Category Archives: Birthday

A Ballerina Birthday Party

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Ballerina partyEvery little girl’s birthday party shares one common thread: giggling and gabbing! And it was no different for L.’s ballerina-themed 5th birthday party. I simply broke the party down into 30–minute segments; time for crafts, time for dancing and time for “tea.” It was a lot of fun! Here’s how L.’s party went down:

PRE-PARTY PREP

Tissue Paper Puff Decorations

1st Get 8-10 sheets of tissue paper (can cut in half if large sheets).
IMG_03712nd Fold back & forth like you’re making a paper fan (about 1.5-2 inches).
IMG_03583rd Tie a ribbon (long enough to hang from ceiling, lights…) around the middle.
IMG_03744th Cut the two edges into peddle shapes (rounded).
IMG_03635th Fan out the tissue paper and then gently open one sheet at a time on each side.
IMG_0375IMG_03816th Hang them around your home and outside, if it makes sense.

IMG_0526Tables

I wrapped the little tables we were using for the tea party portion of the party in wrapping paper. I have used this same gold and silver roll for so many parties, because it’s so universal! I then used double-sided tape to attach ballerina ribbon. 

IMG_0503IMG_0525IMG_0631To mark each of the girls’ special place at the tables, I created ballet name cards. I simply printed the ballerina, glued them down and wrote each child’s name on an index card folded in half.

IMG_0508ballerina labelsClick here to download our free ballerina labels.

Our party invitations asked each girl to wear dance clothes and informed them that they would be given a tutu. We placed the tutus on coat hangers and hung them on the back of the chairs for decoration. We also made a dance mix CD of L’s favorite songs.  If I did this type of party again, I would make each child a copy of the CD. 

IMG_0505CRAFTS

Picture Frame Designing

The girls started the party off by creating their own picture frames to take home. We drew each child’s name and a simple decoration (heart, flower, etc.) with puffy paints that we let dry overnight before the party. Then the girls decorated their frames with self-adhesive jewel stickers. This was a good activity for a wide age-range of children.

IMG_0545IMG_0692IMG_0706Make your Own Hair Ties

We cut a variety of different ribbons that the girls got to pick from, which they tied on to their hair elastics. We found that the real fancy ribbons were hard for them to tie on themselves, so it worked best to use a separate little piece of thread to tie all the pieces of ribbon on at once for little ones.

IMG_0575IMG_0720IMG_0716IMG_0927DANCING

After crafts, we moved on to the dance party. I manned the music and skipped ahead once it seemed like the girls stopped being really excited about a given song.  The average length of a song is way too long for most little ones to stay truly excited about it in its entirety. This seemed to work well, because they were dancing and laughing away!

IMG_0747IMG_0739IMG_0954TEA PARTY

Everyone settled down at the place settings on the tables after the dance party to enjoy quite a spread of finger foods. We served cream cheese and raspberry jelly heart sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese balls (Trader Joes), spinach triangles (Trader Joes), watermelon pops, cantaloupe, little pizzas, chicken nuggets, pink lemonade, apple juice, water & cake and ice cream.

IMG_0563IMG_0594IMG_0511IMG_0919With just a little bit of planning and creativity, having a large group of kids over for a birthday party can be a good experience, not overwhelming. Again, breaking activities down into timed segments definitely helps keep the flow going so everyone has as much fun as possible!

Here is a link to another fun ballerina craft.

IMG_7274Have fun party ideas or tips to add to our ballerina party? Please share below!

Delicious, Homemade Dessert

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banana pieIs there anything like the smell and taste of something made from scratch? That homey feeling of baking is exactly what keeps me motivated to keep trying new recipes—even ones I am not sure I will enjoy!

For me, banana cream pie fell in the “doubtful I’ll like” category. Still, knowing it was my husband’s favorite, I decided to experiment with it for his birthday. I loosely followed a vanilla cream filling recipe from Joy Of Cooking, used my Grandma’s pie crust recipe, and added homemade whipped cream on top. To my surprise, it was delicious and got rave reviews all around. So if you think you don’t like desserts with banana as the star ingredient—reconsider and try this recipe!

Pie Crust (you can always skip this step and use a premade crust):

1½ cup white flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter (1 stick)
2-3 tablespoons water

IMG_9364

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter. After the pieces of butter are very small, add just enough water to hold the dough together in a ball. I make 1½ times this recipe, because it is easier to roll it out large and just trim it. As a bonus, you can always bake the left over pieces and put jelly on top. I loved this as a child.

IMG_9365Folding the crust in half and then again into quarters is the easiest way to get it into the pie pan without breaking. Make sure the crust extends slightly over the rim of the pie plate, because without filling it shrinks as it bakes.

Poke holes in the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork, so it doesn’t puff up while baking. Bake at 325˚F for 30-35 minutes.

