Birthday Party Planning

[savepaws]

Reading Sarah's recent post about planning Zac's bday party got me excited and thinking about the girls' party (still 4 months away but you can never start planning too early!) I started looking up some theme ideas and found this blog that I just have to share!

http://www.hostessblog.com/category/themes-occasions/

I haven't found a theme yet for the girls - but I've had fun looking!

I want a Cookie Monster theme JUST so I can have these cupcakes! HAHA

http://cdn-css.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cookiemonsterparty_6.jpg


http://cdn.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/drsuess_birthdayparty_4.jpg


If I had boys...
http://cdn.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/greenarmy_birthdayparty_5.jpg


This reminded me of Sarahs theme for Zac, minus the bow tie monkeys...lol

http://cdn-css.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/carnivarbirthdaypartyideas_2.jpg

http://cdn-css.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/carnivarbirthdaypartyideas_1.jpg

I LOVE the grass place mat idea!
http://cdn.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/flowergrassmats_1.jpg

I think this one gave me a cavity - too sweet!!!
http://cdn.hostessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/flowergarden_birthdayparty_3.jpg

[gwenshack]

Those are really awesome Danielle! I love the floral one with the grass place mats. Too cute! :flower4u:

[NOTKT]

All of those are so cute!

[KMS]

There are so many gorgeous party blogs and pictures out there! People do some amazing stuff. When I was planning Paisley's party I had a whole folder of inspiration pictures that helped me figure out what direction I was headed with it. Enjoy your planning! I love the pictures that you've found so far.

[savepaws]

Can a mod move this to Bringing up Baby or somewhere - I don't know how I ended up in here. ;) I guess it is home & family related but its more kid/baby related than anything.

I really think a Thing 1 & Thing 2, Dr. Suess theme would be so adorable and I could have so much fun with it. But the colors red & blue aren't girly at all. :( I wish the Things were pink!!

I decided to look for some cake ideas to maybe give me some inspiration on what kind of theme I want and I think I might be headed towards a flowery garden theme too! Everything I like is pink & green. We shall see though!

[mj512]

Can a mod move this to Bringing up Baby or somewhere - I don't know how I ended up in here. ;) I guess it is home & family related but its more kid/baby related than anything.

Got it ;)

I love the Dr. Seuss theme!

[Danielle9608]

OMG I love those cookie monster cupcakes!

[Nekochanpurr]

omg. Those cookie monster cupcakes. CUTE.

[scarymary48]

That blog is AWESOME, thanks for sharing!

Both the Dr Seuss and the garden theme sound adorable, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

[savepaws]

Still not sure on the theme but came across some things that would be easy to make and wanted to put them here so I don't forget. My SIL made Fruit Pizza for my bridal shower and just gave me the recipe for it. It has cream cheese, so I won't like it but according to my friend they are "little clouds of heaven", and it looks easy enough so its going on my list.

Also, I am going to take oil, ranch dressing mix and season oyster crackers with it. I bought some pre-made at the store the other day because I couldn't remember what was used to season it. As soon as I tasted it, I remembered. LOL

The easier the stuff is to make, the better!!

[KMS]

I've had fruit pizza before and it's always a crowd pleaser! :yesnod:

[savepaws]

Well I am not sure how elaborate I'm going to make this party. We just had the girls' baptism this weekend and I realized that I can go to a lot of effort to make it just the way I want it, but no one will care. I tried getting the perfect cake and got cute plates, napkins and a table cloth. I wanted to get pink cups and I made such a big deal about getting pink cups and then we forgot them at home. MIL was like "it doesn't matter, we have cups" And she set out all these mismatched cups that were not pink! I realized that none of it mattered to anyone else but me. So I'm wondering why bother going all out for their bday party?

I was talking to DH about the menu and he's like, oh I will just grill up some food. UGH. So not the vibe I was going for. I wanted something that could be out of the pages of a magazine or on that party planning blog that I posted at the beginning of this thread.

[scarymary48]

I'm sorry Danielle, it is frustrating when things don't go according to vision. I'm sure that whatever you do it will be beautiful and special, and the girls will treasure the photos in the future :heart:.

