A Superhero Birthday Party!!

This past month we celebrated Andrew's 4th birthday. If you know my little man, you know that there was absolutely no question of what the theme would be! I was so excited to get started on this party, there are so many amazing ideas out there and it was really hard to restrain myself from attempting them all!

I wanted to keep the decorations as "DIY" as possible, there are many items that can be purchased, but the cost can really add up. I have a large supply of card stock on hand and lots of ribbon. I only had to purchase the balloons and two comic books! I think I spent less than $20!

Our new place has a great big mantle which is fabulous for decorating for events. I used Andrew's giant batman, some balloons and the cake and cupcakes to decorate this space. I always try to put the birthday cake front and centre... after all they take a lot of effort! I used rolled fondant for the buildings and Superman logo getting my inspiration here and the cupcake toppers were found online (here). 

I used a couple of comic books to make some colourful banners by cutting each page into triangle and stringing them on ribbon. When selecting the comics I looked for bright pictures with appropriate content (some can be pretty gruesome!). I strung these banners around the mantle, across some mirrors and along the counter. They added a lot of colour to the party!

We snapped some priceless photos of Andrew modeling his new superhero underwear, on Christmas morning. I couldn't resist printing a bunch and adding them to the decor. His friends thought they were pretty awesome (probably not an option for future parties!!). I also used one to make this little sign that his friends could sign and had it ready with some markers for their arrival. 

We gathered all of our Superhero toys and books and had them ready for the little ones to play as they entered. I always find this to be a chaotic time and having an activity that kids can join whenever they arrive is very helpful. 

We also had a Superhero Snack bar ready for munching and a little cape for every little Superhero (this little sweetie was the only girl at the party but that didn't slow her down)! I used fabric from a previous project for the capes and this pattern. The fabric was actually taken from inexpensive flat sheets that I bought at target for $5.00. 

                

We kept the kids busy with lots of fun Superhero games! We decorated Superhero masks, used "Silly String" to get some Super villains (pictures on the back of a door), practised jumping over skyscrapers and raced to change into superhero costumes.

After lunch everyone sang to Andrew and many little buddies helped him to blow out his candles. This is always my favourite part of the celebration. His big smile makes all of the party prep more than worth the effort!

It was so nice to see all of Andrew's new friends come together to celebrate his birthday. It's hard to believe that just a few short months ago we knew nobody in this city! I think he will be wanting to take a few back to Canada with him!

**please grab a printable for your little superhero's big celebration!**

A Crabby Party!! {Henry turns 1!}

This weekend we celebrated the first birthday of our little man! I love birthday parties and can get a little carried away with all of the details, but having recently moved to a new home in a new country this party was a little more low key. We were happy to have Henry's Nana, Auntie and two cousins fly in for the event and coincidentally some other family friends were in the city so they stopped by to join the celebration!

We decided that "A Crabby Party" would be a fitting theme for Henry's first birthday, now that we live in Maryland. To get ready for the party I cut out some beachy shapes on my silhouette, hung some beach balls around the living room and placed some snacks in sand pails (including "Oh Henry" bars of course!).

The kids made some simple crab hand print art using red finger paint and googly eyes.

I baked white cupcakes with Cookie Butter frosting and graham cracker crumbs, to resemble the beach, and placed a few little crabs made from edible moulding dough. I also made a matching smash cake for Henry to tear apart!

We all laughed as Henry politely sampled cake. He needed some help from Daddy to really get the idea! 

A good time was had by all. We got some fantastic pictures and made some great memories. As it turns out, Henry doesn't really care if the water bottles are personalized and napkin rings match the goodie bags. He's just happy to have his family there to play!

p.s. I go crazy for personalized water bottles and matching napkin rings, 

so I am totally doing that for his second birthday!

A pirate party!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Andrew's 3rd birthday! We always plan for this party in late November because we just can't bring ourselves to try it on his actual birthday... 5 days after Christmas. So far this plan has successfully avoided subjecting the poor little man to birthday/Christmas presents! I absolutely love planning birthday parties.  They combine some of my favourite things: baking, crafts, decorating and overall creativity.  This year was especially exciting because Andrew actually understood what was happening and was really into it!

The theme of the day was pirates, which lent itself very well to decorations, costumes and games. The house was festively decked out in red and black, a birthday banner, mop buckets, and pirate ship sail added some nice touches!

Upon arrival, all of our party guests were greeted with a bandanna and eye patch, and the kiddies even got a pirate sword (post Halloween special at the dollar store).

Andrew's "scary pirate face"

The kids had fun playing a few games... 

Go Fish - use your hands to find the goldfish crackers in a paper bag filled with yummy snacks (popcorn, teddy grahams, raisins, Cheerios)

Swab the Deck - be the first to mop all of your team's balloons to your side of the deck

Who Wants to be Andrew's Best Friend - try and guess how Andrew answered each question (My techy husband created this game on his computer so that after each question was answered a video of Andrew answering the question played!)

 (Andrew and Attie ate their way through)

We enjoyed some yummy pirate treats...

And to take away... a little pirate treasure!

I sewed simple drawstring bags from the same fabric as the bandannas and table runner.

A treat for the adults... banana chip muffins

It was an amazing day! We were so happy to have Andrew's friends and family here to celebrate with us! It's hard to believe he is already three! He amazes us everyday with his witty sense of humour and insatiable curiosity! Can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Gifts for our nurses...

This week on Pinterest I came across a great idea... treat baskets for the nurses in the Mom and Baby unit! When I was in hospital with my son, Andrew, I was so grateful to the wonderful nurses who cared for us, so I immediately thought I should get some kind of thank you organized.   Instead of one basket I decided to make individual treat bags with homemade cookies.  That way I would be sure that all nurses, residents and doctors would receive a little something!

I baked a double batch of my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies and placed them in freezer bags.

I made these great tags and printed them off on card stock.

I placed each bag of cookies into a paper bag, and secured a tag to each using some yellow ribbon.

The cookies should stay fresh in the freezer while we wait for the big day! And I'm sure to receive ultimate care!!