Sydney's 8th Birthday Party

Today is my baby girl's 8th birthday. I can't believe how fast time has flown by! Seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little 6-lb-baby with unruly hair and the biggest brown eyes I had ever seen! Well, her eyes are still huge, but her hair has calmed down quite a bit ;) This past weekend we celebrated with family and friends with the most colorful of parties I could dream up in this crazy head of mine.  Here are some highlights... (for info on the dress and the invitations, see my previous post)

The refreshments table:



Let's take a closer look at everything on here. I made every single thing except for the cake (you'll see why in a bit). These are rainbow fruit skewers:



Button (butter) cookies:



Nutella-filled croissants (like this):



Cheddar cheese-filled croissants:



Coconut crémes (I used this recipe but replaced peppermint extract for coconut extract and added about 1/4 cup of coconut flakes) YUM:



Fresh-squeezed lemonade and strawberry juice:



And then there was the cake, oh the cake! Like I said, this was the only thing I didn't make myself. I had a local cake maker do this based on this recipe. I just  wasn't ambitions enough to tackle it on my own, but you'll see in a bit why I wish I had. ;)



As far as activities go, I set up two stations for the girls. One was a coloring station. I designed my own Lalaloopsy coloring book, using downloadable pages from their Facebook page:



I pretty much just printed the pages -- 10 pages/dolls for each book -- and designed a custom cover for it. Then, I purchased crayon boxes for each girl.



Then there was a Sew-Your-Own-Button-Headband station. I used Scunci headbands and lots and lots of colorful buttons (like on this post). We used embroidery needles and topstitching thread.



There were 14 girls total, so I divided them into 2 groups. Half of them went to the coloring station...



And the other half went to the headband station:



Then, about 45 minutes later or so, they switched stations so that they all got to do everything...



But, by far, everyone's favorite activity at the party was the decorate-the-cake part! Oh, my, how much fun they all had with these edible ink markers!!!







One of the girls wrote "Eat Me" on the cake, so of course all the adults were giggling in the back like little school girls... haha



Then it was time to blow the candles...





This is what the cake looked like on the inside. And this is why I wish, in hindsight, that I had made it myself... the layers were NOT in rainbow color order as I requested! :( I know it's not a big deal but I am just anal like that and I wanted everything perfect! Can you blame me?



Well, the cake was delicious and no one mentioned the color issue (maybe they were just being polite) so I'd say the party was a success! Sydney opened her gifts...



And we took some group pictures with the birthday girl...



And of course, the obligatory "silly face pic" :)





Ahhhh... I can finally breathe... and rest! (well, at least until the next party!)
Happy, happy birthday to my sweet baby girl! Please stop growing so fast.

MODKID goes Lalaloopsy

When my almost-8-year-old, Sydney, said she wanted a Lalaloopsy party for her birthday, I jumped for joy not only because I just adore those sewing-themed dolls (maybe even more than she does!) but also because I knew I could really craft an unforgettable party without stepping foot in the party store... I am a little crafty, ya know!

We started out with her outfit, which had to be done way ahead of everything because it needed to be part of the invitation.

Sydney's favorite Lalaloopsy doll is Berry Jars 'n Jam:

As soon as I saw this dress, I knew immediately that we could recreate the bodice by using two of our existing MODKID patterns: The adorable puffy sleeves are from Addison and the button-back bodice and Peter Pan collar are from Claudia. The skirt was just a series of straight cuts of fabric gathered to the max. Sydney and I went shopping for the fabrics (because, sadly we just couldn't find the right match in my extensive collection) then Emalee got busy recreating this adorable dress, down to the hairbows and shoe bows...

And I got busy designing the invite and working on the party favors, games, food and goodie bags.

Pinterest has been my friend during this whole party-planning ordeal. I'm making these cookies, this amazing cake (well, I'm having someone make it because I'm scared to mess it up), these fruit skewers, and these Nutella-filled croissants (YUM!). I also designed a coloring book for the kids to take home with their own box of crayola crayons and am in the process of crafting some button-related games. The party is this weekend, so I promise to share pics of everything next week!