[KMS]

Well I am not sure how elaborate I'm going to make this party. We just had the girls' baptism this weekend and I realized that I can go to a lot of effort to make it just the way I want it, but no one will care. I tried getting the perfect cake and got cute plates, napkins and a table cloth. I wanted to get pink cups and I made such a big deal about getting pink cups and then we forgot them at home. MIL was like "it doesn't matter, we have cups" And she set out all these mismatched cups that were not pink! I realized that none of it mattered to anyone else but me. So I'm wondering why bother going all out for their bday party?

I was talking to DH about the menu and he's like, oh I will just grill up some food. UGH. So not the vibe I was going for. I wanted something that could be out of the pages of a magazine or on that party planning blog that I posted at the beginning of this thread.

I could have said this exact same thing at some point! Don't completely let go of your dreams for the party, but don't hold it up to those magazine ideals either...both will lead to disappointment, I think. I'm so disappointed in Paisley's party and I don't want you to feel that same way about the girl's party. :bbconfused: I mean, those people who throw those perfect parties have tons of money to throw into them...and then an amazing photographer to take the pictures. PLUS pages of a magazine don't have family drama to put mismatched cups everywhere. lol.

[amisteratwisterandme]

I agree with Keely. Only do what you can and want to do for no one else but you and your girls. No one is going to appreciate the time and effort and love that you have shown, except for you and those two little ones.

[f77g4]

Good luck planning the party!

[savepaws]

I am thinking pink & green flower/garden theme. I guess I got a lot of inspiration from Paisley's party! I want lots of pink but I think I'll save the princess theme for when they are old enough to really enjoy it, so a garden theme seems like a good way to use lots of pink!

I want to do this...gonna have to try it out beforehand to see if I can pull it off!
http://www.watermelon.org/images/Carvings/HighRes/FloweringGarden.jpg

I'm working on finding tutorials for birthday hats and trying to find invites that I like. So far I cant find what I'm envisioning so I may design the invites myself. I'm starting so early because I don't have much time so I need to make sure I have time to get everything done!

We are trying to figure out where to have it. I was hoping to have our family room addition done by then but I don't know if we will. I thought about booking a house for rent on a nearby lake but its booked for the summer.....bummer.

[FFC]

I loooove the fruit garden! Sooooo cute!

[mj512]

That watermelon is so cute! You should totally do it. I'd never be able to pull something like that off... mine would look awful lol

[FFC]

All ya need is a good cookie cutter set! Oh now my gears are turnin and I got 5 months to go LOL!

[KMS]

So much fun! I love that! I bet that you could execute it really well if you get a practice round in.

[KMS]

Oh and I got Paisley's bday invitations for free, except for shipping, on Vistaprint. I don't have an actual picture of the invitation, darnit, but I have one I took when I was designing it online. It's a picture of the computer screen, but the actual invitation looked a lot better. :bbconfused: You might want to see if there's something that you like on there.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/keelyhealthnut/photo7-1.jpg

I also have the party hats I made if you'd like me to send them to you. If not, no worries! Believe me, I know what it's like to have a very specific party style in mind! They're pink and yellow though, not pink and green. I think that there's 30 or so total.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/keelyhealthnut/photo8-1.jpg

[gwenshack]

Those hats are so cute Keely! :soppy:

[scarymary48]

That sounds so pretty! And that melon thing looks awesome. I can't wait to see what you come up with! Not to hijack your thread, but I threw a garden/butterfly party for Ella once. I hung branches from the ceiling and dangled pastel paper butterflies, birds and flowers from them, and used grass green chiffon as a table cloth. That hostess with the mostess blog you posted photos from in here will have heaps of gorgeous inspiration for you to make your own. How fun! This makes me want another little girl!

[brendalin]

The melon garden is sooo cute! I need to put that in my folder of ideasfor all the showers I have coming up!

[Heywie]

I love that melon garden. Soooo cute!

And even if no one cares about the party but you, I still think you should do it up. You have been through so much with those little girls (from bedrest to now) and you deserve a fun celebration as much as they do.

