IT WAS A YEAR OF PARTIES!

I thought it would be fun to join in the party that Cindy over at Romantic Homes is hosting. She has asked us to go through our photos and posts and do a review of 2009.

In doing so, I noticed 2009 was filled with parties, parties and more parties.

So, my review is going to be of all the fun parties I've thrown this year.


The first party of 2009 was Trinity's birthday party. Every year it's a different theme.

For her 8th birthday it was all about horses!

We went to a local petting zoo and had a BBQ, played games, opened presents and rode on the train. The high light was when all the kids got to ride on a horse.

For some, it was the first time they had been on a horse before.

It was a fun time and, per Trinity, "a birthday she will never forget".

It's almost time for her birthday party this year. Wow! She is almost 9 years old. Growing up so fast. The theme this year is going to be MAGIC!


The next party was a baby shower for a friend. The theme was "Welcome to the Nest Little One".

Of course that meant birds and nests were the main theme of the decor.

Since she was having a little boy (her 4th boy) the color was blue and brown.

My favorite thing of the whole shower was the cupcakes! Little bird nests with baby birds popping up. You can see them here.


Then came the darling Alice in Wonderland birthday party for my sister, Patty.

This was a surprise party. She didn't have a clue what we were up to. It was just our family as she made me promise not to have a big party for her.

However, the decorations were so cute. Thanks to Donna at Party Wishes. This is one of her parties you can rent. If you have not been to her blog you must go see it. She has the best parties in town!


Summer time was a great reason to throw a FUN IN THE SUN party for Trinity and a few of her girlfriends.

They ate, played water games, jumped on the trampoline as they squirted the hose and had a fun time.

We decided to have more of these smaller parties with just three or so friends over so she can have some quality time with her friends.

Our next girlfriend party is going to be a Barbie theme.


The annual Halloween party, I throw for Trinity, was a big hit this year. It was all about Pirates!

We had food, games, crafts, tattoos and so much fun! All the kids said they loved going to Trinity's parties because they have such a good time.

I'm already in the planning mode for this years Halloween party.


After all the fun with the kids on Halloween, I wanted to have a little party for adults. So I had a Witches Lunch.

It was nice to sit down and enjoy some time with my sisters and friend and it was decided we all want to do this every year.

The year closed up with a Christmas Cookie party for Trinity and a few of her friends.

Each girl got to make and decorate their own cookies to take home.

We had dinner, baked cookies and the girls all won awards for their cookies.

Next Christmas we are going to make Gingerbread Houses.

So that's about how my life is, if I'm not throwing a party, I'm planning one.

I have several in the works right now. Of course there is Trinity's Birthday party coming up in Jan. Then I am having a small Valentine's Day lunch for my friends and sisters, maybe a St. Patrick's Day tea party, an Academy Award party, a New York theme birthday party for my sister, Maureen, a Barbie party, a flip flop summer party, the annual Halloween party, a Witches lunch and a Gingerbread House party.

Oh my! I'm tired already.

The year 2009 was a good year. I hope 2010 is even better.

Now be sure to go to Romantic Homes and see everyone's end of the year reviews.

Happy New Year!

SWASHBUCKLING PIRATE PARTY

Today was finally the day for the big Pirate Halloween Party. We were so lucky to have beautiful weather and the day went off without a hitch.

Now I'm not a big fan of Pirates but I must admit this had to have been one of the most fun parties.

I had a blast finding things to decorate with, coming up with ideas for fun and just all around planning this party.

We ended up with 24 kids and at one point I noticed we had 26! I have no idea who those other kids were. Perhaps just kids playing at the park that wanted to join in or maybe brothers/sisters of some of the invited guest.

Yet, just as quickly as they showed up they seemed to have left. It was hard to keep track of all the kids. In fact, I noticed that in this group photo some of the kids were missing here.

Thank goodness the parents all hung out to keep track of their own children because with a group this big it's hard to know where everyone was at all times.

We even had some special guests join us. Captain James and his Wench joined us. Both provided us with great photo ops. It was great to have them stop by.

