A Paris-Themed 10th Birthday Party

Another year older meant another themed birthday party for my daughter.  Her 10th birthday was no exception as we brought Paris to the Midwest with a pink & damask themed party.  I held the party at my salon which made it incredibly easier in terms of prep, clean-up & activities. (I was extremely limited on time for party planning & prepping in general as it was our bridal season.) 

I dragged out an old Stampin' Up! stamp kit & pink paper to make the invites & we held a little day of fashion & beauty for the girls -- very Parisian.  Guests were encouraged to wear pink as well.  I made simple passports for the girls which they were given upon arrival &, as they visited each station or completed each activity, they received a stamp in their passport.  The party palette was bright pink with black & white damask.  I honestly did not have to do much decorating because I had some items I was able to reuse from my damask-themed wedding & my salon is already decorated with damask & neutral accents.  The thing is, I'm all about reusing.  I mean, why buy all new stuff when you can reuse items?  Plus, with my salon already decorated with damask, it only makes sense to work with existing decor.  My biggest decoration splurge was a white Eiffel Tower from Hobby Lobby for under $10.  

The girls received salon services:  manis, pedis, mini facials, makeup touches & a "runway ready" hairstyle of their choosing.  My daughter insisted on a French twist with loose curled tendrils around her face.  (The professional stylist in me cringed when she asked for the dated hairstyle but the birthday girl gets what the birthday girl wants!)  

For the activities, the girls designed & created their own fascinators.  I picked up plain headbands & then glued on large felt circles as a base for their designs.  I picked up feathers, faux flowers, ribbon & butterflies and they were encouraged to come up with their own unique look.  (Supplies were bought at Michaels & Joann Fabrics and, thanks to coupons, everything cost me less than $30.)  

The activity table & one of the girls' passports.

I also created a matching game for them where they needed to find the correct English to French translation pair.  

Once everyone's salon-spa services & fascinators were finished, we had them do a little runway show to model their creations around the salon floor for the adults in attendance.  

My daughter's fascinator a la mode.

Then it was snack time.  I made a triple layer cake.  Frankly, I thought it was absolutely hideous with its pink frosting & sugar sprinkles.  My daughter adored it.  I took pre-made store croissants & cut them into smaller portions.  (I had tried to find mini croissants but to no avail.)  I melted some chocolate chips then drizzled them over the croissant pieces.  I also purchased those little pre-made chocolate eclairs you find in the tubs in the frozen food section.  We also served French Vanilla ice cream.  For beverages, I made a sparkling pink lemonade (pink lemonade + club soda garnished with berries).  I also attempted to make pink macaroons from scratch.  That was more disastrous than the cake.  The first batch was completely burnt & the subsequent batches were still pretty lame.  But I needed a gluten free option for two of the girls and as they are made from almond meal I thought it was a good idea -- in theory.  I think I leave the macaroon making to pastry chefs from here on out.

The activity table transformed to a dessert table ... with my poor hubby surrounded by pink ladies!

Despite my limited time & budget for the party, it still came together quite nicely & the girls seemed to enjoy themselves.  A simple trip to Paris for some fashionable 'tweens in just under 3 hours!  

Fred & Ginger Go Camping

The view from our campsite at Black River Harbor in the Ottawa National Forest.

Bob & I have talked about going camping since we started dating ... and finally got around to it last summer.  (Per usual, I am a bit late in posting.)  We went over the border into the UP to Black River Harbor on a friend's recommendation.  It was fabulous.  There were only two other campsites in use so we pretty much had the run of the grounds to ourselves ... AND, major bonus, they had indoor toilets.  I am all for roughing it in a tent but I will never turn away from a flushing, indoor commode.  We enjoyed our trip so much we already have plans to go camping twice this year and Bob found some great treasures during garage sale season at the end of last summer so I know this year is going to be even more amazing.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's focus on last year's trip.

Hacking into the wood ... minus the power saw.



 

Our camping trip was a wonderful couple's trip that helped fuel the fire of our marriage & lead to some interesting discoveries about each other.  For instance, I discovered my husband is a bit of a glamper.  He brought a set of the good sheets from home, an air mattress and ... power tools.  I also discovered he is not at peace with nature.  From the moment we started setting up camp, he was creating quite a ruckus with he power saws, etc. as he hacked into wood for our eventual campfires.

