Ducky Birthday Party

Perhaps you have noticed that I have scaled way back on my posting. I realized near the end of last year that this blog, and all the cute craftiness that went with it, were taking my focus away from where it should be.  I was becoming guilty of craftiness for craftiness' sake, something I said here that I've always disliked.  Not only does it take away focus from my family and other priorities, it's also expensive!  So, things got a bit sparse while I was busy.

But, I don't want the blog to disappear, so I decided I'm going to occasionally write some posts about parties and projects that I did before I started this blog.  There's no law that says my projects have to have been done right before I blog them, right?  :)  Plus, I have a few projects coming up that I'm doing because I want to or need to, rather than as fodder for the blog, so I'll be posting a bit more often.

The party I'm posting today was my youngest's 2 year old birthday party (he just turned 5...).  It's probably the cutest party I've ever thrown.

At the time, he was WAY into ducks.  Duck books, duck toys, duck songs, he loved it all.  So, what better party theme than rubber ducks?

The centerpiece of it all was this cute duck cake.  I modified this tutorial from Betty Crocker to make it.  

I made a bunch of cute garlands by punching out blue and yellow circles with a punch and then sewing them together on my sewing machine.  Seriously the fastest thing ever.  I just pedal-to-the-metal-ed it with my machine pedal and stuck a new circle under the presser foot each time the previous circle moved through.  

I also picked up a bunch of cheap and cute rubber duckies to sit around as decoration.  My little guy has thoroughly enjoyed having a bath full of duckies ever since.  :)

The blue punch (I think it was Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid) was so cute with little duckies floating in it!  And, I was so excited to find out that Target's store brand's generic "goldfish" crackers looked like little ducks!  

The birthday boy and his guests were all just toddlers, so the entertainment was low-key.  I gathered every duck book I could get my hands on, from our bookshelves and the local library.  I read them all a story, and then let them peruse their own books.  

And, in a slightly crazy move, I actually let them all play with rubber ducks in an actual bathtub.  I mean, how CUTE is this rubber duck bathtub?!  I put a plastic tablecloth underneath and only an inch or two of water in it, and it actually turned out fine.  No spills.  

 

 It was such a fun party.  Now if only my little guy was still that little!  :)

These boy party ideas were also featured on Spaceships and Laser Beams.

Scientist Birthday Party

My twins turned 9 this month. It's my official policy that they only get a birthday party every other year.  Except, I never enforce this policy.  After throwing their Harry Potter birthday party last year, I decided that this year they were going to do something simple for their birthday.  No more parties.  Too expensive, too much stress.  Right?

And then birthday time rolls around and I just have too many good ideas for a party.  :)  I threw them a Science Birthday Party this year.   I was reminded of my idea to throw them a science party (it was in the running for last year's theme) when I came across fun little science-y things (like safety goggles and test tubes) in the dollar section at Target.  I love the dollar section at Target, don't you?  So, I broke my rule (again) and told my boys that they could only invite a few friends each and that this was going to be a simple, cheap party.  And, it was.  I love parties that are cute, but also easy and inexpensive.

A science party is a perfect party theme for this age.  They're at such a fun age--they're so excited about everything. They're Cub Scouts and love doing fun scout things like building and experimenting. They were super excited about getting to do some science experiments with their friends.

In keeping with the must-be-easy rule, I didn't start from scratch.  For invitations, I used these adorable printable invitations from Living Locurto.

 

The favor bags contained the safety goggles and test tubes from Target, some gloves, Nerds (because scientists are nerdy, right?), and glow-in-the-dark slime!

 

For the slime (which we made at the party, in addition to the ones I put together before hand), I used this "recipe" at Science Bob.  I love Science Bob!  There are so many fun experiments there.   I added some glow-in-the dark paint to make it glow in the dark (though I'm not sure if it worked...).  I made my own labels, too.  

I packaged the favors in white lunch sacks, with Living Locurto's caution stickers.  

I went with basic cupcakes, with orange frosting to match the decor.  I pre-scooped the ice cream into cupcake liners, so I didn't have to scoop at the party.  Such an awesome idea, courtesy of Real Simple. 

The only decorations were the yellow tablecloth and "The Lab" poster that I whipped up by printing out words and clipart and gluing to a piece of poster board.  

The supplies for the experiments kind of worked with the color scheme, though.

 

 The experiments (demonstrations, really) were a huge hit with the kids, even with the kids who came in saying they'd be boring.  The Oobleck was a huge hit.  

 

 

The fireworks in a jar were pretty fun, too.  

 

 

My personal favorite was the one where we blew up a balloon with a bottle.  It's the same vinegar and baking soda experiment as the old volcano eruption project (did you do that one in 5th grade like I did?), except without the mess.  

 

It was a fun (and inexpensive--I only spent about $15) party.  And, of course, my favorite part was when one of the party guests told me it was the best birthday party he'd ever been to in his whole life.  :)