Forrest's Avengers Birthday Party

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BDayOnBudget #CollectiveBias

Forrest has been counting down to his birthday since about 3 days after his last birthday. And he's actually got about 2 more weeks before his big day arrives (and thank goodness for that, because I am feeling more than a little weirded out by the idea of having a 5-year old), but that didn't put even the slightest of dampers on his excitement for his Avengers birthday party.

As a general rule, it's pretty difficult to nail this kid down to a concrete idea. In the months leading up to Halloween, he changes his mind every 20 minutes about what his costume should be. As Christmas approaches, he starts every day by rattling off a list of different, previously unmentioned toys he wants to see under the tree. So I expected him to toss out 18 different ideas for birthday party themes (and I was prepared to veto 17 of them, since I am not an elaborate party thrower), but he surprised me by spouting off one idea only--superheroes--and sticking with it as his birthday drew near.

I can handle superheroes. The 3-tier birthday cake he requested, though? Not so much.

I headed to Walmart to pick up these awesome MARVEL party supplies by American Greetings. I kept the decor simple with a red table cloth and star confetti (to represent his favorite hero, Captain America), themed place settings, and a birthday banner. I particularly loved using a different Avengers mask at each setting. Forrest wore his for hours, and went to bed in it, too. I don't expect to see his face for quite a few more days.

Only mildly creepy to see Captain America wandering around the house, requesting cupcakes. Forrest expressed some concern that with the mask on, he has "a grown-up man head but still a little boy body! (dramatic sigh) I just wish a was a big man already." Gonna have to disagree with you there, buddy. I hope your little boy body sticks around for a very long time yet.

(That pose, by the way, was uncoached. Give credit where it's due--you do you, little dude. You do you.)

I have to admit, party planning stresses me out in a serious way. I dread the days and weeks leading up to birthdays because I know I'm expected to produce something extraordinary and I just cannot handle it.

But throwing this party was absolutely a delight--I basically just wiped out the Avengers section of the party aisle at Walmart, ordered a pizza and frosted some cupcakes, and called it a day. So simple to pull together, but Forrest absolutely loved it. He declared it "the best birthday ever!!" many, many times.

I didn't have to do any projects, or go crazy with decorations, or spend tons of money to make his birthday special. I kept it simple with a fun table, kid-friendly food, budget-friendly party items, and just let the children have a fun time together without stressing.

Without a doubt, my favorite element of the party is the fun party favors. My talented sister (of Ritzy Reba fame) whipped up these darling favor bag tags to match our superhero theme:

I spotted these MARVEL tumblers while buying my party supplies at Walmart and thought they would make the perfect alternative to traditional favor bags.

I bought one cup for each guest, then stuffed them with tissue paper. Add some party goodies like pencils, hero stickers, and candy, then use curling ribbon to fasten the tags:

Every bit as easy as stuffing a treat bag, but I love using the Avengers cups instead! Forrest is always so excited to drink from cups with characters he loves, so I liked the idea of sending the guests home with favor cups they could keep and use.

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the back side of the tags--it has Captain America's emblem, since he is Forrest's favorite hero. To use these printables, right click on the images to save them, then print them out at home. If you want the Captain America emblem, turn the paper around after printing the first side and send it through again to print the emblem on the other side.

 You can find all my party supplies in the celebrations aisle at Walmart.

What was your best birthday party ever? 

Party Animal Turns One

Darcy’s birthday was this past week, and we celebrated as only the most in sync mother-daughter duos can: with a visit to the pediatrician and an ear infection the doctor delicately described as ‘raging.’ I’ve been misinterpreting her ear infection symptoms for a few weeks now (“boy, teething sure makes her cranky!” and “awww, it’s so sweet how she lifts my hand up and rests it over her ear when she nurses!”) and I’m a bit surprised the pediatrician even let me take her back home with me after a peek in her ears (“it’s like a warzone in there!! you didn’t realize her ears were hurting?!” “erm nope”).

Happy birthday baby. As a gift to you, I’ll work on interpreting your pain signals.

Maybe you could also work on learning to speak English? That would sure come in handy in avoiding such situations in the future.

