Ziggy Stardust Inspired Space 5th Birthday Party - Part 4

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

Often my parties have a unique theme which the guests may or may not know about.  I usually try to put info around for guests to find throughout the party.

The only thing O wanted for his party was a bounce house.  But our backyard isn't big enough for one and so I thought it wasn't going to work out.  Then our friends, Jimmy and Vanessa, offered their small bounce to use!  O was SO happy.  A HUGE thank you to them!  

Since my son is really in to music and because Ziggy Stardust is a rock star, I decided to set out all the toy musical instruments we had for the kids to play with.

This is sweet K.  If you look behind her you can see my fabric backdrop that I put up for the kids to jam in front of.  You can just barely make out the other feather garland made by Jenny.  How rad are K's nails? 

photo by me

Here is a picture of Jenny's garland I took after the party.  How gorgeous and fun are all those feathers?  These garlands must have taken her forever and I am so grateful that she made them for me!!!

I saw these masks in random blog posts around the web after I started planning the party.  I knew I had to have them.  Here is the link.  They print out small, pretty much kid sized, so if you want them for adults you need to blow them up a little. 

I decided that we needed to do another smash cake like the one we did for my other son's party.  I asked Kristin of Meringue Bake Shop to make it this time because I wanted it to be way cuter than the other. :) It turned out super cute.

So you make a small cake, cut a hole out of the center then fill it with candy.  Then you cover the cake with a dome made of chocolate.  Then you give the kid a hammer and...

And the kids go wild!  I then cut the cake and let the kids go to town.  I don't provide plates or silverware.  Its a free for all. 

It is one of my favorite party surprises.  This cake was vegan and the candy was friendly to O's allergies.  

I'm going to wrap up the party tomorrow with a collage that will hopefully share the feeling of the whole party and since I know that some people don't enjoy such long posts as all of them from this week, then they will have a quick post too.  Probably should have posted that first...whatevs.

Sharon

All photos by Dez and Tam

Ziggy Stardust inspired Space Party

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

I'm gearing up for a very busy few months.  You may remember this party that I am currently working on.  I should say, about to start working on.  And here is another one that I am starting to work on.  My oldest is about to turn 5!  Can you believe it?!  I certainly can't.  He's requested a space party.  But it has to be fun for me too, that is how I roll.  I've been listening to 'Ziggy Stardust' by David Bowie lately and it dawned on me that that was the feel I wanted for his party.  'Space Oddity' is a bit too melancholy for a 5 year old.  And while I don't plan on emphasizing the cross-dressing or other inappropriate themes from the song, we can certainly put together a sort of rock and roll space theme.  Here is the song in case you don't know it.  

And this is how the party looks in my head.  The bottom left of the board is one of the main fabrics that I will be using along with purple, teal, lime and more.  

ziggy art . star.  feathers . record ornaments

astronaut onesie . watercolor letters . glow hair pieces

mini planets . baby face paint 

girl face paint . rubber stamps

striped fabric . paper doll . pinata . fringe necklace

I am having so much fun with this party!  I am just praying I can get some great pictures of all the stuff I am planning to do!

Sharon

A delightful discovery

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

My four year old son, Oliver,  is kind of amazing.  He is totally smarter than a 5th grader, he's loves music and comes up with amazing party ideas all the time.  Take, for instance, his brother's 2nd birthday party.  It was Oliver's idea to do a juice bar.  I was floored.  What a brilliant idea.  And I did it too.  I will be showing photos soon.  And it was his discovery this evening that I just had to share with the rest of you.  My son used to have an iphone - don't get all judgey, it was mine but then I got a new one.  He'd play games and listen to music and one day it died.  A moment of silence please.  No really, that is all I get now that he doesn't have it to play with.  So now, from time to time, I let him play with my ipod that I have in the kitchen which provides our soundtrack to dinner.  Tonight, he was in the other room and came running excitedly in the kitchen with the ipod and his paper amp.  You know, the ones that go with those weird flat guitars that were all the rage this Christmas?  He says, "Mom!  The music totally comes out of the amp!"  And he was right.  And it kinda sounded pretty good!  Why hadn't I known this two weeks ago for his brother's bday?  It would have worked way better than the tiny speaker we had.  So I wanted to share with all you party mom's.  Go steal your kid's amp!  And the funniest part is that it is small and nondescript and could easily fit in to a party scene without someone asking you what the heck you are thinking.  Crazier still?  They cost between $8-$15 depending on where you purchase.  Party on, dudes.

Sharon
Please notice the oversized cowboy boots on my younger son in the photo.  Although he has some in his own size, he much prefers his older bro's.  Do not think your screen is distorting it, I know it sort of look like his legs are on wrong.

