Sesame Street Birthday

Free shipping at ShindigZ

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:20:00 +0000

First time ever and limited until April 19!! Free ground shipping on any order fromShindigZ.com. Just use code SZCJA9 when you checkout. Whee!!

Sesame Street birthday banner to honor your child

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:07:00 +0000

There is nothing quite like a huge banner declaring that it's your child's day. Whether you hang it in the party area or out front to guide your guests, these banners help set the theme and make your child feel special. For a Sesame Street birthday party, you could go with a banner showing lots of characters, like the Sesame Sunny Days banner shown here or the Sesame Street Friends banner down below.

There are character-specific banners to be had as well, each available for personalization with your child's name and birth year. Check these out:

All of these banner options are available at Celebrate Express for just $14.99 each, including the personalization. A fun, simple and inexpensive way to set the theme for the party. It could be the only Sesame Street item you have and it will be clear from the start what this party is all about.

Party favor options for a Sesame Street birthday

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:41:00 +0000

When you’re throwing a party for kids, the last thing you want to do is hop them up on more sugar after they’ve already had cake and ice cream. So what to put in a goodie bag that isn’t candy or some other treat?

One of the best things about planning your party favors, though, is that they don’t have to be Sesame Street branded in order to fit with your Sesame Street birthday party. They can just be fun or can fit with your theme-within-a-theme.

Toy assortments
While there will be some items in an assortment pack that might not work for toddlers, these are an easy way to get a wide range of small toys in huge numbers. Look for packs with smiley faces for a Sunny Days theme or tropical toys for a beach theme.

Pre-filled boxes and bags
Save a little time and thinking (but likely not any money) by getting packages already done for you. There are a few Sesame Street options available, including Elmo, Abby Cadabby and the alphabet. But again, think about a theme-in-a-theme and maybe it can be Elmo and Abby go to the circus or Elmo and Grover play pirates or adventures with dinosaurs.

Single toy
Who says it has to be a goodie bag? If you’ve already decided on a price point for each child, try to think of one really good toy to get each of them rather than a pile of small things. (Which might work better with older children who understand that a bigger pile isn’t always better.) Some great options I found were a pirate boat puzzle, board games, Sesame Street t-shirts or Sesame Street mini-beanies.

Hooray for Elmo! party supplies for an Elmo birthday party

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Elmo is the most popular Sesame Street character at the moment (don’t ask me why), so the odds are good that your child doesn’t want just a Sesame Street birthday party, but an Elmo party.

Yea for the new Sesame Street party line called Hooray for Elmo! (Replacing the Elmo Loves You line.) Now you can have all Elmo, all the time for your child’s party. Every thing from party hats and balloons to plates and cups come with Elmo saying “Hooray for you!” to your birthday child.

And if that’s not enough Elmo for you, there are also banners, cakes, games and balloons with Elmo to make it a truly Elmo-tastic birthday party.

Use an easy wall mural to decorate your Sesame Street party

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:51:00 +0000

When decorating for your Sesame Street birthday party, easy isn't just better, it's great. Thousands of ballons, tons of confetti, streamers, banners - they all sound great. But if you want a lot of bang for very little effort, consider this awesome wall mural kit. It's easy, peasy and you can use it to decorate your child's room after the party is over.

The Sesame Street scene kit includes everything you see in the picture for a great price of $31.39. Or you can get just the pieces you want - the background room rolls ($19.99), the happy birthday scene with six characters, scene with Big Bird skating with Bert and Ernie, or Cookie Monster flying kites with Elmo and Zoe. The scenes run $4.99 each.

The rolls will cover an 8' tall wall, while the add-ons are over five feet tall. They all come in two pieces that you'll have to match up when you hang, but it's not that tough, really. Hang them with pins or other adhesives and you're done!!

Happy Birthday, Cookie Monster!!!

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:39:00 +0000

I think I know what he wants for his birthday. :-)

Sesame Street Music: Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:25:00 +0000

Time for another set of games taken from Sesame Street songs. I ran across this particular number while looking for Sesame Street songs for a new lens over at Squidoo, and ideas just started coming.

So what kind of games could you play based on this song? I thought of two almost immediately, but I'd love to hear any other ideas you have! Mine are both take offs from classic games and I worry that younger kids would have a little trouble adjusting to a new version.

