Party Preparations: Garage

What do you do if you are having a party in a garage, and you'd prefer everything on the shelves to remain out of sight? My garage is my only storage area, I don't have a basement. Also, I deal in antiques and sell on eBay, so there is always an excess of stuff lurking around here. So, I decided I would cover the shelves with a craft paper "curtain". I bought lots of rolls of brown craft paper in a mark-down cart at Kroger for 15-cents each a couple of years ago, thinking they'd come in handy someday. They just did.Colorful classroom science posters, purchased on eBay, will cover the paper. Meet my new best friend:

This stuff worked great! I couldn't apply very much pressure to the paper covering the shelves so it was tricky to find a way to hang the posters. My sister was helping, and we just sprayed the back of the poster and it adhered immediately to the craft paper.

Of course, Jonathan had to help! Little sneak peek of posters going up! Not perfection, but I think it will make a nice backdrop for party photos and look better than a wall of cluttered shelves, even if I did clean and organize them, which I did! Nothing like the prospect of "company coming" to make you clean!

Jonathan's Fifth Birthday Party: Science!

In just a little more than a week, Jonathan will be five years old! Seems impossible! My little boy has always had an interest in science. He had just turned three in the picture above. He spent that entire summer looking at everything through a magnifying glass! He loved watching "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS. He asked for a science birthday party last year, but I thought he was a little too young. Even if he was ready, I didn't think his guests would be as interested at four. I am so glad we waited a year! His preschool teacher, Mrs. McDaniel, also loves science and has increased Jonathan's interest so much this year.


So, this birthday, it's a science party! I have searched the internet and blogs for ideas and have borrowed several. Some are originally mine. I have spent countless hours planning, searching for the right products and now executing my plans. I hope it all goes well on party day!


The invitations went out last week. My sister, Pat, and I made them on the computer, with Pat's artwork. They were rolled, secured with an "Open With Caution" sticker that was printed from a free online printable (I can't remember where just now!), and placed inside a plastic test tube from Oriental Trading Co.
Here are the invitations ready to go into small padded envelopes for mailing.

Here are the invitations, ready to mail. I found uncancelled Einstein stamps on eBay, borrowing an idea from the fabulous science party featured on a favorite blog of mine, The Princess and The Frog Blog. So many great ideas there, and I am shamelessly borrowing a few. I also carefully chose the other stamps, which include a $1 "Wisdom" stamp, and either a dolphin or butterfly stamp, my post office didn't have enough of one in stock for every invitation. I wonder how many noticed the Einstein stamp detail? I liked it, even if no one else noticed!

Jonathan's return address labels are also from eBay.

I have been VERY busy with housecleaning, garage cleaning and pulling together all of the details for the party. The party will be held in my garage, and as an antique dealer, there was lots of stuff to move and hide! Sneak peek tomorrow!

A Monday Fun Day

We have spent most of our time at home since preschool ended for the summer, which is fine with me, but since there are no children in our neighborhood his age, sometimes I feel a little bad for Jonathan. He entertains himself most of the time, but gets a a little bored sometimes. Yesterday I decided to take a day off from housework, party preparations and eBay and have a fun day with my boy. After swim class and a few errands, we spent the afternoon at our local mall. We hadn't been there in months and they have added a new attraction. It's a train that goes all around the lower level of the mall. Very cool! It costs $3 per ride, but I felt like you got more bang for your buck than the $2 carousel ride on the upper level. We had Chinese for lunch in the food court from our favorite vendor. We can share the generous portions (for now, anyway, that boy can eat, let me tell you!). Just under $8 for lunch, drinks and a tip in the tip jar on the counter. A bargain!

We've never been to Build-a-Bear, so I decided to surprise him with a trip there. He chose a green recycling bear. Here he is making a wish before he puts the heart in his bear.

This activity was just under $20. With his bear in the box:

Then we headed to the play area in the mall. This has been completely redone in the last six months and is very nice. He will soon be too old for this, I'm afraid. He's just getting too big too fast! We met another mom with two children there, new to our area. We may have made a new friend!

We won't get to take a vacation this year, so I hope we can have some fun days like this scattered throughout the summer. We both really enjoyed this special day!

4th Birthday: Party Wrap-Up

To bring the fun day to a close, we all came inside for cake. I must admit I was not very happy with his birthday cake. It was quite uneven and had a crack in the center, but what could I do? I had used this bakery previously with no problem, but we are going with a different one this year! Ready to blow out the candles:

Here is a photo of the team. I think the sun was in their eyes, but I wanted them all in front of the banners.

