I EIGHT Afraid of No Ghost.... or Party Planning as a Parent
We all sense when they're lurking around the corner.... yes... the unthinkable - your child turning another year older!!! Party planning horrifies many parents with the fear that throwing a celebration for their children may make them pay the ultimate price - losing their sanity. But don't let throwing birthday festivities sneak up and frighten you!
To begin, go first to what may seem like a scary place.... the mind of your child(ren). Think of the event through the eyes of your son(s) and/or daughter(s). When I tiptoe into another birthday for any of my wee three, I try to give myself plenty of time to build the suspense of how the ultimate surprise will look and feel. In some instances a theme is frighteningly evident, which requires scaring up a venue next. If a venue has snuck up on you, entrancing you to host at their spot, then conjure up ideas with your little one(s) to determine a theme that will make them scream... (with delight of course!)
Regardless of how your party's plot unfolds, once you determine your theme and place, remember to not let your kiddos' special day leave you frozen in fright! Fight your fears by unleashing creativity to face your little one's festivities in a way that would make the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man eager to help cut out centerpieces and Slimer beg to blow up balloons.
WHO YA' GONNA CELEBRATE?
On the eve of my oldest son's 9th birthday, it sends shivers down my spine to know he'll be blowing out cake candles all over again tomorrow. Transporting back a year ago to his 8th birthday, he was spellbound by the idea of a laser tag party. When we combined the venue with his new fondness of watching Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd succumb to slime and bravely blast the bewitched in 'Ghostbusters', a punny age-appropriate theme was ready to be brought to life: I EIGHT Afraid of No Ghost!!!
Putting our minds together, we created ectoplasm slime as well as gooey green Jello snacks. Additionally, cans of silly string proved to be the perfect Portable Proton Pack. A huge thanks goes out to Etsy's GeeksPrintsAndGifts for the assist in the label designs!
Using silhouettes of the Ghostbusters cut using my Cricut with black cardstock, I fixed their images on red and white paper straws and added them into confetti filled containers at each table for added fun.
Foam boarding the iconic Ghostbusters' poster also made for an excellent visual to help scare up fun!
For the past few years instead of opting for fondant cake toppers, I've become a huge fan of 3D printing cake creations. HandMaidsCrafts on Etsy has been most impressive to work with to make everything from detailed Harry Potter sorting hats and wands (which I'll cover in another post) to Slimer and the iconic Ghostbusters symbol. They were so helpful at ensuring the creation was exactly what I had in mind every step of the way, and my son has a fun keepsake from his 8th birthday that will never go stale.
The "KEEGAN" banner (below) was accomplished by downloading (for free) the font called PIECES NFI on fontspace.com. By installing the font on my computer, I was able to use these slimy letters for any signs I designed in Microsoft Suite or Cricut Design Space to cut letters, which I did for his cake name sign.
The Stay Puft Marshamallow Man inspired our goody bags with a marshmallow launcher and special marshmallows for shooting. The table setting slime and portable proton spray also made it's way into each bag before attendees left.
We are never ever scared to fully invest ourselves into the theme by dressing the part! With the birthday boy Ghostbusting, his twin brother and sister were happy to be his sidekick and very own mini Marshmallow Man!!!
While I've definitely been "slimed" more times that I can count in my days as a mother, the thing that is most horrifying to me is the notion that my children's time as children will pass all too fast. It's in the celebrating them day in and day out that I hope they know they can face anything today and tomorrow... even the horror of me terribly tearing up over the "Happy Birthday" song each and every year.
Now on to get my "GAME ON" for his MARIO-velous 9th birthday party tomorrow!!!