OK...the last of the 3 birthdays in a row is done! Robbie's 5th birthday party was an astronaut space party...so here is your photo journey...
Oh how I wish I was someplace where hibiscus flowers are in bloom! On the other hand, I suppose making it through a brutal winter help...
“Under the sea, Under the sea, Darling it’s better, Down where it’s wetter, Take it from me,” says our favorite crab, Sebastian from The Little …
Join in on lots of Halloween fun with A Spooky FaBOOlous Pastel 5th Birthday Party submitted by Adriane Manson, out of Rancho Mission Viejo, CA! ...From the custom backdrop to the ghostly decor, this event is a bash you'll want to get spooked over! Favorite details, include: FaBOOlous Haunted House Backdrop + Photo Op Color-coordinated Balloon Garlands Boo-tiful Birthday Cake Pastel Halloween Floral Arrangements Checkered + Ghost Table Settings
If you’ve been following the blog over the last few months, then I’m sure you noticed that the boys (and admittedly, me
Barbie Party Ideas and Barbie party Freebies
Swoop in and check out this fabulous Disney's Vampirina Inspired Birthday Party by Chantelle Dean of One Fine Day Parties and Events, out of Gauteng, South Africa! Featuring elements both cute and creepy this batty bash is for all to love! While flying over this awesome event be sure to check out these dazzling deets: Bat Cups filled with Popcorn Gourd and Bloom Centerpieces Plush Pillow Seats Color-coordinated Balloon Garland Bat Themed Table Settings Winged Bat Cupcakes Spider Donuts
Cheap - Easy - and Awesome!
Somehow summer is over and I have no idea how that happened. Maybe its the weather - it's been hot, hot, hot and sticky for the last couple of weeks around here - but whatever it is, I am NOT ready! Regardless of my desire to stop time, my middle kiddo goes back to school tomorrow and my oldest has been in school for almost three weeks. (Which is still hard for me to wrap my mind around since we are so used to starting school after Labor Day.) This year we compiled a "Summer Fun List" of around 30 things we wanted to do during the summer. (We still have several items on our Summer Fun List that we haven't completed, but I'm going to claim an extension until the autumnal equinox on September 22nd for those. Is that cheating?) This activity was inspired by one of the list items - "Go Stargazing". I found a site called Lie Back Look Up that has a lot of great activities, including a printable star map for kids which I printed out and brought with us to the beach in early August. The girls were able to find a couple of the easier constellations (i.e. The Big Dipper) but were struggling with identifying the others. (I think its a bit like using a microscope with children. You may know what you are seeing, but the kids can't distinguish between an air bubble and an amoeba due to their limited experience.) When we got home, I started thinking about ways to explore the constellations with them. I found an awesome book by HA Rey (the creator of Curious George) called Find the Constellations. I also saw quite a few constellation cards on Pinterest - check out my Science with Kids board to see some of them. My favorite are these from Lie Back, Look Up that includes information about each of the constellations on the back. We printed those, laminated them and stuck them on a key ring for future reference. Then I had a flashback to my own elementary school days and remembered making constellation tubes out of those black plastic film canisters. Since those are pretty few and far between these days (who uses film?!?) I thought we could make them using toilet paper tubes (one of my favorite things to repurpose). I found a few examples on the web, but no super clear instructions and since I did them completely wrong the first time, I figured it might be a good DIY project to write up in case other people have the same problems that I had. So, here it is. Let me know if you make them and have any feedback!! Step 1: Print out the constellation patterns from the About.com Space site. I think these may have originally been intended for use with the smaller film canisters because I found that I needed to print them at 120% size to match the approximate diameter of the toilet paper tube. The other key thing here is to make sure to select "flip horizontally" found under the 'layout' option in the print screen. I ended up with inverted constellations the first time because I didn't do this step. Because the words also end up flipped, I would print out an extra sheet not flipped so that you can use it as a reference. (I developed the ability to read upside down pretty well when I was teaching in the classroom but trying to read stuff flipped gives me a headache!) Step 2: Gather the rest of your materials. We used the following: empty toilet paper tubes glue stick tape scissors black construction paper squares (4.5" x 4.5") black sharpie marker giant push pin cork board Step 3: Cut around the outside, dotted line around the constellation pattern. Glue to the center of the construction paper. Step 4: Place the construction paper on the piece of cork board (I doubled it because my cork was fairly thin) and use the giant push pin to punch holes where the stars are located in the pattern. Step 5: Trim around the square into a rough circle shape (it does not need to be perfect!!). Then make cuts from the outer edge of the construction paper into the center, but do not cut into the constellation pattern. This allows for easy attaching of the construction paper to the cardboard tube. I made cuts to divide the piece into 8 wedges - you could probably do more to make the fit even smoother, but I wouldn't do less. Prefold the wedges by holding the circle with your thumb on the edge of the white constellation paper and folding the wedge upwards. Step 6: Center the constellation in the top of the cardboard tube and tape each wedge down. Start with the wedges opposite each other (i.e. 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock) then move on to the ones perpendicular to those (i.e. 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock). Finally tape the remaining 4 wedges down then go all the way around with another long piece of tape to add extra security. (You could also use duct tape here.) Step 7: Using the sharpie marker, write the name of the constellation on the side of the tube. Step 8: Close one eye and use the other eye to look through the tube at the constellation pattern. Start by sharing the name of the constellation with your child and have them look through the tube at the pattern. As they get more comfortable with the patterns, do it the opposite way and see if they can tell you the name of the constellation after viewing the pattern. Step 9: Because the tubes are fairly delicate, store them in a secure box. We chose to use a fairly thick shoe box. Also, because we only had enough rolls to make 4 constellation tubes to start, I put the extra patterns in the box as well so we could make more as we collected more empty toilet paper rolls.