But I will say the man is incredibly efficient at setting up camp in a jif.  He had the tent & everything else set up in probably under an hour.  And we were able to start enjoying our little vacation right away -- once the noise of the power tools quieted.  We set off exploring the nearby waterfalls which are just amazing & pictures cannot do them justice.

One of the many waterfalls at Black River Harbor.

We hit all of them -- there's a series of them.  There are these handy little signs that let you know how many miles you need to hike to get to the actual waterfalls.  What the signs don't tell you is that some of the waterfalls have "stairs of death" that you must descend and then ascend in order to view their glory.  And after a few sets of death stairs, Bob started asking other hikers on the trail if the "stairs to view ratio" was worth it.  I'd say there was only one waterfall that wasn't worth the stairs to view ratio but we still saw them all over the course of our trip.  (Note to fellow hikers & campers:  Bring lots of water.  You will get thirsty as all hell climbing those stairs of death.)  At one point we snuck off the approved trail onto an older trail and found a really beautiful, serene spot with mini waterfalls.  I felt so at one with nature ... until a I noticed a puff of smoke go by my head and turned to see Bob huffing away at a cigerette.  Apparently all that hiking in nature was giving him a little too much pure oxygen.

Stairs of Death.

In addition to the fabulous waterfalls, there is the harbor itself with a great beach on the lake that you can have campfires on.  We had a wonderful romantic evening on the beach on our last night of the trip.  I was almost able to pretend we were on the ocean.  The weather was a little rainy off & on during the time we were there which actually worked out in our favor because it meant less people to deal with on the beach.  Yay for couples' alone time!

At the beach on Lake Superior.

Grilled New England Seafood Bake a la Martha Stewart.

Besides the great hiking & views, we enjoyed some pretty awesome camping food.  I did one of my favorite Martha Stewart fish recipes (and just swapped out the parchment paper for foil).  It's so good & hearty with corn, potatoes, fish, shrimp & lemon.  Here's the link for the recipe:  Grilled New England Seafood Bake.  I also did an amazing clean-eating Jambalaya recipe which you can find here:  Clean Eating Cajun Jambalaya.  I also came up with some recipes of my own as well, including a little something I call Bob's Hobo Breakfast.  It's delish & very filling.  Here is the recipe:

The chopped up prep ingredients.

3 Russet Potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 Red Pepper, coarsely chopped & seeds removed
2 tablespoons parsely, chopped fine
2 strips bacon, cooked (I used the leftovers from breakfast the day before)
4 eggs, shaken in a baggy

Potatoes sizzling away!

I fried up the potatoes in a bit of bacon grease leftover from the day before until golden then added
the red paper & fried up a couple minutes more.  Then I added the bacon by breaking into pieces into the cast iron skillet & poured the eggs over the entire mixture & sprinkled with the parsley.  I stirred it up until the eggs were cooked & voila!  Super easy & delicious.

Bob's Hobo Breakfast -- ready to eat!

Now, there are a couple of other camping essentials that I took with on our trip besides the good food.  I cannot live without my Starbucks so the VIAs were a must.  And, while I am not a fan of box wine, I am a fan of protecting the environment while camping ... so I picked up a box of Bota and was actually surprised at how good it was as far as box wine goes.  (I did have a little trouble opening the box initially which Bob delighted in giving my a hard time over.)

Box wine -- keepin' it classy while camping!

Just because you're camping doesn't mean ya can't have your Starbucks.

 While this was a couple's triip, we did have one extra companion with us and that was our dog, Gryf.  I was amazed at how well he did on the trip.  We brought his crate along with us and he hung out in there while we did our hiking and slept in there in the tent with us at night.  He seemed to really enjoy his time in the outdoors ... but I imagine his biggest frustration was not being able to go after a red squirrel that kept taunting him evily from up a tree.

Gryffindor, sunning himself at the campsite.

As I said, we had a wonderful trip & can't wait to go again.  We plan to hit Copper Falls with our daughter this summer as well as take another trip back to Black River Harbor.  Stay tuned for new camping recipes & more!