Blue, blue, orange - So this would be a version of Duck, Duck, Goose only using the colors blue and orange instead. Challenge here might be to explain to kids they aren't looking for the colors on the other kids, but just using those words instead of duck and goose.

Blue monster, Orange monster - This would be a version of Red Light, Green Light only make the words blue monster and orange monster instead. Again, the challenge might be helping the kids understand the new rules of the game, but it could be a lot of fun.

I like both of these for a Grover or Cookie Monster party (since they're both in the video) or maybe just a general Marvelous Monsters party. Hmm. Liking that theme idea! More on that later.

Big, big balloons for your Sesame Street birthday bash

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:09:00 +0000

If your child had one wish for his Sesame Street birthday party, I'm sure it would be for Elmo to actually be there. As long as you don't have a skittish toddler, there's now a way to get pretty close, actually.

Check out these huge balloons of Elmo and Big Bird! Fill them with helium and rather than floating up and away, they float around the room like they're walking around! Pretty cool!!

Elmo is 50" tall, which seems a little big for a three-year-old Muppet, if you ask me. Big Bird comes in at 62", which is just barely over five feet, which is too short. Dang the lack of realism!! But still, they're pretty darn cool no matter what size. You'll need to get a helium tank to fill them, or see if your local party store will do it for you.

Sesame Smiles - birthday party supplies

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:19:00 +0000

I finally found a site that still sells my favorite Sesame Street birthday party supplies - the Sesame Smiles line. (Although, I suppose there's nothing specifically birthday about the designs, so you could use them for any Sesame Street party. And let's face it, any excuse for a party these days, right?)

Anyway, it seems ShindigZ.com still carries the Smiles line of party supplies, but I'm not sure just how much longer they'll be around. They have them marked down right now anywhere from 25-55%, including invitations and banner. It's already limited to just a few items (sigh), so you might want to hurry if you were really wanting those cute Oscar cups or Cookie Monster napkins.

(And because I love my readers, you can save 10% on party supply orders of more than $100 right now. Just use promo code SZCJC8 when you check out. Works on non-Sesame Street birthday items as well, although why would you want anything else?)

Would you do an evite for your Sesame Street birthday party?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:59:00 +0000

It might just be me, but I love paper invitations. I'm cool with getting Christmas letters via email or a link to a webpage. Don't mind finding out what's going on in my friend's lives via Twitter. OK with being sent to Facebook to see the latest family pictures.

But invitations? I love getting those in the regular mail. However, I've been invited to enough birthday parties and baby showers to know that email invitations are popular thanks to the quick turnaround, easy RSVP and low cost.

One of the more popular ones out there is eVite.com, of course. You can pick from their pre-done designs or design your own using pictures you upload from your computer. But there's a new player on the field now, My Punch Bowl. My understanding is that MPB is meant for bigger parties, but it does allow you to search flickr for images to use in designing your invite rather than just using what's on your computer. (I'm a little concerned that it's not pulling things that are under a Creative Commons license, but that's another issue.)

Now, neither of these have any Sesame Street invitations, but with some creativity (like doing a theme within a theme), you can find some invitations that will work just fine. I thought the designs for a kids birthday party were a little better at eVite, but that could just be my taste.

So what do you think? Would you do an evite for a kid's party? Or do you think it's more appropriate for one for adults? Have you used them for your own parties? 'Fess up!! I really want to know.

(I learned about Punchbowl from Venture Beat. Interesting thoughts in the post and comments about whether this is a service to keep an eye on.)

Sesame Street happy birthday video

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:04:00 +0000

You've got to love adults having fun with Sesame Street for a birthday. I just love this guy!

Having a Sesame Street birthday party? Remember your audience

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:59:00 +0000

I've been reading a lot of blogs/stories/posts related to throwing a birthday party lately. Gotta stay on top of all of this for you, my fabulous reader, right? And wow, I'm amazed at what some people put themselves through to throw a party for a young child.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your child is turning one, then a DJ, clown and facepainting is going overboard. Just a bit. When you start using words like caterer and survived in referencing a party for a first birthday, it's time to slow down a bit.

