Opposite Party

Ok... so this recipe is so cute!  And honestly, it doesn't require much explanation.  I think that the pictures will pretty much explain everything for you!  My little brother (almost 17, not so little anymore... we'll call him 'younger') has a Fall Festival party every year.  My mom goes all out and plans a cute theme and the kids LOVE IT!  It's a GREAT alternative to OTHER mischief that kids can get into on Halloween night.

Last year she did a SUPER fun murder mystery (she ordered a kit on line... GREAT IDEA).  The kids had to dress like the character that they were sent in the mail and play that part the whole night.  Like I said, it was lots of fun and the kids REALLY enjoyed it!

Well, this year they had an 'Opposite Party'... EVERYTHING was supposed to be opposite.  Kids were encouraged to dress opposite of how they normally dress (they could interpret that however they wanted to).  I had an idea to send Thank You cards with all of the info as the invite... but mom was worried the kids would be confused. ;-)  She DID prepare the food to look opposite of what they really are.

Super Hero Birthday Party

Thanks SO much to HH reader, Casey for sharing this FUN birthday party idea with us!

Casey's little guy just turned 1 and for his birthday she went all out (on an AWESOME budget... under $60) and had a sweet Super Hero party!

Ladybug Party Ideas

Thanks to HH reader, Nikki for sharing these ideas from her sweet girl's FIRST birthday party!!  Nikki used Ciao Bambino for her printables and was VERY pleased with them.  She said that they were extremely helpful!!  Be sure to check out their page on etsy.com for more party options!

PINK Farm Party!!

Thanks to reader Cynthia for sharing this ADORABLE birthday party idea with us!!

Cynthia's girls LOVE animals!  So, it's only fitting that for this birthday party, they were at a FARM!  There was a local farm that hosts parties (which makes cleaning up a little easier... no one is destroying YOUR house)!!  The kids got to ride a pony and pet the animals!  VERY age appropriate and FUN!!!

Here's what she did....

Invitations- The invites were ordered from dimpleprints on etsy.com.  She got a package that was completely customized. There was another boy farm and Cynthia emailed dimpleprints requesting a pink farm. They were very helpful there and totally worked with Cynthia to incorporate her ideas.  Cynthia HIGHLY recommends Dimpleprints!  She tells us,

"I LOVE dimple prints and have done 3 parties from them so far." :)

Also, Cynthia printed the invites (and thank you's) off at Sam's club, because she ordered the 5x7 prints then got free white envelopes! 

Cake toppers-  They were another custom order from a place on etsy.com called Edible Details (they have their own website that you can order directly from now).  On that page you can see the pink farm animals on the home page. Cynthia also ordered the 3-D toppers from them as well. They can pretty much make anything you want! The cupcakes themselves were just ordered from Sam's Club!

Decorations- All of the decorations came as a coordinating package as well from dimple prints. They will send you the file and you print whatever you want out yourself. Cynthia says that she usually has the local printing place print them off because it is too much work and too much ink to do it on her home printer. So once printed you have to cut everything out.

Goody Bags- She just bought basic brown paper bag from craft store and used a graphic from the party package she ordered for the front. She filled the bag with farm themed goodies like a farm animal stamp, a custom made mini pad of paper, farm animal stickers, cow tail candy.

Thank Yous-  At their parties, they always ask that people bring an item to be donated to the Humane Society instead of gifts.  Here's a look at the thank you note (It came as part of the party package).  

WHAT A FUN PARTY!!  I just love how customized everything is!  Thanks SO much for sharing this with us Cynthia!!

**Please feel free to e-mail YOUR fun birthday party ideas to be featured on Handy Housemom to handyhousemom@gmail.com!**

Pirate Party

WHEW... just finished up the first of MANY dual birthday parties. Heck my kids birthdays are about 2 weeks apart... so a party in the middle?! YES! DEFINITELY!! Thanks to Disney Jr.'s Jake and the Neverland Pirates ("Treasure Island" to Addison?!?!), we had a pirate themed party.

So, first I went to etsy.com and bought some PRECIOUS graphics... (which you can see in the pictures... I couldn't load them here because of copyright stuff. It's a super easy and SUPER cute way to make a party personal...you know, not just the same ole store bought party. This one looks like you took WAY more time and/or $ to create.

Owl Birthday Party Idea **SO CUTE**

Thanks to my friend Cynthia for sharing these WONDERFUL ideas with us on planning a SUPER CUTE birthday party!!  Cynthia's little girl LOVES owls so she wanted to try and plan a festive birthday party using owls as a theme (most of these ideas can be used with ANY theme). 

So, the first thing that Cynthia did to prepare for the party was shop for graphics.  She ordered the owl prints here from ETSY (dimple prints).  They were a PDF file that she could print from home (or wherever).  Cynthia said that it was cheaper to go have things printed at a local printer...rather than buying cardstock and using her personal ink.  I bet is was faster too.  AND when you have 2 little ones... isn't it ALWAYS easier to delegate?  Especially to a professional!  GREAT TIPS CYNTHIA!


Cynthia was able to incorporate the theme throughout the party.  Check these out...

 

PARTY FAVORS!!! SO SWEET!!! :-)

 

I'm sure you're wondering... how on earth did she make such PERFECT circles??  Well, she actually said that a circle cutter was a GREAT investment!  She got hers from a craft store and used the usual 40% off (or whatever they have where you live) weekly ad coupon.  I found them on line for around $14.00... so with the 40% off coupon... well, you get the picture!  In case you have NO idea what I'm talking about...

So, the Owl theme is ADORABLE!  Here are some other GREAT CREATIVE additions that made the party even better!!

You can find iron on transfers at a local craft store and print these out at home AND match the theme!! <3

**PREPARE FOR MORE CUTENESS**

TOLD YOU SO!!!  Thanks soooooooooooo much for sharing these GREAT ideas Cynthia!  NOW... I have to get to planning 2 parties in the next 2 months!!