This Mama rocks and produces rock royalty

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

I met Laurie a few months ago via the interweb. We connected over my son's Rock Star birthday party from last year as she was in the midst of planning a rocking good time for one of her own sons. The party was held recently and you have to check out her pics. What a great party she created. I love to see how people add their own special touches to a fairly common theme. She was super creative and the party is a great mix of kid friendly and adult tolerable. :) I'm in love with her "drink specials" where she put bottled rootbeer in a tub like you might find at a concert venue (in a dive bar, certainly not a large amphitheater where they charge you $12 for a shot of beer). Check out the rest of the party over at her blog, This Mama Rocks.

S-

photos via This Mama Rocks.

Cupcakes and Cutlery - How DO they do it!?!

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

Here is a new Friday feature. At least until we run out of parties or ideas to talk about. The plan is to take an aspect of a party that we have planned, thrown, attended etc. and tell you all about it. For today, I have chosen something that was a huge hit at O's 3rd birthday party. Since it was a rockstar theme, I felt like there needed to be kid-like cocktails. I mean, come on, booze and rockers go hand in hand. So I decided to do Jello Shots - kid friendly, of course. I used a natural gelatin product found at a local health food store and made three different flavors (and as usual when talking about a party I am hosting, when I say I made a food item, it really means my mom did. Thanks again, mom!). I found the small plastic shot glasses at Smart and Final and had the black tray (Ikea - what, what!!) from a previous party. I created a label to place next to the tray so all were aware that they were safe for the kiddos and for the next hour, pretty much went back and forth from the table to the fridge to replenish the supply. My son alone probably consumed about 25 of these (I do not recommend this as it later had a negative affect on his digestive tract. But I will not elaborate). The kids LOVED this idea and loved that they were their size. And the small plastic cup added an element to jello that kids aren't used to. While we all know jello shots are perfect for 21st birthday parties and bachelorette shindigs, they can also add interest to the food table of a kids party. Give it a try!

S-

(photo courtesy of me! :)

The Party Photos

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

It is taking me a lot longer to get all the posts put together for O's Rock Star party then I had hoped. So I have uploaded all the rest of the photos on to Flickr so everyone can see them. I will continue to post the details as I can get them together. I hope you like the party as much as I did. The kids seemed to have a blast!!!!

S-

Rock Star Party - an inviting atmosphere

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

Although I originally thought I was going to use the boys rock star themed party invitations from Demby and Solomon, we ended up only sending out a video invite. We felt like it gave the guests a sense of what to expect at the party and allowed people to really see our son in all his rock star glory. My husband enjoys making little videos of our son, so this was a fun father/son project and helped to get O excited about his upcoming fete as well. He used imovie (we have a mac) to edit and chose the best possible song for the soundtrack - Skid Row's Youth Gone Wild. I supplied more of the party details in the body of the invite. And because the video was emailed, it seemed like I got more RSVP's because people could just hit "reply." The video was also a really cool idea because we could send it to relatives all over the United States and they could see just how grown up O has become. It became somewhat "viral" and ended up in O getting sent a watch from Vestal!!! I'd like to say he is sponsored...There will be separate, more detailed posts on each element of the party. Stay tuned!!!

S-

Rock Star Party - Inspiration Board

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

Are you ready to rock?  Planning O's Rock Star party was sooooo much fun.  There was no question in my mind of the theme once I saw Demby and Solomon's Rock Star Party - Boys edition party set.  O has always enjoyed our music (you can keep your Wiggles thank you very much), and LOVES to air guitar so when I saw the hip, modern party set, I knew it was meant to be.  BUT, I had told (perhaps promised) my hubby that I wouldn't do another elaborate party (after the Country Club themed first birthday) until he turned 5.  I knew it was about to get really fun, though, when upon hearing my theme for the party my husband said, "I'll build a stage."  Excuse me?  I must have heard you incorrectly.  A stage?  Oh yes.  A stage.  Game on.   Immediately my head just began planning.  It is involuntary and there is nothing I can do to stop it.  I/We didn't want it to be a cheesey kids rock star party.  More of a grown up feel, real 80's hair band type stuff but super kid friendly.  And I didn't want to copy the Demby and Solomon suite exactly so first I knew it was going to be based on red, white and black.  Where did my head go next?  Candy cigarettes and kiddie cocktails.  Several suggested that might not be well received.  In the long run I know they were right but I thought it would be funny (sordid sense of humor - S party of 1).  So I put together the inspiration board to kind of reel me in.  There are several aspects about the party that are unique to my son, but this party could totally be done very easily for any age.  And I'm not scerred to say it.  Wal-mart turned this mutha out.  I am excited to share the details with you over the next few days.  It was so much fun to plan and even more fun to actually see the kids on the day of the party getting crazy on the stage.  In the end, my husband wanted to do a video invitation in lieu of the Demby and Solomon invite, but I got their personalized stickers to use on the favors and they were AWESOME (photos to follow in separate post).  Tune in Monday to view the video invite.  You are cordially invited to attend the web version of my son's 3rd birthday ROCK STAR PARTEEEEEEEE (as said by said son).

I think if you just click on the polyvore inspiration board above, it will give you the links to all photos used.  Please let me know if that is wrong!  :/

S-