It's so easy for parents to get caught up in throwing the perfect birthday party for their child. It's their first birthday, it's their first party with guests, it's the first party they'll remember. (Maybe.) There's always some reason to take what could be a simple Sesame Street birthday party and turning into an overdone, stressful affair.

But keep in mind over everything else who this party is supposed to be for. Your toddler is likely still at the stage where they'd rather play with the box than the fabulous gift that came in the box. Particularly with a first birthday, the child has nothing to gauge against, no way of knowing you've thrown the best party ever. So how to keep things under control, on budget and exceed expectations?

Here are a few ideas I've found as I've been out wandering the web:

Have an old-fashioned birthday bash at home - classic games like pin the tail on the donkey, simple decorations and separate cake and ice cream times make this a breeze to pull off. Keep it short and sweet and at a time that doesn't interfere with nap!
Think appropriate - Everything from decorations to venue to food should be geared to the age of the child as well as your budget. What can you use that you already have? How can you plan to avoid excess food planning? How can you get the other parents involved?
And always remember that the point of the party is to have fun and you don't have to spend a lot of money to do that. (One mom mentioned in the comments here about spending $1000 on a party for a three-year-old!) In fact, here's yet one more post I found for you with some great ways to keep things simple and (bonus!) save on your party planning.

So enjoy yourself, create some great memories with your child (and Elmo or Abby) and remember to keep things in perspective in planning a great Sesame Street birthday party. Save the DJ for the wedding.

Cupcake bonanzas for a Sesame Street birthday

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Well, we've talked about cake toppers and we've looked at shaped cake pans. Next up is the growing trend of cupcakes rather than a regular sheet cake to celebrate a Sesame Street birthday.

Particularly for a child's party, cupcakes make for a great option. Single serving sizes, no muss, no fuss. And when you're decorating in a particular theme - like Elmo - no fighting over who gets to have the Elmo on their piece of cake.

The cupcakes here at the top were done by Datin Mary Zain, a bakery in Malaysia. I love them because you can tell it's Elmo and Oscar and Cookie Monster, but they aren't precise interpretations. It's a lot less stressful when you don't try to create something exact. Give your toddler some credit. They'll know the red cupcake is Elmo.

The other picture comes from the blog I Love Cupcakes. These feature a more precise interpretation, but also another trend I'm seeing - combining a small cake with cupcakes. Same benefit of the cupcakes, but the space of a cake for more decoration. (Check out the detail on those packages! I find other people's skill with fondant just fascinating. I just make a mess.)

I've been having a lot of fun looking for and at great Sesame Street birthday cakes. There is some really great creativity out there. I'm favoriting a lot over at flickr. Check them out if you're looking for some inspiration. I promise, there are some you can pull off.

Sesame Street Birthday: Music game with Grover song

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Grover is the hardest working muppet on Sesame Street, without a doubt. And one of his best jobs is explaining concepts like near and far or top and bottom. And you can use his expertise to develop a couple of new musical games for your Sesame Street birthday party.

Now we looked at a celebrity visit last time with Destiny's Child and "New Way to Walk". This time, we'll be using a classic Sesame Street skit with Grover explaining "Over, Under, Around and Through."

My brain just won't stop with the ideas on this one, but I'm going to put a halt at three. I'm sure you can come up with your own as well!

Follow the Leader – Make sure your party setting includes lots of things to crawl over, under around and through, then play a version of follow the leader where the kids have to tell you what word applies to the situation. So you go around the tree, through the tunnel, under the table, etc. If you have a lot of kids and plenty of room, enlist some other adults to be leaders as well and get a lot of short lines going.

Simon (or Elmo or Abby or Grover) Says – Develop some simple movements for each of the four words and play a variation of Simon Says. Maybe stand on tiptoe for over, squat down for under, make a circle for around, push arms out for through. Toss in a couple of other motions and you're on your way.

Obstacle Course – No, not a real one. We're likely talking about toddlers, after all. But, you could do a version of one with stations for each motion. Get the kids in a group, pick a word, then they can run (or walk fast) to the place to do the motion and then hurry back for their next instruction. If the kids are a little older and you have the space, just give them the word and send them out to figure out what they can go under or over on their own.

So those are my quick ideas. What are yours? I'm sure anyone planning a Sesame Street birthday party would love to hear them. Heck, I'd love to hear them!

