Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

25 days with Waldo, our Elf on the Shelf
Our bestie elf, Waldo, paid us a visit again this year and unlike last year when he was a well behaved elf, he was a trouble-maker this year!  Must have gotten more comfortable in his surroundings.  Take a look.

 
 
Last night the kids sent their letters to Santa, via Waldo.  This morning, he had a letter for them from Santa, thanking them.  The letterhead can be found here.  Santa's signature to add to the bottom, here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Today Waldo came with another letter from Santa.  This one told us that Waldo wanted to bring the kids a gift, since they were being so good.  He brought Magic Elf Seeds (cookie decorations).  When planted in some sugar, they'd grow into a surprise overnight.  So, the kids excitedly planted them before bed and woke to find....
 
 ...yummy cookie pops had grown from the seeds while they slept!
 
I used the same letterhead and signature as before.  This is the letter I drew inspiration from.
 
And, on his last night with us, Waldo left a letter saying his good-byes and thank yous (and sorrys for any messes he made).  He also told the kids that Santa gave them permission to give him hugs and kisses goodbye.  The letter I used came from here.  It was very sweet and the kids were amazed that they got to touch Waldo.
 
 
 
They were pretty sad to see him go, so I think we'll be getting a little letter from his this summer, just to keep in touch.  Such a great idea from The Princess and the Tot.
 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Star Wars Birthday Party

Seven.  How did *that* happen?  My "baby" is seven. *sigh*
 
Ok, thoughts of baby blankets, soft fuzzy baby hair, tiny baby clothes aside, it's time for my boy to grow up (if he insists.  Which he does.). And this "big" boy is into what most "big" boys (and lots of actual big boys) are into... Star Wars!  So today we'll celebrate in a galaxy far, far away
 
welcome, padawan
  I was inspired by Jennifer S on Catch My Party to make these.  Who wouldn't love to get their very own lightsaber in the mail?  I love how the party info is printed right on the back.  I made mine simpler in front, as I had a LOT to make.  Want to make your own?

eat, you must
For lunch we enjoyed hot dogs from the "Hutt Dog" station.  Snacks included Wookie Cookies, Carbonite Jell-O and more.

The Hutt Dog station!  Not only were our guests given lots of toppings to choose from, we also gave some Star Wars themed ideas on how to prepare their dogs.  Feel free to print the Clone Dogs, "Solo" Dog, "Chilly" Dog and Swamp Dog signs for yourself!  My signs are displayed in Ikea frames.

The water bottles are covered with glitter paper (it's from a roll of wrapping paper I got at Michaels).  Then I got printable Storm Trooper labels from Clean & Scentsible for them.

The Padawan Popcorn boxes can also be printed here.  It's a great versitle little favor box!  You can print it on any color paper to match your party.  If you own a personal cutter like the Cricut, here's an SVG file of the box.

My large "Hutt Dogs" sign was cut with my Cricut but the small food signs can be printed here.

We enjoyed some Bow-Ba Fett Pasta (Ree Drummond's Kid-Friendly Pasta Salad made with bow-tie pasta).  The pasta is in cups purchased from TomKat Studios.  I chose them because they're lined with plastic so the dressing wouldn't leak through.  We also had Princess Lays (potato chips) and more hot dog toppings.

Stephen's cake and cupcakes were inspired by Takes the Cake.  The letters, stars and lightsabers were made from fondant.  The silver was all touched up with silver Pearl Dust to give them some sparkle.

The Vader-Ade is simply red Gatorade.  The Yoda Soda is green Hawaiian Punch and 7up with some green sherbert on top.  I made ice cubes from both the Gatorade and Hawaiian Punch to keep the drinks cold without watering them down.

Those fantastic C3PO Oreos pops were inspired by Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons.  They were a big hit!  The Cloud City Pops are simply marshmallows on lollipop sticks, dipped in a milk/confections sugar mixture then into blue Pearl Nonpareils.  The sticks are actually paper straws purchase, again, from TomKat Studio.

Carbonite Jell-O.  How awesome is that?  I've seen it in a few places online but I'm going to give the credit to the first person I saw use it.  Carli from Dimple Prints.  Just fabulous!  She also inspired the Death Star Krispies we'll see next...

....made with Cocoa Krispies, these things were SO yummy!  I tried to add a little "sparkle" to them with edible glitter, but it just doesn't really show up. 

The jarred snacks up top include, Hans Rollos, Ewok Snacks (Teddy Grahams), Thermal Detonators (Whoppers) and Lightsabers (Pixy Stix).

Ah, the Wookie Cookies.  How can you not love that face?  The brilliant mind that brought up C3PO Oreos, also brought us these fantstic cookies!  Thanks Jill over at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Son!

The Obi-Wan Kabob-ies were inspired by these from Sweet Cakes Crafts.  The Tie Fighters were inspired by Clean & Scentsible (who also brought us the free Storm Trooper water bottle printables!).  They're made from Oreo Crisps (the 100 calorie packs) and mini marshmallows.  Another huge hit!

padawan entertainment
Even Padawan need some down-time!  Ours had lots of fun activities to choose from.
 
Make Your Own Lightsaber: Papertowel tubes, foam stickers, markers and balloon-animal style balloons made up this station.  It was the BIGGEST hit!  After decorating their papertowel tube, a grown-up slid a deflated balloon in and blew it up.  Instant lightsaber!  I got this idea from Jennifer S over at Catch My Party.  (You'll remember, she also inspired my invitation.)

Stellar Play DoughHomemade play dough, with some added glitter (for that stellar effect), rollers and cutters made up this crafty station.  This fantastic idea came from Tradewind Tiara (as do a few addition ideas you'll see coming up!). 