Fred & Ginger Get Married ~ A Black & White Damask Wedding with Cobalt Blue Accents

The Back Story

Anyone who knows me knows I am a total damask freak.  So it seemed only natural to choose black & white damask as my wedding theme.  I knew I wanted a pop of colour as well, though.  So, after consulting with my husband-to-be, we chose a brilliant cobalt blue from one of his favorite dress shirts.  (Seriously, we carried that shirt around all over the place for a while trying to make sure we got the colour right.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  How did Fred & Ginger meet?  (And why the heck do we call ourselves Fred & Ginger?)  Well, long story short, I was friends with Bob’s roommate who worked at a local martini bar/dance club.  One night I decided to introduce myself to him … and our friendship blossomed from there.  And with great chemistry like that, it wasn’t long before we started falling head over heels in love with each other.   Bob proposed to me on Valentine’s Day 2011 with a stunning yellow diamond ring … and that brings us to where we are now.  (P.S.  Bob’s alias when he gets a little rowdy on the town is Fred Rogers and, after I dyed my hair red, people started calling me Ginger.  When we first started hanging out & recognized the great chemistry we had – like Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire – we thought it was fun to refer to ourselves as Fred & Ginger.)

 

 

The Bridal Party

After we were engaged, I instantly knew I wanted my two sisters, Laura & Jayne, to stand up in the wedding.  And I totally believe in the “rule of threes” … so I rounded out my leading ladies with my best friend, Meghan.  My daughter from my first marriage wanted to play an important role as well but we both agreed she was too mature to be a floofy little flower girl, so we made her a junior bridesmaid.  As for the gents, Bob chose is best friend Cory & two of his close guy friends, Josh & Jeremy.  He also asked another good friend, Mike, to act as usher.  We had a little drama on the guys’ side as the wedding date neared …  (Friends, NEVER discuss politics over more than one bottle of wine … it makes for harsh words & hurt feelings) and the best man had to decline his role when his work schedule changed just weeks before the big day.  Thankfully, our other three guys rose to the ranks & we added on a new usher, our good friend & game night buddy, Randy.  And all was right in the world.  As for our officiant, we found out at our friend, Adam’s, annual Thanksgiving dinner party that he is a licensed officiant in our state, so we instantly assigned him to bring us together in “mahr-wage.”

 

 

The Ceremony

 We wanted to have a smaller, intimate ceremony with just immediate family & the friends who were standing up for us in the wedding.  Famous last words, right?  Right.  It really didn’t take long for a guest list of 20 to get to 120.  And when you’re renting chairs for an outdoor affair, it freaks you out a little bit.  We had to pare down the list so many times & dealt with a lot of drama from certain family members … but eventually got the list down to 95 & ended up with about 75 with a few crashers who, thankfully, were more than happy to stand off to the side to view the ceremony.  We chose our local historical museum gardens as the setting & it truly was a beautiful ceremony.  No floral arrangements were needed because everything in the garden was in full bloom. 

 

 

 

My girls wore delicate, black chiffon, tea-length dresses.  My daughter wore a cobalt blue satin dress with a black tulle overlay that held lots of shimmery sequins within its folds.  Personally, I was not a fan of the dress … but I wanted her to be happy with what she was wearing & it did add a nice pop of colour.  She also talked me into letting her wear a tiara – which I HATE – but, again, I wanted her to feel special.  My girls carried stunning white & black bouquets formed from dahlias, roses & dusty miller ... and accented with whimsical, curvy Hawaiian fern fronds as a nod to our growing up on Oahu. I wore a charmeuse, fit-and-flare, full-length, one-shoulder gown from Ella Bridal that featured an open back with a sash connecting to the shoulder strap accented with organza flowers. My bouquet consisted of white roses, dusty miller and black & white anemones.  (Fun fact:  a lot of the dusty miller in the bouquets came from my very own garden.)  We each also wore a blue feather from Fine Featherheads to carry through our signature color of cobalt blue.  For the ceremony, I wore my hair down in soft romantic curls with a braid through the top front.  The girls wore black shoes of their choice ... while I chose a pair of strappy, cobalt blue kitten heels. We all wore SpaRitual cobalt blue nail lacquer in Circle of Life on our toes. The gents wore black pants & vests paired with white, French-cuff shirts & cobalt blue ties. Each man wore a boutonnière I handmade from various black & white grosgrain ribbons & unique black buttons.  During the ceremony, my husband & I presented white Hawaiian orchid leis to our mothers in thanks for all they have done for us over the years. After the ceremony & photos, the bridal party went to dinner at a local restaurant, Wish, where my fiancé had proposed the year before on Valentine's Day.

