Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Birthday Party

My baby is getting ready to turn 5 in a few weeks.  I literally can not wrap my head around FIVE.  I just keep turning it over and over in my head wondering how it has went so fast.  (And then I read this by Katie and this by The Nester and I basically just sob because it never stops.  Parenting is so lovely and strangely hard. #bittersweet)  Anyways, back to the point at hand - Ninja Turtles!  When my nearly-5 baby was nearly-4 he desperately wanted a TMNT birthday party.   Because I take a long time to process my thoughts and am a terrible blogger who doesn't post things anywhere online in a timely fashion this post is a year late.  But somehow it feels ok to share this party in honor of his upcoming birthday, which I know makes no sense to anyone but me.  #thatsok

I love, love, love being a boy mama.  I love the loud, dirty, wrestling around, skinned knees-ness of boys.  But one of the things I struggle with HARD are characters.  Oy, the characters.  And boy characters pretty much all follow the same themes - they fight, they defeat bad guys, they have super powers &/or are weird.  So when TMNT came up I fought it.  I am fighting the good fight for all of us character-disliking mamas out there - and I am epically losing.  Bleh.  So when this came around as the toy/character of choice I decided that I would be ok with the fun-happy-silly turtles of the 80's, not the mean, aggressive, grunting TMNT of 2014.  (I'm hoping that I'm not the only mother out there who has grossly over thought this.)

But I digress.  So, how about if I actually talk about the party?  After over-analyzing if we should do this theme or something else I knew that our kiddo would love it the most and we went for it.  Honestly I had no idea how to make it fun.  I wanted it to be interactive and not just a lot of cutesy decorations. I decided pretty early on that I needed a few basics to do this party.

Pretty simple, right?  This party was very easy to set up.  We created a maze that had Turtle silhouettes on foam core at the entrances.  The maze was made of plastic electrical conduit that was cut in thirds, Dollar Tree pool noodles, and crepe paper streamers.  The whole maze cost around $20.  We had clothes line poles at our last house and we hung balloons at varying heights from the clothes lines.  That was the biggest hit of the whole party with the kids!  At the entrance of the maze we set up a tub with foam swords (also from the Dollar Tree) and DIY TMNT masks.  We didn't have many girls at the party but I can attest that the boys LOVED the swords and fighting the balloons.  Those things didn't stand a chance!  If you are throwing your own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed party this is the one thing that you have to do!

I wish that the pictures of the yard weren't so blown out.  But that's what happens when you have to shoot in full sun, you get the harsh sun/shade shadow.  To do the maze take your 10 foot electrical conduit and cut it into 3 pieces with a saw.  Then take a rubber mallet and tap them into the ground.  Slide your pool noodle over the tubing and then wrap the paper around streamers around different sections of the noodles making 'walls'.  Seriously, the possibilities are endless with this idea.  For the turtle silhouettes I picked up the black foam core from the Dollar Tree (#unofficialsponsor) and had my friend from Sprinkle The Kindness make me the turtle silhouettes.  She also cut the letters for the Happy Birthday sign behind the cupcake/gift table.

The rest of the party was just as simple.  I did paint the TMNT peg dolls for the cupcakes, but those were mostly for me because I thought it would be cute (my son declares that he 'hates peg dolls') and I wanted to do them.  For something similar you could look for something on Etsy or just use smaller figurines.  I had grabbed the green 'Pizza' banner after Christmas because I had a sneaking suspicion I would end up doing a turtle party.  I used some striped washi tape to spell 'Pizza'.  I used a scrap piece of wood to make a 'Mutagen' sign for a batch of green punch.  

And that's that!  If you are planning a TMNT themed party what are your plans for the day?  

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Looking for more birthday party inspiration?  You might enjoy these too:

Reading Themed Birthday Party

Little Mister Birthday Party

TMNT Pinterest Inspiration Board

Reading Themed 2nd Birthday Party

Davis LOVES books.  He had a favorite book at 6 months old.  So when we started thinking about his 2nd birthday party we decided to base it on his favorite thing - books.  Our alma mater, William Jewell College, has an adorable little schoolhouse on it's campus (the Dale Patton Schoolhouse) that is available for rent.  It was the ideal setting for the birthday party.  It's also when we discovered how great it is to host events not at your house!  

I decided on a red, white and blue color scheme.  I was thinking primary colors would work well - unfortunately Davis's birthday is a few days before July 4th so as I was buying all the things I was really afraid it was going to look like a big USA bash.  It turned out ok but it definitely makes me think twice about what colors I use for his birthday from now on.

We read two books during the party.  One was 'Little Blue Truck', which Davis was really liking at the time, and the other was an older book called 'The Traveling Coat'.  We made a book report for 'The Traveling Coat', but inadvertently made it WAY to hard!  I'm pretty sure that most of the guests gave up by the second question!  (Also washi tape makes everything more fun.)

I pulled together 2 banners for this party.  The one above is the easiest thing EVER.  We strung a piece of jute twine across the room and then used clothes pins to pin open vintage Golden Books.  Easy and adorable, just what I like :)  The other banner was a pennant that I quickly sewed together.  When I make pennant banners I use premade bias tape from the sewing department and stick the pennants between the fold as I'm sewing, no pins required.  The banner across the chalkboard was made with navy bias tape and vintage book pages from a book I found at the thrift store.

The party was at 2 in the afternoon so we served a handful of snacks.  I was very worried that we wouldn't have enough food but it ended up being the perfect amount.

My main mister and I waiting for our birthday boy to arrive.  I was about 5 months pregnant in this picture and look how tired I look!  Even though I look a little rough and we're dressed like an ad for USA it was a wonderful day spent with our family and friends celebrating our oldest little mister.  