Finding Nemo and Finding Dory Birthday Party decor, food and activities for a Disney themed birthday! Perfect for summer by the pool!
OK...the last of the 3 birthdays in a row is done! Robbie's 5th birthday party was an astronaut space party...so here is your photo journey! INVITATIONS: the boys each received a box instead of just a card (boxes courtesy of USPS priority) Here was the invitation folder... and invitation. (I used the font "neuropol." Looked so spacey!) Under their invitations, they received their official uniform (I told you I was going to love printable iron-ons) they also got a little "preflight energy food" (starburst) DECORATIONS: Of course I couldnt have had a party without a birthday banner...thanks again cricut! Chinese Lanterns! I had to order more after Jane's party. I kept trying to figure out what would look like planets, and beside paper maiche, silver lanterns were the easy way to go! So, I kept the red ones up, added a ton of silver ones in different sizes and 5 small blue ones with NASA on them. This may have messed up the look of the party, but I really wanted cute cookies on a stick. I will be the first to admit that I am NOT a cookie decorator. So, these were everywhere...maybe not super professional looking...but YUMMY!!! Ill post the recipes I used soon. ACTIVITIES: LEVEL 0: Shuttle Orientation As the kids arrived, I had them color space shuttles that had all the parts labeled. LEVEL 1: Rocket Launch If you have kids, and dont have one of these, I would order one RIGHT NOW! They are So fun, and work really well. The boys at the party loved it, and my daughter played with it the whole next day! (its called the ultra stomp rocket) LEVEL 2: Shuttle Repair The boys wore kitchen gloves and had to screw big nuts and bolts together underwater to give them the feel of big gloves in space! LEVEL 3: Collect Moon Rocks I scattered moon rocks all around the yard (kind of like an egg hunt) and let them search for them and add them to their official moon rock pouch. again, loving iron ons and canvas bags from the craft store. The rocks were quite a process. We started by spraying them green, but they were too transparent, so then we primed them and then put 2 more coats of green. In the end, they were EXACTLY what I was going for and the boys LOVED them! LEVEL 4: Tranquilize Aliens OK, we had to throw this in for the boys. We put these laminated cutouts of aliens on the wall and let the boys use a variety of nerf shooters to get them. (aliens thanks to the cricut...again) LEVEL 5: Antigravity Balance it wouldnt be a space party without a little balancing (jumping) on an air mattress. We let them balance a bouncy ball on a plate as they walked across. And then they basically just played on it! UNIFORMS: Rob wore painters coveralls that worked out great...dont try to iron directly on to it, because it melts! So I ironed the nasa symbol and the "trainer rex" label on to paper and pinned them on. I think the boys loved their shirts. I used the nasa symbol and then added the "astronaut training part" to it. the part they loved the best was their names on the back! Space Ranger ROBBIE! FOOD: Well, what can I say...Nasa waters, Mars Mud, Jupiter Jello, and PLANET PIZZA! I went kind of easy on food! CAKE: I couldnt get the idea out of my head...a hanging moon cake! So, I went to home depot, got some hardware, and then Rob and I worked on it the night before...so here it is! The boys thought it was pretty cool that the CAKE was hanging over the table! We let Robbie blow out the candles while it was still hanging... and Rob even cut all the pieces for the boys while it was still hanging! FAVORS: More iron ons! I personalized the bags just like their shirts. They started with Astronaut Ice Cream, Moon Sand, and water... but by the time the boys left they were stuffed full with moon rock bags, kitchen gloves, nuts and bolts, extra food (for the boys who didnt finish) and of course a space ship cookie. We also presented them with their Certificates of Completion, that told them thank you for coming and being part of our launch crew!