 

The Reception

We always joked about the horrible “chicken dinners” you see so often get at weddings and, as we were paying the majority of our wedding expenses and wanted to keep the budget down; we decided to do a desserts & cocktails reception.  Honestly, doing a reception that way was more our style anyway.  We wanted to recreate our Retro Club days as that’s where we met and worked for so long.  And we love desserts and liquors, so it really fit us better anyway.

 

 

 

 The reception was at a local restaurant and brewery, the Great Dane, which allowed us to host some really great beers for our guests.  We went with Crop Circle Wheat, Stone of Scone Scotch Ale, Saison (a seasonal ale) & Landmark Lite.  We also hosted spumante sparkling wine (which, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who drank it) and two signature cocktails of red & white sangria which I made adorable little drink stirrer flags for.  The Dane also made us delicious chocolate covered strawberries, mini strawberry cheesecakes & chocolate fudge stout brownies.  The vast majority of our desserts came from our local cupcakery, Sweet Lola’s and all I have to say is WOW.  Tiramisu cupcakes, knock-off hostess cupcakes, dipped s’mores, chocolate whoopee pies.  Sigh.  I almost went into a diabetic coma trying to eat all the leftovers in the days following the wedding.  I also put out a variety of Oreo cookies as well as malted milk balls (in honour of my dad) in glass jars at the dessert table for a little something extra. 

 

 

For the groom’s cake, I HAD to go with a bleedin’ armadilla … a la Steel Magnolias.  My fiancé lived in Texas for a bit during his childhood and any Texan can tell you about the unfortunate armadillos on the side of the road that lost the battle in truck vs. wildlife.  And in high school I played Annelle in our production of Steel Magnolias and I have always LOVED that movie.  So I commissioned Debbie Meier of Loving Traditions Cakery to make me a red velvet, marshmallow fondant armadillo groom’s cake.  Not only was he fabulous to look at … but he was delicious to hack into as well.

 

 

For décor, it was pretty much DIY – except for the fabulous blue uplighting our DJ did & the stunning table arrangements my florist, Fawn Mueller of Inspired by Nature, created -- and I think I did a pretty stellar job considering my budget.  I got the damask table cloth for the dessert table, the reception table runners and a few chairs ties from smartyhadaparty.com.  They were great quality at an excellent price point.  Then I bought two bolts of damask fabric from Joann’s and used that to make extra table cloths (okay, I admit, I had one of the girls from work make those for me cause I just didn’t have the time) and a wrap for the reception bar.  I also had a girl friend make eco-friendly cabernet scented damask candles for the pub tables at the reception and put out little damask trivia boxes I found on clearance at Michaels.  My favorite thing was our DIY photo “booth” that I draped with damask curtains from my Spalon’s massage room & made cute little felt accessories for.  We also did a sweetheart table because I can’t stand the idea of a head table where everyone is staring at you and looking up your nose.

 

And though I’m not into people staring at me, I definitely wanted to look like a knock-out for the reception.  So I opted for a higher, frillier blue shoe for dancin’ in and wore my hair in a Kate-Middleton-red-carpet-inspired chic updo that she wore for the Olympics opening gala.  I also added a custom-made black sash with organza flowers that were copies of the ones on the shoulder of my dress.  Thank you etsy.com. 

Funny Little Anecdotes from the Wedding Extravaganza

And what’s a wedding without a few mishaps?  One of the caveats of an outdoor wedding is running the risk of going head to head with Mother Nature.  Thankfully, our ceremony day was bright & beautiful.  The rehearsal on the hand …   The very minute that the girls and I pulled up to the Historical Museum, it started torrential downpour raining.  We sat there in the cars for about half an hour or more, waiting for it to clear up.  It never completely did, but at least it let up to a light drizzle so that we could hash out a rough rehearsal.  And nobody remembered the wedding script … so we ended up having to wing it off my memory. 

