The Harry Potter “CRAZE” hit our house, so we had no other option but to have a Harry Potter themed birthday party.  As you all know if you have been following my blog for very long, I LOVE to have parties!!!  My brain LOVES to prepare for all of the decorations and details!

I will start with the invitation that I created.  I had a blast deciding on the font!  I also included a paper “ticket” for the guests.

When the guests arrived, they got to walk through a “brick wall” that I created by hanging brick printed fabric.

As they entered “Hogwarts” they could see the “dining room” that I created, which included banners from all of the houses.

The table place settings were decorated with gold chargers, clear plastic plates, and personalized mugs, for butter beer, of course!  I printed Hogwarts logos and placed them between the gold chargers and clear plates.

Each place setting also had a golden snitch that I made with paper wings and Ferrero Rocher candies.

The center piece was a “candelabra” that I made with plungers and wrapping paper rolls.  I spray painted the plungers gold and taped battery operated tea lights to the top of the wrapping paper rolls.

I added several battery operated candles from The Dollar Tree to the table, as well.

I got out my Halloween decorations, and created an area for “spells”.

There were even “eyeball” gum balls and candy “bones”!

I made flying keys with colored feathers and keys I purchased at Michaels Crafts.  I hung them above the “spell” display.

Each guest was able to choose there own unique wand.  I made these with chop sticks, glue gun & paint.  I will post a “how to make” entry separately.

Here are the “floating candles” that I created.  I will share the “how to make them” in another blog post.  I hung them from a stretcher rod and they looked amazing when they were lit up!

We made butter beer, and ate ice cream.  I made lightening bolt designs on the sugar cones.

We even had a mirror, and color changing candles to increase the festivity!

The girls stayed up all night watching Harry Potter movies, and scaring each other with tales.  I’d say fun was had by all!

Happy Hogwarts!

“Wonder what I will come up with next”…

I remember as a young girl falling in love with unicorns and rainbows!  I loved all of the pastel colors, and of course the glitter that was associated with them.  That being said, when my younger daughter wanted to have a unicorn themed birthday party, I was    ALL IN!!!  My mind immediately started whirling with ideas for the decorations!

I started with table decor, and found these adorable plates, napkins, & center pieces at Party City.  The gold square chargers have glitter specks and were a perfect addition.

I made “tails” out of streamers, and tied them to the backs of the chairs.  Of course, the birthday girl got a larger “tail” that included a tulle bow.

Using the same color streamers, I added a little more color with streamers hanging from a beam in the party room.

I found some fun and unique “unicorn names” on Pinterest, so I printed them for the girls to declare their personal “unicorn name”.

I was SOOOOO excited when I found these ceramic unicorns at TJ Maxx.  The pink one is a bank and the white one is a planter.  They were a perfect addition.

At the party entrance, I created a cloud that appeared to be raining.  I used white tissue paper and two iridescent doorway hanging decorations.

Another MUST for a fun party is a photo backdrop.  I created this one with iridescent doorway hanging decorations, then added streamers.  On top, I hung tissue paper flower balls, and the final touch was a sign that read “I believe in unicorns” that I purchased at Party City.  I placed two balloon bouquets on the floor for added color.  During the photo booth pictures, I dumped large trash bags full of blown up balloons on the girls.  They had a blast playing with the balloons.  This created MANY fun photo opportunities!

We played a few games: pin the horn on the unicorn, and a ring toss onto the horn of a unicorn.

A birthday party wouldn’t be complete without dessert!  My daughter wanted an ice cream cake, so I make two unicorn ice cream cakes.  I used a frosting and gold sugar covered ice cream cone as the horn and thin blonde Oreos that I cut into triangles for the ears.

When I created the invitations, I found glitter gold unicorn silhouettes online that I printed.  I used the same silhouettes on the party favor gift tags and unicorn name lists.  I included a fun quote that said, “In a world of horses, be a unicorn”.

I had just as much fun planning this party as the girls had attending it!

Happy birthday party planning!

“Wonder what I will come up with next”…

Well, I don’t know about your kids, but my kids have TOTALLY gotten into the Emoji rage!  They have had the MOST FUN with the Poop Emoji!!!  At first, I was totally grossed out by the thought of it, but I have gotten used to it now, and I even have had some fun with it.  When my daughter wanted to have an Emoji themed birthday party, I was ALL IN!

Of course, I just HAD to wrap her gifts to match the theme of the party!  This was such an easy task to accomplish.  Bright yellow wrapping paper from The Dollar Tree, Goggly Eyes, black and red Sharpies and TAAA DAAA…it’s an Emoji!

