Me Want Cookie

A Cookie Monster Celebration

As we know, I love to throw a good kids' party. Margo is obsessed with cookie monster and she loves her music class, so together we had a fabulous cookie monster themed second birthday party, complete with the terrifically talented Miss Marcia as entertainment. 

We LOVE Miss Marcia!

 I cannot stress enough her wonderful demeanor and talent with the under 8 year old sect.

Dare I say, she is the toddler whisperer? 

In the nearly six years I have known her as a Kids Music Round instructor, I have NEVER seen her have an off day. 

If you're in Southern New Jersey check her out.

www.singmarcia.com

Marcia provided the entertainment but the rest of the party revolved around COOKIES! 

I didn't want to go full heavy on the Cookie Monster theme at first, but damn you pinterest! There are so many cute ideas out there, I couldn't help it. 

Decorations

In keeping with the traditional cookie monster palette, I used a royal blue and white color scheme. Streamers in white and blue were suspended in the dining room, while miscellanous photos and cookie monster quotes found their way throughout the house. Using cookie clip art , I printed out the image on white tag board to create the happy birthday banner. 

Moira helped with the decorations too, as she created an illustration of cookie monster to add to the ambiance. 

In addition, I created a cardboard cut out letter M. Using cookie crisp cereal I hot glued the cookies. Thus creating a quite adorable and potentially edible personalized mantle decoration. I also use various pieces of scrapbook paper and printed out the letters via Microsoft word, to create another Margo banner for the living room. 

Favors

Using blue lunchbags I purchased off Amazon and black & white construction paper, I created cookie monster goodie bags. 

Inside, for the little ones, they received a Cookie Monster book I found this fall from the dollar spot at Target and a cookie monster pouch from Earth's Best Organics. For the older guests, I purchased ring pops and packs of Chip's Ahoy chocolate chip cookies. 

 The Food

We provided a delicious lunch of mac & cheese and chili for our guests lunch. But as is the star of most birthday parties, dessert was the star of the show.

Cookie dough dip was divine! Paired with Nilla wafers, OMG!

Check out the recipe from Love & a Prayer here

The star of the dessert wasn't a cookie at all, but rather, a cake, a 

Cookie Monster Cake!

 

Using a round cake pan, some buttercream icing, and blue food dye, I was able to create this little Cookie Monster Smash cake. I had fun with the piping bag. I also used the white frosting center from oreos to create eyes and brown mini m&ms for the pupils. 

Margo enojoyed it! 

I cannot believe my baby is two! Where did the time go? 

I will say, it has been quite the trip and I feel so very lucky to be the mom to three wonderful little ladies. 

Turning Two is So Sweet!

Check out my Cookie Monster pinterest board here!

A Supercalifragilstic Shindig or two

"Go Big or Go Home." 

This time, we went big at home. 

This year, as Moira turned six, she begged. She pleaded. She prayed for us to invite her whole class to her party. In addition, she could not celebrate the big 0-6 without inviting her other friends and family. 

I am never one to shy away from a challenge, especially related to birthday celebrations. This year, crazy came home as we hosted not one, but two Mary Poppins themed birthday parties back to back. 

Mo has been Mary Poppins' biggest fan since she first saw the movie at 3 years old, and still watches it over and over today. 

We hosted the first party from 11:30-1:30 for fifteen of her Kindergarten classmates. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, so we were forced to do most of the activities in the house. I hired my two favorite fifth graders to serve as party helpers. 

This seriously is the best $30 I spent!

Our timeline was set, and we stayed pretty much on task. Kite bookmark craft,  pin the bow tie on the penguin, lunch, freeze dance, tuppence toss, Happy Birthday, dessert, and then a Spoonful of Sugar relay. By 1:35 every child was picked up, and by 1:40 the two fifth graders were heading home with pizza, cupcakes and money in their pockets. 

Whereas, we had a much more laid back and less structured party later. Coloring, making kites, pin the bow tie on the penguin, dinner, freeze dance, tuppence toss, Happy Birthday, dessert, and then a Penguin pinata. This second party began at 3:30, and consisted of our family and friends we consider family. 

Overall, this theme lends itself to lots of great decorations, food choices, crafts and games. I do believe we had quite the supercalifragilistic shindigs. 

 Decorations: 

There are not a lot of Mary Poppins specific decorations to purchase, therefore I created a bunch myself. Using a black, white, and red color scheme we added pictures, and banners throughout the house.

Personalized Mary Poppins T-Shirt
"Practically Perfect in Every Way"
Courtesy of Caramel Designs

Mary Poppins Toy

Guests joined the party at 17 Cherry Tree Lane
Image courtesy of The Artful Wayfarings of Kelsey Carlson 

Finding this image from the Musical, we used this as on the online invitation and on the favor bags. 

