Eventfully Entertaining

Karting Party

2014-05-18T12:51:00.001-05:00

My Speedster turns 12!

After a day of Karting and Winning 1st place,

we needed to celebrate Victory-Style!

Bryce on the grid for Rotax Mini-Max at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Bryce takes the win!
Top 3 roll-in for Tech Inspection

Celebrating with family and friends

Birthday Party...Hungry Style!

Owww...The cake is sliding...It won't last much longer anyway!

Singing Happy Birthday...

Making Birthday wishes...

Licking all the picks and candles, of course!

Track-side view from the hospitality tent

Junior Racers lining up

and intently listening to driving instructions!

Luv the eyes...and so glad super heroes could attend today!

and they're off!

Brant is the Winner of Junior Class!

Adult Class looks fierce and ready to race!

Bryce and Cole are at it again!

The Birthday Boy!

It's on...
I didn't know Superman's cape came in neon orange:)

Victory is Mine!

A beautiful day ended with good food, family and fun.

Congratulations, Bryce! You make me a proud Momma!

Soldier Party

2014-01-28T16:16:00.000-06:00

Cousin Mick's Army Party
was packed with activities at a

venue that couldn't have been more perfect,

The Louisiana Military Museum. In a word, Awesome!

Recruiting Office

Preparing for battle...

Camouflage style!

Visiting the Tattoo Parlor

Feeling Proud and Patriotic

Mermite Containers were perfect in the Mess Hall!

ATTENTION...

ABOUT FACE...

FORWARD MARCH!

The cadence..."Hey Hey, Captain Jack
Meet me down by the railroad track.
With that weapon in your hand
I'm gonna be a shooting man!"

Boot Camp!

Receiving weapons & gear

Perfect Party favors!

Ready for battle

Saving Soldiers

deactivating grenades

Taking Prisoners

Metal of Honor
The "Life Saver" Metal...CUTE!
No Solider left behind!

Award Ceremony

Time to celebrate....Pinata!

#7 Tomahawk cookies

CAKE!

Happy 7th Birthday General Mickey & his proud Platoon!

Are you ready for some football?

2014-01-28T12:34:00.001-06:00

Blaine's 8th Birthday theme is his favorite team, Denver Broncos.

Partyware, gumballs and sports bracelets await
the party revelers.

I see someone already snuck a few #8 Butter Cookies.

Cake table with cheesy popcorn, cookies,
cupcakes and football brownies.
Footballs, sports bracelets, megaphones
and pom-poms made great party favors.

A photo with dad and
Blaine is all geared up and ready to play!

2- hand touch football

Basketball Challenge

Baseball

Dodgeball

Gotta have chearleaders!

The birthday boy blowing out his candles.

Post game party, opening presents.

Carnival Party

2012-11-07T21:55:00.000-06:00

When my 5 year old decided he wanted a Carnival Party the month

before his 6th birthday, I scrambled to put it together.

Google and marthastewart.com offered lots of great ideas.

Carnival Decorations!

Carnival Paper Products were purchased from Oriental Trading.

Clown cupcake picks are by Meri Meri.

The Birthday Boy is proud to be 6!

Party Patrons were greeted with popcorn & cotton candy!

Carnival Treats: Chocolate dipped Rice Crispy Treats

with Sprinkles, Candied Apples & #6 Sugar Cookies

Face Painting!

The Spooky Birthday Boy!

The Carnival Games consisted of Ball Toss Bonanza
(Ping Pong Balls into cups), Clothespin Drop,
Spray Away (Water gun to shoot down golf balls),
and Duck Fishing.
Tickets were awarded and later turned in for prizes.

The Prize Selection was sorted by the number of tickets you won!

Cute Puppies, Crazy Clowns, Spooky Ghosts
& even Batman was at this Carnival!

Gumball Guessing Game & The Winner

Cake, Ice Cream and Juice Boxes awaited the ravished Carnival Revelers!

Party Favors were swirly lollipops & gumball banks from Oriental Trading.

Leaving birthday wishes in chalk!

Lots of Loot & Smiling Faces!

