It's a Rocket Birthday Party

That's what Monkey wanted. I cant tell you how long he has been talking about having a Rocket Party. If I knew how hard it was going to be to do one I probably would have tried to convince him to do something else. But I made the invitations and sent them out before I went looking around for decorations.

Here are the invitations I sent out.
Seriously there was no decorations out there for a rocket, space or even an astronaut party. So I opted to go with a color scheme and made my own decorations. I know it looks kinda fourth of July-ish but hey my brain couldn't think of anything else.

I forgot to get a picture of the the whole area but here is a picture of the banner I made him. I think this has become a tradition now. Each one of my kids loves personal banners.

The table setting.


Monkey wanted a Rocket cake. So here is what I ended up making. I thought it kinda looked like a wedding cake but he was convinced it was a rocket.

Monkey inside the rocket

When the Astronauts arrived at the party they were greeted with this sign.

I asked my friend who drinks bubbly water (like there's no tomorrow) to start saving her bottles a couple of months ago. With a little bit of tape, cups and tissue paper I was able to make these Astronaut Jet Packs that I had found on the internet a few months back. Also every Astronaut also got a personalized name tag.

After being suited up the astronauts took a trip into the "GALAXY."

I thought it would be a great idea to turn the garage into the "galaxy" since we didn't really have much else planned for the party. After all it was going to be for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds and I knew I probably could keep their attention with games.

The Entrance to the "GALAXY." I found these wall stickers at the dollar store. I didn't know what I was going to use them for but this ended up being a fun thing the kids got to do.

My Love was in charge of this part of the party. Didn't he do an amazing job!! He put up visqueen and attached stars from the dollar store everywhere. Since I couldn't find any planet stuff I bought some cheap bouncy balls from Walmart which he hung from the ceiling. We also had "space galaxy" type music from the internet playing. It was perfect! It sounded like you were in space when you walked inside.

My Love made this Rocket for Monkey too. It was made out of refrigerator boxes that he had gotten at an appliance store. After making the rocket he wrapped it with left over Christmas wrapping paper. I loved the way it turned out.


When it was time to go home each person got a this favor. Moon Sand with a little candy bag attached. The candy bag had Star burst, Milky way and an Earth chocolate ball in it.

Hostess Cake

I didnt quite know what to make my Love for his birthday. I usually just make his simple cakes but this year I decided to do a hostess cake. It even had a cream filling. Here's how it turned out.

Pirate Birthday Party

Big Guy is really into pirates. So he of course wanted a Pirate Birthday Party. I couldnt wait.

Before this party there was a alot of prep that went on. I really love the way everything turned out.
Here were the invitations for the party. I printed them up on our computer and then burnt the edges. I almost burnt our house down in the process but they did come out cute. And I was next to a fire extinguisher just in case you're wondering.

The invitations opened up.

I decorated the front lawn with a little play structure we have and did my best to make it look like a "pirate ship." Hey I did my best. Close enough right? I made a few pirate flags and hung one on a stick for the pirate ship. I also these signs out of poster board and stuck them in the lawn.

And isn't this big blow up pirate great! I found him at a garage sale about a month ago for $1! Perfect I thought.

I'm not into the skull and bones thing but it was a pirate party so had to have them. I tried to make them look a little on the nicer side.

When the kids entered the house they saw this table which supplied them with everything they needed in order to become a pirate. I got such great deals on all this stuff. With my big guy having a birthday around Halloween there was a big Halloween sale at the fabric store. I made each child a sash, an eye patch and bandanna. The kids loved this part.

The present area.


The pirate birthday banner.

Big Guy asked for a Pirate Ship Cake. Here was my version. This cake was probably one of the easiest ones I've done. And fast! That was the best part.

For the food I tried to make everything Pirate themed. I know it doesn't look like it but if you look closer everything had a little sign to go with it. For instance the jello with mangerin oranges had a sign that said "Ocean with sunken treasures" or "X marks the spot" for the "X" bread sticks. Instead of ants on log for the celery and peanut butter it was "pirates on a ship."

As far as the games we play "Pass the Skull." It was kind of like the pirate version of hot potatoe except I bought a Halloween Skull at the dollar store.

We also played Pin the Flag on the Treasure. By far the best game we played was TREASURE HUNT! I was so looking forward to this part. My hubby came up with the clues for the treasure hunt and I typed them up and then wrapped them like the invitations.