Banner courtesy of Shanty 2 Chic

Using precut letters affixed to the window frame, we spelled out supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

For more printable images, check out my Pinterest Board here. 

Activities

Kite Bookmarks 

The children colored then assembled foam bookmarks from Oriental Trading Company

DIY Kites

Pin the Bow Tie on the Penguin

I made the penguin out of tag board. The kids took turns attempting to pin the bow tie on the penguin's neck. 

Freeze Dance

Using various scenes from Mary Poppins, the children took turns dancing to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Step In Time, and Spoonful of Sugar.

Tuppence Toss

Inspired from this site,  Moira, Maeve, and I took a piece of white tag board and colored various circles. At the party, the children each received handfuls of pennies. Taking turns, they attempted to toss their penny and make in land in the circle. Each penny that made it in the circle, the kids were able to keep. Those that fell off the board or landed on the white, we returned back to the "bank". 

Spoonful of Sugar Relay

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from this relay. However, with the large group it was really successful. I split the party into two teams. Using big spoons, which I found at the dollar store, they would scoop from a container of sugar (really it was play sand), run across to the their team's container, dump their spoonful in, and then run back to their team, passing the spoon to the next person in line.

Penguin Pinata 

Dessert

Chocolate, Vanilla, & Chocolate Chip cupcakes with buttercream icing 

Chimney Sweep Marshmallow Pops

Spoonful of Sugar Cookies

These parties were both exhausting and exciting. 

We had a fabulous time as it was quite a supercalifragilistic celebration.

Find my pinterest board here: A Supercalifragilistic Shindig

A Great Day to Be BRAVE!

When Maeve suggested a Brave theme for her fourth birthday party, I eagerly began searching for things related to Merida and her fabulous family. Unfortunately, while Merida is still a very popular princess in my home, her popularity seems to have decreased, as the amount of Brave related accessories and gifts have dwindled.

Thankfully, between some searching on Pinterest and Amazon, I was able to gather enough materials to make this a great day to be Brave. 

Find my Pinterest party planning board here.

Guests followed the blue wisps down our front path, to our door where the festivities were underway.

Decorations

As I mentioned, the amount of Brave related party products are limited, thus I found myself making a lot of my own.

I made the Brave sign using the Little Golden Book as inspiration. 

I found these quotes, printed them out and mounted them on scrapbook paper. They helped to add some decoration to the dining room where the majority of our celebration was held. 

Using a template I created a personalized birthday banner using shades of purple and teal.

I also found a photo of the tapestry and had that on display as well. 

Moira added her own decorations of the Queen, the triplets, the King, & Merida which we displayed for everything. 

Activities 

Coloring

We began by coloring photos of Merida as we waited for our guests to get together. 

Necklaces from the Crafty Corner

We each had our turn at the Crafty Carver and each made a colorful necklace. 

Pin the Arrow on the Target

Because it was winter and we were stuck inside the house, I refrained from using actual bow and arrows. Instead, I created a target and made arrows in different colored papers. A different take on pin the tail on the donkey. 

Teach Queen Merida to Fish

The next game was created by my girls. 

They really enjoy the scene in Brave where Merida teaches Queen Elinor the bear, how to fish in the river. From this inspiration, I made a toss it board, using a photo from the Brave  golden book to make Queen Elinor the bear. There were three holes punched out and then we used rainbow goldfish crackers. Each child took turns tossing the fish into holes. The children loved throwing food, and a few fish did make their way into some mouths. 

Follow the Wisps Scavenger Hunt

Since we were stuck in the house, I decided to plan a final event that was fun and gave our guests a chance to run around. I made clues instructing the kids to run from room to room, and each was tied with blue tulle. The final clue had the children run to the playroom where their favor bags were hidden. 

Birthday Cake 

I used a tutorial from here  for inspiration. I made my own butter cream, and kept one without icing for the birthday girl. It worked perfectly to hold the number 4 candle. It was huge hit amongst the parents and kids alike. However, I now have set the bar for the next birthday confectionery treat. 

All in all, this celebration was a labor of love. 

We had a fabulous time and my Maevie had the celebration of her dreams. 

Happy Birthday to my Brave little girl! 

Super Mo!

Hi, My name is Jackie. 

And I have a party planning problem. 

I have said it before, and will say it again, when I plan parties for my kids, they are meant to be parties for kids. 

Well, what the heck does that mean? 

Yes, there are decorations and yummy food, and I don't doubt adults have fun at my fetes, as there usually is a decent amount of alcohol too. 

However, the focus is the kids. 

