Critique my party
umm, I mean, the party I am having for Lil Miss. Its for friends/family on a weekend afternoon at our house. (No way am I renting a hall/ facility in Feb with the snow we've been getting.)
Theme: Sesame Street. I have a Cricut, so I can do paper crafts with the characters. The idea is to use primary colors, and incorporate as many of the muppets as possible. Largely inspired by this party, but on a smaller scale.
Favors: Instead of a candy buffet, I want to set up Mr. Hooper's Store for favors. They would be character realted items - Ernie's rubber duckies, Bert's pencils, Cookie Monster's cookies, Oscar with a can of gummy worms, Elmo's goldfish crackers...
I'm also considering Cake pops like these.
Games: I'm thinking Pin the Feather on Big Bird, Zoe's Freeze Dance, and Count guessing game (how many jelly beans are in the jar, closest guess wins ah-ha-ha-ha!)
Wardrobe: We are going to wear character tee shirts and jeans. Lil Miss will wear a jean ruffly skirt that I love on her and colorful tights.
Invites/ thank yous: I am seriously considering ordering a .pdf off Etsy like this one. I kinda feel bad/ lazy paying for them instead of doing them myself, but its okay not making everything from scratch, right?
Decorations: streamers and paper lanterns, balloons, a paper banner, and character die-cuts like these.
Dessert: cupcakes, of course! standard chocolate with vanilla icing and character toppers. Then, either cupcakes in ice cream cones (I used to love when my mom made those!) or dixie cup ice creams.
Food: hoagie tray with salads, and fruit salad is all I have so far... I want to make pasta salad with alphabet pasta (like the soup) but I don't know where to buy the pasta...
The only other thing is that I don't want to open presents at the party. I felt really awkward opening them for Lil Miss last year. I am afraid it will take up way too much time. On Christmas, she opened her presents one at a time, and then played with each one, before moving onto the next box. We were literally still opening gifts at 7pm. I think most people would rather socialize than watch someone open gifts. Still, I'm not sure if that is tacky?
Thoughts, opinions, tell me what I am forgetting....
Re: Critique my party
Dude, that sucks!
I'm totally kidding, love it & I'm sooooooooo sad that I'm not gonna be there to celebrate w/ y'all this year
but alas, I will be basking in the sun in St Thomas drinking a daiquiri in honor of "The Shizzzzz"!!
Um, NEXT February, you're entire clan is going to have to fly to Iowa to plan/have a dual party for Mady and Lil Miss. Good God, I'm supposed to do stuff like this??????
I agree with M that you don't HAVE to do the cake balls....with cupcakes, the ice cream cone things AND all of the stuff in the store, you don't really have to tack that on if you don't feel the NEED.
And do NOT feel badly about the invites...give yourself a break. You're doing a TON as it is.
Gosh, I wish I could come to this party. Lil Miss is a lucky girl.
Katy and Brett ~ Runaway Bay, Jamaica ~ October 4, 2008
Katy and Brett ~ Runaway Bay, Jamaica ~ October 4, 2008
OMG. I love it all. If it makes you happy, order the invites - that one is ubercute anyway and nobody will be none the wiser.
I would do the cakepops last minute. If it works out it would be a good addition but not a necessity, IMO.
And as for opening gifts, I am with Katy. Big party - don't open. Small party-open. And I went to a birthday party for a kid and it was medium sizeish and they didn't open gifts because the kid was sick and I prefered it that way. I got to meet more people and watching kids open presents is boring. She did post an entire "birthday present opening" album on FB so guests could see him open gifts that was if they were interested. So it was the best of both worlds, I got to see him open the gift I got him without having to watch him open 357284752340765 gifts. BONUS!
The party looks phenom and I wanna go.
I LOVE IT!!!!!!
I saw that party and thought it was the coolest thing, and probably what we are going to do for E's party next year. I love that Izzy is a year olderthan my Izzie so I can copy all your cute party and Holiday ideas for her the following year. Too cute. I'm really excited to see how it all pans out, please post pics on FB.
K+S 9.18.9 | DD #1 age 2 | PG # 5 EDD 9.17.12
Sounds adorable!! I wouldn't change a thing!
And as for the presents - don't worry about opening them. It seems to be a growing trend not to, so who cares? I like the idea of making an album on FB for guests to see, this way they could feel a part of it.
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Sun & sand & frozen drinks can not compare to my juice boxes and rubber duckies?! What if I up the anty and add a pinata? Then Frigid Philly would look so much more appealing then silly old St. Thomas, right?
I LOVE the online photo album suggestion - thanks Ashley! And of course, if someone wants to see their present opened, I will.
Lisa - I agree live goldfish= logistical nightmare. I'm thinking the snack bags of Pepperidge Farm Crackers. Or I could use Sweddish fish, but I already have the gummy worms.
Krissie & Katy -- I have ideas up to age 10! Seriously! Birthdays are a big deal to me.
Well, I know who I will be calling in a few months! I am stumped!
Love your ideas! Sound like it will be an amazing party. The store idea is my fave.
I also wouldn't worry about the gift opening thing. Honestly, it is my least favorite part of a party I attend. You have to ooh and ahh and it is a little much after the first few.
The pin the feather on the big bird will be a hit! I did a pin the tail on the monkey at mine. I had tons of kids at mine ranging from a year to 11 and they all had a blast and wanted to go again and again.
Can't wait to see pics!