Video Game Party

2012-09-30T17:43:00.001-05:00

My 7 year old birthday boy loves, loves, loves the video game, Call of Duty.
So the video truck was reserved and the planning started.
We found a great video game invite by Paper So Pretty.

The Cake theme was "Call of Duty" Camouflage, of course,
with personalized dog tags in gumpaste.

Chocolate cupcakes with camo sprinkles were added for the
chocolate lovers.

"Camo Everything" was just what the birthday boy wanted!

Party treats consisted of chocolate cake balls "grenades",

rice crispy treat "care packages" and "tomahawk" #7 sugar cookies.

The usual party food was served

The Video Game Truck pulled up and the boys went crazy!

2 hours of nonstop gaming. Here's the Birthday boy & his guests.

The boys lined up to start their gaming mission!

Game On!

Platoon Punch for the thirsty gamers

Birthday Boy opening presents.

My soldier's call of duty was complete when he handed out
Wii Candy remote party favors.

And this mom's mission was declared a victory!

Happy 7th Birthday Commander Blaine!

Camping Party

2012-09-12T17:35:00.002-05:00

Planning a 10th Birthday Party for my oldest son was a big deal! After all, he is officially in the double digits...this is a milestone! He'll never see single digits again. He was feeling a little adventurous and decided he would like an outdoor/overnight camping party. He's never been camping (and neither have most of his friends for that matter!) I wasn't sure how this was going to play out but, what ten year old wouldn't like a 16 hour party all about him and fun?

DIY Party Printables by NellaDesigns.com

The Pennant Banner in the background

as I was trying to setup and guests are arriving!

The Camping invitations and matching thank you notes are from candlesandfavors.com

The directional signs (compliments of my husband) were at the entrance

and throughout the subdivision. They looked great!

As everyone arrived they received their Camping Gear:

camouflage backsacks with sling shots, bug spray and mini flashlights.

The sling shot contest and making friendship wristbands!

Chicken Bites, Hot dogs, Chips, Ants on a Log

(peanut butter & jelly on a graham stick),

Swamp Pudding (chocolate pudding with crushed oreos & gummy worms)

and Owl Cookies and Cake Pops were a few of the party foods.

We had cookie cake for the campers and regular cake for family and friends.

An Outdoor Movie was set-up, but the boys were more interested in midnight
baseball and flashlight tag until wee hours of the morning!

A trail mix bar for the hungry campers to mix themselves.

I couldn't setup the breakfast table fast enough...

the boys were exhausted & famished!!!

Donuts, assorted cereals and poptarts along with milk & sunny delights!

The tent the next morning looked like a frat house.

Owl S'mores, inspired by LivingLocurto.com,

were given to friends as party favors!

Safari Party

2012-07-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

We're Going on a Safari Tour!

My son loves animals (perhaps a future Veterinarian) and he
wanted to have his birthday at the Global Wildlife Center with a safari.
I found a precious invitation, by San Lori, at a local stationery store and printed myself.

The cake matched the theme and was decorated by a local bakery with a partial globe on top and safari animal faces on the side. I made matching cupcakes with safari picks to satisfy the little ones.

Brownie Bites, Giraffe Sugar Cookies, and Rice Crispy Treats

Party food was the traditional easy pickup:
chicken tray, finger sandwiches, fruit tray and chips.

What's a party without punch?
Jungle Juice, green Hawaiian Punch.

Plastic vine garlands and inflatable safari animals hung from rafters in the
tree-house gazebo and served as centerpieces on the table,
purchased from Oriental Trading.

The Birthday Boy had a banner at the entrance of the gazebo.

The Happy Birthday Boy on Safari with friends & family!

Feeding the animals was lots of fun. They tried to eat the cups!

The Gazebo was a perfect setting over a coy filled pond
with a beautiful view of the Wildlife Acreage.

Pith hats and binoculars (purchased from Oriental Trading) were given to all fellow Safarians.

A Simple Cinco De Mayo Supper

2012-07-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

A Mexican Fiesta

What's a Mexican Fiesta or Cinco de Mayo without cerveza and margaritas? So, that's how we started the evening along with a few black bean tortillas and homemade guacamole.