The next day, at the ceremony, we had some interesting snafus as well.  I didn't know it at the time, but our usher, Randy, was HIGHLY medicated for some back surgery he had recently undergone.  And we’re talking the good stuff – where you’re functioning in society but you don’t remember where the heck you were that week while on the meds.  I couldn’t figure out why he kept looking at me like I was speaking Greek as we reviewed the scripted wedding rundown.  I got a little annoyed because he sat the moms way to earlier on the first song (they weren’t supposed to be seated until the second song) … but later on when I found out what drugs he was on … well, let’s just say I’m glad our moms got seated in the right place at all!  Poor Randy.  Such a trooper!

I had also designated a trusted girl friend to take care of the music cues at the ceremony.  Well, unbeknownst to me, the guys thought they would be cool cats and use a remote to play & stop the music.  But they forgot to make sure the batteries were good.  Oops. 

My daughter also went through some periodic diva-ness throughout the wedding weekend.  Which is understandable when you’re entrusted to a grandma who lets you stay up late and eat a bunch of junk food for 4 days straight.  Thanks, Grandma!  What’s funny is, though, I think the pictures our photographer, Marie, caught of us having our little “asides” are hilarious.  I’m totally going to blackmail her with those later on in life.

 

 

But perhaps the most interesting & memorable wedding snafu was our wedding crasher at the reception.  This really stellar person not only accosted some of our female guests on the dance floor … but made a guest star appearance in the women’s bathroom where some of my girls and I had been trying to do bustle reconnaissance.  Let’s just say that my husband’s package isn’t the only one I saw that night.  I have to say, though, I was so proud of my middle sister, Laura – who I’ve NEVER seen get pissed at anyone – use more swear words on this guy than I think even our father had in his entire Naval career.  It really warmed my heart to have her come to my rescue like that.

Ending Credits

I am so lucky & blessed to call several very talented people my friends and professional cohorts in the local wedding scene.  (We specialize in weddings at my Spalon.)  The dear, sweet Fawn Mueller of Inspired by Nature was my florist and she created stunning flowers that were well beyond anything in my dreams.  She created my vision and much, much more.  She also stepped in as my linen lady – and thank goodness!  Her attention to detail is everything an OCD girl like me could ask for.  And my photographer was the amazingly talented & fabulously inspirational, Marie Walkowski of Walkowski Photography.  Marie and I were destined to be friends – we went to the same college and had a brief stint at Joann Fabrics during our career transition days.  When she gave me the flash drive with my wedding pictures, I literally laughed & cried because it brought back so many wonderful memories from that day and she caught amazing things on camera that I didn’t even notice during all the hoopla of the wedding extravaganza.  I cannot imagine going with anyone else for a wedding and these two amazing women helped all my dreams come true!  (All photos for this post are courtesy of Walkowski Photorgraphy.)

www.walkowskiphoto.com
www.lovingtraditionsllc.com
www.inspiredbynaturellc.om
www.sweetlolascupcakes.com
www.euphoriaspalon.com
www.elegantoccasions.net
www.etsy.com
www.smartyhadaparty.com

A Wicked-Themed 9th Birthday Party

This year we did a "Wicked" theme for my daughter's 9th birthday.  Now that there's the magic of Pinterest, I was able to get much more inspiration with far less effort.  Yay!  If you care to see my inspiration board on Pinterest, here is the link:  http://pinterest.com/december1978/sid-s-9th-birthday-inspiration/

Invites ~
Have to admit I didn't put a whole lot of effort into invites this year as I am also in the midst of planning my August wedding.  My fiance found a great Wicked poster image that we downloaded and put at the top of the invite, then worded "Fellow OZians, Please click your heels & join us for Sidney's Wicked 9th Birthday ... Wear your favorite Emerald City green clothes & follow the Yellow Brick Road to ... Please RSVP to the Wicked Witch of the West at ..."  Wording inspiration came from a couple of invites I saw on Pinterest & Etsy.

Decorations ~
I kept it simple.  In front of the house we put out Wicked Witch of the East legs and made our own chalk paint to create a yellow brick road.  (1 cup cornstarch + 1 cup water + Yellow Food coloring)  Inside, I hung 4 garlands I made from various green calico fabrics & green satin ribbon.  I used various shades of green for the napkins & cups and kept everything else white & black (since that is what I have the most of for dishes and linens and find it easy to create a variety of looks with).

