Nightmare before christmas halloween party

Saturday night we threw our 3rd annual kids Halloween party. It was the crazy most off the wall time yet! (Good and bad) This years theme was Nightmare Before Christmas. We had to convince our 4 year old it would be harder to get little girls to come to her 5th birthday if it was NBC so she reluctantly gave it up to Halloween. But it turns out it was a great idea. After months of planning and looking around on the Internet and realizing not many people throw NBC parties and write about them I set off with a note book full of awesomeness... unfortunately family trauma plagued October which left us with no time for my awesomeness and a bunch of scrambled put together craziness. But it turns out those hours I spent planning awesome games like a wall balloon dart pop jack face and a 3 legged stocking race wernt needed because all the kids wanted to do was eat junk food and play in the playroom. We did do the bob for donut game but it was even disorganized and stupid, but the kids still are talking about it so I will chalk that one up to happy for sugared donuts ;) we had bought skeletons to have a put the bones together relay, however the only kids that wanted to play were the really small ones and with no parent participation it was a mess, but they all got prizes and i have 4 colorful skeletons for next year. I would love to show you pictures of all these but my camera went missing during the party... amongst other things...
The food was pretty awesome. We made dipped Halloween Oreo pops with twislers for Sally.


We did Oreo cake balls of Jacks face (but the food coloring pens stopped working!!) FAIL


We did inside out S'more reindeer's


veggie Christmas trees and pumpkins. We made spaghetti (for our vegan vegetarian friends)snowman Jack pizza, and worm hot dogs. We did deviled eggs and meat roll ups. I was surprised how fast the brownie bites with strawberry Santa hats went. And the fresh fruit the kids inhaled. (Good sign)There were mini cup cakes and sugar cookies and Dr. finklestein (I ran out of time for his glasses) jello brain.



My favorite element was Oogie Boogie. I sewed him out of burlap. I left an opening in him and filled it with gummy worms and gummy bugs and this was the favorite at the table for sure.


The house looked awesome adorned with out traditional Halloween decorations and 10 Halloween decorated christmas trees. I painted the mayor tree out of a broken lamp shade. It was the best tree I think.









We had a craft table for the kids to make treat bags and bat ornaments. The kids were so creative I was totally jealous of most the ones that went home. We bought 3 packs of 12 ornaments at the dollar store and spray painted them black. Added a Halloween colored ribbon hanger and the kids foam sticked, googly eyed, and pipe cleaner ed them. We had lots more then just bats and spiders be made and my kids have since made about more. For good favors I made crayons out of a pumpkin mold I bought at the dollar store. The kids were nuts for these too. So Hats off to October for kicking my butt, but for not letting my lack of what should have been at the party be evident. 29 kids in all showed up about the 20 adults and boy am I still one tired mom!!

And these are my little trick or treaters. Captain America, Harry Potter, Sally from NBC, and a little scary crow ;)

The party favors!

For our recent Dr.Seuss party I decided to make One Fish two Fish Red fish Blue Fish fishing games. I had lots of left over baby food snack cans which I covered with wrapping paper I used through out the party to coordinate. I sewed each set ! white fish, 2 green fish, 1 red fish, and 1 blue fish out of felt. That was 65 fish to sew, very repetitive work. The fishing poles were dowels with stings and a magnet. They turned out way better then I had hoped for!



Cost break down:
Felt 1/2 yard of each color $4.99 (I have enough to make about 15 more games)
Magnets $3.50 (Regular $6.99 but 50% off coupon)
Dowels Left overs from something else

It was a very awesome alternative to candy and junk toys that normally come out of a pinata.