Oscar Party Decor Through The Years

For a short time I briefly started a family blog.  Then I realized I really wanted to come back to this blog.  From time to time I pop in and repost something I wrote at the other blog.  (Confused yet?!)   Chris took a brief break from his movie watching schedule so we won't be hosting this weekend but seeing as the Oscars are this weekend this post felt timely for those of us planning to tune in on Sunday.

Chris loves movies.  I know everyone likes movies, but this hobby is different.  He's kind of a film snob.  A couple of years ago he even started a blog.  You should check it out, it's fun (and if you disagree with his reviews - which you might - tell him!).  Anyways since he is so into movies we often host an Oscar party.  We don't do it every year (some years he says that the movies nominated aren't worth our trouble...) but when we do, we do our best to treat our friends to a bit of Oscar style :)  Chris posted his list of winners yesterday (see the full list here) so I thought I'd do a recap of our Oscar decor in years past in case any of you are thinking of hosting your own party!

I can't seem to find many pictures of our parties from 2008 and 2009.  The photos on the top (where I'm pregnant) are from 2011, the bottom 2 boards are from 2012.  You can read more about our 2011 party by clicking on the year. With a 7 month old running around somehow I didn't get around to detailing our party from last year.  So I guess this post does have some original photos :)  (We decided to go with a more informal movie-theater theme that included a ticket & concession stand along with our standard ballot booth.) Though this was not an Oscar party I did throw Chris a movie-themed birthday party one year.  To see the decor and recap click here.

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I hope that since our boys are getting a little bigger and Chris is getting back into movies again that we'll get back to our Oscar party next year.  Fingers crossed!

LOOK! SO PRETTY!!!!!!

Did you know that I'm having a baby?  No?  Well I am.  And he's gonna be the cutest dang thing you've ever seen.  Just sayin'.

Sarah is throwing us a baby shower in a month or so and look at the invitation!  She's been scheming behind my back working on what I've now learned is a Breakfast at Tiffany's baby shower theme!  I'm SOOOOOOOO excited!  (notice all of the exclamation points?)  I love that movie and can't wait to see how she pulls it all together.  Isn't this invite one of the most darling things you've ever seen?  What a treat to get in my mailbox!

She designed these herself and I L-O-V-E them!  Here's an up close picture that (hopefully) shows the rhinestone and pearl accents.

Give her some comment love and agree with me that these are SIMPLY MARVELOUS DARLING!

LOST finale party recap

For the LOST series finale (read a review of it here) we decided to throw a party. We were so busy setting up that we didn't get a ton of pics, but here's a few:

Guests entered in through the entry way which greeted them with the LOST sign.  Once they opened the door they were inside the 'smoke monster'.

It just looks like black hanging crepe paper here, but there was also a smoke monster soundtrack playing, which was very cool.  The small entry way is pretty small and with all of the black paper it was really dark. 

The family room donned a Dharma welcome banner with lost Oceanic luggage, and a dharma food table.

Here are a few of the Dharma food products:  bulk peanut butter, soda crackers, ranch dressing, salsas, and sodas.

Some of my favorite Dharma foods:  apples, banana's, oranges, and (non-pictured) pineapple.

A photo of the survivors in the Dharma Initiative in 1974 next to the Dharma operations manuals.

More manuals...

Some of the survivors were also in attendance!

Apollo bars and some little Dharma bars.

The hatch!

LOST party invites

{{{Is anyone else having a crazy week?}}}

Have I ever mentioned before that we L-O-V-E LOST around here?  We are so sad that it is ending!  In honor of the series finale we are hosting a LOST finale party.  Lots of good stuff planned for that, but here is the first bit completed - the invites!

Using the Oceanic 815 flight ticket from John Griffith (which I had to edit and redo parts of) here are the invites:

After I edited the flight information to include the guests name, seat number, and the event date I printed them out on cardstock and rounded the corners.  I made an envelope label with the Oceanic logo to print the guest address.  I also was able to bust out my emobssing gun for the first time ever to emboss the Oceanic Logo on the return address spot as well as on the ticket invitation.

 
Is anyone else having a LOST party?

Alice in Wonderland Party

Tonight I am going to see Alice in Wonderland - and I'm SOOO excited!  I've been waiting to see the movie for months but have been to sick the past few weeks to go.  In honor of the movie I am going to share some images to help inspire your own Alice in Wonderland event.  You could use this theme for a birthday, shower, or theme party, and I have even seem some weddings with elements of this as well.  Enjoy!

If you are planning an Alice in Wonderland party make sure to use tons of color and pattern.  I wouldn't shy away from whimsical touches and would go with the 'more is more' mantra!

Many of these photos are by Jessica Claire, the bottom montage is from Project Wedding. 

Wizard of Oz Baby Shower Inspiration Post

The time has finally arrived - my sister's baby shower is in less than 1 week! For the shower I decided to do a Wizard of Oz theme. Here is the inspiration board for the party: Obviously her shower won't be an exact replica of the above but the overall scheme of the party will be blue & white gingham with red & white polka dots & sunflowers. Here are some great resources if you're throwing a Wizard of Oz party of your own:



Red & White polka dot plates from Plum Party
Blue Gingham Tableclothes from Guardian Eco StoreSunflower Centerpieces from Costco

Lollipops from Sweet Factory

Don't forget to serve lots of fresh fruit & home baked goodness!


Stay tuned for real party pics next week!

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If you've come across this post for your own inspiration, check out this one for pictures of the actual party.  You can also read more about it on the Stem Fabulous Parties blog here and get help with planning your own themed event here.  Thanks for stopping by!