I am so excited to share my card with you today. I had seen a castle book in the Sept. '09 issue of Beautiful Cards (pg.35). You buy the boo...
Inspiration for a Princess Tea Party 5th Birthday from princess party decor to a royal food menu and princess cake painting!
OK...the last of the 3 birthdays in a row is done! Robbie's 5th birthday party was an astronaut space party...so here is your photo journey...
Responsive Blogger Template
Make this less than $5 and very simple diy party background to spruce up any party! All it takes is a little time and three plastic tablecloths.
OK...the last of the 3 birthdays in a row is done! Robbie's 5th birthday party was an astronaut space party...so here is your photo journey! INVITATIONS: the boys each received a box instead of just a card (boxes courtesy of USPS priority) Here was the invitation folder... and invitation. (I used the font "neuropol." Looked so spacey!) Under their invitations, they received their official uniform (I told you I was going to love printable iron-ons) they also got a little "preflight energy food" (starburst) DECORATIONS: Of course I couldnt have had a party without a birthday banner...thanks again cricut! Chinese Lanterns! I had to order more after Jane's party. I kept trying to figure out what would look like planets, and beside paper maiche, silver lanterns were the easy way to go! So, I kept the red ones up, added a ton of silver ones in different sizes and 5 small blue ones with NASA on them. This may have messed up the look of the party, but I really wanted cute cookies on a stick. I will be the first to admit that I am NOT a cookie decorator. So, these were everywhere...maybe not super professional looking...but YUMMY!!! Ill post the recipes I used soon. ACTIVITIES: LEVEL 0: Shuttle Orientation As the kids arrived, I had them color space shuttles that had all the parts labeled. LEVEL 1: Rocket Launch If you have kids, and dont have one of these, I would order one RIGHT NOW! They are So fun, and work really well. The boys at the party loved it, and my daughter played with it the whole next day! (its called the ultra stomp rocket) LEVEL 2: Shuttle Repair The boys wore kitchen gloves and had to screw big nuts and bolts together underwater to give them the feel of big gloves in space! LEVEL 3: Collect Moon Rocks I scattered moon rocks all around the yard (kind of like an egg hunt) and let them search for them and add them to their official moon rock pouch. again, loving iron ons and canvas bags from the craft store. The rocks were quite a process. We started by spraying them green, but they were too transparent, so then we primed them and then put 2 more coats of green. In the end, they were EXACTLY what I was going for and the boys LOVED them! LEVEL 4: Tranquilize Aliens OK, we had to throw this in for the boys. We put these laminated cutouts of aliens on the wall and let the boys use a variety of nerf shooters to get them. (aliens thanks to the cricut...again) LEVEL 5: Antigravity Balance it wouldnt be a space party without a little balancing (jumping) on an air mattress. We let them balance a bouncy ball on a plate as they walked across. And then they basically just played on it! UNIFORMS: Rob wore painters coveralls that worked out great...dont try to iron directly on to it, because it melts! So I ironed the nasa symbol and the "trainer rex" label on to paper and pinned them on. I think the boys loved their shirts. I used the nasa symbol and then added the "astronaut training part" to it. the part they loved the best was their names on the back! Space Ranger ROBBIE! FOOD: Well, what can I say...Nasa waters, Mars Mud, Jupiter Jello, and PLANET PIZZA! I went kind of easy on food! CAKE: I couldnt get the idea out of my head...a hanging moon cake! So, I went to home depot, got some hardware, and then Rob and I worked on it the night before...so here it is! The boys thought it was pretty cool that the CAKE was hanging over the table! We let Robbie blow out the candles while it was still hanging... and Rob even cut all the pieces for the boys while it was still hanging! FAVORS: More iron ons! I personalized the bags just like their shirts. They started with Astronaut Ice Cream, Moon Sand, and water... but by the time the boys left they were stuffed full with moon rock bags, kitchen gloves, nuts and bolts, extra food (for the boys who didnt finish) and of course a space ship cookie. We also presented them with their Certificates of Completion, that told them thank you for coming and being part of our launch crew!
First of all I need to say a huge no strike that a HUMONGUS Thank you to Tip Junkie for featuring my County Fair party!!! Awesome! You so m...
Circus inspired party ideas aren’t new. But they’re always great fun if you want to get a bit silly for the kids and the children at heart.
It's almost never easy to keep a preschool-aged child busy. We know it, mama, and we're here to help. Download the activity book at the end of this slideshow, and then print it out and tuck it in your purse. It will come in handy when you need to keep the kiddos busy (or just really need some peace and quiet).
