Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Birthday for the kiddo

MOOD STATUS: "Tired". Haven't quite caught up from from my spring break frenzy.

I think I mentioned that I threw the kiddo a home birthday party last week. My first "home" party. :)


I ordered cute little tea party invitations through Vistaprint (10 free) and added on the invite to "bring a doll to join you". They all did, so it was really sweet!


Speaking of sweet... here's the chocolate-chocolate cake I baked (From scratch of course--including icing) There was a layer of pink frosting and a layer of purple frosting inside.

Okay. Maybe I won't be on Ace of Cakes, but this cake was delicious. (If I say so myself)
We--meaning I--made chocolate dipped strawberries and sugar cookies. (see below)



This was the take home party favor: their tea cup with goodies (candy and toys) inside.

I got the tea cups at a goodwill store. I was able to get actual sugar cubes at the supermarket and a little sugar cube tongs. The girls LOVED that!



Hmmm... I didn't know my curtains would match the pink and green decor. LOL

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We played a game called "The Mummy Game". The girls were divided into two teams. Each team picked one "mummy". The team who wrapped their mummy in toilet paper first--using the WHOLE roll--wins.







The birthday girl. (below)

(I'm so proud...)


The girls loved that game so much that some of the parents called me the next day to tell me. One little girl said, "Mommy, we HAVE to play the mummy game at my birthday party!"
Who knew it would be such a hit?


We also did two crafts--a door hanger and we painted little ceramic animals. We actually didn't have time for all the games I had planned, which is fine. Better to over plan, in my opinion.


And of course, what little girl party wouldn't be complete without a few boys in the neighborhood ringing the doorbell and running away and of course water balloons thrown at the front door. One little boy got the shock of his life when the girls ran after him. My daughter tackled him and then all the girls sat on him!


(I think he'll think twice before he does anything like THAT again) LOL!

The whole experience was too funny. I had just as good a time as the girls. :)

Have you ever hosted a home birthday party for your child?
What theme did you do?

34 comments:

Keri Mikulski said...

Yum!! Looks like a blast. :)

Yup - Elmo, Backyardigans, and Finding Nemo so far. :)

Tamika: said...

My daughter went to a tea party birthday a few years back, I was so impressed with the mother's creativity. She even asked the girls to wear their best dress!

Wendy Paine Miller said...

Too, too cute. I can't bake it out like the Ace of Cakes either and I love Vistaprint.

Themes...through the years, Blues Clues, Lazy Town, Puppy party, Curious George. My mind is blanking on more. Loved the banana splits for that crazy little monkey party.

It's what we do...parties at our house instead of jumpy places, etc.
~ Wendy

Jessica Bell said...

Haha, sounds like so much fun. Did you have fairy bread too? I loved fairy bread at my parties :)

Linda Kage said...

Wow, what a great mom you are. That party looked like it was fun.

Unknown said...

Looks like it went great! We're planning to have my son's birthday in the back yard this year. He's still little, so it will be pretty low key.

Laura Pauling said...

Looks like a fun party! And yes I've thrown parties - princess, unicorn, and Magic Tree House party (which was by far the funnest). But then I had a pirate party for my son and when I realized that boys like to have fun by breaking all the rules instead of playing the games - I stopped! And now I do the easy things - like chuck e cheese and bowling! Way less stress!

Diane said...

Professional party planner, right down to the matching curtains. The mummy game will be a definite at one of my kids next parties! :O)

www.dianeestrella.com

BK Mattingly said...

It sounds like that party was a blast! I haven't planned a birthday party, but I helped plan a wedding shower. We had a game like the "mummy" game. Each group had a couple rolls of toilet paper and they had to make a wedding dress for the bride. It was a lot of fun too. :)

Kristen Painter said...

Man, I'm kinda bummed I didn't get an invite. ;o)

Tess said...

Such fun pictures -- and such a fun mom, you are.

I especially loved the tea cup favors and that lovely table spread. those are the memories that will carry her through her life.

Jennifer Shirk said...