We kept trying to come up with a birthday party theme for her and drew one blank after another. Forrest’s 1st birthday theme was a total no-brainer—his obsession with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs started young and strong and the love burned with the intensity of a thousand suns, but Darcy doesn’t really have a ‘thing.’ There are no books or toys or characters or shows she is particularly excited about, but we kept returning to one thing. Cheese. Girlfriend loves cheese. So we jokingly called it a Whine and Cheese party (I’ll go ahead and take the blame for the whininess as I pump her with industrial-grade antibiotics—that’s right, the antibiotic the pediatrician normally prescribes isn’t suited for such a severe infection, hashtagmomoftheyear).

I took precisely zero pictures of the party that didn’t involve Darcy going at the cake, but her party was small and fun with lots of cheese. We set up a ‘build your own grilled cheese bar’ with lots of different cheeses and filling options, let people put together whatever struck their fancy, and cooked them up on an electric griddle. Popular combinations were Jalapeno Popper (made with velveeta and jarred jalapenos) and Apple Bacon Cheddar (thin slices of granny smith apples with bacon and sharp white cheddar).

Predictably, Darcy was miserable during her party (the eeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaars!!!) . . . right up until she got her hands on some cake.

Cake cures all ills.

(Although I am told she must, in fact, take the full run of antibiotics, regardless of cake consumption.)

I don’t know what prompted this face but I’ll never stop laughing at it. Never, I say!

At one year old, our Darcy bean is:

- gigantic
- still army crawling on her belly using just one leg like a poor wounded soldier
- a cheese fanatic and aspiring apple juice addict
- Forrest’s biggest fan
- giggly and sweet
- so snuggly
- ^ mostly with her stuffed animals
- particularly attached to one little cuddle bear, who she scoops up and presses to her cheek the second I lay her down in her crib
- an enthusiastic waver
- a discriminating kisser
- just starting to allow Very Frightening Strangers to hold her (such as my Very Frightening brothers and her Very Frightening Papa)
- the cutest, most pleasant little bean ever

Happy birthday sweets. May your next one be every bit as delicious but much less infected.

2nd Birthday Photo Tribute

In my grand tradition of waiting at least 6 months to post about projects, I am pleased to present my little boy’s 2nd birthday photo. (His birthday was in August. Procrastinators of the world, unite! Later! Whenever we get around to it! I’ll get back to you with the details! I probably won’t!)

Awwww, such a cutie. I decided before his first birthday that I wanted to make one of these for his birthday every year, and eventually collect them all into a little album together. I like the idea of capturing not just how he looked around each birthday, but some little aspects of his personality that might otherwise be forgotten. And yes, it took me 6 months to make this one, whereas I posted his first birthday’s photo tribute last year just days after his birthday had passed. If this procrastination rate continues, I’ll be finishing up his 18th birthday photo just in time to celebrate his 50th birthday.

And speaking of procrastination, I kept meaning to take actual birthday photos around the big day. I was picturing him holding a giant bouquet of balloons, maybe a big number 2, maybe confetti or streamers falling around him as I snapped photos. I’m sure it won’t require much imagination on your part to picture me putting this off until it was so far past his birthday that it seemed flat-out laughable to plan and execute a birthday shoot. So I ended up just finding the cutest picture on my computer that was relatively near his birthday—this one was actually a photo he took himself with the camera remote and tripod in his Halloween costume, 2 months after turning 2. He looks precious, it’s close enough to his birthday that it’ll do, and there’s plenty of white space around him to add text, so I figured it was a good choice.

After fiddling with the colors/brightness in Picasa (I have no idea what I’m doing), I added the text with Picmonkey. I’m happy with how it turned out, and resolving to not put the birthday photos off for 6 months next year.

Once more, because I think it’s so cute . . .

Spaghetti and Meatballs Birthday Cake

I promised a post about the cake I made for my little boy's first birthday last week, and here it is! Let me start out by saying that I stink at the whole cutesy dessert thing. I really, really, really do. I've made so many atrocious-looking flops that I've served, red-faced, to guests who very kindly pretended the slop I handed to them didn't look like poo on a plate. And you see all these cutesy little cupcakes and cookies online and think, surely I can do that? Well, my desserts (usually) taste good, they're just hideously unattractive. I could show you pictures to prove it, but really, that would just be cruel.

