Pirate Birthday Party & Treasure Hunt

If you've been reading our blog for a while than you know we love all things pirate. It was only a matter of time until one of the boys asked for a pirate themed party. So with Big Brother turning 7 - and asking for a treasure hunt - it was the perfect time for this theme. And of course, we were excited to again team up with The Oriental Trading Company and their awesome party supply resources to create this event!

This party took a lot longer to arrive than we originally planned. First, Big Brother wanted it outside, which meant waiting for the snow to melt. Then, everyone in the house got the flu - as did several of the expected party guests - which meant pushing the party out another week. And the day we finally were able to host the party? A pretty mixed weather day with several rainy spells - which made all our plans a little tricky.

But despite the delays and the weather - the party was a huge success for both the guests and the birthday guy himself.

Dinosaur Birthday Party

This month Little Brother turned 4, and if you've been reading with us for a while now you know that we love fun birthday themes over here at Kitchen Floor Crafts! For this birthday we decided to go with a "Dinosaur Birthday Party" theme!

For this post we were excited to team up with Oriental Trading Company to come up with some great favors, paper goods, and more! We also created some favorite old activities that fit perfectly this birthday party theme.

Easy Pool Party Cupcakes & Pool Party Ideas

You may have noticed we've been a little quiet on our posts this month. The school year wrapped up in such a whirlwind it took just about all my energy to keep us moving through it. And while we've been quiet here online, we've actually still been pretty busy as a family. End of school year events, barbecues, a friends' wedding, Father's Day . . .

Despite the busyness, one thing we really wanted to do to kick off summer was to have a small "pool" party in the backyard. While our pool is not officially large (we purchased an Intex Pool 12ft by 30in this spring) the boys are pretty excited about it none the less.

So as promised, on the first Friday of our summer vacation we invited several friends and their parents over, set out snacks and cupcakes, put some other fun toys out in the yard, and kicked off summer in full pool party style. 

These cupcakes turned out so fun, I couldn't help but share them! And make sure you check out our other fun tips for a fun and successful backyard pool party. 

Mini Golf Birthday Party

About a year ago Big Brother discovered the fun of mini-golfing and he loved going several times over the summer months. He was pretty excited to discover that because there was less snow and frost this winter, our local mini golf place was already open for his birthday.

He quickly asked to have a handful of kindergarten friends join him for a birthday party at the mini-golf center.  I was excited, as it meant an easy location with not a lot of set up or clean up, although it did take thinking through logistics a little.

Simple Firefighter Birthday Party Theme

Little Brother is the kind of kiddo who when he makes up his mind he's pretty set on what he wants. In September (yes, September, as in 7 months ago September) he told me he wanted a firefighter birthday party. And he stuck to it all the way to the birthday party last weekend.

For his party we decided just to have a few playdate friends over. It was nice to have a small crowd and to focus on a few simple activities.

I will admit, I was surprised not to find more firefighter party products at our local party sources, but we got a little creative and has fun with some of our ideas!

Ocean Birthday Party

As we've mentioned before, we love sharing our birthday party ideas here at Kitchen Floor Crafts. This Ocean Birthday Party for Big Brother's 5th birthday was especially memorable as it was the first time he really participated in preparing for the event.

But I should add these are real parties planned by me, a real mom. Sometimes I love the party themes and ideas I find on Pinterest, I'm in awe of how coordinated they are. But then I realize many of them are put together by professionals. These parties are our real parties, captured in the moment as I also try and run the party. They are still hugely successful, and we've loved every one!

Simple Circus Animal Birthday Party Ideas

Last month we celebrated Little Brother's 2nd Birthday. It's amazing to me not only how quickly this birthday came up, but that he's already been two for a whole month!

Usually we have the boys' birthday parties either at home or at a small town hall we can easily rent. In the past we've done both an Outer Space Birthday and a Construction Birthday at our local town hall. But this birthday wound up overlapping with another event, and it was easier to use a restaurant space. This meant I really had to simplify what we were planning for activities and how much I was bringing into the restaurant.

