Welcome Home Baby #2 / ~All Aboard~ Birthday Party

Well hello there! So it's been a while since I have posted. What have I been up to? Well, I had a baby since last time I blogged. We had the honor of welcoming Sawyer to our little family. We couldn't be happier.

 

 

 

  Also, running around like crazy! Life with two boys leaves little time to blog, but so much more time for fun and games. We recently had Nolan's birthday party, he is totally and completely obsessed with Trains. He eats, sleeps, talks, and breaths Choo Choo Trains. So of course, the year that baby #2 comes, he begs and chooses his own birthday party theme. Of course, I am super tired, since I just had baby about 2 months ago. So I tried my best, I didn't plan a year in advance like I usually do, I'm so sad I didn't go all out, but I did try. We celebrated in a venue this year, his favorite place, The Train Shoppe. Such a cute little place for Train enthusiasts to hang out in, it's tiny but oh so very cute. Turns out they have rooms for birthday parties, and at the same time you can travel back to time to the old west. They have a train ride with guns and all, so you can shoot targets. You can also enjoy train towns and city displays, for only a quarter you can choose the speed of the train, and even blow the whistle. This place is heaven for Mr. Nolan.

Taking care of the details was so much fun, as usual.
 

 

Enough said, here are the details of Nolan's 4th Birthday Party (All Aboard the Nolan Express)
 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn anyone? Nolan was thrilled to have a Train piñata with his name on it.

 

 

Some yummy cupcakes.

 

 

Everything had Nolan's name on it, even the juice barrels.

in case you can't see it, they say (NOLAN'S RAILROAD CO.)

 

 

My absolute favorite thing about the party was, and still is, these awesome coal sacks. I stenciled COAL on them, and underneath NOLAN RR CO. all the kids loved it, and it was original. They had candy and a train whistle inside. The kids were ecstatic!

 

 

The cake was super beautiful! I wish I was this creative and talented, but she did an awesome job! Nolan was completely in love with the little Train. Aren't those clouds super cute and fluffy? I love how 3D the cake was.

 

 

The "Nolan Express" was a huge success, Nolan had a blast with all his friends, and to me that was priceless.

 

 

 

Well, another successful party has come and gone. Thank you for stopping by. Ta ta for now!

Ahoy It's a Boy Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and my friend hosted my baby shower. Everything was darling, from the theme, to the colors, to the games and the yummy menu. I must confess I got involved and helped with some stuff, decision making and DIY.  This was so fun! I chose navy blue and gold for the colors, along with a Nautical theme.

These are the invitations that were sent out. Aren't they so fun?
 

So in love with these water labels!
 

 

 Gold chevron straws...
 

Made these cute cones for popcorn,  they were a hit!
 

 

 I so wanted a life preserve, since they were a bit pricey and couldn't find one I liked, I decided to DIY mine.
 

My mom has a lot of party hosting materials, such as these super cute gold dessert stands, perfect for the cupcakes.
 

One of the sisters in our ward (church) volunteered to make this super delicious cake, and boy was it amazing, she is so talented. I loved how preppy it looked!
 

Little nautical banners for Centerpieces, super simple and not very hard to make.
 

Props to my mom for always knowing how to make the perfect food display and set up. Not to mention for always having the yummiest menu ever!
 

 

My aunt Erica made me the cutest diaper motorcycle, isn't she so talented?
 

Favors! don't you just love the gold safety pins?
 

 

 

It was such a lovely evening, I felt so special! Thank you to everyone that made this event possible, basically my entire family, and to everyone that came and participated, thank you for showering me.

Thanks for stopping by friends!

 

Nolan's Pirate Party / My Party Planning Secrets

Ahoy Mates!

Over the weekend, we had a most anticipated party of the year. Nolan's Pirate Birthday Party. I have been planning this for over a year. I think it was a huge success, it was so fun! And most importantly, Nolan had a blast! He is such a spoiled little buccaneer. Today, I am going to share some of my party planning tips and secrets, to a grand party celebration splurge, on a very small budget.

