Meet Jolly....our elf on the shelf!

On Saturday we got an early present from Santa delivered right to our door! The boys went to put their shoes in the entryway and there sitting on the bench was a present from Santa, our elf on a shelf! The kids were so excited! They named him Jolly, and he has been super busy around here for the last few days! 

meet Jolly!

He changed our menu board to cookies for all 7 days! The kids sure thought this was really funny!!

making some new friends!

camping out and enjoying some marshmallows

hiding in the tree!

Apparently the force is strong with Jolly, he fits right in here with our family! ;)

The kids are really enjoying this and so are we! Emma actually gets up in the morning and says ""lets find Jolly!" I can't wait to see what he gets himself into in the next few weeks! :)

Harry Potter Birthday Party!

Well I am finally getting around to posting  Josh's Harry Potter Birthday Party. My hard drive on my computer fried a few days before the party. I am now posting this on my brand new I-Mac :) 

 Josh wanted to recreate Hogwarts for his birthday so with alot of planning and hard work we managed to pull it off!  I hit up the stores the day after Halloween and scored big! I got amazing things for practically pennies!! Doing home party's can still cost a lot of money! That's why I try to make alot of my own things!  Here is what we did! 

INVITATIONS:
HERE is the link for the Invitations I posted a few weeks ago!

WANDS:

I got the idea for the wands on this website called cut out and keep. I had pictures of the step by step process but sadly they were lost with all of my other pictures when my hard drive crashed! :(    So i will explain it as best as i can without the pictures!  I started with chopsticks that I got at the dollar store, a hot glue gun, beads from kiddie necklaces from the dollar store, yarn and paint. I pretty much just gobbed the hot glue around the  end of the chopstick where the base of the wand would be. Then I added the beads or yarn in different patterns and then added more hot glue on top of that. its very messy and the glue drips of course so you have to keep spinning the wand till it dries a little bit. I burned myself about 100 times!  I put them in a small glass to dry overnight, and then I painted them!  I tried to stick with the idea that every wand is unique, so I made them all different and used 3 different paint colors. They really came out good! The kids loved them and alot of the moms asked me where  I bought them from! :)

I set up a little table near the entry way with the wands in a vase. Josh had the privilege of playing Ollivander and handed out the wands to the kids as they entered! I found free Harry Potter Fonts on line and I used them to make all the signs around the house for the the different classes and areas. The Ollivander's sign says" Makers of fine wands since 382 B.C."

 PLATFORM 9 3/4 :

I  used red construction paper and a sharpie marker to make bricks and taped them on my door to make a brick wall. Then I found this image on google of platform 9 3/4 that I printed out and taped to the middle. I don't like that you  can see all the tape in the picture. It stands out alot more in the photo then it did in person! I delegated this task to my very helpful dad and he finished it just as the first party guest entered! I also didn't have the heart to make him do it again! lol!

THE GREAT HALL:

I turned the center of my dining room into the Great Hall. I made the main table where the kids would eat, fancy as if the were really eating in the Great Hall. We used my red and gold  table cloth and put out my nice candle sticks as well as gold paper plates. I also put out real glass coffee mugs for their Butter Beer. We strung crepe paper in all the  house colors from the ceiling. I wanted to hang stars from the ceiling as well but we ran out of time! The other table held all the snacks and drinks. I made the banner using the Harry potter font and Harry potter scrapbook paper I found on clearance at the craft store.

POTIONS CLASS:

For Potions Class we made glow in the dark slime. I am not posting the link for this because I wasn't crazy about the result. I think it called for too much Borax because the slime solidified a few hours after the party and although they can still mold it, it lost its slimy texture.  This was by far the biggest hit of the party! The kids loved  it!  I found little containers at the dollar store so the kids could take their slime home with them! For decorating Potions class I used Halloween potion bottles I got on clearance, and mason jars I picked up at the thrift store. It literally cost me $6.00 for all of the bottles on the shelf there including our little rat friend. I filled some of them with water and food coloring and stuck some eye ball bouncy balls in one for good measure! 

DIVINATIONS CLASS:

 We were supposed to have Quidittich in the backyard. I had balls and bludgers and hula hoops tied to broom handles all ready to go. The downside to living on a hill off the ocean is that it is extremely windy. So quidittch got cancelled due to foul weather and I pulled this out of my hat instead! I saw this idea on the Family Fun website and put my own spin on it. I took clear plastic cups and put a drop of food coloring in the bottom of the cup. I used 4 different colors and I lined the cups up randomly on a tray.  I added gummy eyeball ice cubes to each one for some added fun. After donning my witches hat I sat  down for some Fortune Telling! The kids lined up with their wands and when it was their turn they chose a cup. I poured the magic fortune telling potion( or sparkling strawberry water) into their cup while they waved their wand over it. The potion magically changed color and whichever color they received I read them their fortune.  Yellow was becoming a champion quidditch player, green was a great potions master, red was a faithful and loyal friend and blue was a practical jokester. The kids had a blast with this and they all stayed really quiet while everyone had a turn!

