 Hello, my name is Tina and I am a birthday party addict. I love everything about them. As a child, I guess I would have to say I didn't have grand birthday parties. A casual sleepover or "dance" in my living room was as elaborate as they got. Now that I have children of my own (and clients with wee ones) I think I might have the greatest job ever as I get to plan all these fun events! Now if only I was a great photographer so you could see all the fun they had!   Drew's 7th birthday party was an incredible time. Once the guests arrived, I (and my wonderful mom-helpers) directed the kids to the makeup station to transform those adorable faces into pirates complete with beards, mustaches and bushy eyebrows! Most of the girls skipped this station, but a few brave ones looked over-the-top hysterically funny with their new beards. Check out a couple of the girls in this pic. Aren't they cute? I love the "mean face!"  Then we headed into the park for a treasure hunt. Along the way, they found treasure boxes filled with accessories to become a pirate; earrings, eye patches, compass necklaces, headbands and skull rings completed their looks. Then they dived into the treasure chest and found necklaces, ring pops, pirate tattoo's, telescopes and other pirate loot. Afterwards, the kids played "find the gold" relay and "cannon ball pop." At our kid parties, everyone wins! A treasure bag filled with skull lollipops, skull candy and more pirate loot was a huge hit with the munchkins.  Treasure Hunt  Results of the Pirate Loot  Cannon Ball Pop I think the cake is my favorite part of any party. To me, it's the party centerpiece. Our local bakery made this cake based on a photo I found online. The pirate hook captivated the kids' attention and tasted as scrumptious as it looked!  |
| Captain Andrew's Birthday Cake |
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| Happy Birthday, Drew! I don't think any party is complete without a dessert station of some sort. Since there was so much loot from the treasure chest and games, I was afraid a full dessert station would be too much. I tried my hand at making chocolate with molds and I have to say they turned out better than I expected. The kids thought the skeleton pretzels were pretty neat and I resisted the urge to say, "eat them slowly-they took hours to make!" |
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| Homemade Chocolate Goodies |
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| Skeleton Pretzels |
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| Chocolate Ships & Treasure Chests |
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| Skull & Bones Cookies |
 Chocolate Covered Oreo's with Skulls |
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It always warms my heart each year when Drew exclaims, "This is the best birthday EVER!" He never seems to fail to appreciate the effort that I put forth and his smiles never disappoint me. I guess that means next year will have to be even better. :)
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| In lieu of gifts, Drew chose to donate funds to our local zoo. |
One of my favorite cards Drew received was from a little girl that used part of his invitation to create a personalized card. Who knew a skull could be so precious!
