Mommy Vignettes: September 2012

My daughter just turned 2 and we had a very successful and fun birthday party for her. In planning her birthday party, I didn't want to spend a lot of time or money doing it. Have you been on pinterest lately? Oh my word I cannot believe the types of parties people throw for their 2, 3, and 4 year olds. There are elaborate themes, every food item has to match the theme, and the table displays are insane! I have neither the time, money, or craftiness to do it like the pros. But I feel like I have some party planning tips and tricks that I'd like to share with you all to make your lives easier.

First of all, I used this tee pee that my mom made 20+ years ago for the kids to play in. I want to make one of my own!

I spray painted this old piece of furniture that was collecting dust on our patio. It turned out great. I displayed pictures of my daughter and had the silverware/servingware here for guests.

I used this idea again from last year where I display pictures of my daughter from the previous year so guests can see how much she's grown and changed over the last year. It's a really fun way to decorate, and inexpensive, and EASY! All you do is order prints from somewhere (Target, Costco, Walmart, Walgreens), then attach the pictures to colorful ribbon and hang it up!

We gave our daughter a Little Tikes swing. She loves swings!

The food was fantastic. My suggestion is to ask guests to bring something to the party. In our case, our family members offered to bring a side dish, so we took them up on it. It made our party planning so much easier knowing most of the food was already taken care of! We made BBQ chicken, it was the easiest recipe and turned out oh so good! Simply marinade the chicken in Coke and BBQ sauce overnight and cook!

So our photo booth idea was the biggest hit of the party. The kids absolutely loved it and it could have entertained them all evening. We simply hung up some wallpaper as the background, then used tons of different silly props! I found some free online printables for the mustaches, bow ties, bows, and lips. All I did was print them out in color on cardstock, cut them out, and tape them to straws. It took me about 15 minutes, that's all. I found a ton of cool glasses at Walmart and the Dollar Tree stores for super cheap ($1-$2 for a pack of 4). I also found a couple of old wooden frames at a second hand store for $2 each and simply spray painted them so the kids could hold them up! The hats also came from the Dollar Tree store and Target's dollar section.

This is my favorite one of my daughter! So silly!

I love these "Happy Birthday" glasses I found at the Dollar Tree.

Little Mr. Professor

See what I mean? The kids just kept wanting me to take picture after picture! It's a great keepsake for the kids too. I simply emailed the photos of the kids to their respective parents and it is a great way to remember your birthday party!

I had to throw this one in of me and my husband. We are so silly. I love it!

Our big present to our daughter was this Little Tykes slide. It usually costs $80-$90 retail but I found it online through our newspaper classifieds for under $40! Score!