Our Top Ten Girl Birthday Themes: A Mother/Daughter Collaboration

Well I think I made it pretty clear I am anti-Wal-Mart birthday parties. Not to say I am against buying favors, treats, pinatas or even your paper goods there. But for goodness’s sake, buy some fricking solids, stripes or polka dots to mix in less you fall prey to a utterly dated, cheesy, commercial character theme. I never planned to even consider a Dora/Elmo/Mickey party, but those dang kids, they just get so excited about such things I can’t help but like it a little. That’s how I ended up fully committing to a Dora the Explorer birthday party.

Truthfully, as far as kids’ TV characters go, I rather like Dora. Don’t get it twisted, the little bee-yatch is crazy. But I like her. She doesn’t so much care that her clothes aren’t exactly princess garb or that the only dude that’ll talk to her is her cousin, she’s got shit to do and she gets it done. Not like most of those self-absorbed princesses. (Not you, Belle. I still love you and your Beast Palace library.) God help me when we surpass even the princess stage and my darling little lady starts to want to enter the world of Barbie and worse… Bratz. Anyway, so yeah, Dora is a-ok in my book.

I committed. I spent time all over Oriental Trading Company, Ebay, Etsy and Pinterest considering decor, edibles, favors and apparel. I presented Miss S with my idea and she is not so enthused. What?

So she tells me she wants a dinosaur birthday. Cool. I kinda dig that. She hearts Land Before Time and that’s cool. But we could really go anyway we wanted with colors and such. S and I continue to chat and look through birthday party books/mags and she lights up over just about every idea we discuss for more than 4 seconds. Teddy bears, art, princess, whatever. The girl just loves birthday parties!

A few days ago she told me she wants a kitty birthday. Umm… excuse me little lady? Then she started mewing. She “wikes” kitties she says. I don’t. Not even a little. I swallowed my pride and smiled inwardly at the thought of an opportunity to sneak in Soft Kitty somewhere into the mix. She has since made a few references to liking a specific kitty. That it, Hello Kitty. Not sure if S gets that Hello Kitty is character or if she just likes cats to wear bows. We don’t have a cat so don’t judge her for not comprehending how absurd the concept of a cat agreeing to wear a bow is.

Between all our birthday party talk I have compiled a list of our top ten, somewhat less-common birthday party themes (no princesses of any kind). They are currently ordered by the likelihood of the theme being our end choice. Hopefully you can find some inspiration. Each picture should link ya to the original location with the full blog post and more pictures. Enjoy!

#10 Ballerina.

I am not anti-ballerina, I just think this would be more fun once she is actually in ballet or at least dance.

#9 Lady Bug Girl.

We both really like Lady Bug Girl. She’s girly and a superhero and she has a dog. And she is a literary character. Now that I think about it, maybe I should talk her up a little more to S and see if we can’t get her bumped up all the way to the #1 position! On the other hand, not a lot done with her birthday party-wise in the blogosphere. Here’s a cute invite I’d probably mimic.

#8 Beach.

This is a little awkward for a February (indoors) birthday party, but that could make it more fun.

#7 Alphabet

One of my contributions. I love stuff like this where you can pull anything you want into “decor”. Plus I’m a nerd for letters…

#6 Dora

So I would still stick to my original color inspiration but here is a pretty cute little party.

#5 If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

We both love this book. And we love cookies. And milk. Fun, cute and a little quirky!

#4 Hot Air Balloon

Confession. Completely my idea. I could talk her into it and it would be super cute though…

#3 Superhero

My girl does love her superheroes! And I love that foam eye masks with glitter pens and foam stickers is the perfect activity!

#2 Dinosaur Party

This photo/link is a for a boy’s party. I would change the colors a little for sure, but I like the overall vibe. I would also find some way to incorporate “tree stars”.

#1.5 Hello Kitty (’cause idk whether she means Hello Kitty or not)

Not my thing, but this is an awfully cute party!

#1 Kitty Party

Yes if we do this, we will do this. Kitty, kitty. Vintage, crazy and unlike any child’s party i’ve been too. Hell, I’ll let her wear an ugly ol’ cat sweater if she wants. ;)

That’s it.

Cheers!

The Next Birthday Party

Hola Friends!

I know I should write a lot more than I am about to, but sometimes ya just have to ease back into stuff. Anyway, I have decided on Miss S’s 3rd birthday theme. I created a little pin board type collage to capture my ideas since I am not seeing anything that’s exactly what I had in mind.

I have always said, “No character themes!” Not for bedrooms, not for clothing/shoes and not for parties. Oh but how my little lovey just adores her Dora. So we began with jammies. Last week we slipped Dora sheets under her more-to-my-taste quilt. And now I am trying to work out a Dora birthday party. 

Lest anyone thinks I lost my mind, it will NOT involve crappy Wal-Mart, generic, Doraeverything. Instead I have taken S’s favorite color (red) and Dora to create a Dora-inspired color palate that veers away from the purple/orange combo seen everywhere. We will be using red, fuchsia and yellow. It will still be homemade tissue pompoms, bunting and garlands. I am sure I will still squeeze in polka dots and stripes, just with my dear daughter and Dora in mind. I have until Valentine’s day to pull this whole thing together, so feel free to tag along on the journey, make suggestions or give it a shot yourself.

Cheers!

Happy Belated St. Patty’s Day!

 

My St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have greatly evolved in the last few years. Long gone are the lime Jello shots, pounders of green beer and slurred Irish accents. Now my St. Patty’s Days are filled with coordinating festive family garb, downtown kids’ activities and—maybe best of all—green cupcakes.

 

 

 

My family planned to go downtown for community fun with some of our dearest friends yesterday morning. The chance of rain scared them and their little puddled jumpers into staying home. I realized that part of my insistence to go rain or shine may have stemmed out of the time and effort I put into holiday themed outfits for all four of us. Dear Husband announced a forecast of only 10% precipitation and off we went, despite the overall gloominess and leftover drizzle. We even persuaded some other friends to join us.

 

 

 

I mentioned my fondness for “community events” in my intro. Maybe you thought I was exaggerating to be funny. No, actually. I mean every word of it. Big cities have fantastic attractions every day, year round. My town (or any town in Idaho, really) cannot compete with that. But every now and again, small communities have something that big cities don’t have.  Like old green clowns who can barely make balloon animals, let alone fast enough for the multitudes of toddlers growing increasingly impatient. And random Irishmen telling tales into microphone in what may or may not be an authentic accent. And a jumping castle guarded by a couple of teenage honor students with stopwatch-equipped cell phones. In small town Idaho, we block the streets all day for such fun.

 

 

 

We did enjoy a few first which may not make it into the baby book. S got her first few jumps in a jumping castle and Baby G sampled his first lick of a lollipop. I am pro taking candy away from babies, but he is still alive after his father’s indulgent sharing so we are thankful for that.