Henry's Baptism

On Saturday, June 21st, Henry Milford was baptised into the Catholic faith. Henry is the son of my BFF Karyn (read all about Karyn here).

Mommy & Henry getting ready to leave for Church.
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The family and priest pose for a picture at Church.

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Everyone went back to Karyn's house for light snacks after the ceremony. The food and decorations were simple. There were baby blue plastic tablecloths, baby blue plasticware and baby blue cross plates and napkins, all purchased at the local party store. For a little shimmer, silver and gold cross confetti was sprinkled over the buffet and tables.

There was fresh fruit, muffins and delicious strawberry scones with Devonshire Cream (homemade by The Tea Cup Tea Room). There was juice, bottled water and coffee to drink.

The beautiful cake was made by Publix.

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Eating and talking.

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The guest of honor fast asleep in his bed, all tuckered out from his exciting morning!

Alice In Wonderland Birthday Tea Party - 4th Birthday

Emma decided on a Disney Alice in Wonderland Tea Party for her 4th birthday (OK, so I MAY have encouraged her a bit). We started planning early and most of the deorations were handmade (there isn't any Alice party decor out there!).

Here is the Birthday Girl all dressed up like Alice:

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Decor

The girls' tea table:

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The party room:


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The moms' table:

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Lanterns hung from ceiling, just like in the Disney movie:

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A little vignette:

We made all of the topiaries and made a mini one for the doll table. My mom paper-pieced the Queen of Hearts.
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Cake

The teapot cake:



Each girl got their own teacup cupcake with cookie saucer & chocolate covered pretzel handle:

The cake table:

The green "box" on the table is actually the Mad Hatters hat that I made from a spray painted paper bag and black ribbon.
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Food
Homemade chocolate pretzel wands:



Homemade teacup cookies and mushrooms made from marshmallows, chocolate & Nilla wafers:

We served ham salad, chicken salad, & cucumber sandwiches. I also made peanut butter & fluff sandwiches cut-out with a butterfly cookie cutter (not pictured):
The buffet bar:
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Tea Time

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Queen of Hearts Crafts

The girls decorated bonnets with flowers and colored Alice in Wonderland coloring pages:

I hung hearts and playing cards on fishing line all around the room. The decorations in this area were all done in black & red.
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You can read a full description of the party here. As soon as I locate the missing disc, I will add pictures of the games.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique: 3rd Bithday

One of Emma's 3rd birthday presents was a trip to Disney's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. It is a really lovely little salon where the girls can get a mini princess makeover.

Inside the Boutique:
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Emma is assigned a Fairy Godmother who will do her hair, nails and a little makeup.

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A little nail polish:

Hair done:

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Picking out the perfect tiara:

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Just a touch of make-up:

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The finishing touches, including a sprinkle of Pixie Dust:

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The photo shoot:

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Lunch at Cinderella's Castle:
Emma & her brother Nathan meet Cinderella's Fairy Godmother:

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Boutique at Disney, definitely do it! It is such a wonderful experience.

Pirate Party - 4th Birthday

For Nathan's 4th birthday we had a pirate party. It was a lot of fun to plan.
INVITATIONS: The invitations were printed at home using a pirate map template from coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com. The edges of the invitations were torn & inked to look aged. The invitations were rolled and tied with twine. Labels were removed from empty plastic water bottles and the bottles were filled with some sand, gold glitter, palm tree confetti (I punched out using a scrapbook punch and green cardstock) and shells (purchased at craft store). The rolled invitations were placed in the bottles with some of the twine sticking out of the bottle so that the invitations could be easily removed. The lids twisted securely even with the twine tail. I purchased pirate name tags from Oriental Trading Company and used those as name labels on the bottles. We then hand delivered the invitations.
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Decorations:
Skeleton made from milk jugs.

Front door

Costume table
Hall Table

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Costumes:
Each guest was given a bead necklace, striped head wrap, sash & bag to collect plunder.




They each had their face marked with a scar and beard and then received a pirate tattoo.
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Craft:

Each guest was given a small wooden treasure chest that I had previously painted with gold spray paint. They were able to glue shells, sequins & fake jewels to the box.
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Games:

Ring Toss - My husband made ring toss game from plywood & plastic hook hands from the dollar store. The kids received a gold coin for playing and a coin for each ring that was hooked.

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Walk the Plank - Kids were broken into two teams and had to carry ping pong balls in a shovel across 2x4 elevated boards and place the balls in a bucket. Winning team won more beads.



Musical Island - Played like Musical Chairs to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack.
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Sink the Ship - I made 2 ships from appliance boxes and 100 cannons from balled up newspaper and electrical tape. The two teams of boys each took command of their ships and threw the balls at each other. This game was a huge hit!

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Food:
Snacks consisted of gold fish crackers, Whoppers candy (look like cannon balls) and gummy fish served in a cardboard treasure box. The kids drank "Shark's Blood" Punch made from Sprite and Hawaiian Punch ice cubes. As the ice cubes melt, it looks like blood - they loved it!


After we had cake and ice cream.

Cake Table.
Cake table with gifts.
I made the cake to look like a pirate ship and an island with treasure.
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Treasure Hunt - After the kids ate, they read the message in a bottle that had been sitting on their table. The bottle held the first clue on the treasure hunt. Along the way the kids received swords I made from cardboard, spray paint & electrical tape.

At the end of the hunt the kids found a treasure box filled with their goody bags. I made the treasure box by painting a large Styrofoam cooler brown and decorating to look like an old box.

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While Nathan opened his gifts, the kids looked through their goody bags. I made the goody bags out of brown lunch sacks, black electrical tape and gold cardstock for the lock - they looked just like little treasure boxes. The goody bags contained plastic telescopes, compasses, skulls filled with starbursts, root beer barrels and tootsie rolls, candy sticks, Pirates of the Caribbean M&Ms, gold plastic pirate coins, pirate stickers, skull bead bracelets (made from beads purchased at Oriental Trading) and colored bead necklaces.
After the party, the kids played in the back yard until their parents picked them up. The party was a huge success and still one of my favorites to do.