{Real Party} Mario Mark & Luigi Luke

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Last year, when I finally gave into my son's wish for a licensed character birthday party, I never anticipated how much fun it would be!  Nor could I have comprehended how many people would be inspired by our little gathering to create their own Super Mario Bros party!  I was inspired by a lot of creative party givers myself throughout my planning, so it is so fun to see how my inspirations come to life in your parties!

So when Gina emailed me photos of her own Super Mario party for her boys, Mario Mark & Luigi Luke, I was THRILLED!  Gina is so incredibly creative and her party definitely is proof of that!  Gina shares the details of her event for two special little men in her life:

The party was for Luke's 6th birthday and Mark's 5th birthday. They are 12 months 12 days apart so I always join their birthdays together.  We invited 30 of their friends to celebrate with us!  Every child received a hat and a shirt to wear. (I made the shirts myself and found the tees at the dollar store!) Each child was given a Mario character; the boys were either Mario or Luigi and all girls were princess. Mark was Mario (we called him "Mario Mark") and Luke was Luigi "Luigi Luke". 

We spent the afternoon playing themed games!  I did one whole group game - Mario Bingo and gave out the table decorations as prizes (small Mario toys I got at 50% off!).  Other games included:

Bowzer's Brain Buster:  I made puzzles from a Mario calendar.
Princess Peach Tiara Toss: Toss a tiara onto a pole. (So clever!!!)
Ice Power:  This was a huge hit! I froze small Mario toys in ice and kids had to dig them out.
Fire power: I made a game board with holes cut out from a Mario poster.
Mario Kart Madness: We used remote control cars to race around cones.
Yoshi Egg Balance: The kids had to balance ping pong balls on a ruler.
Billy Bullet Box Painting : I bought super cheap paper mache boxes online and had paint Star boxes like Starmen and round boxes like a Fire Flower.
Pin the Mustache on Mario/Luigi: I blew up images online at FedEx Kinkos and made them into posters. We used left over mustaches to stick on.

Each child was given a Mario pencil pouch (which I bought from the dollar bin at Target) and they used them to collect gold coins (candy from dollar store) at each game.

What a SUPER fun way to celebrate two birthdays!  Thank you Gina for sharing your special day with us!

Vendors:

Photography -  Philip Alan Photography
Printables - Party Invites
Cake - Dream Cakes
Piranha Plant Tutorial:  Cute As A Fox
Mario Mustache Candy:  Lollipop Molds
Candy Wii Remotes: Chocolate Molds

Easy Classroom Valentines for Your Kids

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Tired of store bought cheap valentines for your kids to pass out to their classmates?

So am I! Here are some fun, quick & easy ideas for your kid's valentines this year!  New this holiday, I am adding personalized Valentine Designs to my Etsy shop.  Here is one example. 

Another source for great valentines for your kids is Tiny Prints. Check out their creative classroom valentines for kids. You can add your child's photo and personalize them with their name.

And just for my readers, if you order before Jan 31, 2012 you will get free shipping on any order!

Let your child address the cards to each of their friends and add fun heart shaped stickers to seal the envelopes! This year skip the supermarket valentines & have fun creating your unique valentines for your kids this year.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun, be genuine and get creative! 

{Real Parties I've Styled} Gingerbread House Decorating Party

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Every year we host a Gingerbread House decorating party.  I love this annual tradition and our friends have come to count on it as we save the leftover candy year after year...great for decorating...not for eating!  The key to creating this fun, relaxed party is lots of candy, a table to gather around, plenty of hot chocolate and BYOH (Bring Your Own House).

This year, I started with fun festive invitations that I created and printed myself.   I am still a fan of printed invites.  I get so many emails on a day to day basis, it is much easier for me to tuck a printed invite into my planner and reference it quickly when I need to!

This summer, I created Mario Mustaches for my son's Super Mario Party...(so much fun!) so I thought for Christmas I'd make Santa 'Staches!  I used the same candy mold and white melting chocolate, added a really cute label and what a hit!

To give everyone an alternative to snacking on the decorating candy, I set up a dessert table full of some sweets along with some good-for-you eats! I used my cupcake stand for candy snowflake bark, fresh green grapes, fresh strawberries & cupcake push pops. (On a side note, if you want some fabulous ideas for creating push pop treats, you must get Courtney Dial Whitmore's new book, "Push-Up Pops")

I loved using my cupcake stand for more than just cupcakes and incorporating fresh fruit into the display gave the kids a healthy alternative to all the sweets...one the moms were very appreciative of!  This year I embellished my cupcake stand with beads from a white glitter garland & a glass tree topper that I found at my local craft store.

 We had milk, spinach artichoke pinwheels, sausage balls, & a favor bags to fill with gumballs & holiday malt chocolate balls to take home with a beautiful lollipop. I used festive labels to label all of the food!  You can purchase these and have them customized to your menu.

But the biggest hit was our Hot Chocolate Bar.  This was so fun and easy to do!  I used my mom's instant hot chocolate mix (nesquik, powdered milk, & powdered sugar).  The toppings consisted of mini marshmallows, crushed candy cane chips, mini chocolate chips, holiday sprinkles, reindeer Peeps marshmallows, chocolate dipped candy canes for stirrers & whip cream!  The kids loved creating their own hot chocolate.

It was a wonderful party and we all created beautiful gingerbread houses that will be sure to delight throughout the holiday season!  I would love to hear your favorite traditions!  Share them here and link up to them on my facebook page.

Here's to a Jolly Holiday to you all!

SOURCES:

Invitations, Favor Bag Labels, Milk Bottle Labels, Candy Bar Labels:  Party Invites

Push Pop Containers, Red Chevron Bags, Red Baker's Twine: Shop Sweet Lulu

Mustache Lolly Candy Molds :Amazon

Peppermint Bark Snowflake Candy Kit:  Wilton