So I knew that for my baby's first birthday, I had to go with something simple and fun that would be kind of hard to mess up--for me, that meant purposely sloppy-looking (ie, definitely nothing with fondant or even pretty frosting) and more funny than pretty (at least that way, if it was embarrassing, I could pretend I did it that way on purpose). Since Forrest's all-time favorite movie is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (he seriously watched it for 20 hours straight when we drove from Iowa to Utah), I decided to make a spaghetti and meatballs cake, inspired by this cake and a few other similar ones I saw online.

This is my version:

Yessssssssssssssss! Honest to goodness, this might be the first cute dessert I have ever made in my entire life. This was a big moment for me, people! And when I say big moment, I mean I might have taken more pictures of this cake than of Forrest on his birthday!

This one is Forrest's mini-cake (made in a tiny little 4 or 5" cake pan)--a teensy little version of the real deal, just for his munching pleasure.

I used a chocolate cake mix (gasp! the horror! I figured it was going to take more than one attempt to get the cake to look right, so I didn't want to have to make multiple batches of homemade cake that would surely go to waste), and frosted them lightly with vanilla buttercream frosting. I tinted the extra frosting yellow and squeezed it all over the top of the cakes in a loopy pattern. Some of the versions of this cake I found said to make your own cake balls for the meatballs . . . but dude, why would I do that when I can buy a package of Ferrero Rocher's that already look like meatballs without even trying?

 (I told you I was ridiculously proud of it . . . I have a picture of myself holding every successful dessert I've ever made. This one brings the total up to two pictures.)

I spooned some strawberry ice cream topping on to look like spaghetti sauce, and grated a little white chocolate to look like parmesan cheese and, tada! Spaghetti and meatballs cake! Very appropriate for a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs party theme. (By the way, if you've never read the book, you can get it from Walmart for only $4! I bought a few copies for party favors.)

(See the poor frosting job at the bottom of the mini-cake? I'm not joking about stinking at this cute dessert business.)
And now that you've seen it looking all adorable, you of course want to see it being destroyed, right? I'm happy to oblige.

I think Forrest was a little perplexed by his cake--he just poked at it for a few minutes without daring to taste it (which was rather offensive, since the child regularly eats grass clippings and dirt but couldn't bring himself to taste my cake).

But once I cut it in half, he seemed to realize what he was missing out on, and chowed down:

Just making a wild guess here, but I think he likes cake.

But after eating almost an entire mini-cake (minus what he smeared on his chest and hair), I think he started getting a little sugared out:

My cake looked almost as delicious smeared on his cute chubby little face as it did on the plate. Jeff's sister offered him a dollar to lick frosting off of Forrest after he finished his cake, and I couldn't believe he didn't take her up on it . . . I would have done it for free! Look how tasty that boy looks!

Birthday Boy Photo

My baby turned one this week! (Does that mean I have to stop calling him my baby?) I'm going to skip the part where I go on and on about how I can't believe a year has gone by, I can't imagine my life without him, etc. (although I'm sorely tempted) and hop right ahead to the part you might actually care about--one of his birthday gifts . . . sort of. Okay, fine, it was mostly a gift for me, but hopefully he'll appreciate it someday. And if not, at least it'll be put to good use when I gaze at it and cry remembering his sweet mushy baby years when he's a big sullen teenager who hates his mother.

I saw this picture a while back on Pinterest and really loved the idea--a yearly photo of the birthday kiddo with a description of their personality that year. Wouldn't this make a cool album someday? All of his birthday photos together as a little tribute to his childhood and growing years?

via

So I decided to stretch my limited photo-editing skills to their limit and try to start a tradition of birthday photos for my little one. Unfortunately, in all the hustle and bustle of our wild partying, I didn't end up with any photos of the little guy with his cake that really seemed just right! In every picture I snapped, something was happening--he was caught mid-chew (not his most flattering look), or gazing blankly off into the distance, and the ones where he was smiling sure weren't perfect either. So it turns out, the photo editing that was going to be a stretch to start with turned into a reeeeeeally biiiiiig stretch!

I decided that this picture was my favorite--this is how it looked straight out of the camera:

What a cutie! I'm going to make a separate post later about his cake--it seriously needs its own moment, because it just might be the only attractive-looking thing I've ever baked. Truly. I'm a disastrous baker.