A party story.... :(

Although my husband doesn't understand my crazy need to make every party amazing Im lucky enough to have a great group of die-hard party attenders that love what I do. On Sunday we threw the very much antici[pated Dr.Seuss 1st birthday party for Danger. It was a great party, the sun was out (it was suppose to rain) it was warm but not to hot, the swing set was done, all the bark dust was laid, the kids were in great moods, the birthday boy was all smiles! That was all at noon when the party started... let me tell you a little about what happened the morning before. So some times I get a little to ambitious, I figured I had all the details planned to a T so a huge amazing first birthday cake needed to be made... a 130am trip to walmart 20mins from my house to get more Crisco and sugar for frosting was the first sign that I bit off more then I could chew, fast forward to me at 345 finally crawling into bed still dressed covered in frosting with a wonderful 4 "story" cake on my table, another fast forward to me waking up at 7, totally on my own time line ready to go, finishing up last min food getting the tables ready to take outside, jump now to 8:02... I blame what happened next one a flea, one small very itchy flea.. and a dog, a very itchy dog. Shelby was rolling all over the floor trying to itch her back and soon she found that the floor wasnt going to get it done, she had a great idea a table leg! Yes the same leg to the table my cake was sitting on, my very all cakes set to the back cake... I heard it happen while I was pealing egg shells... I froze. I knew what happened with out turning around. At 8:02, day of the party with a no room for error schedule, the cake was on the floor. The top two layers on the floor. The first two bowing from the weigh change, first thought totally break down, second thought I don't have time for that... cry later. I scooped what I could into a garbage can, the rest poor flea bitten dog ate. I re positioned the bottom two layed, and threw some cup cakes in the oven to save face. At which point im an hour behind. Then a bag of supplies turns up missing, no table cloths, no party twirlers, no streamers, no balloons. No freakin decorations to be found. I ordered husband to go get table cloths. I rustled though my every growing supply box found red and white streamers. No balloons poo. My cousin shows up, a little late, to mad dash set up what we can. No games made it out except the bubble wrap on the deck for "hop on Pops" The food landed on the table as the first people were showing up. My kids were dressed, my cupcakes frosted and that was that.... despite the crazy hectic morning, it was a good party with good friends and a very happy birthday for Carson William Patrick Parks. So I have decided this, although I have note books full of party plans down to the last details, I need to remember that its about why we are celebrating. No more cakes for me, cup cakes are just fine, besides only 4 cupcakes got eatin' because I make way to much food and snacks and the kids were stuffed full!

Just a taste of the fun to come!

Im a party planner, I love parties, I would literally throw a party everyday if I knew my husband wouldnt leave me for it ;) So when I got pregnant with our fourth child, my little Danger, I was informed it was 'selfish' to throw a baby shower for my bump (IM just going to toss it out there I think it was just because my SIL was pregnant at the time with triplets and my MIL thought she should have the whole lime light... and the lemon light if I must stew) but anyways back to my story. I was shattered when she said this, and it may have been the hormones or it could have been that I had been planning in my head a super baby shower since we knew for sure this was going to be our last one... so I sat back, not even invited to help her throw my SIL a baby shower (by a woman who HATES parties) My BFF wanted to throw me a secret shower but never got around to it so I feel like Carson got jipped. Now im not being selfish or greedy, its not about gifts it about getting together with your friends one last time before you pop out another one and cant leave the house for 6 months ;) My other showers, the ones I planned were not about gifts, with my daughter we asked everyone to bring their favorite childhood book with a note in the cover for her, with my Coco we had a scrapbook party and it was a diapers only shower and it really caught me up on my lack of scrapping since the 3rd one. But my glory was going to be this last shower, this last celebrate a baby glory, was going to be a blanket shower where I was going to ask everyone to bring a blanket to donate to the local children's hosp. I was going to be have "sung as a bug" theme. (With hungry little caterpillar as my scape) so needless to say because I was told that a 4th baby shower was selfish, poor Carson has a blank spot in his baby book, empty pages where a baby shower was suppose to go... poor poor Carson... HOWEVER I am super mom, i figure fine he didnt get a baby shower he sure is going to get the biggest 1st birthday bash I can come up with so here is the invite, the first glimpse into the grandness that will be Carsons first birthday bash!

Ben 10 birthday pictures

I still can not beleive my cute fat sweet ball of baby turned into an independed carring skinny 7 year old on monday. He started life out like this
A cute hamalious NEVER EVER cried brown eyes love bug. And we have been so blessed with watching all of that turn into this.
I know I said it before but I can not beleive he is 7... its like not even kid anymore, its like big kid, its like the roll his eyes when I think im being funny, to old to kiss me at school, nose stuck in the DS old.... im not gunna lie make me a little teary :( BUT its not im into girls yet old so im good :)
So for this big kids birthday party (althought we invited the whole class and no one showed up... but thats another blog on its way!!) It turned out pretty great concidering I could not even come up with lame ideas in the weeks before because its hard to do aleins, and we are not talking little green men we are talkin HUMUNGASAUR..Echo Echo...Swampfire... those aleins are to complicated, so I failed in the creative show themed way but generic junk turned out better then I hoped!




