Birthday Party – The Creative Salad

Solar System Birthday Party

In the past our daughter has insisted her birthday party be about dress-up and princesses and tea parties, which is all well and good, but frankly it’s not really my thing. Each year I’d hope for a literary or science theme (cause that’s how I roll), then gracefully support our daughter’s desire for pink and pouf and finery, with tricycles.

Imagine my surprise and delight when our kid announced that this year she wanted a “solar system tea party” theme. It quickly became just a solar system party when I pointed out, gently, that our little girl doesn’t particularly like drinking tea. Ahem.

Now a space, galaxy, astronomy, planet, solar system themed birthday party sounds like a whole lot of fun to me! Throw 20 kids, plus their mamas, in the mix and we’re talking about a whole lot of crazy fun (in our little house!)…

We made solar system lollipops (using these stickers) to go with glow-in-the-dark sun, moon, and stars temporary tattoos, glow sticks, and chocolate earth balls for the goody bags:

Our homemade cake featured our daughter’s favorite constellations Orion, Sirius, and the Little Dipper (with Polaris):

Our banner, made using NASA photographs of moons, planets, stars, and nebulae, hung proudly above historical photos of the birthday girl:

We displayed some of our homeschooling projects, which I’ll blog about in more depth soon:

The kids colored constellations of the night sky (photocopied from this coloring book) and made spiral galaxy mobiles:

The sunny, warm weather allowed for outdoor scooter and bike fun for this sweet group of kids:

The most perfect day!

DIY Photo Decoupage Platter

The round-up of decorations from this year’s birthday extravaganza continues. To see all the birthday party posts, please click here.

Growing up, the Spritzer family had a special glass platter (with etched hearts!) that came out for birthday celebrations. My daughter and I thought it would be fun to recreate this tradition, while adding a Creative Salad twist to make it our own.

First we cut out some of our favorite family photos that we had printed on plain white paper:

We played with the layout of the photos until our daughter found an arrangement she fancied:

We adhered the photos with Mod Podge on to the underside of a circular, glass Pyrex platter that we found at our local thrift store:

Then we glued small pieces of brightly colored tissue paper on top of the photo layer:

As we placed the pieces of tissue paper, we brushed glue on top to smooth and adhere the paper:

We added glitter glue before adding another layer of colored tissue paper:

Then we sealed the paper side of the platter with several more coats of Mod Podge, being careful not to get any glue on the front side of the platter. Here’s how our birthday platter turned out:

Festive, personalized, and very fun!

A special birthday treat.

DIY Ribbon Chandelier

The round-up of decorations from this year’s birthday extravaganza continues. To see all the birthday party posts, please click here.

We had such fun making the party decorations for this year’s birthday extravaganza!

These simple, festive chandeliers were easy to make, fashioned out of ribbon remnants and embroidery hoops from our local craft supplies resale shop.

We cut lengths of ribbon, then taped them to the inside of the outer embroidery hoop in such a way that the tape is all but invisible once you put the hoop back together.

At this point we decided the double ribbon was over the top, so we chopped off half of each ribbon (just below the place where we taped the ribbon to the inner embroidery hoop):

David hung the ribbon chandeliers for us above our coffee table (that we moved into the middle of the living room for the party).

I love how a simple project can transform the room and set a festive tone. The pink ribbons are out; we’re ready to party!

Well, almost! In the photo, above, from Sunday morning, someone had yet to don her fabulous fancy party outfit:

That’s better. We had such fun!

Fourth Birthday Party Extravaganza

What do you do when you live in a very small house, can’t predict the weather, and your daughter has many close friends? Why, host two birthday parties, of course! (That way, no matter the weather, everyone will fit!)

Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we had two super-special days in a row. Oh, we feel so thankful for our wonderful friends, tasty treats, and fun crafts and activities that made for an incredible birthday weekend for our little one.

It may take me the rest of the week (or two!) to recover, but it was so worth it. Memories to last a lifetime! I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday extravaganza for our family.

I have a feeling this fifth year is going to be awesome.

To see a few more photos from the weekend, click here.

I’ll post more details on the party and our decorations soon. After I get a good nights sleep, I think. This mama is worn out from so much fun.

Party Preparation

Oh, dear. It’s that time of the year: nonstop talk about our daughter’s upcoming birthday. Do forgive me. What can I say? It’s what we’re occupied with right now.

We’re slowly, slowly finishing the multitude of projects strewn throughout the house.

Watercolored thank you note cards are made, stacked, and ready to be written.

Candy treats that will adorn cupcakes are taking over the kitchen counters.

And photo colleges featuring our daughter and her friends adorn the living room walls.

We have so many other projects in progress that we can’t wait to share with you. It’s coming together!