Anyway, that photo obviously needs some help. He's precious, no doubt, but it's awfully dark, plus there's a balloon string coming straight out of his head, purse handles in the corner, and a kitchen chair taking up a whole side of the shot. I figured I could crop out the purse and chair, but I didn't really want to--I wanted to keep as much space as possible for the words I wanted to add.

I started with editing the color in Lightroom. (So many of you suggested it in this post when I asked for your editing tips that I downloaded the 30-day free trial, and once again you have proved yourselves fabulous. I love it! Just have to collect my pennies so I can buy a copy to keep.) I wanted it to have a faded, washed out look, and ended up here:

I have to admit that as a total novice at photo editing, I was tickled pink with the coloring I ended up with on this. Nobody better make fun of anything, now . . . don't burst my birthday balloon, thinking I did a good job.

I still had to get rid of those pesky background objects (balloon string, purse, chair, chair's shadow). After spending a ridiculous amount of time on gimp trying to figure out how to make that happen, success! It's not perfect, so don't look too closely, but I finally got them to disappear! Add in a little text, and here's what I've got:

Yay! Now all the focus is on my cute little goober enjoying his birthday cake--no distracting objects in the background--along with some things I hope I never forget about the way he is right now. It isn't perfect, but it's just what I wanted--a sweet tribute to my little guy on his first birthday. (Oh, and in case the text doesn't make sense, his all-time favorite movie is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs . . . that was his party theme. I'm pretty sure if he had to choose between that movie and me . . . well, never mind. I'd rather keep deluding myself.)

A few recent crochet projects

Lest you think all I've been doing with my time lately is reupholstering (although, weeks after finishing those dang chairs, it still feels that way), here is a smattering of recent crochet projects that probably don't each need their own blog post. Hopefully they don't feel slighted by having to share the spotlight, however dim.

Project 1: My little sister Bekah turned 20 a few weeks ago (happy birthday, Beeks!), and although I've never seen her carry a purse, I crocheted this for her:

Obviously, I'm all about useful gifts. I used this pattern for the bag and was pretty pleased with it--it worked up quickly and easily--although I kind of botched the lining. It will function just fine, and even has a cute little pocket (I tried to take a page from my friend Amanda's book by adding fun interior details):

But I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job attaching the zipper, and had to warn Bekah to be very careful when unzipping it--I'm not sure where I went wrong, but I think I didn't sew the end of the zipper into the lining quite well enough, because it's one good tug away from being torn out completely. To make up for the crappy lining job, I tried to satisfy her Harry Potter nerdiness with this adorable necklace from Bit of Sugar, a super cute etsy shop that is not compensating me in any way for giving them a glowing review:

Do you HP nerds get it? It's even cuter in person than it looked in the pictures online, and was shipped so quickly. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be filled with authentic liquid luck, since Bekah lost her phone the next day and this necklace proved ineffective in  helping her find it. But I suppose they'd be charging a lot more if it were actual felix felicis, wouldn't they?

Project 2: I realized a while ago that the hot pads in my kitchen were, in a word, horrifying. I think there were little pieces of everything I've ever cooked burned into them, and although they've been washed a thousand times, I don't think they'll ever be the same. So I decided to crochet some cuter ones, thinking that surely my functional items could be adorable, too:

And while the functional + adorable theory is a good one, I am still using my disgusting old hot pads because I haven't wanted to mess these ones up. But at least they look cute in my kitchen! (Made using this pattern.)

Project 3: Forrest's first birthday is swiftly approaching (how? how?!), and I thought it would be nice to crochet something for him. I'm sure this admission will win me top spots on plenty of Mother of the Year lists, but I've never crocheted anything for my own child. There are a few hundred children in the world sporting something I've crocheted for them, but the fruit of my womb is not one of them. (Okay, not exactly true. I did make him a winter hat last year, but honestly, it wasn't all that cute, and I only let him keep it because I didn't think I'd be able to sell it.) (But I'm not that awful . . . I did make him a baby quilt!) So his first birthday seemed like an appropriate time to finally crochet something for him.