The goody bags were kinda fun we made coloring books (i tutorualed about it) a pin on Ben 10 patch, a key chain (I got a bunch from OTC and they are an awesome fall back, and Justin made book marks.. which turned out cute. The bags doubled as a pinata bag, which I made out of cardboard and tissue paper!


The kids played Ben Ben alien (but just because they say they know how to play duck duck goose DOES NOT mean they really do) I stuffed 75 ballons with candy and charater cards and blew them up... they had to find ben, whoever found him started the next game. Then we had a sock war, which I think was the high light of the party, the kids loved it and it was so funny to watch they played a bunch of rounds of that then went for the junk food table ;)



So happy birthday to my big fat 7 year old...you will always be my baby.. my cute fat giggly bundle of blue...tear ;( being a parent is hard.

note card color book tutorial

For teacher week we made our wonderful teachers From the desk of Stationary it was so cheap easy and fast I decided to use the concept and make color books for Justin's up coming party goody bags. He was totally into Ben 10 this last year, was Ben 10 for Halloween and totally set on a Ben 10 7th birthday party... only now Ben 10 isn't as 'in' as Mario and bay blades but he still keeps saying he wants the Ben 10 party so a Ben 10 party he shall get! (Ps I love Ben 10.. I even watch it when the kids are not around..its a great boy cartoon) The only issues is apparently not many party planning moms post about their awesome Ben 10 parties because all my searches turned up lame. And other then napkins they dint really have much 'party related paraphernalia' out. So here is how I made my own Ben 10 coloring books.

Material:
Blank note cards (mine were 4x6 I couldn't find 5x7)
clamps
rubber cement

Step one get online and find printable color pages, they are EVERYWHERE. Print off some cute ones, I even made a cute cover page.


Clamp them together, I clamped 10 together at once and it worked out easier then a book at a time. We made 100 page stationary for our teachers and I think the more you do together the better they turn out.


After you stack and clamp them all together apply a few coats thru out the day of rubber cement. I did 7 layers through out the day not always letting them dry all the way in between. It evens itself out so it pretty foul proof.


After it drys it was
still a little sticky to touch so I sprinkled baby powder on it, problem fixed.

Tare apart into separated books and there ya have it!



Stay tunes for more Ben 10 goodness coming up!


I linked my funness up to these parties: cheack them out for some awesome inspiration!

toy story birthday!

I can not beleive my little Coco bean is 3... I just can not beleive it (but I cant also beleive last weekend he was 2) He was a cubby little ham ball as a baby, happy smily and always into something... 3 years later we have a chubby HUGE ham ball that is always into everything ;)


to this:


I wish I would have taken the time to take pictures of all the details I added to the party but people actually showed up early... which at our partys is never the case.. so I will just have to fill in on my awesomeness with words ;)

I printed out some signs, this was the 'snack table' I made rice krispy treat etch a sketchs, marshmellow pop aleins, sugar cookie Rex and Woody stars with 3's on them, I also made Ham cupcakes just cause the cake turned out a little smaller then I had planned.

Here is a closer look at the cake and Lotso pinata (I made the pinata out of paper machae and tissue paper) The cake was the box that they went to the day care in it turned out better then I had pictured in my head.
I wish I had a picture of the goodie bags they were so cute. I wrapped a cowboy bandana arond a cup and added a sheirf star.. they were adorable, I filled them with toy story fruit snacks, little army men, poppers, and tatoos, and bubbles.


We palyed pin the tail on bullseye which I printed off line, I had other games planned but we tend to the the problem once kids come over and get a look at all our toys and fun stuff in the playroom, pulling them out for games just wasnt happening!

Things you didnt get to see besides the cool good bags: I glass drink bottles which were cool colored, they even had cute little matching tags on them. We made hot dogs, noodle salade, bean and really awesome fruit kabobs (I will show you on our next party my cool fruit kabob sticks) I was really a fun party. here are just a few random funness to share


And after it was all said and done my kidos decided to have a slumber party