Ryan's 30th Mustache Bash

This February my honey turned the big 3-0! I recently made that right of passage myself and he did such a good job at pulling off a surprise party I knew I had to do something special. So, I decided to go with the ever popular and very trendy mustache theme.

I created this invite to send out to all of his friends. He knew of his party but had no idea what the theme was to keep it more fun for him.

I created all the graphics that you'll see in this post. If you're interested in purchasing them skip on down to the bottom and you'll find a link to my etsy store. Thanks and I hope you enjoy all the photos!

I want to keep this post simple and so I'm not going to do much writing but I'm mostly going to post pictures because when push comes to shove, that's what we want to see! You don't want to here me blab about how I had so much fun making this invitation or how I can't believe I was able to find some candy cigarettes and fake mustaches to buy for the party, or how I made mustache brownie bites and a photos booth area with props...etc. You want to see the photos, right?! So, here you have it:

We honestly didn't use the camera, but it was there just in case so I didn't miss any photos of our guests. I ended up just running over with my phone every time. It was pretty funny though!

 Everyone upon entering grabbed their own 'stache and signed our big chalkboard guestbook.

 I used all old, childhood photos and just turned them all black and white and put them on the doors in the big 3-0. Always plan more than what you think!! I used 80 on here and I could have used a lot more!

I kept the menu pretty simple: hummus, pita chips, carrots sticks and broccoli, pizza, cheese cubes, chips, and of course my favorite thing was the candy cigarettes!!

Here's our Name that Stache Game. I gave them 3 minutes to complete the list and there were bonus points awarded if they could name the movie/show that the actor was in (if applicable). That's what all those little stars are for.

My old husband, ha! Just kidding. He's still as young and cute as the day I met him, when we were 3. I love this guy! Happy birthday honey!

Well, if you like what you saw and are interested in having a mustache party of your own, I can save you a lot of time because I am offering all the printables you see here on my etsy store! That includes a customized invitation, grab a stache sign, and the form and sign for the Name that Stache Game. Check it out here!

Well, I hope you guys have a good one! Until next time!

God Bless!

Heather Garcia

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

My sweet baby girl is not a baby anymore, but a toddler!  I can't believe she turned 2!  Lately she has been obsessed in Minnie Mouse and since we don't watch much TV and it's the first character that she's really recognized, I think it is just the sweetest thing that she knows about Mrs. Mouse without even seeing her on any shows.  So, of course we had to plan a Minnie Mouse Birthday Party, and I can't wait to share what we did with you!

Before the party I found some cheap headbands in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby and made them into mouse ears.  You could use black headbands but I was keeping it cheap and plus I think the pink adds some cuteness to them anyways.  I used the headbands to make Minnie Mouse ears, which you can see on my birthday girl below.

All I did to make these was to wrap black pipe cleaners around the headband to make a base to glue on an ear shaped piece of black felt.  The pipe cleaner serves as the structure to make your ears stand up.

Here's the shape I used for the felt ears.  I wanted to make sure there was a little bit to cover over the headband on the bottom.

Then all you do it glue it on to the pipe cleaner structure.  Pretty self explanatory.

 Then for the girl headbands I added a cute bow to match Minnie Mouse's bow.  I made them into bows ahead of time and put a tiny dab of hot glue in the middle before tightening to keep them together.  Then all you do is put a big glob of hot glue in between the two ears and hold on the bow until it dries enough. And here you have it:

Lately, because our friends have been having so many birthdays, I have been getting tired of the same old party food: pizza.  So, we opted for a healthier option this time and served Minnie's Clubhouse Sandwiches. The sandwiches had all the fixings out on trays for them to make their own sandwich.  Then we served some disney animal cookies and some chips and carrots on the side.