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

[savepaws]

I bought cute little flower & tulip cookie cutters today! I couldn't find a small tulip one at 1st and was so bummed cuz that's Tenley's middle name. I was so excited when I finally found one!! Now I just need a watermelon to practice! I also found picket fence at Hobby Lobby, I might just buy those instead of popsicle sticks...just less work for me. But I gotta wait and see if they ever go on sale. ;) They also had pink paper lanterns and cute butterfly and pinwheel stuff but it wasn't on 50% off today....hopefully next week. :crossfingers:

I saw a cute 2 tier dessert tray at Walmart, I want to pick one up. I don't know if I'll have cupcakes since I'll have cake but I'm sure I could put something on it, plus it'd be nice to have. Just the plain old cardboard cupcake trays are like $10 at Hobby Lobby.

I want to serve pink lemonade with lime slices in it.
http://img4.myrecipes.com/i/recipes/rs/2007/pink-lemonade-rs-1618664-l.jpg

And I will probably let DH grill and then I just have to worry about the desserts and sides, which I am still thinking about.

I'm enjoying coming up with different ideas. Reminds me of wedding planning!! :D

[Heywie]

Planning Ollie's 1st bday totally rekindled my love for wedding planning! It was so fun to have an event to look forward to!

I love the pink lemonade idea! So cute!

[savepaws]

Keely, the invites and hats are sooo cute, nice job!! Thanks so much for the offer of the hats, I think I will try and make some myself...I am only making two for the girls so it shouldn't be too bad.

Question for you, how big did you make the squares for the banner?

[Danielle9608]

The fruit boat is such a cool idea!!

[savepaws]

I attempted to make the watermelon flower garden today. It wasn't perfect but I at least figured it out so I know what to do next time, such as draw lines where I need to cut. I also think next time I will get a 2nd water melon because most of the fruit that I took out from inside the "boat" looking area couldn't be cut with a cookie cutter and it was such a mess coming out. That is also why the fruit isn't over flowing like it was in the inspiration pic.

Anyway here it is, without the picket fence...I didn't have the materials for the fence. And I didn't have a melon baller to put centers in the flowers.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/savepaws/PICS643.jpg

[KMS]

Cute!! You have the basics down so when you get all of the finishing touches to add it's going to look extra good!

[Nekochanpurr]

Super cute. Looks like its coming along nicely!

[NOTKT]

Oh my gosh! I love it! :D

[savepaws]

Now I have a ton of watermelon and cantaloupe that needs eaten!! lol I am going to bring the fruit to my nieces 2nd bday party today, but not in garden form so that people will see it for the first time at their party. :) I also think when I do it, I will add grapes and pineapple to it so its more of a fruit salad. That way I probably wouldn't even need a 2nd watermelon if I add more fruit.

[FFC]

Wow that looks great!!! I totally think you don't even need the centers on the flowers. I love it!

Meanwhile, thanks to you Danielle, I've been thinking a LOT about Katie's first birthday theme :) Got my gears turnin and I've come to a lot of theme ideas that I probably won't even get to use hehe! But I've been talking to my mom about it and we agree that we need to have a theme based on something Katie likes. So right now we're looking at the following "themes": Mirrors, balloons, phones (the phone number pad), and water (can do a "green baby" theme with recycling LOL!).

UGH... I don't know. I might just forget all that and go with the cupcake haha. It ain't like I don't have time to plan :)

[Danielle9608]

If I picked a theme based on Averi's likes it would be ... drooling, Gerber puffs, pulling mommys hair and petting Ditto. LOL

[brendalin]

The flower garden turned out great for your first attempt! I am really impressed!

[savepaws]

I ordered their birthday shirts today. I hope I made the right decision of getting them shirts rather than frilly dresses. I think I will do shirts and tutus....maybe make or buy skirts for them to change into as tutus probably aren't the most comfortable.

http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_570xN.174766951.jpg

Of course it'll have their names on it, not Emeline's. :) I searched Etsy for days and days trying to find the perfect shirt and I'm not sure if this is it, but I ordered and paid for it, so there's no turning back now. I wanted to get shirts and not onesies but all she had was 12 months and up, and my girls are tiny so I ended up getting size 9 months onesies...even that might be too big. It would be big right now but I'm trying to think 2 months ahead. I didn't want to wait until the last minute to order because some of the birthday shirt designs that I had Favorited on Etsy are now unavailable because the shop owner went on vacation. Also with 14days processing time, plus shipping, I figured I would rather be safe than sorry and order it a little ahead of time.

