Funny Lil' Man Sighting

So we go out of town for a few days, and what do we find when we return??? Why our Funny Lil' Man Party has been featured on several fabulous blogs!  In the words of 4 year old Smarty Pants-- "Wow! That's so cool!"

There are so many wonderfully creative people with incredible ideas out there... and these are some of the very people that inspire and motivate me. It's a huge, huge honor to be featured.  If you haven't already checked out these amazing sites, then what are ya waiting for??

Sara's Party Perfect

CoolKids

Maddycakes Muse

Lizard n Ladybug

 

Funny Lil' Man Party!

This weekend we celebrated Happy Vee's 2nd Birthday with a Funny Lil' Man Party.  The perfect theme for my funny and joyous little guy!  It was a warm day, but the kids and adults had a nice time.  I tried to keep the party planning simple but, as usual, I got side-tracked by a bunch of fun ideas... The Mister knows better than to question.  He just shakes his head and carries on.  Smart man!

::The Invitation::

see here for more detail

::The Setting::

  

{close-up of the "tie lanterns}

 

{the children's table}

 

children's dishware from target

i think they have the market on cute melamine

{the birthday banner}

::The Food::
I would've preferred an outdoor food table, but with the heat, we decided to keep the food indoors~

kids: homemade turkey & chicken salad sandwiches

adults: roast beef, italian & turkey sandwiches from jersey mike's
caprese soba pasta salad

green salad
fruit

the mustachioed cupcake trays worked well as sandwich platters

 

just for kicks, i put this framed photo of happy vee on the buffet table and stuck on a paper mustache.

::Activities::

{make a tie craft}

more details on the mustaches, spectacles & lips here

{photo ops}

{other activities}

since the kids are on the younger side, i didn't have set games.

they were free to play on the swingset/slide.

i also set up a table for making bubbles,

a small tub filled with water and rubber ducks for them to splash around in,

and lots of these for them to kick around....

::Dessert::

{ice cream and cookies}

the ice cream was pre-scooped the night before into baking cups.

it made serving dessert easy and no one was left with the inevitable last scoop of melted ice cream

{homemade cookies}

soft chocolate chip & snickerdoodles cookies

more detail on the vintage tags here

::The Favors::

{chocolate lollies for the adults}

mustache mold and premium dark chocolate from bake it pretty

  

{children's favor bags}

 

beach ball

salt water taffy

mustache lolly

sidewalk chalk

I also sent them home with the melamine plate & matching cup

salt water taffy from trader joes

my, are these good!

Happy Vee enjoying his new toys
more detail on the "tie" shirt here

That was fun, but I feel like I've been planning birthday parties for several months!  Time for a little break... or actually, time to finish up some projects that have been on stand-by!

linked to:

CSI Project

Vintage Tags

When I was dreaming up Happy Vee's Funny Lil' Man Party, I wanted to incorporate a simple, vintage feel... while also being realistic--  As much as I love the idea of fresh lemonade being served in mason jars, I don't think that anything glass would bode well with the 2-4 year old crowd.  Lately I've been seeing  kids parties with color-coordinated drinks being served in glass jars and bottles... Maybe they're meant for the adults, but I'm thinking those colorful & breakable lovelies would surely fall into the hands of a child (they always seem to know what the good stuff is!)   I don't know about you, but just the thought of young children running around with glass gives me anxiety!

So instead of glass, I turned to paper and fabric.  A few months ago I saw these awesome manila tags on Creature Comforts blog. I saved the idea knowing that it would come in handy some day.

side note:   if you haven't already, you need to check out her blog ... she has some great project ideas as well as some beautiful printables that are free! 

Here's how my tags turned out~

I didn't need that many, so I printed out the manila tag template that is provided on the Creature Comforts site. Ready made manila tags  are also available at office supply stores or you could also cut out your own tags using a spare manila file folder and paper hole reinforcements (remember those from back in the day?)

I used fabric scraps leftover from this year's Easter Basket project and with a quick swipe with the pinking shears and a little modge podge, the tags were almost complete.

The coup de grace was this typewriter font that I found for free.  I printed it out on white cardstock, cut it out and glued it onto the tag with modge podge.  I think the font looks pretty authentic!

I finished off the project by tying on the tags with bakers twine.  Seriously love bakers twine... this is what happens when you're easily swayed by all the lovelies that blogland has to offer!☺

linked to:

between naps on the porch

someday crafts

somewhat simple

the CSI project

the blackberry vine

Funny Lil' Man Party - In the Works

Here are a few projects that I've been working on for Happy Vee's Funny Lil' Man birthday party.  All of these projects were very low in cost... more economical than buying even the cheapo stuff.  There are so many wonderful free templates out there in blogland!

Spectacles on a Stick

popsicle stick and free spectacle template

Lips on a Stick

red cardstock and popsicle stick

lip shape was from my

don juan cricut cartridge (love the cricut!)

here's a free lip template

Mustache on a Stick

black felt, dowel and free mustache template

Tie Shirts

plain tee and men's tie

the tshirts were a steal at Nordstroms at $5 each

I enlisted the help of my mom to create the ties.

She cut apart one of The Misters old ties (I saved it from the Goodwill pile) and created 2 mini ties.

The ties are pinned on and can be removed so the shirts can be laundered and used again after the party.

Clothespins

clothespins covered with washi tape

Not exactly sure how, but these will be incorporated into the party.  I made them a while ago, intending to use them in my craft room.  They're so easy to make (how I love washi tape!) that I will make more later.

Mustache Lollipop

lollipop & black cardstock

Smarty Pants was happy to oblige when asked to pose with the mustache lollipop to give the full effect.  We don't call him Smarty Pants for nothin'! 

I'm working on a few more Funny things and will be back later to share!

Funny Lil Man Party - Invitations

The invitations for Happy Vee's 2nd birthday party are done!  I'm not a cardmaker, so picking the paper, trying to figure out a layout, then assembling them... Let's just say that it probably took me longer than it should have.

My proudest moment?--  "Comb Over".  Yes, I am a big geek.

And I never did really pick a paper.  I couldn't decide so I used 3 different papers and had a few different layouts.  Trial and error people!

So the invites are out.  Let the fun begin!