Sam turns 1!!!

...three months ago!
I know, I'm tardy to the party for this one. Sam's Birthday was way back in December and it's now March. But I couldn't let the whole things pass by without showing you how amazing it was. Because it was amazing. (And I can say that now because all I have are pictures and no recollection of the stress and exhaustion of putting on a much-too-extravagant-for-a-1-year-old party.)
The good times started a couple weeks before when party guests recieved this invite in the mail:

I designed this fun invite to excitedly announce the upcoming birthday of our little man, and establish our MONSTER theme from the start! (Don't worry, these weren't mean or scary or gross monsters, just friendly fun monsters at our party!)
We ended up using a room at our church for the party. While I would have loved to have the party in our own home... our tiny house limits us to about 4 guests. Also... it was december, and we already had Christmas decor up, and I didn't want his party to compete with Christmas in anyway... So we used a big empty room at the church to fill with friends and celebration. It worked perfectly.
I did my best to keep things simple (HA!) and revised the menu about 14 times... but in the end I decided easy snack foods (fruits, veggies, and crackers) were the way to go.

I made small 'tents' to label the foods, get more monsters at the party, and added fun facts about Sam on them. For instance this one says: Even monsters eat their vegetables! ...And carrots are Sam's favorite veggie!

We also had limeade, water, and fun straws! (kids like drinking from straws...)

And a hot chocolate bar... with a fun surprise! The hot chocolate was monster chocolate... it was ORANGE! And guests had marshmallows, chocolate chips, sprinkles, crushed peppermint, whipped cream, chocolate and caramel syrups, and cookies to top their drinks with. It was a big hit.
Oh, also check out the cute monster cups with google eyes on them! My sweet MIL sat there all morning gluing google eyes onto things for the party. Thanks Linda, you are awesome!

And what party is complete without a cake? This awesome Monster Cake was made by our good friend Donna (of DonnaCakes) And I loved it so much! It was absolutely adorable and perfect and delicious! Thanks so much Donna!

I debated about games/activities for a 1 year old's party. I mean, obviously the guest of honor won't be able to participate in much... but I didn't want everyone bored either. And since we had 13 guests under the age of 7, I knew SOMETHING was necessary.

This was the popular Slime monster table, set up with a slime monster for every kiddo!

 I made these guys using this tutorial... and all the kiddos (and adults!) had so much fun playing with them. After the party, each kid got to take their Slime monster (housed in a re-purposed baby food jar) home with them. Party activity and favor in one. Inexpensive, and SO MUCH FUN.

Even the birthday boy got a little Slime time in!

 I also had a table with coloring sheets (that I got HERE) but I think more adults colored than kiddos!

And with all that fun stuff going on... the favorite activity for the under 4 ft crowd?

BALLOONS. I purchased a couple packages of balloons to blow up and toss about the room for colorful decor... I had no idea how much the kids would love balloons. They chased them, kicked them, threw them, hit them, stomped them, and had such a grand time. Sam loved them too... pretty sure that was the first time he ever saw a balloon. He was a big fan.

SO in conclusion: have Balloons at your next kids party. You're welcome.

I also made paper party hats for each kiddo at the party, which also served as table decor until they all snatched them up to wear them. Also on the tables were the 'favors'. I found mini bottles of hand sanitizer in green, blue, and orange (perfect!) that had a germ-monster thing on the front them (more perfect!). Each one got a note tied on thanking his guests for coming and celebrating with us! So each kiddo took home a slime monster, a hand sanitizer, and a handmade paper party hat for favors. (several of them also snagged a balloon or two on their way out the door!) Not extravagant, but useful, reminiscent of the party... and not candy. (You're welcome, parents!)

So there was hat wearing (even by the little littles)

There was singing and cake eating...

There were lots of pictures taken...

 Lots of playing with friends and family...

There were even a few gifts... (though we requested no gifts... our friends are obviously lousy at following directions. ha!)

...And maybe trying to sneak extra sweets out of the cooler.
But all the necessary fun stuff for a successful 1st birthday party. Sam had a great time playing with the kiddos and eating cake and carrots like it was his job.
If you want to see more ideas and inspiration for a monster party you can check out my One Monstrous Party Pinterest Board. (Do you follow me on pinterest? You should. I pin cool stuff. Just a side note.)

 Happy Birthday to our sweet baby boy! Every new day with you is an adventure and a joy. I love you, big 1 year old Sam!

Little Man Shower

Last month, several of my lovely friends got together to throw me the most charming 'little man' baby shower. It was so fun. They worked so hard and included lots of fun and clever details... I just had to share.
My friends know me well and know of my obsession with bow ties, suspenders, mustaches... and other 'little man' things. They incorporated all these fun little things into the party.

There was lots of tasty food and drink, all presented beautifully

There was a clothes line full of handmade onesies just for Baby P, so cute!

In lieu of games, (because I hate baby shower games. Candy bars in diapers? no thanks. And... I may or may not have threatened to walk out of my own shower if there were any games involving guessing the weight or girth of either mother or baby.) they wisely kept activities simple. Other than eating, socializing, and opening gifts, they had a board where people could write their name guesses/suggestions. And then they tried to sort my weekly bump pictures into the right order... (they only got one wrong!).

Of course I got lots of lovely gifts... even though i find opening gifts in front of a crowd a teensy bit awkwards.

But I got to give a gift too... Happy Baby Shower, Grandmas!

I loved all the thoughts and special details that went into the day... little things like, cloth diapers for napkins, wish cards for each guest to fill out, and fun bowtie and mustache beverages

Of course the best part of the day was just being around so many friends and family-- some who came quite far-- just to spend the afternoon loving on us!

