Hotter than the 4th of July

Yeah, so that's what I have to look forward to over the next few days. Good times. Anyway, if we haven't all melted or spontaneously combusted by next week, I am looking forward to the Fourth of July activities in my neighborhood.

We usually have a little bike parade, in which all the kiddos from the street decorate their bikes, trikes, strollers, wagons, and whathaveyou, and march around.

 
Usually, I invite the family over to watch from our front yard. Last year I thought I might give them some snacks to enjoy while they watched (and waited for us to make it to our end of the street).

Mostly I just scrounged up anything in my house that was red, white or blue, and threw it in the front yard. The only things I made were red velvet whoopie pies and some strawberry lemonade.

Whoopie pies will almost certainly not withstand a 100+ degree afternoon, so I'm trying to think of other options for this year. Can we have the parade inside? Or in Maine? Graham did attempt to watch fireworks from inside last year.

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Party Planning: Little Golden Books Shower

We are right in the thick of our hot, brief summer (my oldest starts kindergarten on August 1st!), and when I am not working, I have kept busy trying to cram every bit of fun into our last little bit of time at home. I have had a party-free June (and unfortunately, a June free of progress on the remodel), but I have several upcoming events that I am excitedly planning, like Stephanie's baby shower! Stephanie and I have been friends since we were eight years old! That is a LONG TIME, people.

I co-hosted the Luau Shower celebrating her marriage to Eddie two years ago, and now I get to help celebrate the impending arrival of their first baby! (Whom I'm sure will be named Emily, no pressure.)

Stephanie had mentioned liking the idea of a Little Golden Books-themed shower a while back. When we found out she was having a girl, I tried to take the ideas I had found online and feminize them a little bit. Here are my thoughts so far.

Don't mind my rambly theme food ideas at the top--those are a work in progress. I had seen Little Golden Books fabrics before, but many of them were in brighter, primary colors. Finding the same print in a aqua and rose colorway, and pairing it with the pink "Poky Little Puppy" print (both found here) helped to make the palette a little more girly, which Stephanie liked. I like it, too, because I have two boys and don't get to do many frilly, feminine parties.

Anyway, aqua, rose, some gold to bring in the golden spines of the books. I'll be making decorations and food based on the more classic LGBs: The Poky Little Puppy, Scuffy the Tugboat, The Little Red Hen, etc.

Feel free to weigh in with any suggestions for the party, and make sure to check back in August to see how everything turns out! Pin It

Seth for President! A Surprise 35th Birthday Party

My sweet husband has a May birthday that often gets overlooked in the hustle and bustle of such a busy month--weddings, graduations, and Mother's Day don't leave a lot of free weekend time for celebrating much else. This year looked to be even busier than ever with our remodel, our older son "graduating" from preschool, a new nephew on the way, and our younger son starting to walk.

I really didn't want Seth's 35th birthday to get lost in the shuffle (I figure, when you get past 21, the birthdays ending in fives and zeros seem like the only milestones left). A friend of mine mentioned that at 35, Seth would be legally eligible to be President of the United States, which made me giggle at first, and then made me hop on the ol' theme train.

 

I based the invitation (loosely, ha) on a vintage JFK campaign poster. My sweet friends Frank and Brandon very graciously offered up their house. We couldn't really decorate the outside for fear of giving the surprise away. I think all the planning and secrecy worked, at least judging by this photo. If he is not surprised here, he is at least very frightened.

You guys! What in the?

I set up a simple dessert table of some of Seth's favorite treats, keeping the red, white and blue color scheme in mind: red velvet whoopie pies, cherry cream pie parfaits, cherry sour candies, and berries with fruit dip. My mom made an INSANE cake: chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese filling and white chocolate buttercream frosting. I still dream about that cake . . . Sorry, what was I talking about? Oh!

Pardon all the shadows here--it was a very bright/shadowy time of day.

He really is, y'all.

We kept the food kind of all-American--hot dogs, veggie dogs, potato salad, that kind of stuff.

I made some SETH buttons for guests to wear in support of our candidate.

Happy birthday, hon! I hope you enjoyed it.

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Godzilla First Birthday Party

Note: I am cross-posting this at my new blog, Smarty Parties. There's not much over there yet, but I hope to turn it into something special pretty soon. Stay tuned!

I was excited and honored to see Dean's party featured on Apartment Therapy Family recently, after having the honor of being in the  Party of Five round-up at Hostess with the Mostess and  on Project Nursery's week-end round-up. Dean feels very special, ha. But Dean's first birthday wasn't my only special project in April!

Last fall, I donated a party planning package to the silent auction  at my kids' daycare fundraiser. I couldn't believe someone actually paid for it, but they did! In fact, the high bidders were my friend Mimi and her husband, the same couple I threw the Penny Carnival baby shower for, just over a year ago. You can probably guess what recently rolled around--Penny's first birthday!

