CLICK HERE FOR FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES, LINK BUTTONS AND MORE! »

Monday, September 26, 2011

Happy 4th “Seussical” Birthday

Finally….I am getting around to post the long awaited the 4th Birthday Party!

This year’s theme was “long” in the planning…down to every detail!  I was determined not to be caught at the last minute with a 1000 things to do…so I started early!  Very early!  And, it was so worth it…at times, it felt like the end of July would never get here, but I was definitely ready!

And a very special thanks goes out to everyone that made this day possible!  Thanks “Grannie Jo” for letting us use and abuse your house as we turned it upside down into a virtual “Seuss-land” and fill it with tons of little “Whos” and their parents!  Also, a big thanks goes out to her husband Manuel for helping with the party day set-up!  Thanks to Tommie for saving the day with the bags after the Oriental Trading flop!  Thanks to Luciane & Janek for hosting Amelia for 24 hours the week before the party so that I could construct the cake that all the bakers told me was impossible.  Thanks to Haydee Caskee Photography for photographing the day…I would have NO photos without her!  I literally took no pictures…there was no time for me to pick up my camera!  Here’s a link to her facebook page as well!!!  Thanks to Cookies and Cream Party Rentals for making sure that the Cat in the Hat himself was a special guest at the party!  A special thanks goes out to Little Darlings…a home-based children’s boutique, for providing us with Amelia’s adorable outfit!  I literally had tears the day this precious little number arrived on our doorstep!! The generosity of strangers is truly amazing and Little Darlings proved that there are still good people in this world!  More thanks go out to Cassie at Goldilocks Creations for the Thing 1 & Thing 2 shirts, to Christie of CJD-Custom Jewelry Designs for Amelia’s bracelet, to Marcella for lending me all her baking supplies because LORD knows I do not own those things myself, and to PurplePossom on Etsy for the CD Labels we used as part of the goody bag. And of course, I can’t leave out google!  Without google, the brainstorming would have been so much slower…there are a wealth of ideas out there if you look.  A lot of these ideas came from things already done by others…some of them where inspired by things I saw on other’s blogs…and some are truly my own…but I certainly can’t take credit for it all alone!!  A huge thanks to Chris for enduring the months of prep that took over our tiny condo, for his endless work with the box cutter, for his late night runs to JoAnn’s for cake ingredients and various cake dyes and other supplies, and for his equal passion for the themed parties.  I am forever grateful to every single one [and I am sure I missed someone…I’m sorry] of you for your love & support when you thought I was crazy, for your help when I really needed it, and for the generosity of everyone involved!

So here goes…

The morning of July 30th, Chris, Grandmomela, and I were out the door early to get Grannie Jo’s house turned into Seuss-land.  Chris sat in the back of the Pilot with the very important task of “Cake Protector!”  We made it to Grannie Jo’s house without any cake mishaps…and began the decorating make-over!

There were characters in the front yard….characters in the house…characters in the backyard!  Chris and Manuel staked character after character and Truffula Tree after Truffula Tree into the ground.  I hung banners and other décor, while Grandmomela set up the food tables, folded hats and covered boxes!

4th BDay Amelia_00104th BDay Amelia_00014th BDay Amelia_0009

4th BDay Amelia_0012

4th BDay Amelia_00184th BDay Amelia_0027

I went home, showered, changed into party wear [yes, we had special party wear] and headed back to Grannie Jo’s to finish last minute decorations and get the food set up!  A huge thanks goes out to my friend Robyn for coming along with me to help.  And, boy oh boy was she a huge help!  Even after the party officially started, she kept the food platters full and the area nice and tidy!  The guests started arriving right on time…Bring on Seuss!

4th BDay Amelia_0003

4th BDay Amelia_00194th BDay Amelia_00224th BDay Amelia_0014

The hat stand complete with props for the photo booth, Cat in the Hat hat with one of many books, hand-crafted centerpieces featuring characters from the many books by Dr. Seuss

4th BDay Amelia_0029

Hats for everyone!

We had a pinwheel craft for the little “Whos” to make when they first arrived!  This was Amelia’s choice…she really wanted pinwheels, so we ordered pinwheel kits from Oriental Trading! 

4th BDay Amelia_00724th BDay Amelia_0076

4th BDay Amelia_0061

Then, once everyone arrived, it was game time!  We started with a relay race.  The little “Whos” were split into two groups for the race [and lots of parent help made this game possible!!].  Each member of each team had to carry one of Horton’s clovers on a spoon to one end of the yard and back completely dressed in Cat in the Hat costumes.  Once back at the starting point, the costume was shed by one “Who” and the next “Who” got dressed…repeat…repeat…repeat!  It was a hoot…super adorable…and the kids had a blast!

4th BDay Amelia_0117-24th BDay Amelia_0096-24th BDay Amelia_0110-2

4th BDay Amelia_0095-2

What Seuss Party would be complete with “Pin the Heart on the Grinch”…because his heart grew three sizes that day!!!  I forgot the blindfold…so we improvised and used the adult size hat and pulled it all the way down over the “Who’s” heads!  It worked perfectly!

4th BDay Amelia_01384th BDay Amelia_0142-24th BDay Amelia_0162

I had planned a third game, but decided to scrap it at the last minute.  The “Whos” were having such a great time just playing, that we just decided to let them run and play!  It was so much fun watching them!

4th BDay Amelia_0082

4th BDay Amelia_0083-24th BDay Amelia_0078

Apparently Nick needed a feather boa to complete the look!

The food table was open during the entire party, but at about this time, I tried to get everyone to eat before our special guest arrived!  In hindsight, I would have moved the food to a better location.  I chose indoors due to the a/c, but it would have been easier to access outside on the bar.