Grilled Shrimp Fajitas topped with grilled onions, green peppers, lettuce,

tomatoes, cheese and jalapenos, for a little spice!

A pinata served as the centerpiece, which the kids enjoyed after dinner.

Simple & Delicioso!

Swimming/Waterslide Party

2011-07-11T21:29:00.003-05:00

Imprintable invites by Inviting Company

DIY Pennant, favor and candy tags printables are from Gwynn Wasson Designs

Beach Ball Cups, Frog Beach Balls and Multi-colored Sunglasses were purchased from

Oriental Trading. Flip Flops were purchased at local stores.

Granny's infamous Butter Cookies in the shape of #9

Waterslide and Lily Pad Obstacle Course

Splashin' Fun!

The Birthday Boy enjoying pizza and cake with his family and friends.

Mardi Gras Party

2011-04-14T22:53:00.005-05:00

This party is one of my favorites! After Hurricane Katrina we wanted to celebrate my son's 4th Birthday - New Orleans style! Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World was the perfect venue. Everything was included in the package which made it easy for me being pregnant with my third child.

The invitations were provided by Mardi Gras World and I just had to print and mail them.

The perimeter of the den was lined with floats which was just beautiful and full of color. Our backdrop was a huge dinosaur float with lights while purple, green and gold banner size streamers hung from the ceiling. Several banquet style tables and chairs were set up with balloon centerpieces and matching table clothes.

We had a huge buffet of red beans and rice, fried chicken strips,

fruit and vegetable trays and finger sandwiches.

Activities included making Mardi Gras masks with glitter and feathers...

Trying on costumes and headpieces...

and face painting!

Instead of a traditional birthday cake we celebrated with king cakes.

And the birthday boy got the baby!

This was one of the best birthday parties we've had!

Speedster/Raceway Party

2011-04-13T22:08:00.075-05:00

My oldest son is all boy! And what do big and little boys have in common? They like fast toys...so a Speedster/Raceway party was the perfect theme!

The invitation had to be a race car, of course, and I found a neat die-cut invitation by Julia D. Azar which I was able to print myself and then tear off the perforated edges to shape the invitation.

Vroom....Vroom!!!

The first activity was a Craft. Tables were set up with wooden race cars, paints and decals (from Oriental Trading) for each guest to customize and take home. The kids (and adults) enjoyed painting their hot rods!

This was the first party my husband was excited to get involved with. He built a race track with lumber and taped racingng stripes on the course with a start and finish line. A few orange racing cones and checkered flags, found at a party supply store, set the course. The kids competed with remote control race cars.

The winner walked away with the trophy! However, I would suggest smaller trophies for ALL guests in lieu of 1 big trophy...there were a few tears at the end of the race! Party City has a small 3 inch tropy that would be perfect for all participants.

We also had a Race Car Bean Bag Toss (Oriental Trading)...Winner with the most points won a Remote Control Car!

What else would you have for a birthday cake but the checkered flags...Simple - and the kids loved it!

Cowboy/Western Party

2011-04-13T21:45:00.049-05:00

Sometimes the tiniest of things will spark a party idea...in this case my son saw some Pop & Snap Guns at the local toy store and fell in love with them, hence, planning for his 3rd birthday party was underway! Cowboys and Cowgirls gathered at a Western style BBQ for pony and stagecoach rides.

After owning and managing an invitation and stationery store for several years and working as a party planner/coordinator, I can tell you the two most important components of any birthday party is, the invitation and the cake! The invitation announces the event and stirs the excitement while the cake is what it's all about! Everything else is lagniappe.

I purchased the invitation from one of my vendors, Julia D. Azar, which were large die cut cowboy shaped hats with a leather strap. Most invitations are now laser or ink jet compatible and can be printed on your home printer. General rule of thumb, purchase a few extra invites for mistakes and test print on a blank paper. Invites should be mailed at least 3 weeks prior to your event.

Most bakeries will customize your cake to match the invite so keep an extra for that purpose and another for your scrapbook or family album. I wanted cowboy boots for his cake which the bakery was also able to put the cowboy hat on top! Cake was awesome and as you can see some little fingers had already made their way into the cake before we could cut it.

