Bug Birthday Party

(Banner is from A to Zebra Celebrations)

Today was my [not-so] baby boy's 5th birthday. Five has never seemed like such a big number before!

But I won't spend this whole post moping about how old he is...

Let's talk about the party!

The kids dined on "bug food":

We had Honey Bits (Bit O'Honey), Bug Bites (gummy worms and bugs), Ants on a Log (Pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles) and Beetle Bugs (m&ms):

Dragon Snaps (Cheetos) and Worm Holes (Donuts):

Roly Polies (pigs in a blanket), Lady Bugs (cookies), Dirt Cups (Chocolate cupcakes with crushed Oreos) and Bug Juice (juice boxes):

I made the cone-holder out of a cake box. I cut out holes with an Exacto knife on the top of the box, then wrapped the whole thing in green crepe paper. The cones were made of scrapbook paper:

I found a great tip on Pinterest--for a custom look, take the wrapper off water bottles and wrap in a coordinating duct tape. Waterproof!

I also made white cupcakes with colored icing that formed a caterpillar (another Pinterest find):

I hate trying to organize 20 children into a party game, so we just let them play in the water out back:

But we did have a pinata (Finn really wanted the donkey-not really bug themed, but...):

For favors, I found bug kits at the Dollar Tree. I wrapped them in simple paper bags and used my Silhouette to write and cut "Thank you" bugs:

He was clearly overwhelmed, but in a good way! Finn is still zoned out from the party (and the birthday party we attended yesterday...and the wedding we went to last night...It's been a busy weekend).



Happy Birthday to my big boy!

Linking up here.

Super Mario Birthday Party

I haven't been posting much lately because we've been getting ready for Finn's big party! He requested a Mario/Bowser birthday, which is kind of hard to get supplies for, so I got a lot of ideas of the internet. Here's the spread: I painted some styrofoam blocks to look like bricks and I got all the mario figurines off of ebay. We served pizza (italian for Mario), chips and sodas.

Mario-kart figurines for decoration:

I got the sign off ebay as well:

We took white balloons, colored in ghost faces and put paper "wings" to look like Boos (I got the idea here):

Bowser pinata (also from ebay). I thought the kids would like giving Bowser a good whack:

Finn said he wanted to dress like Bowser for the party, but it's nearly impossible to find a costume. So, I made him this Bowser turtle shell out of felt. However, he said it was too scratchy to wear at the party:

He got a hat as well:

For an activity, we made up an obstacle course in the backyard. The kids with the fastest time won a prize (we did an over and under 5 set):

I originally was going to get a cake with a race track and then put the Mario-kart figurines on top, but Finn kept asking for a Bowser cake. I knew that would be hard to find, but I printed out a picture of Bowser, colored it in and took it to the store with me. They said they could imprint the image right on the cake!:

Each kid got a Mario hat and mustache. I made the hats from foam and I bought the mustaches from amazon.com:

Finn opening presents with his sister:

We also had a Yoshi egg hunt that I forgot to take pictures of. I bought some white easter eggs (and mixed in a few colored ones too) from amazon.com and then got a green paint pen and drew spots on them. Then I filled them with candy. In a few, I put a gold star, which meant that you won and extra prize (mushroom keychains I bought off of ebay). I also hid a mini-Goomba in the yard (also from ebay) and whoever found it won a prize too.

Here's Finn hitting the pinata:

Finishing it off:Getting the goodies:After the party, Finn decided to impersonate a Chip N Dale dancer:

Playing with new toys:

And, finally, here's a video of the birthday song: