Thursday, June 27, 2013

Thrifty Birthday Party Fun

Ahoy Matey! Welcome aboard!

I"m going to go through what I did to do a big, yet low budget, birthday party.  My kids get a friend birthday when they turn 5.  Knowing the theme WAY ahead of time helps.  Everytime I go through a sale or clearance isle, I know what I can look for.
 This is where the ship sets in port.

I turned our deck into a ship for the party.  Most everything I had on hand, but I did buy a few yards of material-I have another purpose for all of it and it was about $20.
 Put yer cargo here!

For the signs I downloaded a font that I found on Pinterest-it was free!
 Watch out for Black Beard or he may make you walk the plank!

#1 made the plank out of boards our church had ripped out during construction.  We've collected and repurposed many of them.  I got a lot of my ideas from Pinterest.
 Our sail is up and ready to go.

The mast is a cardboard tube I got at JoAnn Fabrics when I bought some plastic to cover our diningroom table.  It was free.  The jolly roger we borrowed from a friend, and the sail is a table cloth we have.
 The first mate will make sure you get yer pirate gear!

Snug was in charge of passing out gear.  The bandannas were less than a dollar a piece as were the swords that each came with an eye patch.  We had 12 kids at the party so everyone was "outfitted" for less than $2 each.  We got them off Amazon and we have Prime so no shipping costs either!
 I cut the ships wheel out of a big piece of cardboard I got last time I ordered Rosebud's pictures from MPix.  It was helping to keep them stiff during shipping.  We had the large brown paper-we have a big roll of it that was here when we moved in.  The little black and red flags are material that I got that day at JoAnn's, and I will sew them together to make cloth napkins for the kids.
 Here's a side view.
 Sweet Pea enjoyed the very beginning of the party and then hit her berth.

 Rosebud was SO cute.  However, most of her costume was gone about 15 minutes into the party because it was HOT.  I made her costume out of an old dress shirt, and pieces of material.  Her pants are just brown capris.
 LMM didn't care how hot it was, he wore his gear till we went to the pool that night.  A friend gave us his costume when her boys outgrew it.





 I take too many pictures of her.  I can't help it!


 Snug's costume is the same-I made it from things we had around the house and his bandanna is the leftover material from making the little flags.




 I used black acrylic paint to give any of the party-goers facial hair if they wanted it.
 Another friend of ours had this ship and was putting it in her garage sale-she gave it to us for the party instead.

Snug's facial hair.  He was the first mate and LOVED having a job.  

 Before the party even started my kids were on and off the plank.

 #1 was the villain-Black Beard.  Again, I made his costume.  I wore one too, but I never made it into any pictures.  He stole the birthday treasure and the kids had a series of games to play in order to find it.

 Black Beard being apprehended.
 The kids caught him and he actually got whollaped a few times with their swords.

 Part of the birthday treasure was found here in the piñata.  I saw him at Kroger but they wanted $20 just for the piñata!  I waited a few weeks and he clearanced out at $5!  Yay!   He was filled with Easter candy that also went on clearance-none of it even looked Easter-y.  It was like Snickers and Pixie Sticks and stuff.  There were also some pencil toppers that I had from way back when I was a teacher, and some little bubbles that I had as prizes at Snug's 5 year old birthday party.



 Rosebud LOVED hitting the piñata.  We had a stick and after all the kids had two turns we got out a baseball bat.  Everyone had one more turn, then we let Snug have a last whack and as expected Snug+baseball bat= piñata open!


 The kids are throwing "cannon balls" at Black Beard.




Look closely and you can see a water ballon just about to hit #1.  He was then re-apprehended and led them to the rest of the treasure.  


 In the sandbox we had hidden bead necklaces (13 for $1 at Dollar Tree and someone gave us a whole bunch that they'd collected too-tell people things you are looking for.  Often people would love to un-load stuff).  There was also plastic pieces of "gold" that I got on big time clearance after St. Patrick's Day and ring pops.  I had a friend step in and buy 6 on the way to the party as I realized there might be tears if everyone didn't get one.
 The cake was an idea Betty Crocker had on their site.  He was SUPER SUPER easy.