The cupcakes were no exception!  I think I had the most fun with these!  Yellow frosting, black and red gel, candy eyes and TAAA DAAA…more Emojis!

We had the party at Boomers, so I wasn’t able to get too crazy with my decorations.  I made centerpieces for the tables with glass bowls, emoji plastic cups filled with green flower foam, topped with yellow basket filler, and some cute Emoji pics, all of which I found at The 99cent Store.  What a bargain!  Notice, I even included the Poop Emoji in a centerpiece!

Fun was had by all at the party and it was a “smily face” good time!  Until next time…

“Wonder what I will come up with next”…

Heading up the decorating team for the school carnival this year was no small animal.  I, of course, couldn’t help myself from taking a walk on the wild side and going overboard!  The team and I didn’t monkey around when it came to creating a safari themed atmosphere!

Would you like to go on a safari? Let me take you on a trip.  Let’s start at the entrance to the Safari.  The school has a Knight mascot and PTA years ago created a rock castle wall to use as carnival decorations.  We draped green and brown paper vines through the castle wall with paper monkeys, sloths, and tucans hanging from the vines.  The 1st grade classes had done a rain forest lesson, so we displayed the students paper animals.  It was fun to watch the kids reactions to seeing their creations on display.

I created the tall trees by spray painting carpet rolls and adding leaves.  To make the leaves, I cut out shapes from different shades of green construction paper.  I then taped a long piece of wire to one side of the paper.  At the top of the carpet roll, I shoved in a piece of floral foam and pierced the leaf wires into the foam.

Next, we come to the main table area, which was turned into a jungle by drooping green vines throughout.  Again, we hung students paper animals from the vines, as well as tissue paper flowers made by a team member and a few cobras that I created.

These cobras were created using girls diamond print knit tights.  I cut the tights in half, and re-sewed them together length wise to get a VERY long tube of tights.  I stuffed the tights with old magazines, sewed on beads for eyes, and a piece of red felt for the tongue.  The snake on the left is wrapping around another tree I created.

We hung strings of white lights, and a team member added tan cupcake papers to each light.  They looked like strings of paper lanterns.

Moving towards the cake walk area, we had animal cut outs that I purchased at Walmart.com.  A team member created “madagascar” type boxes tied with white twine and stickers.  The same team member created amazing wood pole signs.

In the center of the cake walk, I created a pond, with blue paper, plants borrowed from a local nursery, and plastic flamingos.

This might have been the highlight for the students, along with the “royal flush game”!  I created a cardboard safari jeep and zip tied it to a chain link fence.  Driving the safari jeep was a picture of the school principal, and the vice principal was his passenger.  This display included green vines, students paper animals, & snakes made from paper and snake print duct tape I found at The Dollar Tree.  More carpet roll trees, animal cutouts, boxes, and another wood pole sign to complete the display.

The safari jeep was such a hit, that it still remains in the school cafeteria stapled to the wall!

I hope you enjoyed your safari ride!  Happy “animaling” around!

“Wonder what I will come up with next”…

What little girl doesn’t like to pretend she is a movie star on the “Red Carpet”?  I would imagine all little girls dream of this at some point in their lives.  When my daughter turned 11, I created a faux experience for her and her friends.

The girls entered the house on the “Red Carpet”, complete with stanchions that I made from sprayed painted gold toilet plungers purchased at The Dollar Tree!  I used gold foil door covers and a gold foil chandelier and hung them from upstairs to create a “Grand” entrance.

There were even “paparazzi” at the entrance…

Here is a different view of the entrance.  I looped black & red tulle through the upstairs banister to hide where the gold foil door covers were attached.

The tables were covered in black table cloths with red table cloths folded and used as runners.  I wrote each girls name on a gold star.  I created center pieces by covering styrofoam cubes with red cardstock.  I then stuck in tall picks of red, black and gold that had stars on them.  I added gold curly picks for effect.  Around the base, I taped some “celebrity zone” ribbon that i found.

What fun is a “Red Carpet” party without a photo booth?  I had fun props for the girls to use, including directors “take” boards.  I borrowed a friends bridesmaids dresses so the girls could dress up in fancy attire if they wanted to for their photos.  During the photos, I moved the stanchions from the entrance for the full “Red Carpet” effect.

Every girl won an “Oscar” at this party!

…and they got to create their own ice cream sundae, with numerous candy toppings to choose from.

Happy Birthday my sweet daughter!

“Wonder what I will come up with next”…