Boys Race Car Party

I wanted to create a party where Connor and his guests could feel like they were race car drivers preparing for the big race. We had a “working” garage where the guests would learn how to get their car ready for the big race: they had to change the tires, put gas in the car, and clean-up the oil rags before they could go to suit up for the big race.  They boys (and girls) absolutely LOVED this!

The garage was a 4×6ft. “steel” structure with  a black and white checkerboard floor, tools hanging on the wall, and a 3ft. race car that was up on a “lift” in the middle of the garage.  The guests were taught how to change the tires on the car and had to put the tires and lug nuts on using a small drill. They were so excited to use the real tools and were so  proud of themselves when they were finished. We used lawn mower tires and a small drill gun so that the kids really beleived that it was the real thing. They wanted to do this again and again and again!

Race Car Party Garage

Putting the tires on the race car

Race Car Garage

Next the racers had to put gas in their cars. They were very serious about getting each last drop in!!!  Before moving on to the big race, the drivers had to help clean up the garage by throwing all of the dirty grease rags in a bucket!

Putting High Octane Fuel in the Race Car

Once they knew how to prepare their cars, the racers moved on to “suit-up” for the big race!  The highlight of the party was the big race at the Boudman Raceway. Each of the guests chose their race car and we had races down a wooden  track that was built for the party. The kids loved this activity and probably would have raced the cars for 2 hours if I didn’t lure them to the Winners Circle Table for cupcakes!

The Big Race

Gentlemen, start your engines...

The Winners Circle Table was made to look like a finish line with black and white checkered flags hanging across the table. Each of the racers sat on a tire wheel chair and their plates were perched upon mini tires. Each guest had a winners circle cup filled with black and white jellybeans!

Winners Circle Table

This was one of my absolute favorite parties! I absolutely love it when the kids are so totally engaged in the activities of the party. So many times I hear parents of boys complain that it is just too hard to have a boys party at home and keep the kids under control. I have never had this problem! I have found that if you create an experience for the boys centered around activities that they enjoy – they are just as involved in the “magic” as the girls!

Happy Birthday Connor! We Love You!

My nephew Jack celebrated his 3rd birthday with a Truck Party.  For anyone who knows Jack, you know that it really could not have been any other theme for his birthday. He LOOOOVES trucks.  He can seriously name EVERY SINGLE type of truck made.  I have on several occasions asked him (yes, my 2-year-old nephew) “What type of truck is that again?”   He squeals with excitement in the car every time he sees a truck on the road..”Look a flat bed…a dump truck…a cement mixer…” It really is so stinkin’ cute!!!  Anyhow, it was a lot of fun developing this party for him as I knew that he would get super excited over every little  truck detail. 

The table design started with inspiration from Bruder Trucks.  Jack has several of these toy trucks and plays with them all of the time. They are probably the best made kids trucks out there.  They have all of the detail of the real truck with working parts.  I even used their logo as   inspiration for the color scheme of the party!  Of course with the high quality comes the high price tag….they run about $75-80 each.  So you can imagine my excitement when my mother called from Florida to say that her local Marshall’s had them for $20 each!!   I love a deal!! I used the cement mixer and crane as the centerpiece for each table and topped them with paper mache letters from Michael’s.  The napkins were made from fabric found at a local fabric store as was the tablecloth.  I bought keys and key chains and put them on the  table for decoration.  The kids loved them and it took about 30 minutes of searching to get them all back!

I think my favorite element of the table were the chairs. I really wanted to have the kids sitting on tires of some sort…we tried several different designs and finally came across these lawn mower tires at Lowe’s.  Hubby drilled them to upside down trash cans from IKEA and voila..perfect truck party seating!  After sitting on them for a few minutes, we quickly realized that they were not very comfortable. So we made seat cushions to pad the seats! Much, much better….

The games of the party consisted of activities that the kids did to become a truck driver.  They had to stack their spare tires, fill up their truck with fuel,  know how to pay the tolls, and find the missing truck keys.  I was amazed at how all of the party guests really got into these games…we had a pretty wide age range (18 months to 10) and all of the kids got involved.  This party was such a success I am going to add a few more elements and create a party package for my business.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!  We Love You!!

This week, however, I was brought back to Blogland in the BEST way to start the new year…my Night Owl Pajama Club Party was featured on the HWTM Blog! I was seriously jumping around my house and calling everyone I know that understands what a SUPER EXCITING BIG DEAL this would be for me!!   A million thanks to Jenn for featuring my party!!

My eight-year-old daugther has a pink tree in her room with sweet shoppe ornaments picked to match her sweet tooth!  There isn’t a dessert my daughter doesn’t love!  My mother and I admired these ornaments in a local floral shop before Christmas several years ago and returned the day after to get them 75% off! You can find some great deals the week after Christmas and I try to save some of my decorating budget for the after-Chrstimas sales! 

