it might have been sometime in february when our girls mentioned that they wanted an adventure time birthday party (mind you, both of their birthdays are in april). so, we collected all the adventure time kids meal toys when mcdonald's had them (although i figured they would change their minds on a theme). well, thank goodness we did because the theme stuck. and that was all the adventure time decorations i could find on short notice.
i had already bought some super cute pates, napkins & paper straws from target (not really knowing what the "theme" for their party might end up being). new challenge: make whatever i bought pass as an adventure time party.
keep in mind, i had no intention of spending excessively on decorations...you see, we have downsized birthday "productions" (as i like to call them), as well as christmas gifts this past year (another post for another day). not that there's anything wrong with a good party. we did big parties for years. but it's just not we are as a family right now. so...kid-friendly food, at our home, with our family, plus grandmas, and that's about it.
the morning of the party, i set off on a mad-dash scavenger hunt around our house to find what i could make work for our theme -not wanting to spend any more money- i was really relying on my creativity to pull through for me.
i went to my party supply basket on the laundry room shelf (ya know, the one we all keep full of random streamers, old cake candles, unused table cloths and maybe some random balloons if we're lucky). my search yielded a couple of tablecloths and some fun birthday banners.
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i love being able to utilize my chalkboard wall for parties! such an easy (and free) way to tie in a birthday theme. also, i get to draw (which i love) plus it's a very personal and homemade touch.
i love my inside twinkle lights and wanted to keep/use them for the party (gives a special, festive feel), but i hated the ugly wire hanging down along the wall...solution: i hung one of the cute tablecloths i found in my supply basket on the wall. boom. backdrop.
lucky for me...the day before i had just picked up a walmart site-to-store order and had 2 huge boxes and lots of brown paper filler. lightbulb! use the brown paper filler to make the treehouse tree from adventure time. i went out to our trash and quickly recovered the boxes and filler and found them still in great condition (thank goodness it hadn't rained yet).
using the filler, i created a makeshift tree. i attached it to the walls using thumbtacks. my son was watching me and immediately realized what i was doing (thank goodness he could tell it was a tree)...until he asked me where the leaves were. hmmm...i didn't have any green streamers...only white & red. but i did find 3 sheets of green tissue paper. and guess what, apparently tissue paper tears in perfect strips--like streamers. boom. leaves for ma treehouse.
oh & don't forget the 2 huge boxes from walmart. used one of the boxes to make "bmo" from adventure time (basically it's like an animated gameboy or something). my sister came over early and helped me finish coloring it. the girls walked in from school & went nuts over it.
i remembered the night before that our oldest daughter had drawn all the characters from adventure time...and they were awesome! and she had even colored them! perfect! i cut them out & placed them on the backdrop. easy & free way to tie in the theme.
our oldest daughter also had picked some beautiful flowers for her sister. she arranged them in a bottle, tied a ribbon around it & wrote a little note for her. what a great centerpiece it made for their party.
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i kicked some birthday booty.
so, while it was a bit of a last-minute scramble, it turned out great. the girls loved the decorations. hubs loved that i stayed on budget. i loved using my own hands to create something with love for my girls. family came over & we had a great evening together.
food: simple. pizza & chips. (my mom also brought some watermelon & chex mix)
drinks: kool-aid (we never have kool-aid + my drink dispenser got a leak in it & it went everywhere...amanda-7 birthday-1)
cake: girls wanted iced brownies. i can do that! plus, i picked up some individual ice cream cups, crushed some oreos we had, pulled out the reese's pieces and sprinkles, dice up some strawberries = create your own ice cream buffet!
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| she loves it when i get in her face midbite. |
happy birthday girls! it sure was an adventure.
[note: while i can appreciate the creativity and humor in much of the show adventure time,
i do not condone all behavior or crude humor that i have since found in a few episodes]
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