Party Food and Cup Cakes:

Although Pizza wasn't very popular in the Harry Potter World it is really Popular in Josh's World. So Pizza it was. I did have alot of fun with the rest of the food! 

I found this orange fizzy drink. When you add sprite to it it bubbles, the kid thought it was great!

Although the "real" pumpkin pasties are more of a croissant , mine were mini pumpkin muffins. They were a big hit, might I add, as well!

Our Butter beer consisted of Cream soda and butter heated in a cauldron. The feeling on this was 50/50. Half of them loved it, the other half.... not so much!

We also had wizard Hat sundaes , here is the link from when I made them for the boys for the Harry Potter premiere! This time I melted the chocolate and spread it out on a cookie sheet. Then I rolled the ice cream cones in the chocolate. This was much easier and they came out neater as well.  

 I  really wanted to do Hedwig cupcakes!  I made vanilla and devils food cupcakes with buttercream icing. I used mini oreos for the eyes and carmel candy corn for the beak. The other cupcakes just have star sprinkles on them. I found the Harry Potter punch outs in the scrapbook set I got on clearance. I glued them on skewers and stuck them in the cupcakes! 

He seriously looks like Harry Potter! :)

HOGSMEADE:

I decide to not do traditional goody bags. instead I turned my upstairs hallway into Hogsmeade., and I let the kids go"shopping" at HoneyDukes sweet Shop and Zonkos Joke shop. This was probably the most expensive part of the party, but it was a big hit, so well worth it!

For Zonko's  I found most of these things at the dollar store or in the clearance Halloween section!  We had whoopee cushions, chattering teeth , different variety of funny nose glasses, some fake rattlesnake eggs and each child also got a magic kit that I found for $. 50 in the craft store!

My Little Jokester!

HoneyDukes was alot of fun to do! We had Lemon drops, Fizzy pops, gummy fangs, gummy flies, exploding pumpkin candy (pop rocks), Unicorn poles( marshmallow ropes) and fire balls. Of course we had to have Bert's Every Flavored Beans. Josh thought it would be in bad taste to give his friends ear wax or vomit flavored candy so we opted for regular Jelly Belly's instead. Chocolate Covered frogs was another must have but  a little difficult to come by! I refused to pay$7.00 a frog so the kids could get the real Harry potter frog with the card. So I decided to make my own homemade version. I found a chocolate frog mold at a cake supply store. I also found Harry potter sticker collector cards for $0.25 for a pack of 8! my frogs cost about $1.00 each instead! ;)  I got all the candy jars at our local thrift store for  $0.10 a jar!!

After All the shopping in Hogsmeade the kids all piled in to the living room and read each other jokes or made up some.  I put on Harry Potter of course while Josh opened presents and we waited for the parents to pick up! The kids all went home with their wands, their slime and their bag full of goodies from Hogsmeade! Josh loved his party, so did his friends. A few of the moms told me that their kids can't wait for Joshua to have another party cause his mom is so cool!  :)  Happy Birthday Josh!! We love you so much!!

I want to say a special THANK YOU first to my Hubby, who puts up with me , even when I yell at him for screwing with my vision! And also to my mom, dad, brother and our extended family Allie, Cher and John! Thank you for all your help before, after and during the party and for putting up with me and my craziness! Love you all! 

Happy Breakfast!

Josh wanted happy face pancakes for his birthday yesterday.To make happy face pancakes you need:  A large pancake, banana slices, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and whipped cream!  Happy Breakfast makes happy kids! Just look at their smiles below, and it was only 6:45 a.m.!

Chocolate mousse cake

So Today My oldest turned 8 years old!! I cannot wrap my head around the idea that he is going to be a teen in a few short years!! For his Birthday Josh gave me a menu of what he wanted to eat on his big day. First up, for breakfast Happy Pancakes. Then for dinner he wanted BBQ Ribs and for his cake he wanted Chocolate Mousse cake. Chocolate Mousse cake, seriously? When I was 8 all I wanted was a Cookie Puss from Carvel!! I mean he is obviously my kid because I love Chocolate Mousse(who doesn't?), I just was not expecting that request! Of course I made him one, i mean you only turn 8 once! It was 3 layers, the bottom layer Devils Food cake, the middle layer Milk Chocolate Mousse and the top was Fresh Whipped cream that I just piped on with a star tip. It came out really yummy, and he said it was exactly what he asked for. My hubby was actually surprised it came out as neat as it did! I love to bake , but I am far from a professional and usually my cakes are lopsided, lol! The only thing is, I was afraid to take the cake off of the bottom of the spring foam pan. so I just left it, my luck the whole thing would of wound up on the floor!  My mom's birthday is in a few weeks I think I may make her this cake, except I think I will try a triple mousse this time!