 

Activities/Games ~

We started with G'linda Wand making.  Honestly, this was a repeat with a new spin from the year before when we did Harry Potter wands.  I just bought new dowels and hot glued on wooden stars a couple nights beforehand.  I already had a variety of pink paints in my craft stash and just bought two more glittery kinds to add to the mix.  (Starting with this activity is great for allowing guests to arrive in waves.) 

Then we played Pin the Heart on the TinMan.  I created a heart template on my computer then used red cardstock (from my stash) to make hearts.  I took an old Oz book to Office Max and had them make a poster-size pic of the Tin Man for me.  The girls got a big kick out of seeing how each other did.  The girl who got the closest won a Badge of Courage which my girl friend, Marie, and I had made a few nights before out of glitter scrapbook paper, hot glue & computer print outs.  Then we headed back into the kitchen to make Emerald City bracelets out of "emeralds" (a.k.a. green glass beads) & to write a spell or draw a picture in their Grimmeries.  I pre-made the Grimmeries out of cardstock & swirly, laser-cut scrapbook paper & green craft string.  I copied some of the spells from the musical with explanations about each spell from a fan page I found online and printed those off on the cardstock.  Then the girls went back into the living room to play "Hot Toto" with a Toto in a Basket I purchased from orientaltrading.com.  My fiance and future-mother-in-law coordinated three rounds of this game -- with the winner of each round winning a Courage Badge -- while I cleaned up the crafts in the kitchen and made my tablescape and laid out the snacks.  After snacks, they took charge again for Broomstick Limbo -- another repeat from our Harry Potter party the year before -- so I could clean up the snacks.  They did two rounds of Broomstick Limbo for two more winners of Courage Badges.  We also had a "G'lindafication Station" where we painted the girls' nails with their choice of either shimmery pink (SpaRitual Up at Noon) or green (SpaRitual Yes I Can) polish.  All the girls chose green ... but painted the pink on my mom's and my future-mother-in-laws nails.  Then we finished off with present opening followed by handing out the goodie bags.

Snacks ~
For the snacks I ordered absolutely fabulous cupcakes from our local cupcakery, Sweet Lola's.  (This was my big budget splurge but so worth it.)  They made Strawberry & Buttercream G'linda cupcakes & Mint Chocolate Elphaba cupcakes.  I knew I wanted witch hats on the Elphaba ones ... and, yes, I do know how to make these because I made them the year before for the Harry Potter party and, yes, I am a good baker ... but I remembered what a pain in the ass those little hats were to make and decided to leave this important element to the professionals to preserve my sanity.  I also had my fiance and daughter make Witch's Brooms out of mini peanut butter cups and pretzel sticks.  (They ate a few during the process to make sure they weren't "poison".)  And I served green mint chocolate chip ice cream and Wizard's Elixir (green berry Hawaiian Punch redistributed into empty bottles from Ikea) to keep with the green Oz theme.

 

 

Goodie Bags ~
This was probably my most favorite part.  I used a large damask stamp and green stamping ink from my craft stash to decorate plain white craft bags.  Inside the bags I included Dorothy's Apple (wrapped in a cellophane treat bag and tied with a gingham ribbon), a Lollipop courtesy of the Lollipop Guild of Munchkinland (ordered from orientaltrading.com), G'linda's Bubbles Good for Travel in Oz (wedding bubbles purchased from a local dollar store and relabeled thanks to my printer & pink cardstock from my stash), Boq's (the Tin Man's) Heart Necklace (made from red craft cord and heart charms purchased in the jewelry findings section of JoAnn Fabrics), and Melted Witches (made from melted green candy melts & semi-sweet chocolate chips, deconstructed generic Oreos & unwrapped Hershey Kisses then packaged in cellophane bags & green cardstocks from -- you guessed it -- my craft stash).  I also used more green cardstock to make a little explanation card for each bag so the girls and their parents would know what everything was.

