nautical baby shower

I put together a nautical themed baby shower for one of my best friends. She is having her third boy. Anyone who has three boys should have a celebration. We kept it fairly simple, with the food table being the focal point. 

INVITATION

I created these invitations using Powerpoint. (I am still hoping to learn Illustrator. Someday, right?)
(*I have cropped it to hide personal info )

FAVOR

Since it was a nautical themed shower, we used salt water taffy as the favor. 

*napkins from Target's party aisle. Have you checked it out? It is awesome!

The following poem was attached (all the guests were very close friends)

There are those who pass like ships in the night,

Who meet for a moment, then sail out of sight

With never a backward glance of regret,

Folks we know briefly then quickly forget.

Then there are friends who sail together,

Through quiet waters and stormy weather, 

Helping each other through joy and through strife.

They are the kind that give meaning to life. 

MENU & DECOR

Crab Sandwiches (chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, made to look like crabs)

Sea Salt Chips (Kettle brand individual bags)

Anchor Apple Salad 

Goldfish (crackers to snack on) 

Starfish Sugar Cookies 

Lighthouse Lemonade

Monster Bash Birthday Party

I'm Melissa's friend Andrea, and I just threw a birthday party for my 4 year old.  It was his first real birthday party, and we had SO much fun.  First off, the invitation . . .

I always make a birthday shirt that goes with the birthday theme . . .

And what we call a "Birthday Door" covered in pictures of my little guy . . .

Decorations . . .

Party hats and monster birthday cards . . .

We served a monster themed lunch . . .

Complete with monster face food and "Monster Juice" drinks . . .

You can't forget the monster cake . . .

And cupcakes . . .

We had several themed activities . . .

They also got to watch some of "Monster's Inc" while they ate their lunches, and had a little dance party to "Monster Mash" and "The Flying Purple People Eater".  And then we sent them home with all their goodies in these goody bags . . .

Never underestimate the power of googly eyes!  They made the whole party!

ready to pop! [themed baby shower]

Some of my best friends planned the most festive baby shower ever! The theme was "Melissa is ready to pop". Here are some of the things they put together...

 the invitation

the decor

all of the food was themed as well.

there was "pop"corn chicken, "pop"eye's spinach salad, "pop"corn, soda "pop" and cupcakes.

we even got favor bags to take home. 

inside there were pop rocks, a tootsie pop, popcorn, and a ring pop

Is that not so awesome or what? I know who I should have plan all my parties now.

11.11.11

Celebrate 11.11.11 with a party!

We'll be having an ice cream bar with these 11 toppings...

1. Homemade hot fudge
2. Caramel
3. Strawberries
4. Gummy bears
5. Crushed oreos
6. Nuts
7. M&Ms
8. Cookie dough
9. Sprinkles
10. Whipped topping
11. Crushed snickers

Ice Cream Party

Since this was a kid's party, I kept it really simple. 

I knew they weren't going to appreciate hours of my hard work. 

So, I used the chalkboard and put together ice cream sidewalk chalk as a favor.

They cared mostly for the ice cream, so I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time on it!

Themed Party: Good Luck In Arizona!

Our good friends are moving to Arizona, so I threw them a surprise farewell party. The theme was southwestern, in case you can't tell.

The menu: watermelon, chips + mango salsa, and cactus cupcakes.

Cactus cupcakes?Yes, I got the idea from this site, but don't look too closely at theirs or you'll realize mine weren't that cool. But, they were my first time making cacti, so I'm giving myself a break.

For some extra festiveness, we made the guests of honor where sombreros. I think it was hit!

Themed Party: Picnic Date

Summer is here and that means picnic season! Here are some ideas for planning the perfect picnic...



Location:

• Keep it simple in your backyard
• Or venture out to your favorite picnic spot

Food:

• Pack everything up in a picnic basket (including candles if you want it to be romantic)
• Make subs for dinner and bring your favorite picnic snacks

Activity ideas: 

• If you have a laptop, bring it along. Watch "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" once it's dark. 
• Star gaze.
•  Play your favorite card games
• Feed the ducks.

Themed Party: a SDRAWKCAB party

In case you couldn't read the title, the party for today's post is

A Backwards Party

I was in charge of a youth activity about a year ago and this theme was such a hit! I made it even more specific and had a Backwards Back-to-School party, but a simple Backwards party will do just fine. I wouldn't suggest it for young kids, but teenagers + will love it.

Invitations:

• If you don't already have a backwards font on your computer, download one. Print the invitations backwards and give instructions for your guests to read the invitation in the mirror.
• Instruct your guests to dress backwards
  

Food:

• Eat your meal backwards. So that means...dessert first! You will want to choose a dessert that isn't too rich so that you're guests won't get sick.

Activity ideas:

• Backwards water run- divide into two teams. Have one member from each team fill their spoon with water from a full bowl and run backwards to a certain point where an empty bucket is. They drop their water in the empty bowl and run backwards back to their team. Team members rotate through until the bowl is filled. The first team to fill their bowl wins.
  
• Have an obstacle course where team members have to put on backwards apparel, run backwards, etc.

!nuf evah

Themed Party: A 'Tie' Party

My husband and I threw a 'tie' birthday party for my older brother. We were inspired by our friends Scott and Marcelle who had a 'thai' party just a few weeks earlier. We took some of their ideas like the sweet sushi (see below) and added some of our own twists to the night. (Excuse the un-professional photos. This was from a few years ago)

Activity ideas:

• Your guests will need to be dressed for the occasion. So, before the party begins, wrap up one tie for each guest. As soon as all of your guests arrive, have each one select a package to open. They have to wear that tie for the night...which leads us to the next activity...

• Have someone teach the group how to tie a tie

• Make sweet sushi (see food)

Food ideas:

• Sweet sushi. You could serve the real fishy stuff, but since we knew our guest wouldn't love it, we went with this sweet alternative. All you need is: twinkies, fruit roll-ups and chopped up gummi bears.
  

(sorry again for the poor photo)

• To make it, cut twinkies in about 1 inch pieces. Wrap with fruit roll-up. Then put swedish fish (full or chopped up) on top. Voila!
  

• Cheese breadsticks
• Bacon wrapped turkey

Themed Party: A COLOR Party

I planned a very fun "COLOR" themed party a few years ago. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend because I had a hot date with my boyfriend who would become my husband a year later. My sister had just got home after being abroad and she wanted to throw a party that would be fun and a good way to reconnect with old friends. So this is what I came up with:

A COLOR PARTY!

Costume Contest: Have your guests dress up in one color. You could assign them a color, but I wouldn't so they can use things they have. I wish I had pictures from our event, but I do remember one of my sisters decided to be gold, so she wore this gold shimmery dress from a thrift store, gold boots, gold jewelry, and a gold headband. Let them know they don't need to buy an outfit and they can just find things around their house. Making this activity into a contest will help them not feel hesitant to go all out.


Food/Treat: Along with each guest wearing an outfit of one color, have them bring a treat or snack that is the same color as their outfit. For example, if they are wearing green, they could bring grapes or green apples. For red, they could bring strawberries and red starbursts. If you are feeling really ambitious, you could supply all the food and buy different colored ingredients for a chocolate fondue. Activity/Game: Play the game "TRUE COLORS." This is a game for teenagers + so if you are throwing this party for younger kids, you may not want to use this activity.

Party favors: Wrap up any multi-colored treat in clear cellophane bags so the colors will show through.

Decorations:

• Use colored chinese lanterns. You can often find them at the dollar store.
  

• Use skittles for confetti on the table to add more color