So…today’s project – Bella’s Birthday Bash
My daughter’s birthday was last week, but she opted to have a party this weekend. Mostly because the house would be devoid of extra siblings. This was highly appealing to a little girl surrounded at all times and on all sides by siblings, step-siblings, pets and parents. Can’t say that I blame her! So, five little girls arrived this afternoon to Bella’s ‘fancy schmancy’ (her words) dinner party complete with favors, menu cards, custom napkins, name cards, punch, appetizers, main course and dessert.
Numbered List Wrap-up
[I love lists, by the way, expect more as this project progresses]
1. Glad that I’m done as it was a lot of work – le whew!
2. Mommy lesson learned – DO NOT do a “cool” thing for your kids unless you want to do it at every occasion, holiday and random occurrence they can come up with (today’s ‘thing’ = a scavenger hunt…and my girls expect rhyming, clever clues and super-hard hiding spots. Durn over-achievers!)
3. Planning your tasks really only works if you use the plan to your advantage by spacing things out, ultimately doing them before you need them done. Preferably as soon as you can, so it doesn’t pile up onto the day of your event. (As opposed to me, today, sewing napkins, folding favor boxes, gluing name cards and all the other hundred things I could have done earlier in the week instead of…well, whatever else I did.)
4. Review #2 next time I get a dumb idea to make things ‘extra special’, or color-coordinated, or themed. Seriously, what the heck was I thinking?
5. Where the heck is my couch and a drink with an umbrella? Preferably brought to me by a scantily clad muscle-bound gent who answers to the name of “Cabana Boy”… sorry, hubby.
6. At least they all seemed to have a good time. Smiles and screams abounded. =)
7. Cleaning up half the mess and leaving the rest till tomorrow is just as acceptable as cleaning all of the mess now. Especially if I avoid going into the kitchen; which I’m pretty sure is doable. If need be, I’ll dig a tunnel from the living room to my bedroom. Way easier than doing the dishes.
8. Remind myself of #2 at Halloween
9. My husband was impressed by the before-and-after of the house. And I’m super impressed at his willingness to clean this morning as I was frantically sewing, cooking, and gluing (more on that in a sec.)
10. Focus, always, on #6 – since that is really all that matters at the end of the day!
So now for the pics!
Bella decided she wanted a scavenger hunt. Then I decided it would be cute if each clue held a charm for a charm bracelet; the bracelet being with the last clue. Bella chose three charms for each friend that she felt they would really like.
I adore scrapbook paper. I’m sure it is an off-shoot of my obsession with office supplies, but I get giddy with all the different colors and patterns. I thought it would be cute to do an origami box for each clue/charm. I found instructions here: Origami Box. Here’s how my version turned out:
Each girl had a different color of paper using a 9x9 scrapbook paper ‘stack’ from the craft store:
Ok – favors. Check.
Now, for the table.
For the name/place cards and menus, I used one of those 4.5”x6.5” stacks. Several coordinated cardstock papers in one convenient package. Perfect! Bella chose the one she wanted. It was super cute with a bit of a vintage flair. My daughter has brilliant color-sense and taste; and no, I don’t think I’m being biased. My daughter is just the most awesome ever! I printed off a postcard-sized menu and business card-sized name card from my computer and glue-sticked them onto the front of the card stock
Result:
I used the same business card-sized template to make the clues (you can see them with the name/place cards in the pic).
I wrapped the clue cards with the favor and tied it together with a ribbon Bella had chosen:
By the way, I made special clues and charms for Bella. I didn’t want her to be left out of the fun!
For the table settings, I made napkins out of fat quarters (just folded them in half and sewed around the edges and folded them into pockets to hold the menus. I already had the silver chargers, which I thought would be super cute on the table. The table cloth is a piece of fabric I got as a remnant a long time ago and the candlesticks and vase were already on the table. I found the place card holders at Hobby Lobby in the wedding section. Bella wanted to add the little red birds (she really digs ‘little’ things right now). Dollar store ‘tiaras’ were the final touch; Bella chose a tiara when we were supply shopping (Come on! How could I resist when she asked for it? I don’t have a heart of stone, no matter what my children tell their therapist!), and we didn’t want her friends to miss out on the fun of wearing jewelry on their head.
So here’s a before of the table, with supplies:
And here’s the after:
Close up of a place setting:
I put the ‘appetizers’ and the punch on a side table, so the girls could enjoy a snack while I was cooking up the meal:
We are ready for ‘fancy shmancy’ fun, Mama!:
PRESENTS!:
I thought it would be better for them to have dessert in our sunroom so that I wouldn’t have to worry about clearing the dishes while they were at the table. Plus moving them around the house helped with all the girly energy. =)
Dessert tray before:
A vintage tray my friend found for me at a thrift store and a ‘cupcake stand’ I picked up from a craft store (I think) a long time ago. Originally, Bella wanted five clues for the treasure hunt; I only had brain power and energy for four, but I had already made five boxes earlier in the week (one of the few things I did well in advance…prolly cuz I could easily sit on my butt and watch TV while I did it. Ahem). I decided to use the extra boxes here and fill them with chocolate kisses leftover from the desserts I made. Bella’s, on top, held an extra birthday present for a special surprise.
Dessert tray after:
I made mini-cheesecakes. It’s a great recipe that I’ve had for years that was on a Philly Cream Cheese packet using vanilla wafers as the ‘crust’ and baking them in a muffin tin. I topped several with chocolate kisses (I find it’s best if you put these on right out of the oven because they melt a little and are just nom-nom-nom…), some with sliced strawberries that I coated in a bit of sugar, and some with mandarin orange bits. Additionally, I put wafer cookies, graham crackers (honey and cinnamon) and vanilla wafers on the tray, just in case the guests didn’t care for cheesecake. Or maybe were aliens from the 12th dimension. Cuz, in my opinion, that is the only people that don’t like cheesecake. Heathens.
Well, dear reader, that’s about it. NOW, I know what you are thinking: “HEY! Didn’t she complain about women who do all kinds of ‘fancy shmancy’ stuff for their kids just yesterday? I mean, talk about hypocritical.” And trust me, I had that thought all day today. In addition to several different incarnations of “What the HECK was I thinking?” or “Who’s brilliant idea was this?” However, I feel justified in saying I rarely do this kind of thing AND it was for my sweet girl turning 11. So there. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! And when you are done doing that, come join me for an umbrella drink and we can commiserate about what a dumb idea it is to go over-the-top for a kid’s birthday party. I’m with ya sister!
Until next year... *evil grin*
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