In the meantime, I've been wondering how many of you out there plan on using a MODKID pattern as the base for a Halloween costume. After we finished this dress (which, by the way, she is also wearing for Halloween....SCORE!) I got to thinking about how many other MODKID patterns would work for Halloween costumes...

• Emma would make an awesome Tinkerbell or a pixie costume.
• Kyoko works perfectly for Mulan or just as a Geisha Girl.
• Gretchen would be perfect for a Heidi costume or just a random German Barmaid... haha.
• Lil' Chef well... enough said!
• Addison's poofy sleeves and bodice are perfect for a Snow White costume.
• The scalloped skirt from Addison is perfect for Sugar Cookie Crumbs and Jewel Sparkles.

Please let us know if you will be using a MODKID pattern for Halloween. I'd love to do a gallery of sorts showcasing your creations!

Sophie's Hogwarts Party

My baby turned double digits this weekend. She was thrilled to be officially a "tween". I was filled with nostalgia and mixed emotions over how fast she's growing. I tried to fight the tears by keeping myself occupied with turning our house into Hogwarts for Sophie's 10'th Birthday Celebration.

Earlier that day (before the party started) she opened the family's presents, a.k.a. The Purple Tower, because she was just way too excited to wait till the party that evening.



Of course, she was way more pumped about some presents than others. ;)



Then it was time for the celebration to begin. Here's a wide view of our main area...



Let's take a closer look, shall we?

We had lots of candles and miscellaneous jars filled with curious objects...



A very gothic-looking platform held various test tubes filled with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (in reality they were regular jellybeans with funny names).



Gummy worms of every color made their appearance and some very spooky 2-ft. gummy snakes slithered their way in and out of the test tubes...



Favor boxes held pencils, lip glosses and some Harry-Potter themed gifts...



On our kitchen island there were potions and mysterious fluids. Don't worry, we didn't give the kids any alcohol... these were just for ambience! ;)



Although you wouldn't know it from this picture...



The first activity of the evening was the Sorting Hat Ceremony (see the end of this post for sources). The kids were utterly amazed that the hat actually talked!



Each girl was sorted into the four Houses...









Then we moved into the kitchen where the girls got to use their magic wands to turn clear liquids into surprise new colors. Each color meant something different. Green meant you could switch houses, which made the Slitherin girls very happy! haha



The Dining Hall was decorated in black and purple (Sophie's favorite colors) with candles and star-shaped confetti...



After dinner they decorated their own cupcakes in some Hogwarts colors...



Then it was time to open presents (again). I am always amazed at how much the kids enjoy this activity!





Awwww... hugs all around!







This little group of mischiefs was ready to watch a Harry Potter movie marathon....



And... this is what the adults did while the kids were in the basement, a.k.a. The Dungeon, watching Harry Potter movies, in case you were wondering.



Sources:

• Test Tubes, favor boxes and bottle labels: Martha Stewart's Halloween Collection (bought the day after Halloween for 75% off)
• Platform for test tubes: the styrofoam that held our flat screen TV inside its box, spray-painted black with holes cut into the top for the test tubes.
• Jelly Beans, gummy worms and gummy snakes: we purchased these from our local Chocolatier, which happens to be right around the corner from MODKID HQ (lucky me, eh?)
  
• Favor Box fillers, purple dinnerware and colored icing: Party City
• Sorting Hat: purchased on Amazon with a small walkie-talkie inside of it so Jon could sort the kids into their "houses" from another room. To let him know when each girl was ready to be sorted, Jon's brother Sean would text him.
• Color-changing drinks: squeeze 3-5 drops of food coloring onto the bottom of each cup and let it dry overnight. Before the game begins, fill each cup halfway with ice so the kids don't see the color drops. Give each kid a wand (drink stirrer) then fill the cups with a clear liquid (water, Sprite or 7-up). Tell them to use their wand to magically change their drink color.
• Wands: cocktail stirrers from Party City (on the clearance rack -- 16 stirrers for 50-cents!)