My four-year old son has a blue tree in his room with car ornaments to match his love of cars!  Like most little boys, he has a fascination with all things cars and can play for hours with 2 hot wheels cars and a foot of track!  His ornaments were a little bit more difficult to find because I was looking for generic car ornaments and not Cars, the movie, ornaments.  We found these at a local craft and floral warehouse that carries a lot of novelty ornaments.  He LOVES his tree and makes sure that it is plugged in every afternoon when he returns from pre-school!

My 22-month-old daughter also has a pink tree in her room.  The ornaments are whimsical snowmen and fluffy snowballs that were primarily chosen for their soft and non-breakable qualities! She loves to take them on and off the tree repeadetly and they often end up on the floor! 

The kids are greeted in the morning by their favorite elf, Jingles, who visits during the holiday season from the North Pole.  He reports naughty or nice status back to Santa every night and finds a new vantage point every morning. They absolutely love Jingles and have been talking about his return for weeks.   If you have not seen the Elf on the Shelf - you must go and get it and start your own ‘elf” holiday tradition.  Although I enjoy his tantrum halting abilities (”Jingles is watching”)  , it is the daily conversations about where Jingles might be perched, how he got back in the locked house,  or what Santa was doing last night at the North Pole that make this a wonderful addition to our Christmas Traditions.

When we were visiting Disney World recently, my daughter went to the  The Pirates League. It is the pirate equivalent of the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and while there she informed us that only her family knows that she is both a princess AND a pirate.   (unfortunately, my 4 year old son wanted no parts of becoming a pirate!)

It was a magical experience that only can Disney can provide.  They are truly masters at bringing imagination to life and I am so inspired every time I visit. One of the activities that they have the kids do before they enter the main recruiting station is to receive their pirate name.  I took my inspiration from this experience and made pirate medallions that the guests will receive at a pirate naming ceremony after they get in their pirate costumes.   

Here is the finished product. Very simple and the entire project was complete in just a few hours!

How-to:

I made the medallions from 3″ wood disks, scrapbooking paper, jewelery beads, and black cording.  All of the supplies were bought at Michaels.

The first thing I did was punch 3″discs from the nautical map scrapbook paper and covered both sides of the disks.

I then punched squares from the red scrapbook paper and glued them in a diamond pattern on the disc. 

I had printed various pirate surnames on parchment paper and punched them using a scalloped square punch. 

After the names were applied, the final steps were gluing on the “gems” and drilling the holes for the black cording.   And voila….pirate medallions!

The key to this project was having the paper punches. They make every project so much easier.

Here is how you can enter:

(Enter up to 4 times by doing the following):
1. Leave Kim a comment on her blog and let her know which item you like best from her holiday booths!
(you will be disqualified if you say the bowl of candy bars
2. Post about this giveaway on Facebook, comment with the link!
3. Tweet about this giveaway, comment with the link!
4. Post about this giveaway on your own Blog, and comment with the link!

Winner will be chosen on Monday, November 16th at 11:00pm (MST).
Any entries received after this time, will not be considered. Open to US residents.
Winners will be chosen using random.org

The inspiration for this party came from several things: my daughter’s wish to have a sleepover party, an adorable stuffed pillow I saw at Target, and the fabulous “bed” tables from Jenn at HWTM and Donna at Party Wishes.

This party was hosted in the evening from 7-9pm and the girls came dressed in their favorite PJs.  The activities of the party centered around the girls becoming members of the “Night Owl Pajama Club:”  Night Owls love to stay up late, dance in the dark, hang out with their friends at the Night Owl Clubhouse and dine on their favorite snacks: cupcakes and ice cream sundaes!

The “bed” was designed from two twin comforters that were sewn together to act as a tablecloth.  I used a coordinating sheet set for the pillow cover and bed sheets that were visible at the head of the bed.  The plates and mugs were from Rosanna, Inc  and I found the brown chargers on the fall closeout aisle at Target.  They really were a perfect match and made the plates pop!  The napkins were sewn by my Mother using material we found at a local fabric store.  And, last but not least, my hubby made me the headboard and footboard that completed the bed table!

My favorite element of the party was the Night Owl Clubhouse. I mean really, how cool is this!  A girly retreat with pretty fabrics, plush comfy pillows, and your best girl friends to chat with!  This was the clubhouse that I always tried to build myself as a child but was never really able to pull it off with the dining room chairs and various knitted afghans from around the house!

I had so much fun designing the sundae bar trying to channel the “Amazing Amys”: Amy Atlas and Amy at Eat.Drink.Chic. I used a shower curtain from Target for the backdrop, various containers from HomeGoods to hold the toppings, and the Soda Fountain Cups from Rosanna, Inc.   Not bad for a first try! 

More importantly, the girls loved it and really enjoyed making their own sundaes! 

I knew the party was a success when I overheard several girls saying that “this was the best party EVER!”

Happy 8th Birthday Mackenzie! We love you!

I plan on posting more details and photos in the next several days but here is a sneak peek…