I threw out a couple girly party ideas, only to be surprised with a theme that Kevin and Mimi had cooked up themselves--Godzilla! Kevin and Mim are fans of vintage horror movies and Japanese films in general, so I had the best time collaborating with them on this little monster bash.
 

I wanted the invitation to be reminiscent of a movie poster, with a toddler silhouette instead of Godzilla's, and the Nashville skyline, to make it a little more personal. I used the free Godzilla font, downloadable here.

My husband remembered that he and his brother had owned large Godzilla toys as kids, and he went hunting in the treasure trove of his parents' basement and found them! They made a big difference in our tablescape. My mom and I made a cardboard cut-out of the Nashville skyline, painted it gray and filled in the details with pencil.

The banner is reminiscent of Japanese flags, with the word "PenZilla" in the Godzilla font linked above. It's just 8.5" x 11" white cardstock, with the letters printed on red printer paper that I cut into circles. It's sewn together with grosgrain ribbon. 

We put some peeps in the Godzillas' hands as a funny nod to Easter, which was the next day.

Red lanterns and green paper poms rounded out the rest of the decor.

The food was loosely themed around Godzilla and his radioactivity/atomic fire breath. "Atomic Chicken" was really hot chicken--if you live in or have been to Nashville and have never tried it, you are missing out. Eat hot chicken! But keep a glass of milk nearby. (We also had a plate of "non nuclear" chicken for the kiddos.)

"Chopped sticks" were just crudite and ranch dip in individual cups.

And it's tough to see here, but we had peanut butter and jelly "sushi," basically just PB & J rolled up in white bread and sliced. It was adorable and the kids couldn't get enough of it.

I carved a Godzilla (or a dinosaur, whatever you prefer) head out of a small watermelon, as recommended by the National Watermelon Promotion Board(who knew, right?). You can see the "sushi" a little bit here, to the left.

Here's a hasty iPhone pic of the Dino-Melon in progress. Ignore my messy stovetop--when I am getting ready for a party, the kitchen is chaos.

 

I filled him up with cut fruit, and here he is again after everyone had . . . eaten the fruit from out of and around his mouth? It didn't seem so disgusting at the time, sorry.

I made Godzilla Egg cake pops, natch.

We served "nuclear limeade" and "uncontaminated water":

Some Sapporo and other beers provided some grown-up drink choices (looks like the guest of honor's bottle is chilling in here, too!).

Guests mingled outside and inside, where the hosts had the original Godzilla movie playing.

My little monsters and I had some fun playing with the backdrop afterwards!

Dean seemed to take his role very seriously.

We had a great time with this theme! Mimi and Kevin, thank you for letting me be a part of Penny's special day. She is one sweet little monster!

Photos: the lovely and talented Carrie Fanning, Pickafig Photography,  except for the ones that are so obviously from my phone (dinosaur melon close-ups, cake pops) and the last ones of my monkey boys.

Banner, invitation, food signs, backdrop: Yours truly

Cake Pops and Watermelon carving: Me again
Chicken, hot and not: Pepperfire, East Nashville
Godzilla props: vintage





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In Dean-Nial

Between the remodel (STILL GOING ON, YES) and lots of springtime fun, I haven't had much time to post as much as I'd like.

Part of why I haven't posted much about the planning of my little Dean's first birthday is because I am complete and total denial that my BABY, whom I just had YESTERDAY (and from whose gestation I am still quite large!) has been in the world almost a full year. Oh noes!

"Momma, why you don't know how old I am?"

"Momma, how come your old pants still don't fit? It's been a YEAR."
 

But try as I may, I can't prevent his first birthday from rolling around. It's in less than two weeks(!), and when my husband threw out the words "the Dean's List" as a joke, my eyes lit up like the crayzee person I am. Poor husband. He should know by now that I have a documented Theme Disease.





I am attempting to keep this party small, just family. It's not like Dean has any friends yet (no offense, buddy). I am also trying to limit decorations to things I can borrow, scrounge up from our house, or make easily and inexpensively. Here is a quick mood board for you.

Everything is linked and credited on my Pinterest inspiration board for the party, so if you're interested, please do check it out. You get the idea, though, right? Kind of a vintage prep-school vibe? I know Dean will appreciate my attention to detail (ha, right).

Hopefully I will be back later with updates from a truly unique party I'm helping with this weekend: a Godzilla-inspired first birthday for my friend's daughter, Penny!

Crazy adorable photos of Dean by Niki Cardwell, Stella Dolce Photography. Pin It

A Wizarding Wish Party: Harry Potter at Parnassus

I am beyond excited to share this party with you! Last weekend, I had the honor and privilege of helping with a very special event for an even more special young lady.

Make A Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. Milla, a seriously cool fifteen-year-old, is about six months into the two-year recovery process after a battle with leukemia. She has faced so much in her young life, and through it all, she has been inspired and cheered by the Harry Potter books. Her wish was to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.