What's a birthday with cake...or cupcakes that is?!  Here's the cutest and easiest ones to make around.  Buy a bag of regular and a bag of mini oreos and then simply put them in the shape of the mouse's head.  And for added fun you can hot glue small bows onto toothpicks and stick them into the cupcake to make some of them Minnie cupcakes.  I made them half Mickey and half Minnie.  I knew some of the boys wouldn't want anything girlie.

Here's some of our decor that we did.  This one is the gift table.  I just typed out large font on a word document and cut it out and used sticky tac to mount it to the wall.  Just add a few black ears behind one of the letters to make it super cute!

Our entry table had pictures on display of Emma when a baby and now at 2.  I also put the basket of ears on the table for the kiddos to grab when they came in.

Here is the frame that sets out in front of the basket of ears. "Keep Calm and Put Your Ears On".  I saw it on pinterest and I had to recreate it!!

For an activity while the kids were getting here I just found a Minnie and Mickey coloring page online, got the free disney looking font and added "happy birthday Emma" on the coloring page before printing. It's the little touches that make it count.

As you probably saw in some of the pictures I had my birthday girl dressed up like Minnie. She wore her ears I made and then I made a simple Minnie tutu by using a cheap tutu I believe I found at the dollar store that I already had in the closet and I simply sewed on white felt circles for the polka dots. If you don't intend to use the skirt again you could save a little time and just hot glue them on. Here's a better picture of the birthday girl with her skirt.

Hope you found a lot of fun ideas to make your Minnie Mouse Party the biggest hit around!  And who can help but to try on a pair of these cute ears when your kids are napping and you've spent the last hour making a dozen of them:

 

 

Yup, you're welcome for that! Ha!

God Bless!

Heather Joy

How To Plan A Water Day

At my daughters request we planned a Water Day for our Band of Mother's group at our church. So, I thought I'd share a little of what we did.

Our Band of Mother's group at church is for mother's with young ones.  We have a large demographics in our small church of stay at home mom's so this group was formed as a way for our kids and us to build relationships together.  Can I just say,  I love our group of mom's at our church?!  Because I do!

Anyways, onto the water day!

I like to keep things simple, so I used what I had and tried to provide as many activities as we could without spending any money and only using things we had on hand or mom's could easily volunteer to bring. 

STEP 1: PLAN THE DAY
When you are hosting a party it's best to have an agenda of what you will do.  This will help all moms know what to expect and can help keep things for going crazy by not having a plan.  Does anyone else notice that?  When I don't have a plan for something it almost always goes the way I didn't want it to go. Also, HAVE A DEPARTURE TIME! Mom's have a way of chatting forever (I'm guilty of it too for sure) But unless you want all the mom's to stay as long as they can until all their children are screaming of a melt down because it's WAY past nap time, HAVE A DEPARTURE TIME SET!

The agenda for us:
-Water play outside
-Lunch
-Popsicle treat
-Movie (while mom's take turns changing kids in bathroom & help clean up)
-Departure time at 2:00pm

STEP 2: CREATE A FACEBOOK EVENT
-Invite the moms, especially ones you know will help contribute something
-Post agenda for the event
-Brainstorm ideas for what activities mom's have or can easily make.
-Post your requested items for lunch and/or water activities (Read Step 3)

I even made sure to reiterate when the end time is on my event details because 2:30pm is nap time for my girls, so I made sure to say we'll be sure to wrap things up and get kids sent home before our nap time starts at 2:30pm.


STEP 3: ASK FOR HELP
Don't be afraid to ask for help.  If you are hosting, most of the work for you is just getting a presentable house and opening your home to others.  Now, ask other mom's to pitch in a little to take the pressure off of you.  You'd be surprised.  Most mom's would mind pitching in one or two things if it means a whole morning of fun for their kids. 

It's best to send the kids home fed, so they can get down for nap and keep to somewhat of a regular routine for the mom's.asked each mom to bring something. 