Whipped Cream:

Beat heavy whipping cream until slightly thick. Add vanilla and sugar to taste. Beat until cream holds peaks.

Filling:

Slice 5 firm, but ripe bananas and set aside. (The great thing about bananas is you can get organic ones all year long!)

Whisk in a pan on medium heat:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup & 1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ tsp. salt
3 3/4 cups whole milk

Vigorously whisk in:
8 egg yolks (have them handy before beginning to cook the filling)

IMG_8786Stir constantly. The filling will get thick and start to bubble. Keep on heat for a couple minutes until fully cooked. If it starts to splatter too much, simply remove it from the heat for a few seconds, then cook for another minute or two.

Remove from heat and add 1½ tablespoons vanilla.

IMG_8781While hot, layer 1/3 of the filling, half of the bananas, 1/3 of the filling, half of the bananas, and the remaining 1/3 of the filling into the pie crust.

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Chill slightly, then cover tightly with plastic wrap against the pudding.
Once fully cooled, top with whipped cream.

So many friends and family members have asked me for this recipe that I figured I should share it with you. ☺

ENJOY!!!

Documenting the “First Day” & Other Family Events

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Just as your kiddos probably did over the past week or so, L had her first day of school today. We had fun capturing another year’s milestone in the girls’ lives!

Taking pics with the girls holding signs, gives us an easy way to document that specific time in their lives. The trend is popping up all over the place with parents on Pinterest and Facebook. It is also fun to let your child create his/her own sign, and get more creative.

Here are a few ideas of occasions to try it out for, and some ideas for signs:

Birthdays: These occasions certainly warrant a little time setting up memorable shots to take, and t-shirts are a really cute way to do that. Here’s an “I’m one” birthday shirt from our Lilabee Clothing line that can be customized with any age or design. For babies who are less than one year, we recommend doing a sign monthly!

First Days of School: If you anticipate wanting to document many firsts (in addition to school) a really easy way to get those signs done even as you’re running out the door is to purchase a few hand-held chalkboards for your kiddos to customize for the given occasion and hold.

Special Holidays or Events: Annual family gatherings can be a great time to capture the fun in this manner, as are very special transitions such as welcoming a new sibling/first introductions.

Please comment below if you have other creative ways of documenting milestones or as always, post a pic on our wall!

 

Hawaiian Beach Party!

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“There is a Certain Happiness in Being Silly and Ridiculous” – unknown author

L. was very disappointed (as were we) that we couldn’t make it to Ohio last week for a special theme dinner with her cousins, aunt, uncles, and Memaw.  I was very proud of how well she took the news considering the car was all packed and she was ready to go.  It wasn’t until we went to check traffic reports and saw all the weather warnings the entire two day route that we knew we needed to revise our plan….SO we mentioned to L. that we could have a special dinner at home.  She jumped on the idea and went full speed ahead.  She decided it needed to be a Hawaiian Beach Party the very next day.  The pictures say it all –we all had a blast :)

Butterfly Birthday Cake

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Whether you love cake or not, when it comes to children’s birthdays, there’s just something about a bright and cleverly decorated one that prompts excitement—and yes, even photo sessions.  Needless to say, we’re cake people and wanted to share a butterfly-themed cake that Sarah made for L’s 2nd birthday.  It was such a success that she requested it for her 4th birthday as well!

We hope you try this and enjoy it as much as we did!

Our little cuties are one! Ideas for a 1st Birthday

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When Sarah and I started planning B & BB’s 1st birthday we knew we wanted to do all the planning ahead of time so during the party we could sit back and enjoy every minute with our little ones.

We both had ideas we wanted to try and decided instead of doing a particular theme (The Hungry Caterpillar, Elmo, Farm Animals, etc.) we would do fun games/decorations/food items that revolved around their favorite toys and family/friends. Here’s what we came up with:

Family/Friends

* This idea was cultivated early, as we took pictures of each baby in the same chair, every month on the day he/she was born.  We displayed these pictures on the sliding doors as decorations at the party! On the other side of the doors I placed pictures of B & BB with family and friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* I had seen a cute idea of putting M&M/candies in mason jars for decoration on Pinterest…so I figured I would give it a try. I decided to use my jars as weights to hold down the balloons too. I also added pictures to the top of the jars. It was very simple and they came out adorable.

Favorite Toys

*We put their party favors on their rocking horse (other cute display ideas could include a radio flyer wagon, a large truck, wheel barrow or vintage doll carriage).

 

*We put the chocolate-covered Oreo cookie pops in BB’s favorite trucks & B’s favorite shape sorter.To do this I cut Styrofoam to the correct size and adhered it to the truck with double-sided tape.

