Birthday Bash Beach Party

Wow! I really got carried away from blogging this summer, but we have been having lots of fun.  Today I am sharing some pictures and details from the Beach Bash Birthday party we hosted last month.  I love seeing all the party ideas out there and finding inspiration for planning my own.

The Decor

The dessert table had the bulk of the decor.  I hung paper lanterns from the patio umbrella and trees, and made a backdrop out of ruffled plastic tablecloths.

The table was laid with a caramel colored tablecloth,  Squares of burlap layered as a runner,  and dollar store seashells arranged by my 4 year old. :)

The Activities
These are also part of the decor, I can't resist getting the biggest bang for my buck and most things at this party served a dual purpose.  We put our sand table behind the treat table with pails and shovels. You can't have a beach bash without sand!  This allowed the ruffle streamers to backdrop the sand play and the colors helped set the ambiance.

 

We had almost one dozen beach balls to add to the color and the fun.   We sent them home as party favors.

The Food

Of course, the food served as decor too.  I used the Nordicware Castle Pan to make a sandcastle cake.  I mixed a vanilla cake mix and a spice cake.  Next time I will just stick with the vanilla.  It got a bit darker than I'd anticipated in the bundt pan.  It was perfect inside, however. 

 I invested in a starfish shaped chocolate mold to decorate the sandcastle cake and some of the cupcakes.  I used peanut butter chips to fill the molds.    I frosted all the cupcakes with a basic vanilla icing and then rolled them in crushed graham crackers.  I tried to leave the very top of the starfish cupcakes free of crumbs to help the starfish stick.  If you are going to transport them consider mounting them to toothpicks to help them stay in place.   We did use 1/2 toothpicks on the other cupcakes to keep the gumballs in place.  My kids had a lot of fun helping decorate these.  I love that they are foolproof enough that the kids can help and I am still happy with the end result. 

 If you do a party using any of these ideas, I would love to see it! 

Fun Lunch Ideas- All About Bento

I did a little display of fun lunch ideas for the ladies in my church group at our back to school night activity.  I wanted to post the handout I made to show you how the basics can be done quite easily and quickly. 

The term bento as I understand it is a Japanese lunch form, where foods are packed snugly and tidily into lunch containers.  Containers often have compartments or use dividers to keep foods separate.  The bonus of the bento idea is that foods are made too look like shapes, characters, etc, to enhance their appeal.  If that doesn't help brown bag lunches to have more success, I don't know what will!

First, check out this video of some of the fun bento style lunches we have made this summer.

Now, check out the info I handed out to explain it all and give ideas.

fun   lunch   tips

Lunch Trick #1         Make it Neat and Tidy

Stack crackers and cheese. Alternate foods in a pattern. Use lunch containers with compartments or make your own compartments with empty baby food cups or silicon cupcake cups. 

Lunch Trick #2         Cut Shapes

Use cookie cutters to shape cheese, sandwiches, breads, baked treats, veggies, and fruit slices. You can even to cut the core out of apple slices with small cutters. Use a melon baller for any soft produce like melon, cucumbers, bananas, or kiwi.

 

Lunch Trick #3         Roll ups & Kabobs

                                       Use toothpicks, cupcake picks, and party picks to create mini kabobs out of lunch elements such as fruit, cheese, meats, cubed anything! One of the most popular at our house is leftover pizza cut into squares and stacked with olives and pineapple.  Picks can also serve as a small utensil in place of plastic forks.

Roll up layers of deli meat and cheese, either in flattened bread, tortillas, or without. Add flavored cream cheese for some zip. with  Try flattened bread spread with pb&j, nutella, pb& honey, or any of your favorite spreads.

