Tuesday, September 21, 2010

An Alphabet 2nd Birthday Party


   For my son's second birthday, I planned an outdoor party (thank God for summer birthdays!) with an alphabet theme.  Decorations were easy to improvise since many of the supplies needed I could purchase a an office supply, Target, or a school supply store.  I used cut up sentence strips to label snacks and goodie bags.  I used a school print font and ran them through my printer.  Any extra sentence strips were cut apart to be made into napkin rings.  I had a chalk board on hand, and this made for an easy "Happy Birthday" banner.  Magnetic letters were used to embellish straws and handmade tissue fans.  Just use one Glue Dot and they will stick the whole party.  Bulletin board strips (purchased at a school supply store) made a nice decorative fringe around the cake platters.  Just cut and attach with Glue Dots.  (Bulletin board strips come in a huge variety of colors and designs, and can be used for endless projects.)
   Many other decorations I had around my son's bedroom - for example beginning reader board books, large stackable alphabet cubes, and vintage wooden alphabet blocks.


   Simple plastic containers in primary colors can be easily purchased (often on clearance), and used for food and drink presentation.  The square art boxes and sand pails I used can be re-purposed for serving ice cream bars at a beach party, candies at a Valentine's party, etc.


   Since it was held in the afternoon, all I needed to provide in terms of food was snacks and cake.  I put out pretzels, fruit, and water bottles prior to the cake being served.  I tried to keep down the candy/juice factor since I knew the amount of frosting on those cupcakes!


  Speaking of cupcakes - I decided to make a small single layer cake for my son to eat (well, not eat - mash), and individual cupcakes for all the party-goers.  Cute red and white polka dot cupcake papers were purchased at Michael's.


   At each place setting, I used large pieces of construction paper for the place mat, placed a copy of Richard Scarry's The Best Little Word Book Ever! , a little bag of organic alphabet cookies, a container of play dough, a large punching balloon, and a treat bag containing flash cards and crayons.  All very affordable, easy to find, and will be appreciated much longer than the typical cheap plastic goody bag toys.



All set up on a simple re-painted picnic table.  
Giant balloons are a must!

   

Saturday, September 11, 2010

I'm how old?????

(see www.naughtybettyinc.com)

Great thought for the day for this newly 42 year old.  Damn, time goes by fast.  

Here's another great one from Naughty Betty (and they even have drink coasters!)