Another birthday party is in the books! We celebrated our Brooke & Bradley this past weekend. Since she turned 5, we kind of made it a big deal. The extra balloons, decorations, friends invited etc. This was the first time Brooke had specific friends that she wanted to invite. The best part, they all came! Next year will be more low key for sure! Mr Bradley turned 3 and was having so much fun!
Throwing a kid party soon? Read until the end for my top 5 tips!
It took awhile to pick a ‘theme.’ At first Brooke wanted a “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” party, while Bradley wanted a skeleton birthday…your guess is as good as mine?!
I told them Daddy said you’re going to have just a “Happy Birthday theme” and one day, out of the blue the came out of the office. Brooke announced that the decided to have a Troll Birthday. (I had suggested it months ago, but apparently now was the time they decided to run with it.)
We had some fun with it, for sure!
I did “party bags” for the kiddos. I picked up the bags at Target and filled them with silly little things.
Scented dough to play with, troll wristbands, sunglasses, fruit snacks, a few pieces of candy, bead necklaces and a silly eye ball ring.
The troll theme must be pretty popular, as Party City was kind of picked over. I ended up going with a lot of rainbow items for decorations and really stuck with Caribbean Blue and Pink as the main color scheme.
I hung a few of these hanging trolls too.
This was the BIGGEST hit!! Every kid (and dare I say adult!) absolutely loved the rainbow/waterfall. As soon as you walked through the door it was the first thing you’d see!
The other doorway into the kitchen had more rainbow colored pretties! The kids remember the silly and cheesy things. Do them!
Food:
I had high hopes of making “Troll Popcorn” on Pinterest. It looks amazing, but I quite frankly just ran out of time! I just threw the pretzel m&ms and the pink heart marshmallows in a bowl and I assume they were a good idea because this bowl is totally empty!
Since “Cupcakes and Rainbows” I totally scooped up some Rainbow goldfish. Easy for the little kids to snack on and not too messy!
I did a special “Troll Punch” which was simply, Hawaiian Punch, Sprite & rainbow sorbet. Kids and parents all loved it!
For the main meal—good old pizza. We did two sheets, one cheese and one cheese/pepperoni. I’ve tried to cook a ton of food for the kids’ parties before and it is just too much. I believe in phoning it in when you know you’ll need to. The pizza was actually really really good!
Papa & his granddaughters.
Daddy & son
Mommy & Daughter
She is too much at times! Yes, she is still a cat.
Opening presents!
As for the cake, we did a Wegmans (local grocery store) cake and it was perfect! I did half vanilla, half chocolate with a cannoli filling. Again, everyone seemed to love it!
I must say it’s so bittersweet, this feeling now. I feel as though we are going non-stop from Thanksgiving until now. From holidays to birthdays, it’s a bit crazy! Now we can breathe a bit and relax. I had so much fun pulling it all together and really seeing everyone mix and mingle. I don’t even think anyone was on a cell phone either! Amazing.
Top 5 tips for throwing a kid party:
1.) Set your hours. I stated 12-2 on the invite. Everyone was gone by 1:58. With little kids, I respect nap times, plus everyone else’s free time on the weekend. I feel that when I state it’s just a quick gathering, have some pizza, cake & presents, more people tend to show up!
2.) Remember it’s about the kids. Don’t get stressed if things aren’t Pinterest perfect. The kids will remember playing, cake, presents and happy (or stressed) parents. Be happy! Glitter will end up on the floor, mud will get tracked in, and chocolate cake will cover your cloth chairs. It’s ok!
3.) Go big on doing your own food or decor. Not both (unless you have a lot of help or backup!) I knew it’d most likely just be me (and Joe) setting up the party. I knew not to try to cook, clean, organize and decorate all alone. I chose to forgo my culinary skills & spend time on making a fun atmosphere! Pizza & cake brought in were lifesavers!
4.) Pick a theme and/or colors. It helps making purchase decisions a lot easier. To save a little money, accent with a few small things with color (cake plates/napkins) but buy clear or white plasticware and big plates.
5.) Do what you can ahead of time. We called in the sheet pizzas the night before. I paid for the balloons and ordered the cake days in advance. It was nice to just stop in and pick up items instead of having to make choices the day of the party. I tried to decorate as much as I could the day before and if I had could have, I would have done it all! I did last year the day before with a help of a friend, and that was amazing! I also made sure the house was “clean and ready” the day before so I was minor tidying up the day of.
What is your favorite thing about throwing your child a birthday party?
Love this! Looks like the party was a success! I know we say this all the time I wish we lived closer! We’ve decided to do pizza a cake for the girls from now on as it is sooooooo much easier! I like the idea of a set time for the party. I usually do a start time and it wraps up whenever but I may try this for the next one!