Pirate Puppy Charlie even stopped by for some fun! Glad you could make it Pirate Charlie. Hope you can come to all our parties from now on!

Decorating the table was lots of fun. Of course everyone knows the table setting is what really sets the pace for the party.

The main colors were black, red and white (aren't all Pirate Parties those colors) but since we had some great fortune of finding a few sunken treasures, just about every color of the rainbow was found. After all, gems and jewels do come in all colors.

I found lots of our decorating treasures at thrift stores. Like this candelabra and Pirate Ship.

That's one of the good things about planning so far in advance, it gives you time to treasure hunt of items that are one of a kind.

At each place setting, a mini treasure chest with candy pearls and a Pirate skull snow globe awaited the children. As well as, a Pirate Skull cup and of course the cute skeleton napkin ring holder.

All of these items were for the children to take home.

I had lots of fun with the food labels. Of course we had to have Pirate food names.

Things like Rotten Teeth Treats for mints wrapped in pirate paper.

A rat placed next to the sign that read... Captain Cook's Chicken leads one to wonder...is it really chicken that is being served or is it fried rat?

The decorations around the food were fun to do also. Like the Pirate hat on the skull that is watching over the food. Or, the mini cannon I found at the thrift store.

Even the drinks had special names like "Crocodile Blood" for the punch and "Pirate Ale" for the root beer.

I'm not sure who loved all the decor more, the kids or the parents. All the smiles and compliments made it all worth while. After all, it's all about making people have fun and good memories.

The park had a great set up for us too. We got a large gazebo with four tables that circled around a center island. Perfect for putting the food on!

Everyone ate until they couldn't eat any more.

After the plates were empty and tummies full the fun continued on. It was time to find out what fun and mysteries awaited the kids.

We had a craft table set up where each child could pick either a treasure chest or a Pirate to paint.

I think everyone picked a treasure chest to paint.

This was a perfect way to start the fun as the children got to digest their food before running around, playing games and getting wild.

After they painted their piece, they each got a Pirate scarf. The first piece to their Pirate Costume.

From the Craft Station they headed over to Blackbeard's Tattoo Parlour where they picked out the tattoos they wanted. They also got an eye patch and golden earring at this station too.

I think the girls enjoyed the tattoos more then the boys. Well, maybe not. It was hard to tell.

We then headed out to the field to play some games. First up... Pass the Cannon Ball.

I just made a cannon ball out of a Styrofoam ball. I covered it with black tissue paper. Easy and quick!

We played Pirate music as the Cannon Ball was passed from Pirate to Pirate. No one wanted to be caught with the Cannon Ball when the music stopped or they would be out.

It was at this game that we all learned that Pirates all share in the treasures found while at sea. Therefore, there were no real losers in the Pirate games. Everyone would win the same prize.

The games were just for fun and knowing that everyone was a winner the kids seemed to enjoy the games more for the fun of it.

Here everyone got a Pirate Gun. Boy, was this a big hit prize!

Then it was time for another Cannon Ball game. This time each child had a Cannon Ball (black balloon) tied to their ankle. They had to run around and try to explode each others cannon (pop the balloons) while they still protected their own cannon from others.

This was fun to watch as the would run after each other trying to get the "cannons" to explode while keeping an eye on others who were after theirs.

Everyone was awarded "Pirate Swords" for doing such a good job here.

We all took a little break from the games and fueled up for more fun by having cupcakes (I can't believe I forgot to take even one picture of the cupcakes) which were red velvet with cream cheese icing. Also, more drinks as everyone was super thirsty from all the running around.

We had played one more game where everyone was divided into two teams. Each child was given a hook (which they got to keep) like Captain Hook has. With the hook they had to pick up a necklace, run down and put it into the treasure chest and then run back and tap the next Pirate on their team to do the same. The first team with all their necklaces in the treasure chest won.

They also got to pick their own necklace of jewels to keep as well as the hook at this game.

Again I forgot to take a picture of the game also.

