Well, technically it would be the Cat in the Hat giving away the prize, since that is me, but either way I am giving away what I consider to be a great prize, but first the party details.
I love to entertain and love to try to include everyone, but also live in a small space and am frugal. This year for the boys birthday, we had a Thing 1 and Thing 2 birthday party. It will be my last 1st birthday celebration (no more babies here), so I went all out. It was fun and fairly easy to put together, and most importantly--fairly cheap!
I found these great card stock punch outs on Amazon.com and hung them on the front door to welcome and then all over the kitchen and living room. I think they cost about $9 and there were four large sheets of them.
This hung in the entry way. A friend later suggested that I should have mixed the boys pictures up and had a who's who guessing game...next time maybe?
My other new favorite decoration is tissue paper pom poms...I found directions for how to make your own at http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/tissue-paper-pom-poms-how-to . I think I spent about $3 on tissue paper, I cut the smaller lengths in half or thirds to make the blue and white pom poms. Also, I found a Christmas craft, making pom pom candy canes on sale at Hobby Lobby, about $1.50, which had red wire that I used to make and hang the tissue paper and used the sparkly red and white pom poms to decorate the wire.
I hung crepe paper streamers in red and aqua in the dining room, with a white pom pom in the middle...I also placed a cat in the hat punch out in our picture. (cost of streamers-$2-and I have plenty left for another party--red plastic table cloth $1)
Now, for one of my favorite decorations...the Happy Birthday banner. I found a similar one on http://www.etsy.com/ (for $30) but it was sold out, so I made my own...which is a hint at the giveaway (more pics at the end). It cost about $20 and was a little bigger than I planned, but I love it. I think we will hang it up for every one's b-day. I also already had the game I can do that http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016LKFXE/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=3430250447&ref=pd_sl_7wp2lz5ue_e which is really cute and fun, so I hung the pieces from the ceiling with blue string (a rake, mother's gown, a cake, a fish, a ball, a book, a fan, a ship, a little toy man)
So, that was decorations...about $35...Now, costumes...
Really with the blinking!?! I found their shirts and my hat on Amazon, their shirts were around $12 and my hat was $6.99...we are also getting double use because these are our Halloween costumes. I tried to make their hair blue, but the gel I had didn't really work. (Cost $31)Now, for food and drinks (the biggest expense) and serving ware...We had chicken tortilla soup, queso, cheese quesadillas, chips with guac and salsa. Drinks we had Izze, Rootbeer, Sierra Mist, Pepsi, Coors light, Singletrack, (served in a blue metal tin we already had) and White and Red Wine Sangria. (total was probably around $100--Most was from Costco)
Serving ware was from Target on clearance. I was lucky that all the blue plates, silverware, and blue and red napkins were being cleared out (I love the dots and stripes)...each set was about $1.(total about $10)
Henrik was my only 1 year old to like cake, everyone else just poked it and cried...watch the progression, he tried to figure out how to put the whole cake in his mouth.
And, lastly one of the most popular parts of the party, definitely Liam's favorite. The party favors. A candy bar with red, white, blue candies.I found red and white striped bags at Hobby Lobby for about $2. Everyone got to fill a bag to take home. My favorite was the peppermint bark I made. (Candy cost about $40) 
This was super easy to make. I used chocolate and vanilla candy quick and topped with crushed peppermint. I put wax paper in a baking sheet for easy clean up. For the colored one I used Wilton's candy melts in red and blue. I placed a red layer, then a blue layer, then added melted white chocolate layer and swirled with a fork; then I topped it with crushed peppermint. Once solid you can break into pieces.
And our only game...Can you guess? It was free because we had all this already. The kids and a few adults guessed the number of candy corns in the jar. The winner got to take the jar home. The number 303.
Total cost--around $215...add about $15 for the polka-dotted invites...not bad for a party for 2 kids and with 49 people attending...Happy Birthday Boys!
Now for the GIVEAWAY!!!
I am giving away your own personalized banner. You can chose the wording (Happy Birthday, your name, Congratulations, etc.) and color theme. You can also choose if you want yours the same size or a little smaller. I will make the banner according to your specifications and ship it to the winner.
How to win:
Leave a comment with your favorite party tip, game, decoration, idea etc. It can be for kid's parties or things like baby showers, 30th birthday parties etc.
Leave your comment on the blog (you must enter here first)...
For an extra entry you may also add a comment on Facebook or become a follower of the blog, just let me know in the comments that you did so...(if you are already a follower let me know and I will throw in an extra entry for you as well)
I will have the drawing on Wed. Nov. 3rd, so you have until midnight Colorado time on Tues. Nov. 2nd.
Good Luck!
Here are a few close-ups of the banner...
Tune in Thursday to hear about our week and see if Ken made it out alive...
6 comments:
Hi Kristina.. Adorable party! You did a GREAT job! I love the candy bar and the decor, of course the cake was amazing!
So, one of my favorite party tips is to pre-scoop your ice cream into silver (more sturdy) cupcake liners. Then when the kids come it's fast to hand out and you could do different flavors and they could choose. It is just fast and a little less stress!
Awesome party! I love the decorations and the theme- so cute :) One of my party tips is to give the kids one nice, useful thing (like a book or a bouncy ball) as a party favor instead of a bag of plastic junkie stuff. Or have them do a craft to take home as their favor (like painting a t-shirt or a picture frame). I always cringe when my kids bring home more junk (and then I throw it away when they're not looking)!
Kristina you're amazing! That party was so well done and looked like a blast! I like the idea of making each kid that comes to the party a special favor, even if it's just a simple thing like their name written on a pencil bag or T-shirt, it makes it special. I also love having theme parties, like yours, it makes things a lot more fun for the kids I think.
CUUUTE party. Loved it. You are amazing. My party idea...well I can't really beat Jen's. She beats me on practicality for sure. But, for the last party I threw I made "Lollilocks" at our house. Before the party, I styled my girls' hair in a variety of styles and took photographs of each one. I them made the photos into a book by tying ribbon through the pages. My girls felt like models and the birthday party attendees felt like they were in a salon! Very fun.
The party is so cute! makes me nervous about ever being a mom and having to throw parties for the kiddos. well, since I dont throw parties or have kids. I am going to tell you my favorite party my mom threw while I was a kid. We had a cooking party. we decorated aprons (and every girl got to take it home) and we decorated cupcakes as part of the party. my mom made the cupcakes in ice cream cones too. I think I was going into 2nd grade and just loved it!
You are such a fun mom!!! I do not have the patience for a party like that .... thus my tip follows suit. Our kids get to invite as many kids as they are old. Makes for much smoother 4 year old b-day parties. :)
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