Birthday party prep is in full swing around here.   That’s a bit sad because I’ve got a 4th of July party I still need to get under control.  Hopefully, I’ll pull enough of that together to take pictures for you too.  In the meantime, here’s a bit of birthday background for you.  My son and daughter nearly share a birthday.  Yes, they’re one day apart – separate years, of course.   We always have a joint birthday party for them on Labor Day weekend.  Convenient, huh?  Through the years, I’ve made some interesting cakes.  I’d show you more pictures, but MY computer died and I have to use the other one.  Perhaps duh, but the new one doesn’t have old pics on it.  So, here’s what we’ve done for the last two years:

The Duck Cake was for my daughters first birthday.  My son turned 5 that year, so he got 2 cakes – a pirate ship sailing toward Skull Island.  Why?  I have no idea.  He liked the dry ice volcano so much that he wanted it again last year, but with a different theme.  This time it was Indiana Jones complete with a  fun scavenger hunt.  My girlie was forced to share that one.  Meh, she didn’t know the difference.  :/

This year, we’re doing a tropical theme with very understated cakes.  We’ll see if I can leave that alone.  I may have to enhance them with some kind of island decor…lagoon with flamingos & toucans or something.  I got the idea from this month’s Sandra Lee Semi Homemade Magazine, and my kids think it’s the best ever.

The beading around the edge is made of Sixlets.  What a fab idea!?!

For the tables (no pics yet), we’re covering them with pink and green vinyl tablecloths and lining them with grass skirts.  I also snagged some coordinating invitations, napkins, paper cups and straws.

Since I always make take home bags for the attendees, I put these together yesterday at Dollar Tree.  Not free, but fab!  Ya know, they have some plastic cups with screw on tops that look like pineapples that I think I’ll add to the take home bags.  So cute!

I missed the flamingo hat for the green bag picture, but you get the general idea.  These bags will be filled with hair clips, hat, sunglasses, goofy glasses, head band and a 4 pack of Charms Blow Pops.  I still have one more to make for our little guy attendee…always tougher to do for some reason.

My son and I are also crafting some votive candle holder sets for the Grandmas for birthday keepsakes.  Again, the idea came straight from Sandra Lee’s Magazine.   And you thought I was kidding…I love Sandra Lee!

I’m going to be doing two different color schemes for these – Green/Blue and Pink/Yellow to coordinate with the cakes and represent the two children.  They’re really easy to do and the supplies are crazy cheap.  I picked up a bunch of two packs of votive holders and tissue paper at Dollar Tree too.

For this nifty project, you’ll need:
Votives
Mod Podge or some other decoupage sealer – cheap at Walmart or you can wait for another 50% off regular priced item at Michael’s.  Side note:  It may only cost (and save) a few dollars, but I’d rather use a 50% off coupon on an item like that than save 50% off a $100 item just to get the max value.
Irregularly cut, small pieces of tissue paper
Paintbrushes
Parchment paper

How to pull it off:
Line your work area with parchment paper.  With your paintbrush, paint one third of your votive with Mod Podge in long even strokes.  Lay the pieces of tissue on the painted surface.  They do not have to cover the entire votive.  In fact, it actually looks better with some clear glass peeking through.  Repeat this process  with the remaining sides. When you’ve covered the entire votive with tissue paper, seal it with another coat of Mod Podge.  It’s that easy.  Let them dry and you’re done.

Our wonderful Grandma’s will have some equally wonderful take home keepsakes and my little guy gets his artsy homeschool-ey lesson in one.

Final pictures coming soon…