AA: What's fairy bread? I think I need some fo that. LOL

Laura: My daughter LOVES the Magic Tree House series! I bet that was a good one!

Kristen: next year, for sure, you'll make the list. :)

Jessica Bell said...

check out this post I wrote about it :)
http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/2010/03/greedy-gobbeldy-guts.html

Susan R. Mills said...

I've had many a home b-day party for my kids. The girl ones are fun. The boy ones...not so much. :)

Moll said...

I love the idea of colorful frosting on the inside of a cake - like a little hidden surprise. I will have to do that!

Terri Tiffany said...

Oh I feel horrid! Your tea party looked amazing! I never did a theme, never thought about a them, never baked a cake myself cause the downtown bakery could do cool designs for me, and I never sent home cool favors like you did. Can I have a redo???

Kayeleen Hamblin said...

That looks so fun! We are actually celebrating our oldest boy's 3rd birthday this weekend. No theme parties yet. He doesn't even have any friends to speak of, so maybe in a few years.

patti said...

Oh, what a blast! Parties. Um, dozens of 'em.
International party, baseball party, gymnastics parties, scavenger hunt parties...need my old photo albums!!

Enjoy each minute!

Cynthia Reese said...

That's it. I'm hiring you to plan The Kiddo's 9th birthday. :-)

P said...

Jennifer! I turn 32 this year...think you could coordinate a tea party for me in Alaska?? Haha. I love it!! Beautiful!

Stephanie said...

I love the idea! My four year old would be so excited about that! We always do home parties, but its more of a play date than a party. I'm not good at games and stuff and my kids are sticks in the mud.

Katie Ganshert said...

I have SUCH fond memories of my birthday parties growing up. We had most of them at home. I LOVE your tea party theme! And as a fun side note, I have my students play the mummy wrap game every Halloween during our class Halloween party. :)

Unknown said...

I've always loved theme parties. So much fun! And those sugar cookies look scrumptious.

Jill Kemerer said...

Congratulations on all your hard work paying off. The cake looked scrumptious, the games fun, and everyone seemed to be happy! Success!

Lesley Speller said...

That is so crazy adorable! Sounds like you had a ton of fun! And let you're daughter know how totally awesome I think she is for tackling the naughty boy! That's my kind of girl!!!

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Tana said...

I just showed my 8 y.o. DD all the pic's. She just recruited me to bake her cake. Thanx Jennifer.

Angie Paxton said...

I just popped over from Diary of a Virgin Novelist's blog. What a cute idea! My daughter is two and a half and obsessed with tea parties. We have one almost every day. I might steal your idea, albeit a little simplified to match the maturity of the guests, for her third birthday.

Marcy said...

What a great idea. My daughter's b day is coming up. I may have to steal--um, I mean borrow--your idea.

Did you serve tea for the kids? If so, did they drink it?

Jennifer Shirk said...

Jill: Yes! success is right! My dd is already planning our next home b-day party.

Ms SnarkyP: If you liked that, you should have seen what she did to a little boy in soccer. I think she could be a hockey player. LOL

T. Anne: Ha! Oh, you're welcome. :)

Angie: Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to steal the idea! I bet the 3 y/o's would LOVE to dress up, too!

Marcy: Yes, I served real tea. I didn't make it too strong or too hot, though. I noticed they used LOTS of sugar cubes... :)

Mary Aalgaard said...

Oh, my, I could just eat up all that girly stuff. I have four boys, so my home parties looked a bit different. I think a soccer game broke out once in the basement. Pinatas, hide-n-seek, things that shoot - water, bubbles, nerf guns. And, yes, loads of loud fun.

Chicki Brown said...

Looks like they had a ball. You're a great mom!

Hannah said...

LOL, that sounds like a great time!

I don't have any kids so no stories to share. :)

LittleWomen21 said...

Found your blog and couldn't resist commenting on the birthday party! My daughter's eighth birthday was last year and I had a lot of fun putting it together- though my games were a lot less successful. Will definitely try the mummy game next time! And I'm going to start looking for tea cups at thrift stores! (I have four girls... needs LOTS of ideas)

I like your posts on characterization, too.