I totally am wanting an embroidery machine now so I can make stuff like this for my girls!! It's probably harder than it looks though!

I bought a clear pitcher for the lemonade. I thought about getting mason jars to drink out of but that's a bit over the top for the people who will be attending, so I'll save my money and let MIL bring her mismatched cups! LOL

Now I need to focus on invites & make their tutus.

I also need to start thinking cake. For the party & their 1 year photos.

[Heywie]

Those are going to be adorable!

One of Ollie's onesies (yes, he had 4 on his bday) were a little big and it was no biggie because he wore pants and you couldn't see the bagginess at the crotch. I'm sure the skirts/tutus will cover up any slack!

I can't wait to see what you come up with for the cake!

[FFC]

I love the onesie! As for the embroidery machine - I have one that's super easy to use, but it jams up a lot with stretchy material which is a lot of what I try to embroider on. So I've discovered flannel and cotton is okay but stretchy stuff - I gotta plan on pulling stitches at least once or twice.

[Smurfette]

:pompom:I love all of those ideas! I'm the ultimate party girl and I like to plan everything down to the party picks that go into the food. Oh how frustrating it is for my husband but he always appreciates the end result.

Re: A big b'day bash... I say do it! I threw my TeenBaby a huge gala every, single year and one of them was a flop but I don't care. She was my only child for 14 years so she got 14 birthdays of fun. She's a summer baby so I start planning in March. I've done everything under the sun, even trapeze lessons for her friends last year. One year I spent $300 on a cake because it was "the cake to have" that year and our entire theme was Hello Kitty. The flu went around that summer and only 3 kids showed up. My daughter was one of them. It was horrible. But she was only 3 at the time, we had a blast, played in our expensive cake and sent the rest home with the other two kids. OMG... how lame I felt after 4 months of planning and budgeting just for no one to show. But it was a lesson learned. I learned I'd better start throwing parties for my DAUGHTER and not the guests. From there on out I let her dictate how her birthdays went and I haven't gone wrong since.

Re: DIY party ideas - unless you have the patience for making mistakes, don't plan anything elaborate. I set out to make one of those fruit displays like Edible Arrangements and it was sooooooo time consuming. I spent like 3 hours on the cantalope stars alone. Now I buy all of my food and utilize my creativity on the party favors.
:confetti:
For this Fourth of July weekend I ordered red, white and blue balloons that said Happy Birthday America xoxo Sophia, Grace & Roxanne! Some people rolled their eyes but hell, I don't care. It's my house, it's the twin's first Fourth of July - we had a bonanza. I ordered Statue of Liberty hats, necklaces, leis and beads and even pool floaties from Oriental Trading so all of my guests had something festive to wear. Granted we've been partying since Friday but if anyone shows up today, they'll get the same treatment as the others. It's my party.

Let your party be about you and Tenley and Delaney! It's your money afterall. :happybday:

[savepaws]

The girls are in the middle of a 2.5+ hour nap (YAY!) so I'm trying to do some party planning. We are hoping to get our addition up this summer but realistically we may not have it done, including carpeting, painting, etc. by their birthday so I'm looking for somewhere else to have the party. There is a state park about 10-15 minutes from here and I'm thinking of renting one of their lodges. The shelters are only $25 to rent but they don't provide shelter from wind or extreme weather and the lodges look a lot nicer. I'm thinking of renting this one:

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6407/0/540x360.jpg

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6407/1/540x360.jpg

You think I can make it look like a butterfly garden in there??? LOL

[amisteratwisterandme]

That place is cute. I think lots of flower decorations will liven the place up.

[f77g4]

Cute!

And definately!

[Danielle9608]

Wow that place is awesome!!

[Smurfette]

So? What'd you decide? Did you go with the lodge? I love the look of that place. I'm really into outdoorsy.