I had a hardcover photo book made after the party, which is a wonderful keepsake. I used Snapfish for mine.

It was a fun party, in spite of the rain, heat & humidity. In less than two weeks it will be party time again, I hope this one is as much fun as last year's!

4th Birthday: Party Fun

I didn't have any structured games planned for Jonathan's party. I provided several sports themed yard toys and encouraged free play. Jenn, my sitter, helped keep this flowing along nicely. Since we were a "stadium", food and drinks were available anytime. My sister manned the grill to keep the hot dogs coming, and nachos and chips were available as well as pre-made veggie and dip trays. Drinks in coolers were easily accessible for all guests. The day was hot and muggy, and the hit of the party was when the Kona Ice truck arrived. It was quite a surprise for the kids! The truck arrived with music blaring and pulled into the driveway. Each child was given a ticket and could get the treat of their choice from the truck.

Another thing that was a bigger hit than I thought it would be (no pun intended!) was the baseball shaped pinata. The children LOVED this! I was a little reluctant to have a bunch of 4 year olds swinging bats at a pinata, even if they were plastic ones. Jonathan really wanted one, so I gave in, and with adult supervision, all went well.

They were each given a baseball printed bag to gather their loot. I found candy on the lawn for weeks after!

For the opening of presents, each child sat with Jonathan in the dugout. It kept order and each child was made to feel special presenting their gift, and Jonathan could thank each child.

The party came to a close with cake and a team photo, to follow!

Jonathan's 4th Birthday: Decorations

With the theme being baseball, I was planning an outdoor party for Jon's birthday. All of the decorations were for the outdoors. I awoke on the morning of his party to overcast skies and light rain. My sister had arrived the night before to help me with the party, so she did the sidewalk chalk pennant. By noon, the rain was torrential! We were scrambling to come up with a "Plan B", which was difficult given all the decorations we had! The rain stopped, literally, about 30 minutes before guests were due to arrive. We somehow, I still am not quite sure how, got all of these decorations out in those 30 minutes! Needless to say, I didn't have time to take a lot of photographs as I had intended. The deck was quickly turned into a concession stand, with the grill set up to cook hot dogs and the menu posted. No trip to the ball park would be complete without peanuts and Cracker Jack!

The back yard was to be a stadium, with vinyl posters along the fence. The dugout was the designated place for the gifts to be opened.

This is a close up of one of the banners,from Vista Print.

The cake table had a framed photo of the sign at Wrigley Field. Yes, this is a real sign! My son was at the stadium and took the picture for me, about a year before the party, and sent us an 8" x 10" copy. They really did sign a Jonathan Bowen! The party was the perfect time to use it.

The rest of the day was rain-free, but very hot & muggy. The children didn't seem to mind. I think everyone had a good time. Pictures of the party in progress to follow!

Jonathan's 4th Birthday Baseball Party

In just a couple of weeks, Jonathan will be five. Invitations were mailed today for this year's party. I really enjoyed planning Jonathan's birthday party last year, which had a baseball theme. I thought I would share some of the details of the party with you. This was the invitation: It was a homemade one, on a full sheet of cardstock. The baseball was drawn on, then copies were made and each invitation was cut individually. Mailed along with the invitation was a personalized shirt for each guest to wear to the party. My great-niece appliqued a baseball on the front of each shirt (purchased at Michael's) and then each child's name was embroidered on the baseball. I had a matching one embroidered "Mom", my sister had one with "Pitty-Pat", which is Jon's nickname for her, and the sitter I hired to help had one with "Jenn".

Take home treats were packages of Big League bubble gum and cloth drawstring bags with a baseball design. I forgot to photograph the contents! They each contained a cloth baseball print wallet, baseball bubble necklace on a cord, baseball stickers and a baseball shaped lollipop, all from Oriental Trading Company. Each child also received a baseball bank playing "Take Me Out To the Ballgame", as well as a red baseball cap.

The driveway had a sidewalk chalk pennant, which the rain washed away several times. More about that in an upcoming post!

A Mylar balloon in the shape of a baseball player topped a yard sign proclaiming "Happy Birthday Jonathan", from Vista Print.

I'll post more details and photos of party fun in upcoming posts!