Lunch Trick #4         Mix it up

                                       Try swapping out favorite sandwich breads for something new like one slice white and one slice wheat, bagels, flatbread, biscuits, tortillas, etc. Find other ways to introduce small portions of new foods. Remember to serve foods from all food groups for balanced nutrition.

fun   lunch   resources

http://www.easylunchboxes.com/neat_ideas/fan_sites/index.htm  A long list of idea sites.

http://www.easylunchboxes.com/neat_ideas/index.htm    click on “Yummy lunch gallery”

http://pinterest.com/keling/lunchbox-foods/

http://cookiecutterlunch.blogspot.com/

http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

http://www.anotherlunch.com/

Any internet search for “bento” or  “Muffin Tin Meal” 

menu  ideas

Main Dish Ideas	Sides	Treats
Tortilla roll ups Cheesy tortilla shapes & salsa Bagel sandwiches Flatbread sandwiches Pita sandwiches Pita & Veggies with Hummus Sandwich on a stick Yogurt w/ sides of fruit and granola Pizza Pizza rolls Two toned sandwiches Pasta  salad Boiled egg Meat, cheese, crackers Grilled chicken Quiche Quesadillas Hawaiian kebab: ham, cheddar, pineapple Brunch scones Croissant sandwiches Meat & Cheese cubes PB Rollups	Carrot sticks & dip Celery sticks & dip Baby carrots & dip Cucumber ribbons Broccoli florets & dip Grapes Berries Craisins Apple wedges Orange sections Mandarin oranges Melon chunks Kiwi slices Canned fruit Goldfish crackers Club crackers Wheat crackers Mini muffins Almonds Applesauce Breadsticks Pretzels Babybel cheese String cheese	Honey straw Cookie Brownie Marshmallow skewer Holiday candy Mints Mini candy bar Trail mix Pudding Jello cup Fruit snacks

Summer of Storytime Fun - Dinosaurumpus

By: Tony Mitton  

Theme & tie to book	Activity	Details
Trip	Dinosaur  Park	Dinosaur fruit snacks
Sensory and counting	Dino Dig	Dig for toy dinosaurs in sand or homemade playdough
Meal-	MTM- Lunch	Dinosaur Eggs (meatballs, cherry tomatoes or grapes) in a Nest (shredded lettuce) Dino Nuggets dino cheese sandwich cadbury mini eggs watermelon mountains
Art & Sensory	Paper Mache Dino Egg
Science & Snack	Bake Dino Bone & Egg Sugar Cookies	Use measuring and counting skills to mix and bake sugar cookies.
Links for more ideas	Dino Eggs Oatmeal

Summer of Storytime Fun - Giggle, Giggle, Quack

By Doreen Cronin

 Lunch

Theme & tie to book	Activity	Details
Reading	Watch story video	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfontHcnZ_s&feature=related
Meal	Fun Lunch	Farmhouse sandwich with white bread bottom and wheat bread roof,  pretzel square window;  pretzel rod tree with broccoli top;  lunchmeat grass; Garden plot: pudding with cookie crumbs, green licorice plants. Duck pick: printed and cut out from internet search,  surrounded by petite celery sticks . baby carrots, and dill dip.
Meal, Days of the week recognition	Pizza Night (Tuesday)	Order pizza for dinner
Bubble Bath Sensory activity Day of week	Take a bubble bath or give toys a bubble bath (Wednesday)
Movie Night  Day of the week	Movie Night (Thursday)	Watch a movie with popcorn
Writing Skills	Write notes like duck	Write notes to mail out or give to someone at home.
Trip	Visit a farm	Go meet all the animals on a farm.
Links for more ideas

Summer of Storytime Fun - If You Give Pig A Party

My birthday is this week, so this book was a perfect fit.

If You Give A Pig A Party by Laura Numeroff

Theme & tie to book	Activity	Details
Number & color recognition	Coloring Activity Page	http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/activities/pdfs/pickthecorrectpig.pdf
Party & ice cream	Party
Pigs	Themed Meal	Piggy Sandwich:  open flatbread bun, w/slice of turkey face & circle of bologna nose, olive eyes and nostrils   Pig in the mud: Chocolate pudding,  1/2 pink marshmallow w/licorice tail. Fruit pick:  bananas and kiwi on plastic pick with paper pig topper made on silhouette machine. Watermelon pig: slice of watermelon with impression from vintage cookie cutter.
Activity	Hide and Seek	Play Hide and Seek
Activity	Blanket fort & Sleepover	Build a blanket fort and sleep in it!
	Online Matching Game	http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/games/matching/
Links for more ideas	http://geekettebits.com/for-kids-parents-educators/if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie-laura-numeroff-felicia-bond-activities/ http://www.bakingandboys.com/2009/05/z-for-zebra-cookies-and-p-for-pig.html  http://cuteyummytime.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/cute-piggy-bentos-teddy-bear-breads-kids-school-lunches/