Vaughn's third birthday is coming up at the end of March and I'm already knee deep in party planning. His favourites change so flippantly and without warning these days. I'm not sure what kind of party we might end up with. I've told Ryan that I want the basement done for the party, but we will see. It might be a ramp* party at the community centre like always ;)
I thought I would go through some parties of the past to get jazzed up.
please note* These photos are not that great. I want to say it's because they were "before the blog", but truth be told it's because most of them are photos from facebook.#keepingitreal
I make all of my invites in picmonkey.(Our address and contact information were taken out so if you could just imagine them there that would be great!) It's super easy, quick and free! I printed Lilah's this year and was in a panic because I didn't get them out early enough! E-mail invites for life for this last-minute Bridget.
I like to do extensive internet slash Pinterest research for party inspiration. Unfortunately, I often realize that non of that stuff is available to me. So I change my tune and do things on the fly based on what I find on my shopping trip. That's how Vaughn's paper airplane first birthday became Vaughn's first birthday camp out.
90% of the décor came from Dollarama, #onlythebestforus, but the major inspiration for the party was the plaid scarf that I found on sale for $2.50 from Le Chateau (my store at the time). The colours scheme was red, blue, green and tan and I bought all the things. I always put everything out on the dining room table when planning a party to see how it will all come together, and figure out what I'm actually going to do with some of the stuff. Sometimes I have a plan, and sometimes I get a tad carried away. Ceramic owl I'm looking at you.
Upon arrival, all of the kids got a bug catcher, flashlight and magnifying glass to find and catch the (plastic) bugs we hid all over the place (so fun!), and of course run off some energy on the ramp. Then it was time to grab their camp stools and set up camp.
I had Ryan make these little tents using this tutorial (link no longer works, sorry!) and they were a definitely a hit. We have carpet at home so they seemed really sturdy, but once they were on the tile floor they slipped more easily. Fortunately, we only had one incident of the tent collapsing with children inside. We still have these and I'm hoping to use one in the nursery and one in the playroom. We used electrical tape to line the wall with a forest of trees, and I made a camp fire out of paper towel rolls and craft foam. The kids all sat around the fire eating marshmallows while Ryan's Mom sang some tunes accompanied by her guitar. #koombya
We chowed down on campfire classics: hotdogs, mac n' cheese (which burnt-oops!), and chips and dip. For dessert: Chocolate dipped pretzels, dirt cups, s'more marshmallows and cupcakes. It is dang hard to find mini Canadian woodland animals. I finally found them for an arm and a leg at Micheals #worthit.
I love that we are making the same face in this picture. #likemotherlikeson #mmmcake
On the way out, everyone got a bag of "take a hike" trail mix. Fun!
I have a few more par-tay's to share with you in the coming weeks, as I ramp up for Vaughn's Big 3! Riveting stuff, folks!
Later Gators.