Happy Birthday Josh!  

Harry Potter Birthday Invitations

Josh told me about a month after his Jedi Training Party last year that he wants to be Harry Potter for Halloween and have a Harry Potter Birthday Party. So of course that's what we are doing this year. I really didn't want to get generic invitations so I decided to make them. Josh wants the whole Hogwarts experience for his party so we are doing, Potions class, Quidittch and then some shopping in Hogsmeade. I thought it would be fitting to send the invitations out to look like the Hogwarts Acceptance Letter from Book 1. I found the Lumos font and some other cool fonts and graphics online. I used the wording from the first book and of course tweaked it a little to make it an invitation for a Birthday Party. I printed it on parchment paper using green ink. I found Professor McGonagalls signature online and added that to the bottom to make it official. I also added the Hogwarts crest to the top of the invitation and cut one out and glued it to the back of the envelope. Josh said it would be funny if an owl really delivered his invitations to his friends. Of course that is not possible, but I added a little image of an owl to the bottom of the envelope to be funny. His party is mid November so I still have a few weeks to get everything in order. I am sure the parents are going to think I am completely nuts, but Oh Well, Josh is excited and I have to admit so am I!

envelope, like the owl?

back of envelope

closer look of the wording!

Mermaid Birthday Party

   Emma turned two years old at the beginning of October! She is all about Mermaids these days so it only seemed fit to have a Little Mermaid Party for her. I really don't like all the commercialized party decor out there. So I decided to make most of the decorations myself. I added little touches of Ariel to bring it all together. Overall it came together very nice!

   The Birthday Banner was really easy and it cost me $5.50 to make! I got a pack of pastel colored scrapbook paper for $5.00 at the craft store. I just drew a pennant and I was able to get 3 pennants per piece of paper. I picked a font in word blew it up to the size I wanted , printed them and then used a clear Tupperware lid to trace the circles. I glued them on with a glue stick. I punched holes in the pennants and then strung the ribbon I got for $0.50 at the craft store through it. It would of been alot easier if I would have had a cricut, which I hinted about to the Hubby as I was cutting all the circles out!

These Pom Pom Wands I have been wanting to make since last year. I was originally going to buy them off of Etsy , but I then realized that I can probably make them, so I did! I have found a million tutorials on these things all over the Internet. Here is the tutorial I used for making the pom-pom , except I used tulle. I attached the pom-pom to plain wooden dowels that I painted white and then glued a white shimmery ribbon around. They came out perfect! The little girls loved them! 

                      

These are the hanging decorations I had hung around the room. Tissue paper pom-poms and then craft paper fans, I got the idea's from Martha Stewart. They got a little crushed in the car but nobody notices those things but me!! They added a nice whimsical feel to the party. They are  ridiculously easy to make, and you can get the paper at the craft store and the dollar store! For the rest of the decorations I used teal table cloths and lavender plates and cups. For centerpieces I got little fluted fish bowl at the craft store and filled them with blue sea glass and tiny sea shells. I cut out little fish and sea stars from sparkly scrapbook paper and glued them to a painted BBQ skewer. I didn't really get a good picture of them separately but you can see them on the table with the cake.



These are the cake pops and sugar cookies I made for the party. I had visions of homemade rock candy and  jars filled with purple, aqua and pink M&M's but it never happened.  And yes I am very much aware of the fact that my Tiara Sugar Cookies look like a certain hand gesture. Of course i didn't realize this until  the day of the party, the kids didn't pick up on it and the adults got a little giggle out of it. I will be retiring that cookie cutter, unless someone gets on my bad side! (Ha, Ha!)

My dear Best Friend Made this chocolate lollipop basket for us! She is getting in touch with her crafty side! She did a wonderful job! It came out adorable and of course matched with the theme completely!!

The cake we got made from Kiddie Cakes in Staten Island, it came out absolutely perfect and was filled with chocolate mousse and fresh bananas...yum....! Normally we like to make our cakes or cupcakes, but there was no way we were driving from Massachusetts to Brooklyn with a large cake in my lap!!

I was really happy we got to do her party in New York with all of our friends and family. That is the hard thing about being a Military family, you don't always get to spend all the special celebrations and holidays together. Right now we are lucky enough to live within a drivable (although not easy) distance from our family. So even though we don't get to spend every holiday together, we try to to come in as often as we can without interfering with work and school schedules! Thanks again to everyone who came last weekend and shared the day with our sweet baby girl! I still can't believe she is two!!  

Happy Birthday Little Princess!