Sock Hop Party Theme Part Two

If you missed it, I spoke about this themed party in this post. Though I wanted to share more of the photos from Miss Roo's 5th birthday. It all started with the invitations:

A few retro candies to embellish the tablescape:

 The Sock Hop Themed Tablescape:

 I hit up a thrift shop for some old records to make a 3 tiered cupcake stand. It was a huge hit with parents!
Kids however, were much more interested in the milkshake cupcakes.

A collage of random party decor:

 The birthday girl wanted a poodle skirt. After many failed attempts at cutting a poodle out of felt we settled on a music note. Perfect since our playlist of 50's hits was a huge part of the theme.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this theme! 

Sock Hop Party Theme Part One

When I plan a party I do it really really well. I can't leave one single bit of the planning or decor to other people. I plan everything, I make the decorations BY HAND, and I make sure it's an event to remember. This year started out exactly the same as all the others. Roo requested her birthday invitation to be hamburgers. You can see the post about them here. They were fun and super cute! Best of all, the recipients could build them over and over again! 

I struggled to come up with a theme to suit but after showing Roo some photos and options she settled on a sock hop. Yay! So much fun! And the planning began. I got a great deal of it done but we had a family emergency that forced me to ask for help. Those who know me, know this is unheard of.   

Roo's party was planned for Feb 24th. My Dad died on the 23rd. I haven't written about it other than of his health declining, requiring a trip to the ER.

I spent Saturday in my Dad's home being questioned by the police, calling my family members to notify them and reeling from the sudden shock of having been the one to find him. All birthday setup was put on hold for the day but I refused to ruin Roo's birthday. Hubs and I decided not to tell her until after her big day. We went ahead with her party and only told our closest friends what had happened.

I needed them. 

I needed them to hold me together and help me give my girl her fabulous party I had worked so hard on.

Enter my three best friends. I don't normally name them when I write about them but I will this time. Julie, who has been my best friend since I was 11 (a quarter of a century!), was already in her car making the long drive to be here by my side through this hell. Laura, took both Aussie and Roo for the day to entertain them while I was making arrangements. I didn't want them to see me in such a wreck. Ewa, who shares my eye for party planning came to help me set up early. She and Laura came to help me do everything I wouldn't normally allow ANYONE to do. And they did things exactly as I asked even if they disagreed. They knew to just let me be. They smiled when I needed it and they hurt for me when I needed company in my grief. 

They are good people. The best of the best, and I am so lucky to have them. They helped me give my daughter the party she deserved so she wouldn't associate her birthday with her Papa's death.

I'll post the finer details later, mind is still scattered with the funeral being tomorrow but this is what the party looked like. 

Have you been to a party with a really great theme? 

What was it?

DIY Burger Party Invitations

With Miss Roo's 5th birthday fast approaching it's really time to get cracking on invitations so we discussed a theme and she said "burgers". That left me scratching my head. Seriously??!! What soon to be 5 year old picks that for a theme? What's wrong with Princesses, ponies, Hello Kitty and the likes. Yeah, right, I forgot my girl is anything but typical. We are talking about a girl who wanted reptiles and other disgusting critters for her THIRD birthday.

So how do I make a burger invitation? Her idea was simple.Make a burger and send it to her friends. Does she not understand how the postal service works? That's clearly insane! Or is it? Sometimes with little kids you just have to simplify their thoughts and that's exactly what I did! Why not send her friends a burger in the mail and while we're at it lets make sure it's loaded with the works! All the fixin's, No holding back for her friends!!!

Here is a photo collage of the steps involved. Super easy, though a tad time consuming since Miss Roo insisted on doing a lot of it on her own.

I am a complete control freak when it comes to even planning and if I want it done exactly right I have to do it myself so these were "fun" for me. I had to let go of the reins and let Roo take the lead a bit on this project. Have a look:

So, what do you think? 

Do you make your kids party invitations or do you prefer to buy them? We'd love to hear your thoughts?

Pinterest: the new social media craze

My latest obsession is the website Pinterest. You know it, right? If not you need to dig yourself out from under that rock you've been hiding under. Most people have at least heard of it even if they haven't yet been sucked into the latest social media craze! Basically its a digital style board where you can store you favorite things from the "web". Trust me when I say there is something for everyone. Personally I use it for inspiration. I look for my next craft or DIY project, things to do with my kids, recipes I want to try and many other things.

Here is a small collection of the things I have done thanks to Pinterest.
I hope it inspires you!

DIY "car" for going to the "drive-in" Such a fun way to spend part of the day leading up to a family movie night!

Balloon Lollipops

Paper plate candy decoration

Candy cake for a candy themed party

Candy stand made for a candy themed party

colour coordinated candy cupcakes

Frosty the Snow Fridge! Really fun project to do will little ones!

DIY gift bow using wrapping paper.

Sadly Pinterest might also be the reason I feel so tired all the time. I think I might have Pinsomnia.

Miss Roo's 3rd birthday- SETUP/PREP

So as you saw from this post I was in full on party prep mode. It's my secret, errr not so secret obsession. I loose all control and plan (what I think are) fantastic events. This year I said I would not go so crazy as I did last year. People will agree I was OVER THE TOP last year. Making EVERYTHING myself even the party hats were printed on cardstock, cut out, assembled and had ribbons added to stick out the top. Everything short of cutlery was made or altered by me to make it fit the theme which was ladybugs.

Anyway, So I promised myself I wouldn't spend 3 months preping like I did last year, because after all that is CRAZY, right?!?

But when push came to shove I had 2 weeks before the big day and even though there was no time to make EVERYTHING, I had this crazy need to do it to the best of my ability once again a case of the crazies washed over me and I went into party planning mode. I did A LOT of work in a short amount if time. From my guests comments it seems it went over well! I was please with my results and more importantly as Roo was falling alseep we spoke of the day, she told me I "did a good job, mommy!" This was all the mattered to me at the end of the day, that it made her feel special and that SHE loved it. Mission complete. Now to start thinking about next years theme.... but first here are some pics of the set up. Enjoy!

Teaser of what's to come!

Tomorrow Miss Roo turns three, and her party is a Reptile theme! While I can't show you ALL of the amazing stuff that will be going on I can show you a few things I've been working on. Here are a few photos! Don't forget to come back after the party is over to see the whole event in photos!

Some of the items for the self serve candy bar

Gummy kabobs that I made!

Items for the DIY grab bag!

Candies for the cupcake decorating station!

Homemade choco/candy bark in coordinating colour of course!

Marshmallow Pops (thanks to LauMo for being the inspiration!)

The party girls outfit!! Sassy and spunky!!

Closeup- cuz I love 'em so much!

Ladybug Birthday Party

Miss Roo is two! Saturday was the big day. Her much anticipated par-tay! I worked really hard on this party. Mostly to keep the cost down, but also so it would be exactly as I wanted it for her. All that matters to her is spending time with her friends and our family. So that was the focus. I wish I had someone else to take pictures because then I would have had lots more. But I was so very busy that there wasn't much time for pictures. But here are a few of our favourites from the day!

Ladybug open n' shut party invitation open

Ladybug party invitation closed

Ladybug Party loot bags

Ladybug embellished cutlery container 

Ladybug party cutlery

Ladybug party takeaways.
Ladybug chocolates on a thank you card

Ladybug cake

Ladybug Party details

Ladybug crown for the birthday girl

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the details from our DIY Ladybug Birthday Party!