When Make A Wish grants a wish, they like to have a "wish party" to give the honored child the official news. The folks at Nashville's beloved Parnassus Books hosted Milla's wish party, and the beautiful bookstore proved to be the perfect setting for all of the Potter paraphernalia.

Let's just jump right into the photos, graciously provided by the talented Niki Cardwell of Stella Dolce Photography!

We wanted to do something to fill the large vertical space--the ceilings at Parnassus are so high! My mom and I made two felt banners for each house of Hogwarts, hanging four down the center of the room and the other four along the side walls. 

Guess whose children will be having Harry Potter-themed birthday parties every year until they graduate?

Above the register, we hung "floating candles," reminiscent of Hogwarts' great hall.  I doubt that the  Hogwarts set designers used toilet paper tubes and battery-powered tealights, but I think these came together beautifully. These were easy to put together, but tricky to hang from the 20-foot (?) ceiling ductwork and plumbing. Luckily, Patrik, a very tall Parnassus employee, helped out.

These were more impressive the later (and darker) it got. I will definitely be using them again for some occasion, whether they're theme-appropriate or not. Mother's Day? How about some floating candles? Baby shower? You know what babies love? Floating candles. It's true; look it up.

You GUYS, the folks from the zoo brought AN OWL. And not a big scary one with long talons and a sharp beak and a spinning head (not that I was scared that's what was coming--that would be crazy!), but a teensy, precious guy who was even named Pigwidgeon.

It was all I could do not to take him home with me.

Oh, Pigwidgeon. We belong together.

Supercool Niki from Parnassus had rounded up some amazing gifts for Milla, donated by generous Etsy sellers. We had the fun idea of delivering them via owl post. We had seen some fun owl balloon ideas floating around (GET IT? HA HA) on Pinterest, and this seemed the best way to put those into action.

Delightful Parnassus intern Yashwina made these whimsical flying keys, a nod to one of the obstacles Harry, Ron and Hermione face in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She also made ME feel as ancient as ol' Nicolas Flamel himself (ten points to anyone nerdy enough to catch all that), but that is neither her fault nor relevant. Ahem.

We transformed one corner of the store into a "Transfiguration Booth," the Potter-ized version of the requisite photo booth.

I took one my son's dress-up trunk and emptied it of his things, filling it with borrowed graduation robes, ties that roughly corresponded to the houses of Hogwarts, Harry Potter glasses, and a homemade pair of Luna Lovegood's spectrespecs. We threw in a gold picture frame so people could pretend to be talking portraits.

My mom MADE that sorting hat. Just MADE IT, out of felt and pure awesomeness. I'm sure if I had given her more than a week, she could have made it come to life and actually sort us all. I mean, look at that hat!

We served snacks and sweets, and of course I had to label each one with a Rowling-approved name. The Painted Cupcake donated some delicious and incredibly decorated cupcakes.

I just have to gush over the special cupcake they made for Milla--with a fondant sculpture of Harry sitting on top!

Amazing. Other cupcakes had clever designs like lightning bolts, wands, and Gryffindor scarves. I am no artist like the staff at the Painted Cupcake, but I did try my hand at some golden snitch cake pops.

I displayed them in a small antique trunk that my grandmother gave me--she thinks it's probably an old ammunition chest; I thought it would make an awesome quidditch supply trunk.

I also made the easy-but-delicious pretzel wands, as well as some less-photogenic "sorting hat" cookies out of ice cream cones and chocolate cookies.

We offered a salty counterpart to all that sweetness with my old favorite, broomstick popcorn bags:

Regal Cinemas Green Hills donated a staggering amount of popcorn to fill those little brown bags.

Quick sidenote; the tablecloths here are actually my old living room curtains. Just thought you should know. I hated them in my living room forever, but they have been great in so many other incarnations. I think they really work here and look . . . Hogwartian? Help me out.

We had some punch and water to whet everyone's whistles, and of course, those were served over in the "potions" area, which we staged over by the store's piano.

I gathered up some official potion ingredients (wormwood, dittany, bezoars, mandrake clippings, gillyweed) from my ol' raggedy yard.

Okay, they were really things like dried echinacea and hydrangea, some pinecones, a clump of daffodil leaves, but you get the point. They looked official. Plus, they totally validated my complete neglect of our landscaping.

We had a little dry ice in a cauldron behind the punch bowl, for that authentic potions class vibe. Dry ice is a lot of work to maintain over the course of a party. Or at least it was until we were cleaning up, and THEN the dry ice decided to put on a show for everyone and be all dramatic and smoky. TOO LATE, DRY ICE.

But seriously, folks. Milla, it was my absolute honor to share in this fun and special day with you. I know your trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be amazing (and well deserved). Thank you for being such an all around great kid AND for liking my favorite books--I mean, I would have gladly helped throw you a Twilight party or whatever, but thank you for being so much cooler than that. You found inspiration in Harry and his friends, and I have found it in you.

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