I hooked up this little sweater vest, using a pattern from Crochet Today magazine (minus the clown car . . . ). I'll admit, it doesn't look that cute in the picture I took, but it's actually really precious in real life. One problem: it. is. gigantic! I tried it on him (I know, I spoiled the birthday surprise!) and it kind of looked like a huge breastplate. I doubt it'll fit him until he's 2 or 3, so I guess I'm starting from square one for a birthday gift for him. Oh well, at least he'll look real sweet in a year or two, wearing his sweater vest!

I'd like to crochet a blanket for him, but I know it would come in second place for him--the lovable-cuddly-comfort-blanket spot has already been taken in his life:

He absolutely loves this super-soft blanket that my former boss crocheted for him while I was pregnant--he cuddles with it whenever he sleeps. So I suppose I should get used to the feeling of coming in second place for his affection, since I know nothing I make will be able to take the place of his blankie . . . although I love that he adores this gift from a friend I admire and love so much. I seriously can't believe this little goober is turning one!

Giveaway from Did Someone Say Party?

(Giveaway closed . . . thanks for entering!)

Heads up, friends. Get ready for some exciting stuff. I have a fantastic giveaway for you today! I recently met (internet met . . . I wish it was real life met!) Gretchen and Heather, the masterminds behind a brilliant new shop and blog called Did Someone Say Party?

 With my little Forrest's 1st birthday approaching swiftly (what is going on? why is he growing up so dang fast?!), I've had parties on the brain and am always so inspired by the gorgeous, elaborate parties you see featured online. But that looks like a ton of work and I have no idea where to begin.

Heather and Gretchen to the rescue! I'll let them take it away and tell you about their incredible shop and fantastic party planning!

Thank you so much, Rachel, for inviting us to Maybe Matilda.  We are absolutely thrilled to be here today! You are constantly inspiring us with your amazing designs!

Let’s start with a little introduction. Our names are Gretchen and Heather and we are two working moms and long-time friends who created Did Someone Say Party? in an attempt to help bring "handmade" back into parties. We will use any excuse to throw a party, but we know that convenience also needs to be a big element of the party equation in today's busy household.

Our blog is a forum for easy handmade ideas and unique touches for celebrations big and small. You can often find us drooling over delicious party-perfect recipes and admiring amazing crafty projects, as well as offering our own tutorials and recipes.

Our etsy shop is designed to be your go-to resource for handmade goods to simplify any celebration. You can create a custom party pack by selecting what you need - from invitations and thank you cards to party hats, banners, serving items and favors. You’ll find coordinating product links within our product listings to help take the mystery out of making a fully coordinated party.

We have created a variety of designs to complement any occasion, including birthday parties, bridal or baby showers, and other themed events including holiday celebrations.  We believe in providing convenient solutions so that hosts and guests can relax and enjoy the party . . . because good company, good food and good times are what it is all about!

Today we are thrilled to offer a giveaway to Maybe Matilda readers! One lucky winner will receive their choice of any of our Handmade Party Hats or our Handmade Serving Item sets, which include Cupcake Wrappers, Cupcake Toppers and Straw Toppers for eight!

The winner will have the opportunity to pick any product in either of these sections of our shop (click here and here to check out the eligible items). Although anyone can enter, we will only be able to offer free shipping to those within the United States.

Want to win? Here's how!

Note: each of these is ONE entry.  Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry method you do! And make sure to either have your email address enabled on your Google profile, or leave an email address in your comment so we can contact you if you win!

1) Visit the Did Someone Say Party? shop and comment on this post to tell us which product is your favorite!

2) Become (or already be) a follower of the Did Someone Say Party? blog! Make sure to leave a separate comment telling us so!

3) Follow Heather and Gretchen (or already follow) on twitter! Make sure to leave a separate comment on this post telling us so!

4) Tweet, facebook, or blog about this giveaway (and leave a link in your comment . . . one entry each!)

We’ll pick a winner via Random.org on June 24, 2011.

Thanks for entering! And a big thanks to Rachel for hosting our giveaway today!

(Okay, this is Rachel again . . . do you love this shop or do you love this shop?! What an amazing service for those of us whose birthday parties would otherwise consist of a funfetti cake and, if we're feeling particularly ambitious, maybe a couple saggy balloons. Go ahead, enter to win, and throw the birthday party your little one deserves!)