I used these jars for the play dough.  And a word of advice on making the play dough, don't add the glitter too far in advance. I made the play dough about 2 weeks before the party and the glitter all dissolved! We tossed more in just before the festivities.

Make Your Own R2 Unit:  Cut almost entirely with my Cricut, we had blank R2 units with an assortment of cardstock shapes to add.  I made one for display to help as inspiration.  Feel free to download the PNG or SVG of the R2 unit for yourself!  Thanks to Sweet Craft Cakes for this great idea!  They're also to thank for our "Clone Army" idea below.

The young Jedi Apprentice practiced their blaster training (aka: Nerf guns) on these poor, unexpecting "Clones".  That'll teach them for crashing our party!

what's a jedi apprentice to wear?
Our dress-up station had it all!  Character masks, Leia headbands and, (of course!) Jedi robes. 

Those absolutely fantastic masks were made by etsy seller BessiePooh.  You can see all of her wonderful creations here.

The Leia headbands were inspired by Tradewind Tiara (see, I told you you'd see them mentioned again!)  She gives great step-by-step instructions on how to make them.  The glue gun burns these babies gave me were totally worth it!

Lastly, the Jedi robes.  I made mine from "chocolate" broadcloth.  I cut strips measuring about 16" wide by 48" long (adjust your length based on the size of your attendees).  Then I cut a hole in the center for the kids heads.  I then cut 44" strips of tan broadcloth for the belts.  The ream was 44" wide, which is why I chose that number.  *wink*

Cute, aren't they?
 
become a jedi, you will
Having attended training himself this past summer, Stephen, now a Jedi, wanted to train his Padawan in the Jedi arts.  (How cool is this photo!?  Hubby took it with his new iPhone 5.)  You never know when the dark side will try to tempt you, best be prepared. *wink*  He stood before his friends, now dressed in their Jedi robes and armed with... you guessed it, lightsabers!
 
These foam lightsabers can be found all over the internet at just about every Star Wars party out there.  Their origin, impossible to find.  Made from foam pool noodles, cut in half, mine are wrapped with 3 rows of silver duct tape and topped off with strips of black electrical tape.  The original creator of these things: a genius.  7 year old boys LOVE to beat on each other.  And believe you me, they did just that!  Some double-fisted.  Best idea ever.
 
After their training, each new Jedi received a "graduate" badge.  I put them into vertical badge holders hung from lanyards.  The kids loved that they were each personalized.  Here's a blank one for you to work with.
 
All that practice (and Jedi training) paid off, because we *were* visited by Mr. Dark Side himself, Darth Vader!
 
After a demonstration from Stephen, each new Jedi "battled" Darth Vader. 
 
He was a gracious loser, as he posed for this fantastic photo with them all afterwards.
 
 
smile and say "chewy"
What's a party without a photo booth?  And who wouldn't want their photo with the infamous Darth Vader!?!  (maybe a newly minted 7 year old, unaware that it's just his Papa in costume, that's who)
 Set against a black paper backdrop, covered with silver stars, party-goers had a board full of favorite quotes from the movie, along with their favorite masks to pose with.
 



Happy birthday, big guy.  <3

 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Lightsaber Invitation Tutorial

making the star wars lightsaber invitation
I was inspired by Jennifer S on Catch My Party to make these. I love how the party info is printed right on the back. I made mine simpler in front, as I had a LOT to make. I

 
The front was cut from shiny silver card stock, the back printed on white card stock. (That fabulous photo was taken during Jedi Training at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando over the summer!) The sabers were cut from blue, purple, red and green card stock. Even though these were cut on my Cricut (again, because there were a lot!), you could easily cut them by hand.
 
Once cut, I put double-sided tape (my favorite is the Recollections brand found at Michaels!) right up against the outer edge. I then laid the saber down inside the tape and then the backing, on the tape. 

I used clear address labels to print the "pull" sticker. I made, probably, 12 or so "pull"s on one label and cut them out.

If you'd like to print the pieces to make your own lightsaber invitations, feel free! You know how I feel about free printables!
Silver handle. Remember, this is just the shape, you need to print it on your own silver cardstock.
Back of the invitations. This file has the black with stars, you just have to add your own information.
Lightsabers. Get your favorite colors out!
Black partsThis is the black strips and button.
Red buttonTiny little image of that red button.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Goonies Backyard Movie Night

Hey You Guuuuyyyyssss!! 
 
It's time for The Goonies!  Tonight, our families and friends joined us for our very first backyard movie night!  And it was a HUGE success!
  
These signs led visitors from our street all the way to our backyard.
 
Once in the backyard, they found this yummy display of food and treats!  The sail was later used as our movie screen!
 
 
 
  
(left) rocky road fudge, jumbo marshmallows dipped in chocolate and walnuts, apple juice "water"
  (left) ice cream scoop sugar cookies, "copper bones" sugar cookies, skull cake pops, Baby Ruth bars
 
 
 Goonies parties seem to be in short supply, but I did find one in particular that gave me SO MUCH inspiration!  Audrey's party over at Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats had some amazing ideas.  She was even kind enough to give me some tips on making the Sloth cake pops.  Thanks again Audrey!! 
 
Like the signage? You can buy some right here on esty, from seller Squared Party Printables.
 
 I found these great DYNAMITE candles at Party Swizzle.  A perfect addition!
 
 In a family where the kids nearly outnumber the adults, I had to be sure there was plenty for them to do!  And there was!  A plank hovering over a pool, buried treasure, inflatable swords and water-gun pistols.  And of course, Sloth's favorite, jump rope!
 
 
 
Movie snacks were rolled around to guests in a wagon!  Got this great idea from Celebrations at Home.
 
 Enjoy the show!

 


Got a couple extra minutes?  I'd love for you to be one of my "100 people surveyed"!