Happy Birthday

Or should I say “Birs-day”?  That is how R says the word and it was her party after all.  My first baby turns 3 tomorrow and we had the party to end all parties yesterday.  I had a lot of fun with a Sesame Street theme.  She has had an Elmo obsession for about 6 months or so.  I took her to see Sesame Street Live over the summer, she was Elmo for Halloween (as you might recall) so it seemed like a logical choice.  She invited her choice of friends and I got started planning a few weeks ago.  It must be said that I did all this while in the midst of a cold that wouldn’t quit, writing report cards, having my mom over (thank God, or I would be a wreck by now), four evenings of f-ing first aid training, a field trip and umpteen other things.  I am amazed I have made it out the other side.

Here are some details from the party:

This is the sign that greeted guests at the door.  I made it with a green foam wreath from a craft store which is usually used for flower arrangements.  I pinned about 320 balloons using straight pins with colored heads.  There isn’t really any rhyme or reason to the technique; I did two rows of two balloons around the outside and inside edges.  Easy Peasy.

I made gift bags containing a bunch of Sesame Street themed stuff.  I had colouring books, little story books, Elmo’s Crayons, Dorothy’s Fish, a Kermit the Frog Pez, Mr. Noodle’s Noodles and a fruit snack.  I made the bag topper using Word and I placed a rounded rectangle over an oval and added colour to the border and text.  I just printed them on my printer at home and cut them out and stuck them on with double sided tape.  I left a tab on the sides to fold over and close the bag with.  I stapled the bag closed first.

Then I made cake.  And cupcakes.  Lots of them!  I made and Elmo cake using a mould and then some cupcakes.  M helped me colour the frosting using gel food colouring.  The intention was to make the cupcakes look like muppet fur and big bird feathers.  Notice how the yellow cupcakes are piped differently?  I knew you would notice.  My mom wasn’t sure anyone would notice all these nuances.  Oh ye of little faith.

I made/served a few other themed foods including Big Bird’s Legs (pigs in a blanket – this was a controversial dish), Kermit The Frog’s Frogs and Cookie’s Cookies.  I also made dip cups with the dip already in the bottom and a hash brown ham bake.  My mom made crab cakes.  Yum!

Here are come pictures from the party including some decor and my little lady at cake time.  The poufs are made from tissue paper stacked 12 high and accordion folded and then tied in the middle.  You then pull the pieces apart and they become poufs.  If you can spot them, I also decorated frames with letters and put them on the mantle next to the poufs and the Elmo piñata that I couldn’t bring the kids to hit.

There is also a picture with M and his Movember mustache.  The guests were egging him on and saying he could pull it off, that he was a young Tom Selleck or Burt Reynolds and other such drivel.  Can’t wait for December!

Full disclosure:  These are not all my original ideas.  I got lots of inspiration from the following websites:

http://guyerfamilyblog.com/2012/06/13/sesame-street-birthday-party/

http://www.allthingsgd.com/2012/01/kates-sesame-street-birthday-party.html

That’s all folks!

If anyone’s interested, I will post R’s birth story here tomorrow.  All the gory and amazing details.

K