If it Weren't For You Pesky Kids...

Hello! I'm back. Well, sort of. My giant weeks of preparation have come, and gone, and both of the projects were completed. Of course, the perfectionist in me, could tell you 100 things I wish went differently. But one good thing about things with a deadline, is that they pass....and then it's over....and there's not a lot you can do about it.

We'll start with a party post. Who doesn't love a party? Well, sometimes I don't. If it comes with a silly theme.

One of the bad things about your kids getting older, is that they get ideas in their heads that are hard to change. My son decided that he wanted a Scooby Doo party. And I couldn't convince him otherwise.

Why was I adverse to the kids and their Mystery Van? Well...it's just so hard to do character parties that don't look like they came straight out of a bag.

Here's my attempt at a Scooby Doo party....

• One of the best ways to take your party "out of the bag" is to dissect the color palette.
• We went with the "Mystery Van" colors of: Aqua, Tangerine, and Lime.
  
• I designed the invitation to show both the theme and the color palette. (And I gotta say....I kinda loved how they turned out....)
  

I started getting decorations together a couple weeks ago. I was always on the lookout for things that would fit in the colors we picked. It was good to look in both the "summer" sections and the "college dorm" sections. They usually use a lot of really bright colors. (plus a lot of cheap, fun, plastic bowls and plates and such....)

I also wanted to use some Scooby Doo posters to decorate our fence. (I had to decorate both outside and inside for this party.)

ZOINKS!!

There aren't really any "cool" posters to be found. I decided to design my own.

I got them printed out at Costco....and I'm IN LOVE with the results. They were really cheap, and the quality is awesome. If I had any reason to....I could probably frame them. I will be keeping this option in mind for art in the future! LOVE IT!




Back in April....we had a birthday party for my daughter. That time, I went for the standard "Martha Stewart" tissue poms over the stairway. My son requested that there not be too many "fluffy things". So we came up with these funky 60's type flowers to hang over the banister. I love how they fill in the space, and keep the color theme going....for very little money. I just made one template, and cut them out of 12x12 scrapbook paper. They're hung by 1/8" grosgrain ribbon.



Because of the 90+ degree temperatures, we had to keep some things inside. I love the paper lanterns hanging over the table.



My son is actually NOT a big fan of cake. I know! Weird. For his actual birthday day (which was a couple days earlier....) he requested a cheesecake. And for his birthday party, we did funky sugar cookies. They seemed to be a big hit with the kids. And they actually were fairly quick for me. (and I was given a recipe for Buttercream that I LOVE!!!! Thanks April!) Maybe I'll share a couple sugar cookie tips in the future.



Outside, we had places for each child to sit. I wasn't a fan of the Scooby Doo place settings that we found. We decided to buy plates (these are UBER cheap Dixie plates) that matched our colors. Then we printed out some cute graphics and cut them with a 2 3/4" punch. I printed them on sticker paper. So all I had to do was peel and stick. Easy. We did the same with the cups. (those cups were 4 for $1.50 and each child got to take theirs home.)



The food was all picked by my 8 year old. So if it sounds kind of ecclectic....let's blame him. Deal? He picked pizza, grapes, carrots with dip, and soda. I told him no at first....'cause it's a weird combination. But then I realized that all those foods are the perfect colors. So I changed my mind. We also had lots of treats that were the right colors. I had lots of fun naming all our foods:

• Scooby Straws
• Daphne Dip
• Pesky Carrots
• Ghosty Grapes
• Mystery 'Mallows
• Goblin Gummies
• Velma Gum
  

We had our lunch, and then the kids came in to watch a Scooby movie for a minute. Then I told them it was time to open presents. (which were outside) When we went out, we found that THE PRESENTS WERE ALL GONE!

We were left with a clue. The kids had to play games, and solve puzzles to get all the clues, and then solve the mystery as to where the presents had been taken.

Thank goodness they were all found in the trunk of our car.



Each child went home with an extra cookie, their cup, a bag full of candy from the "candy store", and a "doggie bag". The bag contained some Scooby Snacks, some Scooby fruit snacks, and a Scooby Doo washcloth.

Hopefully it was all a success.

It might not have been.

But it would have been.....if it wasn't for those darn pesky kids.....




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