Custodians of Beauty

Only a few shorts weeks after the construction party, and I started to plan for the long awaited for Outer Space birthday celebration for my soon-to-be five year old. This  spherical cake  idea looked super cool- I wanted to try it! Making it an ice cream cake was a must because, well... SPACE! With some trial and error (leaving the cake out on the top of our chest freezer, oops) and a bit of improvising, I created the Moon Cake! Instead of buying a mold, I used a large glass bowl lined with plastic wrap (to prevent ice cream from sticking to the sides of bowl). I layered the ice cream sandwiches putting generous layers of cool whip in between. After freezing overnight, I took the moon cake out of the freezer, popped it out of the bowl and frosted it with the remaining cool whip. Chocolate candy melts were used for craters. It came together better than expected (I was worried the cake wouldn't retain it's round shape) and when we cut into it, the layering of ice cream s...

We have been following the construction progress of our local library as it under goes a renovation. When I take the kids to return our books, they are excited to watch the builders. Their anticipation grew when they noticed the walls and roof one morning. "Wow Mama, they're almost done!" Along with the excitement for our new library, our little boy turned two this year! He has been entertaining himself (and his sisters) by making exuberant "Vroom, VrOOM!" noises with everything he holds, whether that's the carrot he is eating for lunch or the tea cup from the play kitchen. How could we NOT  make this boy a construction theme birthday? Watching the workers build the new library! I challenged myself with making this party as low cost as possible. It was a fun challenge and I think I did pretty good! Total cost of decorations/props was under $20. Not bad for having only 11 days to plan. These birthday parties creep on me sometimes.  Cautio...

Birthday time! I'm excited to share another playful party with you. Get ready to dive under the sea with the mermaids and fishies! During the weeks leading up to the party, I reserved a bunch of children's picture books from our local library about ocean life. I was excited to immerse the girls in this new topic and teach them about the wonders of the sea. They now recognize the names of several sea creatures, where they live, and what they eat.  Our favorites include:  The Usborne Big Book of Sea Creatures ,  Has large fold-out pages and realistic illustrations of the ocean life. Little Sea Turtle . A tiny finger puppet board book with a short story about the life of a sea turtle. The Secrets of the Seashore  , From the "Shine a Light" series of Usborne books. The kids loved holding the pages up to the window to find the hidden creatures living in their habitats. What Will I Be?  Peek under each flap to see how the butterfly, polar bear, turtle, f...

"We are the dinosaurs, marching, marching, we are the dinosaurs what do ya think of that?" These are the words heard on repeat over the past few weeks from little voices. I've been taking the girls to Movers and Makers at the library on Fridays and they always end the program by singing the dinosaur song . That being said, it was an easy theme to work into the birthday celebrations this month. My three-going-on-four year old was beside herself with joy when she heard I was planning a DOUBLE DINO party for her and her little brother.  The three layered DINO cake was covered in milk chocolate frosting, drizzled with chocolate ganache and topped with crushed cookies. Picked up the big plastic dinos from Family Dollar and the mismatched smaller ones were found at garage sales this summer.  Decorations were put up a few days before the party (and they are still up! Kids are lovin' it.) I cut out construction paper for the dinosaurs shapes and used m...

These dull, gray and cold days of winter seem long and unending. Fortunately, our family was able to escape the dreariness and celebrate a birthday this month. For our daughter's second birthday we hosted a moose party themed after the cherished book,  If You Give a Moose a Muffin , by Laura Numeroff. My siblings and I grew up reading this funny story and listening to the book on tape. The silly tale is about a hungry moose who follows the smell of fresh muffins. He enters the house and asks the boy for a muffin, but this is just the beginning of many comical requests. The amusing complications that ensue will entertain youngsters (and adults).  Since I had such a hoot planning last year's caterpillar party , I was eager to start collecting/creating the decor for the moose party. The book was acquired (for free!) when I posted an "ISO" in the local Facebook sale page.  I'm hoping to do another post featuring this book with photos of the illustrations....