. Later, after singing Happy Birthday, the kids made s’mores and even later played flashlight tag in the dark. Two friends stayed the night.
People showed up early or right on time, which worked out well since it prevented me from hacking limbs from my neighbor’s crepe myrtle tree to use in flower arrangements. It also prevented me from putting out even more food, as you can see from the empty platter. Not pictured here are the four different crackers, cheese straws, two more types of chips, and a platter of fruit and vegetables.
And the seven pizzas.
The s’mores.
Ice cream.
I really shouldn’t be allowed to host parties. As much as I spend in food, I’m tight fisted with the decorations and try to keep it to $20. (Not by choice.) I used all my regular linens and party plates and once again strung up my banners. I bought two red, white, and blue napkins at Cost Plus World Market and used them as a table runner. The flag firecracker is from a local party supply store and the vintage Cracker Jacks boxes are actually new and from Walmart. No one ate them because they looked like part of the decor! (Oops.) The blankets the kids used to eat on picnic-style are old 80s Santa Fe comforters belonging to me and my brothers.
For favors we handed out marshmallow sticks from the dollar spot at Target with a very basic flashlight from Walmart. Both were used during the party. I have tons of pictures of the kids, some which are really great. I going to print them out and send them to the parents with the thank you cards Mikey will write this week.
Overall, the party went really well. I looked on Pinterest for ideas and found several good ones, with one caveat. Try out the items you pin before the day of the party, especially if they are recipes or activities. Some of them looked too good to be true, and when we researched them or did test runs, we got big ol’ goose eggs. Thank goodness we tried them out first, or we would have had egg on our faces. As it is, I made the mistake of alluding to them in the invitation and at least one child remembered them and wondered why we weren’t making things glow in the dark or running an obstacle course. Later he chased friends in the dark with only a flashlight and a glow necklace. “See?!” I said as he flew past me and the fire bowl without fear. “You’re obstacling in the dark, and you’re glowing.”
sounds like a perfect party!
Yes, it looks and sounds just perfect. I love the birthday pie. What kind?
Apple pie! I bought it at Marie Calendar’s. I didn’t have the time to make my own and, frankly, I’m not good at making pies.
So true–you musn’t mention to a child unless you are certain to do it. They may forget to clean their rooms, but they’ll never forget the fun things. Though I do have to say–“You�re obstacling in the dark, and you�re glowing�–good save!
Looks like a fabulous party! (and don’t you just love the $1 bins at Target? Last year we found telescoping marshmallow sticks. TELESCOPING MARSHMALLOW STICKS, PEOPLE! There’s a slight possibility I got a tad too excited over those . . . :)
They’re back! That’s what we bought for the kids. Telescoping marshmallow sticks for $1!!!
It sounds wonderful! I hope you will share pictures of Mikey – I can’t even imagine how happy that face must have been! LOVE the empty platter. BTW – I don’t think you’ve said anything about the photo album for the priest. How did it go? I’m sure he loved it – and I’m also sure you had plenty of opportunity for that faux modesty. :)
No pictures of Mikey because his friends are all in them. :) He had a great time, except when he and his friend Emma tried to get all the kids to act in a Pirates of the Caribbean play. They did it at her party earlier in the week and had lots of fun. Different crowd, though, and Mikey was being too bossy. We had to scrap the idea and Mikey cried.
Awww….well, it’s a good life lesson I suppose.
Hah! I love the smores roasting, I want to so that in our backyard!
So fun! Can you share the ones that didn’t work? I’m interested in knowing what is “false”. :)
The glowing Mountain Dew one doesn’t work. Turns out that one’s even on Snopes. :-/ Like Candace says below–anything involving open glow sticks should be immediately suspect.
Yes!! That “fairies” on Pinterest–biggest bust ever. Don’t know how much glo-stick stuff you have to use to make what they made in that picture. And trying to open up one of those glow sticks? I guess you have to have some kind of saw.
With the days of 100 degree heat and all the fires in my city, I’m jealous of your summer there. And that’s saying something–usually I am never jealous of anybody else’s summer.
I heard about the fires! That’s crazy. So is the heat! It’s never that hot this time of year.
Love your party photos–it looks real, not staged. And it sounds like tons of fun for the kids. I recently had a small party for my daughter’s graduating from 8th grade friends, and I found that food was key to its success! Not fancy food, just lots of it! And most of it in the “junk” category. :-) Definitely where most of my party budget was spent.
Thanks! :) Real/not staged is what I’m going for in life generally, so that makes me happy. The kids are still little and somewhat under their mom’s eyes, so I toned it down on the junk food. Surprisingly enough, the kids kept going for the carrots!
I saw the pictures on Facebook of the cola bombs. Were those easy to pull off, and what about the clean up? Did you just hose it down? Looks like a great party indeed, and I love that he’s a pie man ;) what kind was that?
Super easy, but we did it differently than the instructions we found in Mikey’s science book and online. Our friend gave us a tip that really made things easier. I’ll do a post about it since I still have Mentos left over.
As for clean up, we didn’t do any. Most of the diet coke shot out all over the grass/rose bed. I thought we were going to do it in the street, but my husband had the idea to balance them on the planter, which actually worked out best for the kids. The diet coke shoots out fast, so it’s good they didn’t have to bend over the bottle!
Wow what a great spread! Looks like you guys had fun :)
I know–too much food! But not really, because most of it was gone by the end of the night. Of course, the party ended up being 5+ hours! That was nice. :)
What a delightful looking party!! Awesome job Mama!!
Also, Cost Plus World Market = My Happy Place :)
I LOVE Cost Plus World Market!
Everything looks lovely! Now I am starting to revisit my decision to not let my eldest have a birthday party this year. Your bash looks like so much fun!
Thank you, Pamela! I do have all over body soreness, though, so just keep that in mind as you do your planning. :)
I’m curious: Did Mikey know that Saturday was Great American Backyard Campout Day or was it just coincidence?
http://www.punchbowl.com/holidays/2012/6/23/great-american-backyard-campout
It was a coincidence! I had no idea!
I have the same food problem. I sometimes manage to restrain myself in the planning portion and then frantically run out and buy more right before the party. It’s a disease.
The party looks wonderful and I love that you re-use the decorations! Your kids will grow up with nostalgia for the birthday decor.
I restrained myself…and then the morning of the party went nuts and bought some more. Sigh.
I never thought of the nostalgia factor, but I LOVE that you said that! Now I’m even more excited to have these in my box of party tricks. Uh, this is all I have in my box of party tricks.
looks like great fun!
I’ve used your banner tutorial to make a “CARDS” banner for my parents’ 50th anniversary – so I didn’t even have to think about the size of the triangles! Easy and fun! What did we do before Pinterest??! Thanks!!!
What a fun party! As I looked at the photos, I thought it was so nice to see someone not using not using all of that party junk/plastic that is made in China and just gets tossed anyhow.
Oh I wish I was there! Growing up in Brazil we dreamed about having a real tent and just made them out of two chairs and a blanket, we rarely had decorations but we always had so much fun! This is what kids remember right? They don’t care much about the food or the looks, but they remember playing and having friends around.