We set up a buffet table of pistolet buns and condiments with bbq beef, pulled pork, baked beans and potatoe salad. Yee-haw...that was some good grub! We also scattered some snacks around the house like a fruit and cheese tray, a bowl of cheese & pretzel goldfish crackers and a tray of mixed nuts over at the saloon. The Saloon was set up outside in old wooden barrels with water, soft drinks and juice boxes.

In lieu of candy or goody bags for favors, I opted for some precious straw cowboy hats trimmed in red and blue which were a nice keepsake and great for the kids to wear while riding the ponies and stagecoach.

Since I stated western attire on the invite some kids already had their hats, so I also had blue and red bandanas to tie around their necks or hang from their holsters. The bandanas also made a great decorating accent around the cake and buffet table. Both, the bandanas and hats can be found at most local novelty or party supply stores, if not, you can order online at Oriental Trading.

Hope these ideas helped with planning your next rodeo! Yee-Haw!

Cowboy/Barnyard/Farm Party

2011-04-05T14:30:00.004-05:00

My middle son wanted a cowboy party on a farm for his 4th birthday. There is a petting farm about 20 minutes from the house that is ideal for younger children. So immediately, I booked the party, began searching for the invitations and ordered the cake. I definitely wanted invitations that were farm related and I found a precious barnyard invite with animals wearing party hats, from Cross My Heart, and printed them myself. You might want to try My Expressions.com for a great selection of invitations and stationery.

The farm had so many activities for the kids we didn't need to bring anything to keep them entertained.
They were given bags of bread and carrots to feed the animals. There was a mini carousel on site along with a playset and finally a tractor-style hayride. Despite it still being quite hot and humid for October, the kids (and parents) loved it.

We had our own party room, which was an old converted stall in a barn and made a perfect setting. We were allowed to bring in our own food and served bbq beef on a bun, potatoe salad, baked beans, finger sandwiches and brownies.

I fell in love with a cake I saw on the internet and was perfect for the occasion. It was two tiered; the top layer was blue with mini horseshoes and red bandana icing trim and the bottom layer was a cow hide print with brown rope icing trim (not fondant). It was so cute and delicious!

Again, instead of trinkets as party favors, I did individually wrapped cookie favors in the shape of a number 4 with red and blue icing. Fun was had by all and we would certainly do it again!

Carousel Birthday Party

2011-04-05T10:22:00.006-05:00

There's something magical about a child's carousel party. And we fortunately have several beautiful carousels here in New Orleans. Many shopping centers have carousels and even parks, zoos or a mini carousel party truck may be available in your area and make great parties.

I chose a colorful invitation by Inviting Company and printed them myself. If you're very crafty and would like to make your own invitations try a craft store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby where the paper, stickers, stamps, appliques, etc. are endless (and are a great way to tie in your theme if you're a scrapper.)

The food was simple since we had to pick-up and transport everything ourselves. Party trays of fruit and cheese, assorted finger sandwiches, chicken strips with dipping sauces and of course, cake and ice cream!

I found these beautiful carousel horses (a Wilton Cake Kit at Michael's) that I had to use!!! They really stood out in the middle of the cake. Similiar to columns on a wedding cake, the flying horses were used to support the top tier of the cake which was accented with balloons and flower icing in the same colors as the invitation. The large number two was made of styrofoam covered with matching icing that the cake shop, Swiss Confectionery, added for me.

Waiting patiently for his cake!

When it was time to cut the cake, the horse columns were just snapped into

grooves on the top plate and removed easily with the bottom plate.

The bottom layer was almond cake with strawberry filling and the top tier was chocolate cake with buttercream filling. YUMMY!

Number 2 shaped butter cookies with icing and sprinkles was an added treat! Party favors were Carnival Boxes of Animal Crackers. Other party favor ideas might include Large Swirly Lollipops, Bubbles (always fun) and bagged Cotton Candy, which can even be found at Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree.

LAST RIDE OF THE DAY...EVERYBODY RIDES!

THE BIRTHDAY BOY HAD A GREAT DAY!