Little Brother's love of animals did inspire some fun with Circus Animals. Here are a few of our Simple Circus Animal Birthday Ideas. 

Outer Space Birthday

As you already know from Little Brother's Construction Birthday party last month, we love themes for our birthday parties. When Big Brother asked for an Astronaut Outer Space Party I knew there were a lot of fun ideas we could use for that theme.

This was Big Brother's first "friend party" instead of a family party and it was really exciting for both of us to put together projects and games for a group of kids. We wound up with a bigger group than we originally expected but it all went really well!

1st Birthday Construction Party

Last week we celebrated Little Brother's first birthday. It's hard to believe how fast this year has gone, or how quickly my little guy is turning into a big guy.

I had a lot of fun getting ready for his first birthday party, and I have to thank Pinterest for most of my inspiration. The danger in perusing Pinterest is sometimes the parties are just so well put together and so well planned, that you forget they are not always the real party but something put together for show. As I looked my favorite parties were the ones that are real family parties, like the one we threw for Little Brother. The best part was, we had so much of this stuff, we didn't need to buy too much.

Bon Voyage Party

Each year my college friends and I find an opportunity to gather as a larger group for at least one long weekend. Although technology and social media allow us to keep tabs on one another from a distance, it's still not the same as the chance to get together in person. Sometimes the gatherings take a lot of preplanning and emails, as we travel from 5 different states and 7 different daily lives, but it's always worth it in the end. When I tell people about our gatherings, I usually add that we haven't been out of college that long so it's still manageable. That was until I recently realized we're quickly approaching our ten year reunion . . . which has given me a new sense of pride in our efforts to stay connected as a group and a greater sense of appreciation for these continuing friendships. 

No group gathering is complete without at least one attempt of a group shot. 

As we gathered over the Fourth of July weekend we not only looked forward to seeing one another, but also to celebrating the courageous and exciting life change of one of our friends. She has decided to move from her home and job in the United States to a position and home overseas in England. We wanted to celebrate her moving with a small, backyard "Bon Voyage" party and decided to go with a garden tea party with map and airplane themed decorations.

I made most of the decorations at home, and needed them to be easily transportable in the already overly packed car, so most of them were made out of paper. I used everyday materials I could find at home or the craft store. 

I used maps from the local "Welcome Center" to create a flag garland and used brown package paper with white poster paint to make a banner. Although I wanted to locate a true globe to display, instead I wound up using an inflatable one as I knew it would pack more easily. 

I'd been saving the four paper lanterns from the dollar store for a while, and they went perfectly with the colors of the maps. I used some cloud printer paper to create a garland of about thirty paper airplanes. The planes were folded in the traditional "old school" way and then threaded onto fishing line with a large needle. 

I made a few extra airplanes and attached some on craft wire to create an airplane arrangement. We also tucked some of the extra airplanes around the table. We used large white doilies on the table and trays to add to the theme of a garden tea party. 

Food included tea sandwiches, lemon cupcakes, chocolates, candies, fresh fruit, iced tea, and champagne.

 We discovered pretty much anything goes these days for tea sandwiches, so we had four options:

1) Cucumbers and alouette cheese on whole wheat cocktail bread. 

2) Honey ham, brie cheese, honey mustard, and green apple on baguette. 

3) Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil leaves and olive oil on roasted garlic bread. 

4) Goat cheese, pecans, and fig jam on cinnamon raisin bread. 

We loved the breezy backyard of one friend's cottage for the setting and the tent another friend brought gave us a place to hang all the decorations. Even the colorful wooden chairs added to the ambiance. In all a really nice celebration and kick off to the weekend. 

The guest of honor. Bon Voyage my dear!

Additional note: This theme and decorations could also be used and added to in order to create a great boy's birthday party. I'm already thinking . . .