Do you really control your invitation list?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:00:00 +0000

If your child hasn't even reached toddler age, you likely haven't hit this challenge yet for your Sesame Street birthday party. But increasingly, it seems the choice of whom you invite is being taken away.

Many schools now have rules that if you want to distribute invitations at school to people in your class, you have to invite everyone. This causes problems for any number of reasons, and even led to a complaint to the Swedish parliament in one case.

Simple solution here - Collect all mail or email addresses at the beginning of the school year and give them out to all the parents. Then it's easy enough to just invite the four kids your child really wants or everyone but the class bully or limit the group to what you can afford. The school doesn't have to serve as your post office, and you can once again control your invitation list.

Or maybe you disagree with me? Are the schools wrong to even have policies about this kind of stuff? Do we fail to teach our kids valuable lessons in making choices or dealing with disappointment when we institute these rules? Would it be better to have the rule changed than to find a way around it?

Saving time and money planning your Sesame Street birthday party

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:03:00 +0000

OK, deep breath. There's a lot to keep track of when you're planning a Sesame Street birthday party. Decorations, food, activities, invitations, invite lists, thank yous … . Tired yet?

But don’t panic. You can do this. In fact, the younger your child is, the easier this will be because you set the expectations. So step one is to decide just what really needs to happen. Do you really need 500 balloons? Do you have to have individually crafted invitations? Do you need three courses, plus cake and ice cream?

Seriously, take a close look at what you have planned for the party and make the decisions that will help you have a good time – not just at the party but in planning it. This also means making decisions about allowing someone else to make the cake or using pre-printed invitations or bringing out the goldfish crackers rather than homemade snacks.

One other option to take a look at is the packs that include everything you need for the decorations – plates, cutlery, napkins, balloons, crepe paper, etc. Most of the time, these packs help you save time and money by giving you the basics in your theme, and you don't have to worry about forgetting the napkins or candles. And – best of all – you can save good money by buying the pack – up to 33% sometimes.

Now, I'm a big advocate for working with solids and mixing things up rather than buying everything in the theme. But if you're looking to save time and want to have the Sesame Street birthday-themed plates and napkins anyway, it's definitely worth taking a look at. And since the packs generally come in counts of eight or 16, you can always add in some solids to round out your numbers and cut costs even more.

Sesame Street birthday cake taken to the extreme!

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:34:00 +0000

Because everyone animates their birthday cake, don't they?

Sesame Street birthday cakes – character cake pans

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:48:00 +0000

If you have a little confidence not only in your cake baking skills, but your cake decorating skills, then maybe a character cake pan is the choice for your Sesame Street birthday cake. There are options for almost every character out there, so you can pick your – mm, your child's – favorite and make it the focal point of the table.

Wilton lists several shaped cake pans on its site as being current, including

Abby Cadabby
Bert & Ernie
Big Bird (2)
Cookie Monster (2)
Elmo (2)

Other shaped pans that you could try if you're working with a second theme include a 3D rubber duck, book, palm tree, guitar or t-shirt. They could work with a bathtime, beach or music theme for your Sesame Street birthday party.

You will need some special tools beyond the cake pan for this type of cake, specifically cake decorating tips and likely some special food colorings. (You will not be able to get Elmo red or Oscar green using regular food coloring.) When you buy the pan, it should come with directions telling you just what size tips and what colors to use to get the right look, along with really specific directions on how to make the stars, shells and other details.

My biggest challenges in doing these kinds of cakes have always been 1) getting the cake cleanly out of the pan and 2) keeping my stars the same size.
The first can be hidden by the frosting, fortunately; the second, you just have to learn some patience to go slow and steady.

But what if the Sesame Street character you want isn't offered right now? Well, I started checking around on eBay and discovered that there are different pans for Big Bird that came out more than 20 years ago, along with pans for Oscar, Ernie by himself and the Count. These are frequently available at eBay, both for auction and in eBay stores. I've also seen pictures where people have used the Elmo pan and just changed up the colors and made a Zoe cake. You could do the same to turn a Cookie Monster cake into Telly or the full-body Elmo into Grover.

In all, the shaped cake pans can give you a great themed cake for a Sesame Street birthday, just be sure you're willing to make the commitment in time and are confident in your skill. And post those pictures to flickr so we can all see how fabulous your picture turned out! Leave a link in the comments if you like.