ASK FOR:

-Activites for water play
-Lunch Items
For instance, I asked for: 
-loaf of whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jelly, juice boxes, popsicles, salad or pasta salad (for us mom's), some extra sides like fruits, vegetables, popcorn or chips to go with lunch and some shaving cream.

STEP 4: PLAN THE ACTIVITIES:

Here are our activities:

1. Bubbles -I LOVE the no spill containers.
2. Water Sprayers -Be sure to keep these away from the kiddie pools if you have babies in there.
3. Shaving Cream Table Washing -They can wash the tables, draw on them, practice writing their name, or just lather themselves up with it!
4. Paint The Fence -Have a bucket with paint brushes and rollers available.

5.  Rollercoaster -We have a Step2 Rollercoaster that we usually keep indoors, but we put it outside for this event.
6.  Sponge Balls -Another mom donated these for our event.  If you haven't seen a tutorial on pinterest yet, check out my board and you'll find an awesome tutorial to just cut and rubber band sponges together to make some awesome soft balls for throwing and having fights or...(see next)
7.  Target Practice -We used the sponge balls for this but you could also use whatever water balls you have.  Draw a target with chalk on your fence and let the kids at it!
8.  Slip 'N Slide -What party is fun without a slip and slide?!  Most of our kids were a bit young, but it was still fun for a few.

9.  Slide & Tarp -Just place a tarp under one of your regular slides.  Just be sure to keep it wet so it slips a bit or have a hose going down it.
10.  Wiggle Sprinkler -This was one of those things we turned on for a few minutes randomly to get their attention and they loved it!
11.  Sprinkler System -My awesome husband changed our timer for just one side of our sprinkler system and it would go off every 15 minutes for just 3 minutes.  So, whenever the sprinklers went off you'd see all the kids race there to get wet.
12.  Chalk Drawings -Throw up some chalk drawn frames on the fence and see what your kids will draw inside.  Of course they will just draw all over anyways.  :)

Not really events, but we took a break and had lunch, then had some popsicles before we came inside.
13. Movie Time -This was a great time for the mom's to take turns using the bathroom to change kids out of their wet clothes, while everyone else was happily distracted.
14. Group shot attempt -Last but not least, you have to get a wonderful group shot of your kiddos!  We had a few mom who couldn't make it, but it was lots of fun for all who did!

STEP 5: PREP THE HOUSE & ACTIVITIES:

Get the house all ready to go.  Like most mom's I put away toys that might get easily broken by children or easily injured.  I hide lots of our large mobile items like our car, scooter and tricycle. (yes, we have a large floor plan, so these stay inside most of the time).

**A tid bit I picked up today when getting ready for this party that I HAVE to share with you was to place that shelving cling gripper under a towel by my back door.  Most people put towels to help catch all the grass but the kids end up slipping on them or they get so bunched up them don't really do much good.  Well, not if you put some of that gripper underneath! This worked like a charm.  Although, I think I would have liked to have a slightly larger piece next time.

I also was going to set up a washing station by my back door.  A bucket with water (just imagine there's water in there) and some rags to dry and/or wipe the grass off.  But honestly, the towel with the gripper worked so well I hardly had any grass in my house at the end even though I forgot to fill this up or tell anyone what it was for...ha!

STEP 6: HOST THE BEST WATER DAY PARTY EVER!

Have fun and go with the flow!  All your hard work and planning will be so worth it when you see all the smiles and joy on your children's faces!  Now pat yourself on the back for a job well done!!



I was definitely tired out by the end of the day by moving everything around for set up and then cleaning up afterwards, but no money was spent!  And I am amazingly blessed with how awesome our group is because it's an unwritten rule that we leave the house as clean, if not cleaner than before we come.  They helped put everything away!  (minus a few dishes in the sink) But honest! It was awesome to be able to have everything hosed off and cleaned up and put back in place.  It makes you want to host another Water Day...okay, well maybe I need to recoup a little after this one....maybe in a month or two. :)



Happy Summer and God Bless!

Heather Joy