4th BDay Amelia_00504th BDay Amelia_0048

4th BDay Amelia_0052

All of the food was themed and named after some aspect of a Dr. Seuss book.  Some were made up by us, while others came from ideas garnered from the months of stalking other Seuss Party ideas on the internet!  Can’t take credit for everything! [wink]

After [ok, well during] the food hour, our special guest arrived!  The Cat in the Hat himself was able to clear his calendar for a visit.  We sent him and e-mail months in advance, but were not sure he would make it until the last minute [THANKS Aunt Candy!]  He danced and entertained all the little “Whos”…gave out lots and lots of hugs!  He even helped us sing Happy Birthday and cut the cake!

4th BDay Amelia_0186

4th BDay Amelia_01984th BDay Amelia_02054th BDay Amelia_0208-2

Amelia’s face when she first saw him, Dancing with the Cat, big hugs from the Cat

4th BDay Amelia_0218-2

And now it’s time for cake!  It only took 18 hours to make this cake and mere seconds to “kill” it!

4th BDay Amelia_0222-24th BDay Amelia_02244th BDay Amelia_0221-2

4th BDay Amelia_0227-2

4th BDay Amelia_0241

Two layers gone…just like that!  They layers of the cake were also dyed red and blue!

After cake, we gathered all the little “Whos” for the piñata…and for the 2nd year in a row, the darn thing would not break and one of the dad’s came to the rescue and ripped it open so the mayhem could begin!

4th BDay Amelia_0251

4th BDay Amelia_02564th BDay Amelia_0261

Handing out the pull-strings, FAIL!, Elier to the rescue!

4th BDay Amelia_0270

4th BDay Amelia_0267-2

Before the Cat in the Hat had to leave, we gathered the little “Whos” one last time for a group photo with the Cat.  It’s darn hard to get that many little “Whos” to all look at the camera and smile at the same time!  So many outtakes…hilarious!

4th BDay Amelia_0281-2

Somehow, there are “Whos” missing from this photo!  Don’t know how that happened!  But I do have to point out how much I love that Amelia and EJ are holding hands.  That’s two years in row!!!

4th BDay Amelia_0289-2

4th BDay Amelia_0297-2

The Cat in the Hat has to leave shortly after this little photo shoot…we sent him with a huge plate of “cat” food, cold bottles of water, and some cake. We were certain he was hungry and very thirsty after all that dancing! Once he left, we handed out prizes for the remaining games that had been going on throughout the party, had one more craft, and handed out the goody bags the goody bags!

4th BDay Amelia_0036

4th BDay Amelia_03014th BDay Amelia_00354th BDay Amelia_0302

We had two candy estimation jars…see that adorable little book???  The very talented Karisa Hess of Left Circles Scrapbooking sent that to Amelia for her birthday!  It is so stinkin’ cute inside and out!

4th BDay Amelia_03324th BDay Amelia_0323

The winners of the candy jars!

4th BDay Amelia_0326

The winners of the “Wocket in my Pocket” game…about 200 little “Wockets” were hidden before the party inside and outside.  The family who collected/found the most “Wockets” won a family prize. 

4th BDay Amelia_0037

I planned a photo booth complete with props and a backdrop! Everyone had a chance to get there photo taken.  The photos were printed during the party so that the guests could use them to complete a frame craft!  It was one of my favorite parts of the party!

4th BDay Amelia_03124th BDay Amelia_0309

4th BDay Amelia_03154th BDay Amelia_0316

Here are the photos that everyone used for their craft! You’ll have to click on the link to see the slideshow!!

We had a great time…Everyone I spoke to after the party said they had a great time as well!  And here’s the reason I love to plan these parties!!

4th BDay Amelia_0172-2

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!  I can’t believe you are already 4!!!  We love you so very much!

11 comments:

  1. WOW!! Do you know how to plan a party!! Amazing! Ameila is a lucky little one!! I see a huge Dr. Suess celebration in your school's future ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loved watching it all unfold on fb and even more in love with it all in one post. I hope you don't mind if I PIN some of your pics in hopes that one of my little ones asks for a Seuss party next year. It'll link back to you of course. ;) Loved it all. =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. WHAT AN AMAZING PARTY..I AM PLANNING ONE JUST LIKE THIS FOR MY SONS 1ST BIRTHDAY I LOOK YOUR IDEAS BUT IS THERE ANYWAY U WOULD LET ME KNOW ALL THE FOOD YOU MADE AND WHAT U CALLED THEM...OR WHERE TO FIND THE FOOD IDEA??? THANK U SOOO MUCH

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks everyone! Britney...I sent you an email! I'm glad to help!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi - where did you get your character cut-outs? Or, would you be willing to sell yours? Our school gala theme is Dr. Seuss!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Karen,
    Please email me at edug8r97 [at] hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi- i would love to know where you got all your character cut-outs? i love your party!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for the comment and love! I made all of the cut-outs using large appliance boxes. I sketched them out using images from the books as guides and used a box cutter to carefully cut each character out. Then, I used acrylic paint to bring them to life!

    ReplyDelete
  9. **** FOUR STARS!!! So super Ka-yute!! I sent you an email about the cutouts. I would love to have them for my Irish Twin boys birthday party. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi! First I want to say you have such talent. I love love love what you did with this theme. My twins are turning five and Im super excited to do this one for their birthday.I see how you made the characters but how did you make the truffulas trees?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Apparently my life got crazy once she entered school and my little blog got ignored! Wish I got notifications that I had new comments so I could have answered sooner! Sorry about that!!! The truffulas trees were made from the inside core of fabric rolls and topped with tissue paper puffs.

    ReplyDelete