Sesame Street birthday cakes – take the easy route

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Acck! Help! You need a beautiful cake that will wow everyone and make Martha Stewart jealous!

Actually, take a deep breath and understand that your cake, while it can be a great focal point for your Sesame Street birthday table, doesn't have to be some elaborate piece of architecture. Will it make it taste better? Will it keep your child out of therapy later? Will it help you win the lottery? Nope, nope and nope. So unless you just get great pleasure out of creating gorgeous confectionary (or spending lots of money for it), it might be better to take a simple route and put your creative energies elsewhere. At least until your child is older and can appreciate a fancier cake.

So what are your simple options for a great Sesame Street birthday cake? You'd be surprised just how easy it actually can be. Most of these options are best with a simple sheet cake, so crack out that 9x13 pan! (Or head to Costco to get a huge one for like $18.)

Icing topper – These are just my favorite things that I've discovered lately. (What? I can't be ahead of every trend.) It's basically a sheet of fondant that you just lay on top of your cake and you're done. Can't get any simpler than that. It's possible you could get a local bakery to make one for you, but your best bet is eBay. They even make some for round cakes and for cupcakes! Easy! My favorites are the ones like I have pictured here that can be customized in advance with your child's name. Double easy!

Cake figures – Isn't Sesame Street just so nice? They actually make little plastic figures just to go on birthday cakes! They're relatively inexpensive (the ones pictured at the top of this post are less than $5), and you can add some extra color and pizzazz with colored sprinkles or candies. Then your child had a couple of extra toys to play with when the whole party is over.

Sunny Days – Add a little sunshine with a round cake. Frost it in yellow, then use licorice pieces to make the mouth and eyes and you have a Sunny Day cake! Easy, peasy.

Rubber Duckie – Depending on the size of the duck, this could work on a sheet cake or a round cake. Just frost the top with blue frosting (or sprinkle white frosting with blue sugar) and put a toy rubber duck on the top. Great for the Ernie fan.

I have full confidence in your ability to make a great Sesame Street birthday cake. Just remember that the cake doesn't have to be the focal point of the party, and it will taste great no matter what color or decorations there are.

Sesame Street Birthday: Working a theme into a theme

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Just because you'd like to throw a Sesame Street birthday party for your child doesn't mean you have to follow a single route to developing that theme. It doesn't have to be all primary colors and Sunny Days. One of the joys of Sesame Street as a theme for a birthday party is that it lends itself to incorporating other ideas into the theme.

Start by considering what other things your child is interested in – cowboys, swimming, rubber ducks, birds, music, dancing, art come to my mind as possibilities. Then, does your child have a favorite character? Yes, it's easy to do an Elmo party because they have a lot of Elmo supplies, but what about doing a "Happy Trash Day" party featuring Oscar. (And yes, I'll have a post on that one for sure!) See if you can find a way to marry your child's favorite things outside of Sesame Street with their favorite character's favorite things.

To get you started:

Zoe = Dance – ballerina party, hip-hop dance party, general music party
Abby = Magic – fairy party, magic party, pumpkin party
Oscar = Trash – get-dirty party, dump truck party, trash party
Ernie = Duckies – rubber duck party, bathtime fun, get-clean party (can toddlers do that?)
Bert = Pigeons – bird-watching party, flying party
Big Bird = Radar – teddy bear party, best friends party

Grover and Elmo are probably the easiest ones because they have the most versatile roles on the show. Grover's held almost every job there is so it's easy to see him as a cowboy or fireman. His latest role as global ambassador could give you a starting point for an ethnic party. And with Elmo's World, Elmo can go and do just about anything, such as a pirate ship or castle or the moon.

I hope this thought got your creative ideas flowing. And don't worry, I'll be talking about some of these ideas individually at a later date.

Can you think of some other creative ways to have a Sesame Street birthday party with a secondary theme? Share in the comments! I love to hear your ideas.

Sesame Street Birthday: Indoors or outdoors for your Sesame Street party?