It rained for awhile, but the kids didn't mind.  We had a big cooler of water out for the kids as it was in the high 80s and HUMID.

 I love this man.  Drama type activities are NOT his thing, but he played the part of the pirate so nicely.

 I made (with fabric I had on hand) each birthday guest a bag to put their treasure in.  When they did the piñata I had the bags in a box and as they collected things they brought them to me to put in.  Then I took the bag to the sandbox where they added more.  I then put a thank-you note inside each one, tied it up, and gave it to the parents as the kids left.

I was hoping to get more of these and have them as decoration, but never got around to it.  It is a olive oil bottle.

 After the party it all had to come down.  I think he was a pretty happy little guy.

Happy Birthday LMM!  We love you!!!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

I'm A Horrible Blogger...

 Yeah, I'm more than a little behind.  And for the past year I've been awful about blogging.  But here is a valiant effort to catch up.  The boys both played rec league ball.  Snug's last year for t-ball, LMM's last year for B-ball.

 Snug improved quite a bit.  We didn't know whether to move him up into coach pitch or not.  Grade wise he should have been coach pitch, but age wise t-ball.  We stuck with his age and he had a good season.
 It was easier to enjoy LMM's season NOT being his coaches.  #1 helped QUITE A BIT as, well, LMM is a bit squirrel-y.  He's always having a good time.



 Last day of preschool for LMM meant not long till Rosebud gets to start preschool...and she is EXCITED about that.  These "turtles" as she calls them get a hug EVER.  SINGLE. TIME. from her on the way in.  I don't think they're turtles, I think they're weird little people things.




 
 See you in a few weeks!
 This is LMM and LMM's apprentice.  She goes where he goes, talks how he talks, and acts how he acts.  But they're good buddies.
 Strawberry picking!  He must have gotten a rotten one :o)




 Now THAT is a good daddy.  She was very happy to ride on his back and eat strawberries!
 We picked three large buckets and I made about half a years worth of jam.  The other half will be red raspberry that we'll pick in the late summer early fall.





 The place we pick is very nice and lets the kids eat all they can and carry out all they can in their hands for free.  I think each kid probably ate a quart.








 A little boy I babysit for has Juveniele Diabetes.  We were able to go to a mini-golf benefit for him one morning.  Very fun!




 Rosebud could barely hit the ball.  Then she's pick it up, set it next to the hole and either "putt" or kick it in.  Perfect.


 Snug was the only one playing with any semblance of rules.







 The kids got their faces painted and then we headed over to see the goats (the event was at a local dairy).












 #1 and my dad are making a new bedroom in our basement.  Here are the before pictures.  If I am not as horrible as a blogger as I have been, I'll keep you updated.  Don't cross your fingers!

 I've wanted to get a little playhouse for the girls for a couple of years but they are SO EXPENSIVE.  I sold off some of the kids things they were not using anymore and was able to get this one pretty cheap on Craiglist. My plan was to power wash it and then spray paint it the color I wanted-something I had seen on my beloved Pinterest.  This little house was FILTHY.
 Here's a picture of it from the back.  It had dirt and crud in every crevice.
 It cleaned up so well, and Rosebud LOVES pink and purple, so I didn't paint it.
 Everyone has been playing with it, but Sweet Pea loves to open the door and squeal, then close it and say "buh bye".








  We're getting ready to head to camp and this hair was getting OUT of control.  It snarls easily and although she loves to have it braided and curled, she doesn't want to sit to have it brushed.


 So I bit the bullet and took her in for a haircut.  A friend from church cut it which was nice.  She's the second oldest of 10 kids so she knew how to deal with a wiggly little one :o)

I like how it turned out, and it is VERY easy to wash and brush now!

Sometime this week it is my goal to post LMM's 5th birthday party pictures.  AKA I'll post them in August.