 

A Harry Potter Themed Birthday Party

Every year I go all out for my daughter's birthday.  Here are the themes I've done in the past:

1st Birthday:  Little Fish
2nd Birthday:  Bugs
3rd Birthday:  My Little Pony
4th Birthday:  Pink Pants
5th Birthday:  Cowgirl
6th Birthday:  High School Musical
7th Birthday:  American Girl Doll/Store

Last year for her 8th birthday, she chose a Harry Potter theme and I ran wild with it.

Me & My Munchkin ... aka "Ginny & Hermione"

We started with the invites.  We took some natural colored cardstock with flecks in it and dipped the paper in a baking dish of instant coffee and water then hung them out on the laundry line to dry in the sun.  This actually ending up being a bad idea because I ended up having to iron each sheet of paper to get it to go through my home printer.  I found a good Hogwarts logo online and copy & pasted it at the top of the invitation.  To create the wording for the invite, I used a combination of examples I found online as well as the actual letter wording from the first Harry Potter Book.  I printed two invites to a sheet of paper.  Once they were cut in half, I tore off all the edges then hit them with a lighter to give them an even more aged look.  Then we tri-folded them and sealed them with some sealing wax and a little thistle sealing stamp I had in my old craft bin.  I got a lot of complements from some of the other moms on them.  Thank goodness cause they were a total pain in the butt!  Worth it though.

I had to say I skimped on decor.  I decorated with a Hogwart's banner I found online and a home-made Platform 9 3/4 Sign and then used purple & black plates, cups, etc.  I wanted to make sure I stayed on budget so this is the area I cut corners on.

For food, I made the Pumpkin Juice from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.  I also made wizard wands from big pretzel sticks, candy coating/melts & silver sprinkles.  (I used this exact same recipe -- just with different colors & sprinkles -- for my daughter's My Little Pony 3rd Birthday Party and called them unicorn horns.)  I made cupcakes which I decorated with little black and green wizard and witch hats that I made from rolled out gumdrops (probably the most challenging thing I've done in my life).  I found the instructions in an old kids' party magazine I had in my stash.  I also made chocolate and chocolate mint frogs thanks to a $2 mold I found on amazon.com.  The kids did not like the pumpkin juice but loved all the other treats. 

I ordered Drooble's chewing gum and Bertie Bot's every flavor beans online and put them in treat bags that I made from some wizard-y fabric my mom had given me years before and never found a use for -- until then.  The treat bags were super easy.  I just cut strips, sewed up the sides and cut the top edge with pinking shears.  We also put in gold "galleons" from the local party store and bouncy balls with stars molded inside them. 

As the kids arrived, I had them go into the kitchen and sit at the table to paint and decorate their own wands (wooden dowels).  This kept them busy as we waited for all the guests to get there.  Once that was all done we had them pick ribbons from a "sorting hat" -- which was just a halloween witch's hat.  There were ribbons in four colors for each house at Hogwarts.  Once the children were sorted we tied the ribbons on their upper arms so they would know what house they were in and could gather with their housemates.  Then we informed them which color represented which house and what characteristics defined students in that house.  Then we did some Harry Potter trivia and the top house won Harry Potter stickers.  Then we held classes in Potions, Divination & Herbology.  In Potions the kids partnered up.  I used the little dessert shooter set from Pier 1 for the potion bottles and gave them each 1 bottle of ground unicorn horn (baking soda) and 1 bottle of dragon spit (vinegar colored with gree food color) that I had pre-assembled secretly the night before.  One partner poured the dragon spit into the unicorn horn powder while the other partner said the magic word.  For herbology, I gave them each a little terracotta pot and a marigold and some dirt to plant their own "calendula" which is known for its healing properties for skin. 

Then I sent the kids to the living room for some broomstick limbo -- the winner got a bonus chocolate frog -- and some Divination.  My future mother-in-law was so awesome.  She dressed up as a gypsy fortune teller and read each guest's palm.  She learned how to do it at some community college class or something and the kids and grown-ups all got a big kick out of it.  So, while they were all occupied with that, I cleaned up the arts and crafts mess in the kitchen (thank goodness for disposable table cloths -- I just folded everything up towards the center and threw the wad in the garbage) and busted out the cupcakes, edible wands & juice that I mentioned earlier.

Then it was time for present opening ... and, just in the knick of time, the parents started arriving to pick up their kids.