01 November 2012

The Birthday Pal-alace DECOR

Dr. Seuss Variety buttons attached to
red/white polka dot ribbon.

The Birthday Boy attire- a Thing 1 t-shirt, a Cat in the Hat
birthday hat, his "Half & Half" big, and a birthday boy button.

Dr. Seuss books, characters, and blocks

More blocks, wall decals, more buttons and ribbon,
and a variety of Dr. Seuss quotes.

More Seuss wall decals and the 12 month growth photos.

From newborn to 12 months.

Signs for photo ops with the guests. Funny thing about this photo?
Both guys are actually named David.

And here's Thing 1, enjoying his new birthday drum.

The Birthday Pal-alace EATS

My son turned 1, and if we're tee-totally honest, I've been planning this party for, oh, the last 12 months. I realized early on that in choosing a theme, for a kid birthday party, this year is possibly the only one that Papa and I get to choose. I say "Papa & I" to be congenial. Everyone knows I chose the theme and he got on board. Party planning is not the hubs' passion. But it is mine!

Dr. Seuss won over all other possible party themes. This will be a series of posts showing you how his  party came together.

The EATS:

I planned the food to be both kid-friendly and to the tune of All Things Seuss.
Starting out is the Green Eggs & Ham spread.

The makings of Green Eggs and Ham:
M&M's (only the yellow ones), pretzel sticks,
and green candy melts

Start by placing the pretzel rods in pairs on an ungreased cookie sheet,
then add 2 of the 'eggs', i.e. green candy melts to each pair.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 - 3 minutes, until the melts start to
shine. Remove from oven and place a yellow 'yolk' M-side down
in the center of the 'egg.' Let cool, and voila!
Green Eggs and Ham... er, bacon?

What Dr. Seuss party could be
complete without Green Eggs & Ham?

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Inspiration included a bowl of fish:
Blue Jell-O, Swedish Fish, and a fish bowl (below) and voila! I
made the jello according to package directions (it took 2
packages to fill my fish bowl), and when it was semi-cold jell-o
texture, I dunked the fishies! In hindsight, I wish the blue
jell-o hadn't been so dark, or that the fishies had been a little
brighter. But hey, it worked!

One Fish, Two Fish, Lots of Gold Fish!
Inspiration from The Lorax:
Truffula Fruits!
Inspiration from Apples Up on Top:
Sliced apples with a little lemon juice squeezed
on them, and voila! Not-brown-apples!
Hop on Pop "Corn":



We also had some other EATS, but since they didn't really fall under the Seuss umbrella I used matchy matchy food labels helped tie it all together.


The makings of empanadas.

The finished empanadas.

Un-iced cupcakes for the kidlets.

Ants on a Log <-- always a hit with kids and adults!



Thing 1 and Thing 2's HAIR inspired the cupcake toppers, which the kids loved. I decided to go with a whole wheat pumpkin bread recipe that made yummy cupcakes. Recipe here.

The birthday boy in all his sweet birthday glory.

The adults also had cake, made by the birthday boy's godmother.
Lucky adults!

Pin It #5

My sunroof baby arrived last August, and subsequent to his birth it seems that a whole slew of our friends have buns in their ovens. This can mean one thing, and one thing only:
It's Baby Shower Season!

As a Mama-to-be, and now as an actual Mama, my creative juices have been a-flowin'! And with the ever-abundant source of modern-day inspiration known at Pinterest, I've been leading somewhat (p)interesting weekends lately.

I'm all for giving new parents gifts that are both neat and functional. Here are some baby shower decorations that will be going home with the Parents-to-be that I'm blessed to celebrate.
"Lollipops" -- 2 rolled up baby washcloths
attached to a baby utensil
Lollipop, close-up



"Peppermint Candies"
-- rolled up receiving blankets --
Peppermint, close-up
For the diaper cake, my favorite source for instruction is this video... in case anyone reading this (one of my sisters or my mom) is inspired to do the same...

My second diaper cake.
My first diaper cake -- by far
my most ambitious
creative expression to-date