Slight tangent, I know, but here are some pictures (from start to finish) of making the Oreo cookie lollipops!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some important tips we discovered:

*use double or triple stuffed Oreos
*hold on to the actual cookie when dipping it into the chocolate (instead of the stick).
*buy or recycle Styrofoam to place them in to dry (if you use wax paper one side will be flat).
*if you sprinkle on the decorations over a box or casserole pan, they can be contained and even reused–particularly important if you have little helpers!
*buy plenty of extra cookies because some will break no matter how careful you are!

L loved this project–especially eating them! Actually, I even let B try her very first Oreo and the picture says it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their two little chairs helped people know where to put their gifts. We had people put the gifts next to the chairs if they wanted the babies to open their gift during the party and in a different place if they didn’t care if they saw the babies open their gift. This was great because we didn’t have to worry about rushing through the gift opening so the babies wouldn’t get too tired or the guests wouldn’t get too bored! I also liked it because the babies can enjoy each gift more as they open them. The chair also allowed us to get a quick picture of the babes without them moving too quickly :)

We bought 3 plastic swimming pools and filled them with B & BB’s favorite toys.  One had blocks, one had all different types of balls, and one had musical instruments.

One of L.’s favorite toys was big hit at the party!

And what is a first birthday without cake–yum!  Sarah made BB his very own sweet potato cake–since the poor little guy is allergic to milk, nuts and eggs :(  She even made the adorable cars and truck out of clay.

 

 

 

 

 

Our plan worked (keeping the entertainment simple–just outdoor games & toys, including a rented bouncy house; having the food all prepared ahead of time and super easy, including pizzas that were delivered, and well fed and rested babies!)  During the party we were truly able to sit back (well maybe not sit back because that is not what one-year-olds want to do!) and enjoy it with the babes & our family and friends!

A couple pics from the end of the day’s festivities :)

Spring Birthday or Easter Cake Recipe

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Looking for unique ways to celebrate birthdays or holidays this season? Trying a new recipe with a fun, seasonal twist. For a recent family birthday I altered a Food Network cake recipe and it was a huge success!

If you want to try it out for an upcoming birthday or for Easter, here’s the recipe—be sure to stop by and let us know how it comes out or share pictures on our Facebook page.

Cake Ingredients:
5 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Cake Instructions:
Blend all above ingredients together and beat with mixer.

*Bake in 3 9inch pans at 325 for 20-25minutes

Frosting Ingredients:
1 (8oz.) package cream cheese
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple (drained very well –I put it in a paper towel to wring out all the liquid)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 (16oz) package powdered sugar

Frosting Instructions:
Blend together and beat with mixer on high for 5 minutes

Topping: 
1 cup chopped walnuts (put in-between each layer as well as on top)

Decoration:
Jellybeans around the outside of the cake (or use your own creativity!)

*This cake needs to be refrigerated, but it tastes best if you take it out at least an hour before serving.

Showering Birthdays with Rainbows!

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Young kids go through all kinds of ages and stages—one year they may be interested in dinosaurs, cats or ponies and the next sports, princesses or ballerinas. This year, my daughter has been captivated by everything rainbow. From rainbow playdough, rainbow toys or even real rainbows in the sky, the bright, cheery colors just seem to draw her in. We have found it a charming fascination, so decided to incorporate rainbows as the theme for her family birthday this year. Enter, rainbow cupcakes!

We started by sitting down with our girls and following a simple yellow cupcake recipe together step-by-step. Our little one loved having the opportunity to “cook” with her big sister, and was given the provisions of bowls, spoons and flour (which made for a wonderful kitchen “snow fall” according to her big sister!)

Once the cupcakes were out of the oven and cooled, we mixed food coloring and frosting into 6 different cups –one for each color in the rainbow. My daughter used piping bags (when we ran out we simply used Ziplock baggies and cut the corner off, which seemed to work just as well) and spoons to spread her multi-colored frosting on her cupcakes—creating beautiful rainbow designs. And while she was at it, she also decorated herself as a bear. What are birthdays for if not for messy, tasty fun?!

 Amanda

Better Than a Greeting Card!!!

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Whether it’s a birthday, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, a pregnancy or any special occasion… What better way to deliver your message than on your little cutie?

My husband’s 40th birthday is tomorrow.  Since I knew he would be especially excited if our little man could wish him a happy birthday–I made him into a “card.”  I used fabric crayons to decorate his onesie.  You could use any child-safe fabric paint/markers, iron on letters or embroidery. I am excited to put him in his onesie under his pajamas tonight and when Daddy gets him up in the morning he will have a special birthday surprise.

Helpful Hints:

?If you are doing a two-sided design, do one side and then iron it on (or follow the steps to make your designs permanent) before starting the second side.

?Put the item of clothing over a book for a hard surface on which to work.

?Wash the clothing item first to remove any chemicals and preshrink the fabric.

Sarah