Friday, February 29, 2008

Birthday Fun

Perhaps I'm insane, but I kind-of like planning kid's birthday parties.


My youngest is having her birthday party tomorrow, and we are (gasp) pretty much ready. Her initial request for a party was "Enchanted Princess" (she saw the recent movie, and loves all things princess). However, with extra family coming in and a preschool full of new friends, we decided to forego the usual at-home party this time. Instead, we're having a "Little Mermaid" (still a princess!) Pool Party. Cake, presents, and splashing kids - should be great.

One of the best parts of my kids' parties is the planning. With my husband a stay-at-home dad for now, we live on a tight budget. Most parties are at home, with a theme, games, friends - but not a lot of fancy or store-bought items. Oh, we do get the fancy napkins and plates, maybe a tablecloth or banner - but beyond that, it's usually handmade by me. And that's a lot of fun.

Admittedly, a lot of work too - not nearly as much as the post-party clean up though!

Still, I'm rather proud of my creations for previous parties. I've hand-drawn The Mystery Machine (Scooby-Doo) and Darth Vadar - both on posterboard, both later hung in the birthday-kid's room. When our youngest son turned 6, we did Jedi Training School...and I created capes for everyone out of some thrift-store salvaged sheets. Those silly things are still wandering around our house!

I've baked and decorated more cakes than I can count - but some stand out, like the Spiderman (with great webs) and the Batman car cake. Do you know how hard it is to get icing to turn dark gray? Somehow, I managed to turn a cake into a road, with grass on the sides, and plant a LARGE BatMobile on it for the birthday boy. Still patting myself on the back for that one.

This party is different...our entertainment and 'decorating' is pretty much already done - we're in a big pool after all. So what's a crafty mom to do, creative skills thwarted for once. Ahhh...the glimmering of an idea...

A Princess Theme Songs CD! iTunes, here I come - at least the computer-geek side of me is happy now.

9 comments:

Little Lovables said...

ooo, I'm just like you, I love getting all crafty for my kid's parties!

Anonymous said...

What fun!!! I love the disney princesses! I live with six other girls, and we all have a disney princess pez representing us! Haha! :) I'm sleeping beauty because I like to take naps! ;)

Anonymous said...

This party planning does sound like great fun!
At least you get to take up on the princess theme yourself this time, by the sounds of it you wont have to do as much cleaning up, the poor pool attendants will!
p.s. thankyou for the link add :D

Unknown said...

Little Mermaid is my favorite!
(The music is so great!)

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a great time at the party!!

Sylvia C.

RittenhouseBags said...

What a great idea! Have fun!

Amy Lilley Designs said...

love the blog...found you onthe etsy thread about blogging...hope the party was fun!!!

Anonymous said...

How was the party!? A huge success?!

KieutiePie said...

So how'd it go? =}

TexasTesla said...

It was a great party! Everyone had a ton of fun. I'm uploading pictures to flickr now, and will share soon. Naturally, mom-as-photog means I'm not in them! :-)