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:49:00 +0000

The song might talk about "sunny days", but you can't always count on the weather cooperating. Nor can you wait for the snow to disappear if the birthday you're celebrating is in January. But sometimes you have a choice about where to celebrate your Sesame Street birthday. Pros and cons to each:

Indoors

Easy to keep everyone contained in a single area
Decorations stay where you put them
Temperature controlled (important in Texas!)
Can be a tight space to have a lot of people at once
Things with toddlers can get quite messy
Kids can start getting into things that aren't part of the party

Outdoors

More physical activity for the kids (especially at a park)
Games and activities can be quite messy and take up a lot of room
Mother nature can do most of the decorating
Weather might not cooperate
Bugs in the food
Kids can wander away from the main area

Well, I just cleared that up for you, didn't I? Sorry. There's really no easy answer for the setting for your Sesame Street birthday bash. Unless you want to do it at Sesame Place. That's probably the ultimate setting. So my best advice? Figure out what will work best with your weather, decide how much clean up you're willing to deal with and determine if you can corral enough grown-ups to herd the cats. Either way, your child will have a great time and that's the point, right?

Sesame Street Music: Make a game with music at your Sesame Street party

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:16:00 +0000

Music soothes the savage beast, right? (Actually, it's savage breast, but work with me here.) So it ought to work wonders on a gaggle of toddlers! I'm working up a series here with different songs and ways you can use that particular song to reinforce a theme or introduce a game at your Sesame Street birthday party.

Let's start with what has to be one of the catchiest remakes for Sesame Street – "I've Got a New Way to Walk" by Destiny's Child. I've never heard the original, but this version just is stuck in my head. I've got the video right here, so you can take a listen while you read the rest of this post. Just click the arrow to get it started.

So what can we do with this particular song? One idea is to use this song to play a version of Red Light, Green Light where you start and stop the music. You could have them "walk walk" while the song is going, then either hold still or run when the music stops. Or encourage the kids to develop their own new walks to do during the song. (Grown-ups can do a version of the Ministry of Silly Walks and participate.)

If you have slightly older children, you could even use this song for a version of musical chairs or turn "Duck Duck Goose" into "Walk Walk Run" after you've done the music game.

Best of all, once you've introduced this song, you can then control some of the chaos by reminding the kids to "walk walk" and encourage them to use their silly walks as they move around the party. This particular song is great for getting them up and moving in a variety of ways for a Sesame Street birthday.

Centerpiece ideas for your Sesame Street birthday table

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:53:00 +0000

Creating a lovely display for your Sesame Street birthday party is actually a simple affair because truly, the cake can be the focal point of the table. Well, that problem solved. Just kidding.

Actually, there are more options than the cake. You might be doing an ice cream cake that can't sit out or have a plain cake that doesn't deserve center stage. So what are your options? Let's see, shall we?

Free option - How about leaving a big hole in the middle of the table and set the presents there? That should make a lovely colorful pile that can be surrounded by favor bags and your plates and things. You might want to make sure you open presents before you do food then, so you have room for the cake. Another free option would be to use some of your child's Sesame Street plush characters or toys. Surely you have a few.

Pay option - There are some cute centerpieces you can buy, like the one for Abby Cadabby I have pictured here. The great thing about these guys is that this centerpiece could serve as your main or only Sesame Street themed decoration and then build out the decorations from there with solid colors.

Time/Creative option – So let's think here. How about taking some boxes and wrap them with Sesame Street paper and stack like a cake? Maybe stack some of your Sesame Street characters on them? Or have your child color some of the characters, then frame them and display on an easel. For an Elmo-specific theme, how about a toy piano or a goldfish bowl? Bert and Ernie could have a pile of rubber duckies and paper clips; Oscar a small metal trash can full of balloons and streamers; Cookie Monster a cookie jar; Big Bird a bird's nest.

Whatever you decide to do, think first about the amount of time and money you want to put into it, then how important it will be to your overall Sesame Street birthday decoration scheme. You don't need a big centerpiece to make the table special. (More on that later!)

Welcome to the Sesame Street Birthday blog!!

noreply@blogger.com (lewister) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:09:00 +0000

If you've stumbled across this blog, I'm in the process of ramping up. Glad you made it by. Please do come back to check it out once I actually get some Sesame Street birthday info on it.

This blog will include info on games, decorating, themes and more all around those lovable Sesame Street characters. I don't care how old you are, you can still love Sesame Street.

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