Pinterest is both a blessing and a curse when planning a themed party. So many of those fabulous ideas I see floating around party blogs and Pinterest don't really seem all too kid friendly. The hours put into tablescapes and adding labels and stickers to everything typically goes unnoticed to the preschool set. I will admit, I'm the one usually drooling over the matched sets and contemplating how I can budget to order every item off Etsy or some other site. But then I remember my audience, and so instead, I plan games, and activities of which the participants are expected to be actively involved. 

Yes, I expect the kids at my parties to do more than just sit there quietly and drink from mason jars filled with fruit infused water and eat finger sandwiches. 

This time, they were asked to run, jump, and even climb over picnic tables. (I'm crazy like that!)

It all started with one declaration by Moira about 8 months ago, 

"Mom, I think I want a superhero party!"

The rest is history!

Superhero Pose!

It all started with capes!

17 felt capes in shades of red, blue, purple, and yellow, each adorned with the wearers first initial. Except of course for one of our littlest superheroes, P.J. got both his letters. Cutting the felt using a template I created was the easy part. I cut the letters out of reminants free hand and adhered them using a combination of felt glue and hot glue. The difficult and most time consuming part was sewing velcro on each. May I recommend making a friend who has a sewing machine and can use it? That would have saved my poor fingers. But hot damn, they came out cute!

Next up were decorations. I kept it kind of simple this year. Mo recently discovered Wonder Woman! I searched high and low for party items with her, however they cease to exist. Instead, I took inspiration from her colors, red, blue, and yellow. I hung streamers, found red and blue stars at the local party store, and made a birthday banner using scrapbook paper, and sparkly pre-cut letters. 

Favor bags were simply brown lunch bags. Each child's superhero name, picked by Mo, was written add a hand drawn star, and bam! DONE!

When guests arrived, they received their personalized cape and came into the dining room. Each child chose a mask and added shapes, numbers, and letters of their choosing. Thank God for foam stickies! No glue necessary.

Next up, we played a game of pin the letter on the superhero. 

No, she couldn't see. I swear she couldn't!

While the kids played the game, the materials for the masks were cleaned up and then dinner was served.

After dinner, we headed outside for the superhero obstacle course. 

I used foam noodles from 5 Below, some chairs, our picnic table and our playhouse. The kids had to step through each circle, jump over the two hurdles, climb over the picnic table, run to the playhouse to save a stuffed animal who had been stuck in the playhouse then run back and tag the next person.

I loved seeing the kids run excitedly with capes flying behind as they tackled each obstacle.

the birthday girl mid hurdle

climbing the picnic table

After the obstacle course, the kids had some free time to play throughout the back yard. That moon bounce we purchased last year came back out for our superheroes to practice their jumping. I had some chalk out near the driveway for the kids to practice their superhero art. I also left the obstacle course in tact as some of the kids enjoyed jumping and climbing again and again. 

While the kids were playing, my good friends manned the photo booth. I absolutely love this idea! Just laid a blue sheet on the ground. Mo and Maeve decorated the buildings for me, while I cut out a sun and some clouds from construction paper. Lastly, I added some word bubbles and ta-dah! One fabulous photo booth! 

After play time, we headed inside for cake, candy, and Happy Birthday wishes! Our birthday girl recently discovered Reeses Peanut Cups and so her wish for cupcakes of that flavor was granted as I added a full size peanut butter cup at the bottom of each cupcake and a mini peanut butter cup on top. 

The other batch was simply devil's food cake or yellow with vanilla icing and red m&m for decoration. 

I did manage to get a little Wonder Woman into the decoration thanks to Mo's Little People!

After dessert, we still had a little more superhero activities to complete. Prior to the party, I had asked my sister in law, Colleen, if she would play the role of the villain. Mo deemed her the Pink Flamingo Villain, as pink & flamingos are Coll's two favorite things.

Coll "stole" the bag of candy just as the kids were finishing their dessert. I searched around the dining room, asking where it was, while the kids saw the Pink Flamingo Villain just out the window trying to run off with it. They headed back outside and chased Coll around, while she tossed Superhero fruit snacks, candy, and some other little superhero gifts. 

Our last activity was inspired by the Price Is Right. Mo had seen an episode where they had to punch through paper to get some prize. Immediately she asked if we could do it for her birthday. Thankfully, I found a tutorial here. 

This was a huge hit (Literally and figuratively) and the perfect culmination for our superhero party!

The presents are unwrapped. The streamers have been taken down, and the birthday girl is enjoying her new role as a five year old. This party was a lot of fun for me to plan and host and I do hope the kids enjoyed it too. 

My party planning activities are on hold now until December when we have a first birthday to celebrate.

Thank you to my dear friends for their help and the always talented Ashley Pierce Photography for the photos!

Planning a superhero party? Check out my pinterest board here.