First of all, I like to plan the theme a year in advance, since my toddler loves a lot of things, it's easy for us to pick out a theme, and keep him interested in that theme. This makes it easier to shop for the specific theme.

 

 

 I plan all my birthday parties a year in advance. How do I manage to pull everything off on a tight and strict budget? Easy, I start purchasing throughout the year, anything on clearance, dollar rack, store, etc. it's all I ever purchase. It would appear as though I have money to spare and splurge, honestly I don't.
 For example, invitations such as these would cost me about 3 dollars each to purchase at the craft store, in mini. I made them for about 0.75 cents a piece. Soda bottles, free, I saved them from soda we got months and months ago! I just bought the corks, with a coupon from the craft store they ended up being about 0.25 cents each. I printed invites at the paper store, 0.50 cents each, more than I wanted to spend, but had to splurge for the color. Not to mention my hubs company discount also helped (unless your printer is up and running, unlike mine)

I absolutely love the way they turned out!

 

 

All décor you see here, purchased months in advance, the most expensive thing here is the cool Ship steering wheel, about $4 at the party store.

 

 

Cute favor bags, bought months in advance.

(Originally wanted to do wooden treasure chests for each of the kids, but the list kept growing and growing, at $1 each, not too bad, perhaps I would have done it, if I didn't have 25+ kids coming.)

 

 

Pyrat Rum labels, FREE! Click here for the website. I modified the labels just a little bit. Straws on sale at Craft store, last year!

 

 

This year I decided to have a mini candy buffet.

Again, these are the same labels used for the rum, tweaked by me.

 

 

 

My mother went all out, and made us a Pirate Ship.

Didn't she do a great job?

 

 

AMAZING!

 

 

Love the toothpick swords, fits the theme so well! As usual, she doesn't ever forget the details.

 

 

I just had to have these jello treats.

The kids loved them, the jello was so yummy!

Printed these little skull figures from the same website above, and tweaked them.

 

 

Ok, super cool cupcakes!

Doesn't it look like booty buried in mud?

 

 

Desserts, compliments of Debbie.
(Cool Desert décor, compliments of Nolan)

 

 

Ding Dong Cake, my mother-in-law's specialty. Again, super simple, but just right!

 

 

Love the way these cupcakes turned out!

 

 

A table for the children, eye patches and all!
Got these super adorable table clothes on sale, at Target, from last years collection. Dirt Cheap, no joke!

 

 

And of course, a ship-wreck Piñata!

This was seriously the biggest Piñata I have ever seen.
(Mexican Store)
FYI: if when looking for a piñata for your party, as you may know, the price tag is on the high end when you go to your local department stores, so don't be afraid to check your local Mexican store, the piñatas there are more traditional, and bigger, and half the price you would pay at the department store.

This year we decided to fill up with Toys, got a bunch of Pirate theme toys at the dollar store, yo ho ho! The kids were so surprised.

 

 

We even had a Tattoo Parlor for the kids
(A lot of these signs, I created myself, than printed for a pretty penny, and discount).

 

 

Compliments of the cool Jolley Roger Tattoo Artists,

A special thanks to Heidi and Ryan

 

 

Pirates only! All others had to walk the plank...above Shark infested Waters...

(Seriously all dollar store for the plank supplies, except the plank, old neighbors picket fence spare)

 

Thank you for all the cool gifts!

 

If you want to throw a big birthday party, but don't want to spend the money, just remember, plan a year in advance, throughout the year, shop, shop shop! Get everything on sale, clearance, dollar, last years collections, don't buy all at once, so you don't feel it too rough on your pocketbook. Also, set a budget, and stick to it! Our budget for everything, food included, was less than $200.00. Stick to the plan, and be ready to DIY. A lot of this stuff took a lot of mind planning, but also a lot of labor of love. If you enjoy doing it all, or have a strict budget, prepare to do it yourself a lot, and don't forget to have lots of patience.

Well, that's all for today, I hope you all took a little something from my little secrets to creating a successful theme birthday party on a budget.

 

Thank you for stopping by

xoxo