After the games and cupcakes it was time to crack open the Treasure Chest Pinata.

They all scrambled as quickly as they could to scoop up the treasures of candy and toys that were inside.

We then went on a hunt for our final treasure! Little did the kids know that their final treasure was hidden right in plain sight all along. No one knew that the treasure chest near the red X that "marked the spot" of where the party was to begin was also where our party would end.

Clues were read that took everyone all throughout the whole park as we found clue upon clue to find that often what we are looking for is right there in front of us, had we kept our eyes open.

The only one who was able to unlock the treasure chest was Captain Trinity.

So everyone stepped back as they waited with baited breath to see what was inside.

Inside were the goodie bags that Captain Trinity handed out to each Pirate as she thanked them for coming to her party and letting everyone know that next year with be yet another fun party to look forward to.

Everyone was super tired by this time and so they gathered up all their loot and gear and headed on home to thinking about next year.

MAKING MY OWN GOODIE BAGS

Part of planning for a party is the budget. When it comes to children's parties most people try to spend as little as possible while getting the most bang for your buck.

With Trinity's upcoming Pirate Party just days away now, I was trying to find some cute but cheap goodie bags.

I found darling little Pirate Loot bags and ones that looked like Pirate money pouches. Yet they cost way to much money at $3.99 each.

With 24 kids coming that would have cost me over $100 just for something to put the goodies in! YIKES! To much for my wallet.

So I searched the party supply store and came upon these bags. There were not enough of one color so I went with 1/2 in red and 1/2 in black.

They were 49 cents each. Much better!

Though they were so plain. Just not up to my standards. So I thought and thought about what I could do to perk them up without costing me anything.

Into my boxes of items I searched and I came upon ribbon. So I took red, black and white ribbon and tied it to the handle.

Cute but still not very Pirate looking.

So I got some colored paper and printed off a picture I found on the Internet and came up with these...

Cute little bags with a Pirate theme that didn't cost much money at all.

Plus, no one will have seen anything like these before as they are homemade and my own idea.

So really, all it takes is some time and thinking and you too can come up with party ideas for pennies on the dollar.

SKELETON NAPKIN RINGS

The 24th is going to be the date of Trinity's Annual Halloween party. This year is a Pirate theme.

I always like to get things ready ahead of time so on the day of the party it's not as rushed as it could be.

I like to put all the napkins and utensils together and I always use a napkin ring to do so.


I love this one! If I was doing an adult party I think I would have spent the money to get these. I find them rather classy.

But, since it's a kids party and we are going to have about 24 kids I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Therefore, these great napkin rings had to be passed up.


I found these great skull heads but again...way to much money to spend for this party.

My search lead me to this one. It cost less then the other two but still it was more then I wanted to spend. So I continued to look.

I saw this idea and thought, I could make these. I could just get some skull beads and add them to wire or string.

Then I added up how many beads I would need and the cost once again went up pretty high.

Oh why are napkin rings so costly?

I knew I wanted something cute. Something that only cost a little bit of money. Something that was not just paper or ribbon. Something that could be used again or at least taken by the kids to enjoy later.

Then I came across these. The cost was good. They would last for more then one use or the kids could take them home.

I was sold! Yes, I know these are not napkin rings and the package says garland but with a little bit of time they would be prefect.

There were 6 skeletons per garland and they were tied with the perfect string!

So I took them apart. That was super easy to do as they were just tied with lose knots.

I also kept the string.

I tied the string around the center of the skeleton.

Then put the eating utensils inside the napkin and folded the napkin. I tied the skeleton around the napkin and was set.

I just did one with a white napkin so you could see it better. Pretty cute huh?

They are just tied in the back of the napkin with a simple knot. How easy is that?

Here are what they like with the napkins we are using for the table.

So, for about 60 cents each I have a cute napkin ring that I can either use again or I can let the kids take home to play with.

I got them all put together and they are now ready and waiting to just be set out on the table. That will save me a lot of time on the day of the party.

My next thing to do is get the goodie bags all put together.