 Such a wonderful, fun day!

Baby P (and Mama P) felt so blessed and loved.

Thank you to all our friends for making it a lovely event! I can't wait to introduce Baby P to each of you!

Pinterest Challenge: Stacia Partied!

(I apologize in advance that you will have this song stuck in your head the rest of the day.)

So it's a small world, (after all) and it's amazing how people can appear and reappear in your life over time. Like... Stacia. Who was a floormate and friend my freshman year of college (I think I may have bummed a ride to walmart and church with her a time or two...) but after that year, she left the school and I didn't figure I would ever see or hear from her again. Well her life took her to CO and landed her at the same church (and bible study) as my Grandma, and also the home church of a mutual friend Danielle, who's blog we both read and through which we became re-acquainted. Whew! Did you follow that? (yeah, me neither... really.) But anyway, we are now bloggy friends and... she likes to sew and be crafty and make things for her kids, and when I issued the the Pinterest Challenge, she was already pinning and planning a DIY party for her kiddo...
Fate. Or small world. Or great minds thinking alike. Or sheer coincidence that I want to claim so life seems more exciting.
Anywho... Pinterest Challenge projects:
She made really fun Very Hungry Caterpillar invites, that were sent out in 'bug jars'... so cute!

As well as monogrammed aprons:

(notice the Eric Carle print? I LOVE that so much...)
And also bunting, everyone's fav... which got recycled as decor in her sons room after the party-- smart idea!

And... last but not least some Butterfly and Caterpillar artwork that kiddos created at the party:

So very fun! Oh goodness, what did people do before they had the internet to peruse for genius ideas and inspiration? Did people have to come up with their own ideas? Sounds awful to me. I'm glad I have limitless resources for party planning these days! :)
I'm also glad Stacia picked some fun projects, and it looks like the party was a success!
Soooo... yay! Good work. To see more pictures, and explanations and original links to her inspiration, check out Stacia's blog Five of Spaids.

You can also check out the rest of the Pinterest Challenge if you haven't been following along closely already. This has been so much fun, and great to see people getting stuff done and inspiring each other!

MAKE THIS: Cinderella Cookies

All dressed up and being silly with one of my best friends!

Last night, I went to a Cinderella Party. No, it was not a 6 yr old's birthday. Actually, there were was not a single 6 yr old in attendance. There was, however, about six grown ladies 'playing dress-up', wearing tiaras, sipping champagne, and watching the 1957 Rogers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella (Staring my girlfriend, Julie Andrews! eeks!). I know as you are scoffing at the utter silliness of a dress up party for grown women you are secretly intrigued and jealous at the delicious indulgence of it all... jealous you weren't invited and jealous you didn't come up with the idea yourself! Because I don't care how old you are, you never outgrow the desire to put on a 'princess dress' and sit around giggling with your friends. You just don't.
So I put on my 'costume' (this horrid er, interesting blue dress I purchased several years ago at the good old salvation army. It has become a costume for many parties...), packed up my cookies and a crystal platter and hopped into my Honda-- I mean, Pumpkin-- and away I went to a magical evening with friends. Okay, I know we are super corny and a little crazy, but it was truly SO much fun.
My contribution to the party tonight was Cinderella cookies, starting with a yummy Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie recipe I got from my (favorite!) former music professor's wife, and topped off with my first experience with royal icing... which for the most part went well, except for I learned last night that royal icing takes approx 24 hrs to fully set, not the hour I assumed, so other than slightly mooshed frosting once they arrived... everything turned out... well...
Like this:

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 t. Almond extract
1/2 t. vanilla
1 egg yolk
1/2 t. Salt
2 1/4 c. Flour

Cream together until fluffy: sugar, butter, cream cheese, almond and vanilla extracts and egg yolk. Mix salt and flour together; add to creamed mixture. Blend well, cover and chill for at least 30 min.
Roll out 1/3 if dough at a time on lightly floured surface to about 1/8th
H inch thick. Cut out in desired shapes. Bake 7-10 min. on ungreased baking sheet. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

I cut out high heels (glass slippers) and pumpkins.

Royal icing
(I know there are lots and lots of recipes for royal icing out there... this is the most ridiculously simple one I have ever seen, and it worked great, and got nice and hard and sugar-y which... is what we were going for.)

4 egg whites

4 cups confectioners sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff, add sugar a little at a time until fully incorporated. Tint with food coloring. Use a piping bag/tips to pipe onto cookies and allow to dry for at least 12 hours. (or you could do what i did, because I don't have piping bags, but in retrospect, kind of considering investing in some... at least the disposable kind!, and just use sandwich bags all twisted up at the end... I know... I just made a whole bunch of cake and cookie decorators cry. But I use what I have.)
I piped white bows on the tops first and dusted them with sanding sugar 'glitter', then piped an outline in pale blue and 'flooded' the large area. For my pumpkins I piped an outline, stem, and leaf in white and dusted the whole thing with sanding sugar. (I had plans and icing to flood the pumpkins in a pale orange... but ran out of time, so I just dusted the whole thing with sanding sugar, and they actually looked pretty cute and 'magical'. I didn't get a great presentation/finished product picture because my camera died before I could... here's the best I have, not tooooooooo bad for my first shot ever at royal icing.

Okay, this was seriously so much fun. I highly recommend BOTH a themed dress up party with grown-up girlfriends and making cookies to coordinate with the theme... fun fun! Enjoy!