Ninjago Birthday Party

Mr. Mann's 7th birthday was last month and he wanted a Ninjago theme (naturally) - I think everything came together nicely! Here's some pictures from the party!

 My favorite part of any party is the desserts! We kept things simple for this one as I didn't have a ton of time to prep. Here's what we made:

- Rice Krispie 'Funshi'

- Ninja Sugar Cookies

- Ninja Cupcakes

- HoHo Numb-chucks 

 

The main food was "Funshi Peanut Butter and Jelly "Rolls"

{super easy to make - just make your sandwich, cut into strips and roll up}

First Activity: "Ninja Names"

I found a print out on Pinterest and helped the kids match up the letters in their names to create their own ninja name. They then wrote them on streamers that we tied around their heads to form Ninja Headbands. 

Second Activity: A "Ninja Training" Course 

The kids loved this - and the adults ended up having some big laughs while watching the kids run through the course. 

First up - gotta get the group in order to explain the course. Can you tell I've worked with kids for awhile now?

 First Skill "Agility": The kids ran through 'ninja swords' (pool noodles) that the adults waved up and down. I think the adults might have enjoyed this more than the kids...

Second Skill: "Accuracy": Hubs stayed up late to make ninja stars which the kids used to knock over the tubes made of paper towel rolls. The rolls were covered with black streamers to make them more ninja-ey.

Third Skill: "Balance": The kids picked up marshmallows with chopsticks from one bowl and ran them across the yard to put in another.

Fourth, and final, skill: "Strength": The kids broke boards that I made out of Styrofoam. I cut the Styrofoam into rectangles and then painted them with brown acrylic paint. I wish I had gotten a better picture - they turned out really well and actually looked like wood.

Of course the best part of an activity like this is what happens when the kids start improvising. Enter like B who thought it would be better to carry the marshmallow in her mouth. Smart, very smart :)

Of course no birthday party is complete without a fabulous cake! Many thanks to Sandy at Dessert Works - she always makes such great cakes for us! 

oh and a mini-breakdown...happens every time ;)

At the end of the day we had balloons left over and the kids wanted to release them into the sky. I know it's not great for the environment :/ I feel kinda bad about that....

And finally, our traditional birthday family portrait (minus mom as she had already left)

Hope this helps inspire your next Ninjago birthday party! Thanks for stopping by! 

Love•in•Isle of Palms!

Hubs and I have been to isle of palms twice now and I am officially in love. If you aren't familiar with it, IOP {as the locals call it} is located about 15 minutes from Charleston, SC. Charleston is my number.one. favorite city in the country so anytime I can combine my favorite city, a beach, some books and my close friends I am IN.

We hit up IOP with my seister, the niece and nephew and our very good friends for a week vaca before life got hectic again. Thank you fall wedding season.

And since no one reads a blog to actually read the words I'm gonna cut myself off and let our pics speak for me. Thank you iPhone :) {please bear with the format as I try to figure out how to post fro
 said iPhone!}

Ri's LaLaLoopsey Birthday Party!

Wait...I'm posting on the same day as a party!! Whoa....

The niece turns 5 on Wednesday so we celebrated today with a birthday party with her friends. She picked LaLaLoopsey as her theme which was super cute. However, since it's a newer doll there wasn't a lot of pre-made LLL stuff sooooo Aunt Kristen had to get creative!

Let's dive right into the pictures! 

Mmmmmm desserts...

Since I love to bake and I always make a ton of desserts for parties I thought I would turn our living room into "Riley's Sweet Shop". I told hubs that I needed him to make me an awning and I must admit - he did a pretty darn good job! {even though he was grumbling the whole time!} Once it was up I did a little happy dance. I love it!

Our Life-Sized Jewels Sparkles

 White chocolate spoons or as Ri says "a spoon full of sugar" 

Button Oatmeal Cream Pies {SO GOOD!}

Button Chocolate Dipped Oreos

Sugar Cookie Buttons 

Sugar Cookie Lollipops 

Hazelnut cupcakes and Rice Krispie Treats 

Since we had several kids I thought it would be best to keep those 5 year olds occupied. We had a DIY hair barrette station and a 'create your own cupcake' table. I'll share more about these in another post. But here's the cupcake setup!

I'll post more very soon! Until then I'll leave you with these gems...