Army Birthday Party

I LOVED this party!

We had an Army party for my son's 5th birthday this weekend.

It turned out great and all the kiddos had a blast (even the girls)!

First off, I made this 5x7 invite in Photoshop with a mini digital scrapbooking kit I found online here.

A shot of the basic training course.

We built a wall out of two sheets of plywood and some 2x4's (I got rid of some old paint from the garage by painting the wall camo). The balances beams were just 4x4's on a few 2x4's on each end. The tires we borrowed from a local tire store. They let us use some old tires and we just took them back the next day. For the ropes, we got a pack of these wooden stakes. My husband drilled a hole in each one and we strung some rope through all of them.

Everyone got personalized (with a sharpe) dog tags to wear and some black face paint when they arrived.

I ordered the dog tags, plastic camo hats and the camo party favors from Oriental Trading.

Prize box....

Birthday rations included: Camo cupcakes, beef sticks, whoppers, and homemade survival mix (chex, marshmallows, pretzels, peanuts, and black & green m&m's)

Used an old washtub for drinks...

These 7x10 drawstring bags were perfect for party favors! I order them from Oriental Trading as well and stuck a water gun and some other goodies in there.

The cupcakes were camo colored.

I used chocolate and yellow cake mix. Mixed per directions, and in half of the yellow mix I added green and black food coloring to make the army green color. I added spoonfulls of each color into camo cupcake liners. Simple and cheap!

First activity was a "Search and Rescue Mission"

The kids had to find a few hundred of the little plastic army men I had hid before the party.

They were all so great at rescuing their men they received a little fun pack of Lifesavers candy!

Next up, basic training course....

Then they all launched their Parachute men...

Built little wooden airplanes to fly...

And everyone got to shoot the paintball gun at the target.

Look at these cool paintballs my husband found for them to use!

We even had some creative gift wrapping....

And just after the party, these planes flew over...

Coincidental, of course but totally cool!!

Add 2 more = 5!

This was such a fun party to put together. My husband enjoys building little projects, so this was perfect for him to jump in and help. All in all it wasn't that expensive as we had lots of the scrap wood and items already. And camo is easy to find anywhere!

We'd love to hear about your birthday party ideas!

A&J

April Fools Day Pranks

April Fools Day has to be one of my most favorite days.  I love playing little tricks for my kids because they talk about it all year.  Even my oldest has been asking me, "when is that day where we play tricks on everyone."  She's a prankster in the making I can already tell...

Fake Cupcakes

Had to try this myself.  These were a huge hit.  Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Of  course I had to add sprinkles because my girls have never had a cupcake without them.  Totally fooled the girls and got some great video of some funny faces!!!

Disclaimer for the next prank....I'm really not mean, I promise. 

Because my girls always announce when they've got to go, I was able to capture this one on video as well.  Priceless.  Might have to send this one in to funniest home videos.

A&J

Easter treats with peeps!

I made these super cute nests for my preschooler's little Easter party.

It was something he enjoyed helping with as well!

How to make your own:

Grab some Peeps, robin eggs, edible grass (Easter isle at Walmart, or you could color some coconut) and

the original Rice Krispies treat recipe.

Make the rice krispies according to the original recipe and press into muffin pans.

Hollow out the middle a bit and add edible grass, eggs and Peeps!

Easy as that!

A&J

Burlap wreath

 So I saw this darling wreath at Where The Heart Is.

Check it out, isn't awesome?!

She also has a great tutorial which you can find here.

I gave it a go, and it was super, super easy to make!

Perfect touch for my dining room hutch!

A&J

Burlap Bunnies!

HELLO!!

Take a look at these little burlap bunnies over at The Little Green Bean.

Adorable right?

So I happened to have all the stuff to make make these cute bunnies.

Talk about easy!

Here's our version.....

So cute!!

A&J

Book Page Wreath and Eggs

So I saw this awesome wreath on tatertots and jello.

Gotta have one!

 And she actually has an awesome tutorial on exactly how to do it.

Yea!

So I grabbed a book from the dollar store, a circle for the wreath, and some old plastic Easter eggs we had and started modge-podging (yes I used that word that I made up again).

Got the first one finished and was thinking how cool this is going to look.

But it was taking a little longer than I expected.

I figured it would go faster as I go along.

By the 3rd egg I had been sitting there for about 45 minutes.

And I'm thinking, how in the world did this lady seriously do all 50 or so she needed for the wreath. It must have taken her a week. Either that or I'm in serious need of some modge podging skills.

Needless to say, I ended up with 6 eggs completed in total.

They are awesome and I love them, but I still didn't get the wreath I wanted. :(
So, I put them in a jar...
Still cute, but certainly not a wreath.

 

Then I saw this idea here.

 Love it!!

Ok, I can surely roll up paper and glue it on right?

Surely I can!

And I'm off to work on my wreath.....

A&J

Pink and Black Girlie Girls Room

Every wonder what in the world you to do when you lower your crib mattress to the lowest level and you find that your crib skirt that you paid a fortune for is now way too long.  Here's a very cute solution.  Tulle.  Here, I used two spools of tulle that I bought at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each.  Added some black and white polka dot ribbon, also found 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby and simple tied it to the metal bars of the crib. Since I'm a super over protective mother, I have also never used the bumper that I also paid a fortune for, so I added cute accent pillows in the back of the crib that you can remove at night for safety.  So instead of paying another however much for new bedding, I simply converted to this oh so cheap version for less than $100.  I actually love this more than the original bedding I paid much, much more than $100 for.

Please ignore the non matching rocking chair. It's a family heirloom that I can't bring myself to ask if I can refinish.

Can't resist showing an up close pic of this.  This was also done with all 1/2 Hobby Lobby items.  Metal accent, coordinating ribbon, and added matching tulle that I used for the skirt of the crib.   

A&J

Hoe-Down Birthday Bash

Head on over for an Old Fashion Hoe-Down

My daughter loves horses, so we decided on a hoe-down theme for her 6th birthday.  This was so fun to put together.  Not only can you find western themed party supplies everywhere, but everyday accessories such as burlap, denim, sunflowers, daisies, cowboy boots, cowoy hats and even toy horses can also be found.

You just have to google parties and you will find these glass jars everywhere filled with candy.  I added my own twist by using beef jerky sticks, and trail mix.

The cake.

The buffet.  We served BBQ sandwhiches, chips, potato salad, a veggies tray, and served Orange Crush & Root Beer for drinks. 

For party favors, I found a horse puzzle for $1 at the Dollar Tree, then added some m&s and other cute items and tied them in a bundle with bandanas and twine. Then I added a cute tag that I created in photoshop that says "Thanks Partner for makin' it to my party.  Sure hope you had a Rootin Tootin good time!

For activities we hired a pony service that brought out two ponies for the kids to ride.  For games we did a three legged race that was huge hit.  A grape spitten contest.  Pin the tail on the Horse.  And of course we had a horse pinata.  We did set out bales of Hay in the back yard as well for additional outdoor seating.  It was also the perfect prop for a group picture.

This was such a fun party that both kids and adults thoroughly enjoyed it.

A&J