Happy Birthday Season! It's that time of year again where my littles change their age once more. I kinda wish it would stop happening, but because I don't have that kind of control I guess I might as well throw an amazing party for the memories. :)
I've been very sick this year (strange medical anomaly that the Drs nor I can figure out...according to medicine/tests I'm the picture of health) so because of this, this year's party is scaled down from my previous years. I still wanted it to be fun and since I knew how to decorate my house it did make it easier. Because of such illness, I relied more on commercial products rather than making my own everything. To my happiness, it was still a great party and everyone had a wonderful time! This was the most well attended shebang that we've ever had and I think we set a record for the amount of people in my house. I LOVED it!!
Anyway, M decided he wanted a TMNT party (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Both boys have seen the movies and love the characters. Also, it doesn't hurt that my husband grew up loving them too, so it was a bit of nostalgia for him as well.
On with the pics!!
Let's start with the favors. I made these masks out of felt and fleece (whatever was on sale) for each child to wear. Surprisingly enough, the Purple ones ran out before anything else. There is one for each color of turtle (the darker "blue" is actually purple). It was super easy too...nothing fancy, just cut the pieces in strips and then measured my little turtle for where his eyes were and then cut circles so he could see.
We also had little buckets that we found at the Dollar Spot at Target. We stuffed them with TMNT Stickers, some crazy straws and a few pieces of leftover Halloween candy! :)
Of course, you can see next to it, my signature Birthday Subway Art. I make one of these every year for the kids. I really think it's adorable and adds a nice touch. If you want your own, you can purchase one personalized to your little on my
Etsy Site!
The other thing that I really wanted to do for favors was create shells for all the little guests. The only problem is that I could only find 1. It is made of a chip tray from the Dollar Tree but after literally searching the entire city, this 1 you see here is the only green tray in existence. Very frustrating, but at least M got to feel special.
For the table, again I had to keep it simple, so I just purchased a TMNT tablecloth and added some streamers down the center.
There were LOTS of guests, so we had to set up an additional table. They just got the streamers on their table. :)
For the centerpieces, I found these green pails at the Dollar Tree, set them upside down and then tied streamers around them and colored in eyes. It was cheap and simple and added just enough to not look completely bare.
Just because I wanted to, I also hung some green balloons from the ceiling with the different colored streamers. Again, easy and decorative. :)
I also had this Happy Birthday Banner that I added to our mirror just for fun.
To welcome all the guests I made this again, simple sign and hung it on our door.
It totally matches the invitations that I made!! :)
Again, you can totally get your own on my
Etsy Site!
Also, did you know that you can reuse old Mylar balloons? You can keep them after they have deflated and either take them back to your local party store to re-inflate with helium, or you can just use a balloon pump like I did and re-inflate with plain old air!
It doesn't float of course, but looks cute on top of my lamp. :)
Our birthday chair of course needs to be decorated too...here's the simple and effective way for that!!
Streamers and balloons...the theme of the event! I found this birthday banner at Target of course and the personalized part?...plates. Just plain old TMNT plates that I used a sharpie on. :)
Now let's get on to the food. My favorite part! :) Here's the full spread...
The background is just a plastic tablecloth with again, some streamers and a sharpie.
Up top, it's another plastic tablecloth tied with...you guessed it...streamers. :)
The food was very simple to put together and I'm lucky that these are all of M's favorite foods anyway. :)
We'll start with the healthy stuff (surprisingly enough, this is M's preferred fare...he LOVES broccoli)...I know...I'm blessed. :)
Mikey's Veggies: Broccoli, carrots and the eyes are marshmallows with olive slices on top. The smile is also made of black olives.
Raphael's Fruit: Green grapes and strawberries. Again, the eyes are marshmallows and sliced olives. Smile is also olives. :) Adorable, I know.
Sewer Lids: Oreo Cookies...easy
Turtle Food: Pizza. We had 2 kinds, Pepperoni (because that's the turtle's favorite) and Hawaiian (because that's my turtle's favorite)
Sugar Cookie Pizzas: As an activity, we had all the kids make their own "pizzas" with Sugar Cookies, Red frosting as "sauce", Coconut as "cheese" and M&Ms and Skittles as their "peperoni." It was a BIG hit!!
Some of the beautiful and delicious creations.
To drink we had a couple of things.
Toxic Slime: This is just your basic Lime Sherbet and Sprite punch.
Turtle Juice: I know it looks a little morbid, but M wanted Fruit Punch as well, so I had to think of something.
And of course...
Cowabunga Cake: This is your basic triple layer Dark Chocolate Cake with Green Buttercream Icing. One good thing about having a birthday near Christmas is that the Green frosting is available and on sale. :)
I just wrapped a streamer around the cake, attached some marshmallows for the eyes and used some gel icing to pipe the pupils and Chi's Name.
I get a little giddy around cake time. LOL
This is the coolest candle by the way! It lights up and changes colors. Really cool for a kid's birthday cake (found at Walmart).
I think he liked it. :)
Here's one more picture of all the food for you. Even though it was a small spread (almost all of it was eaten...yippie), we had a great time and the kids loved it. The pizza helps I think.
Well, that's it for my Birthday Tour. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great time throwing your very own TMNT birthday party for your special Turtle! :)