The whole idea of the treasure hunt was to find the MAP that would lead them to where the treasure was hidden. My hubby read the initial clue in his best piratey voice and then my girl read the rest of the clues to the kids when they found them. They were so fun. The first clue led them to the kitchen. Where they were told in a rhyme that the clue was hidden under a seat where we eat.

The clues led them all around the house and outside the house. Clue #5 led them to the pirate ship where the map was taped underneath.

Here was the treasure map that showed them where the treasure chest was.

We fortunately have a secret hideout on the side of our house which was so perfect for the hidden treasure.
I looked all over town and to buy a treasure chest was going to cost alot so this was the next best thing. Its a Styrofoam ice chest for $2. With just a little work I thought I could give it a little makeover to look like a treasure chest. So I painted it with some left over paint we had and once again headed over to the sale at the fabric store for some leather which I cut and glued to the "chest." I then painted little dots on the straps to look like studs.

I lined the inside with velvet and whoa-la! A Treasure Chest.

I made each pirate a booty bag with some treats and then filled the treasure chest with them.

The kids went crazy when they opened the treasure chest. Lets just say they didn't really care about all my hard work and just decided to rip the thing opened like a pinata.

At the end of the party the kids got to take home their booty bags which had a few piratey things in them and they also got these favors that I made with photoshop. I bought some Hershey candy bars that were also ON SALE!!! I wrapped them with gold wrapping paper to make them look like bars of gold.

Pinkalicious Birthday Party

It all started with this book. Pinkalicious! This is one of Bear's favorite books. Its actually really cute and little girls love it. This year for her birthday she wanted to have a tea party but wanted it to be a "Pinkalicious Tea Party." So the planning began...

 For those of you who don't know Pinkalicious is all about a little girl that eats pink cupcakes and turns pink. Having said that the most important thing  Bear wanted was PINK PINK PINK. I think I might have taken this a little too literal. Read on and you will find out.The invitation to the Pinkalicious Party. Of course PINK.

The tea party was outside in the backyard. I made a PINK Banner for her with her name on it. She loved it!

The birthday girl chair. We actually use this chair cover every year for her birthday. It worked out this year that it was PINK and had PINK cupcakes on it. Perfect!

The table scape.

With a little fabric and heat-n-bond I made this table runner. My daughter liked it too. The cupcakes looked way cuter in person.

The place setting. I did these flower napkins for for my friends bridal shower and my daughter wanted me to do them for her too. Every little girl had a special place setting with her name on it.

The PINK flowers.

Now for the Pinkalicious Party food. This is where I went a little overboard but I thought it worked out spectacular. I know some of you may think I went a little crazy but hey it was a Pinkalicious Party.
Pink Rice

Pink Popcorn

PINK Strawberry Cream Cheese and Jelly sandwiches.

PINK hummus with pita slices. The hummus was beets and white beans. So yummy. I might have to make this again. This was probably the only healthy food at the party

PINK fruit dip. Made pink with jello powder. No I didn't use food coloring for everything.

PINK Pasta. Okay yes I did use a little food coloring for this.

PINK deviled eggs. I soaked the cooked egg whites in beet juice. Another somewhat healthy food.

Even the tea was PINK. I made PINK chia tea.

The Pinkalicious cake.

Me and my girl in our PINK dresses. I just wore this dress in a wedding and my daughter wanted me to wear it to her party but she also asked me to make her a twin dress. This I have to admit was a little embarrassing when parents came and dropped off their kids. But it was my daughter's idea and I went along with it. At least I got a second use out of this dress.

I'm not one of those moms that likes to do games at parties. If the kids want me too I'll do it but since my daughter doesn't really like them it works out great! We usually end up doing a craft at her parties. This year we made Shrink-dink tea pot magnets. This was a big hit with the Pinkalicious girls.Loriella blowing out her candles. I love that Luke is trying to help her out in the backround.

Instead of party bags I decided to do favors this year. I rolled up PINK paper into these cones. They were filled with PINK marshmallows that I had dipped in chocolate and then pink sprinkles to look like the cupcakes from the Pinkalicious book. I also tied a little PINK tea bag on the side of it.

I think this was probably one of my favorite parties that I have done for my daughter. It was so girly and perfect for her.

Total cost of this party was $113