The good thing about October b'days is Halloween themed costume parties. The bad thing about October b'days is Halloween themed costume parties. They get old after a while. And people naturally assume you want all of your gifts wrapped in black and orange skeletons. Lol! Not only that - as kids get older, the weekends in October book up quick with Halloween parties. Still, I'd take it over a summer b'day or spring. People are always out of town on my birthday. :(

[FFC]

I can totally envision a butterfly garden in that room. You can suspend butterflies from the beams using fishing line and you'll barely see it :) Decorate the path to the building, etc. Oh you can have fun with this!!!

[savepaws]

I went back and forth trying to decide if I should rent the lodge or not (I'm way too indecisive) and DH wasn't being helpful by saying I should just have it at home or his parents. But we went and looked at the lodge the other day (we peeked in the windows) and he is now all for it. So I went ahead and made the reservations. We'll be doing it Aug 20, 5 days after their bday because it was booked for the 13 & 14th. I could have rented the bigger lodge on the 14th but we like this one's location in the park better and it is $15 cheaper. Plus the smaller size is better for the number of people that will probably come. No use having a big huge lodge that seats over 100 when you only plan on having like 20 people or so. And lastly, I really like the big windows at the end of the room, and the big lodge doesn't have that and that's where I plan on putting the food table.

I really need to get to work on the rest of the planning. I need to figure out invites, figure out what they are wearing (pants/skirt/tutu?), menu, decorations...i pretty much have nothing done yet!!!

[Danielle9608]

That is great that you have one thing marked off the to do list. I can't wait to see how it turns out. You are so creative Danielle I bet it will be great!

[saltyveruca]

So I've decided to have a "real" birthday party for Finn. I wasn't going to, we were just going to have a small immediate family dinner like we do for all of the adults, but after shooting the party this weekend, I realized I might regret missing this opportunity for a big, fun party! We'll probably stay low-key for subsequent birthdays until he's in school and has enough of his own friends to do a big one. Although I say that now....lol

Anyway, I don't really want to do it at our house. I have to clean, cook, deal with our dog, clean again...yuck. So we will almost certainly be renting a spot. There's a great park in Katy with a pavilion, I emailed them. There's also putt putt at the park, which would be fun! Our HOA clubhouse is nice but the decor is ugly. Cheap, though. I am thinking about it. Outdoors will probably be OK, as long as there's shade. October isn't *too* bad here.

The zoo is an option...an expensive one ($285 for an outdoor pavilion). But it would be SUPER fun and people don't have to drive out to the suburbs to see us. It's in the children's zoo, and everyone gets admission to the zoo for the day (30 included), and the car ride over = Finn will be napped and ready. The biggest obstacle would be hauling food/drinks/decor in. You can't hang anything, which makes it simple for me. Haha. They provide table covers, tables, chairs. Probably can't bring homebrew, that's a drawback. But I am not sure the park or HOA would allow it either.

Not much to look at here but we've seen them in person before:
http://www.houstonzooblogs.org/zoo/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/CZ-Blue_Pavilion-00011.jpg

You get 2 hours, and then of course the rest of the day to play at the zoo. It sounds short, but hopefully we can extend it into an all day zoo activity with close friends/family.

[FFC]

Oh sweet Danielle!! Now you've got a location to work with, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Jessica, the zoo sounds like fun!!!!

[savepaws]

Oh the zoo would be so much fun!! Thats a great idea.

Well, I'm gonna have to cancel/change my reservation. :( The one person that we didn't ok the date with (my mom) is out of town the 20th! :doh: I didn't ask her because the only thing she leaves town for and couldn't reschedule is a family reunion in South Dakota and they always do that in June so I figured it was not an issue. Well guess what, this year they are having it the weekend of the 20th. She said she would skip the reunion but I don't want to ask her to do that because its like the one thing each year she looks forward to.

I'm bummed. But the other lodge is available on the 14th. Its $15 more, plus a $5 fee for changing reservations. I just really liked the smaller lodge better, but oh well! Its not a hige deal and at east the other lodge is available on that date!!

Here's the one we'll be using instead...

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6408/0/540x360.jpg

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6408/1/540x360.jpg

[Salayia]

That's a nice place! That stinks that your mom'll be out of town the date you wanted, but I'm sure this place will be just as great! :)

[Danielle9608]

The new place is just as great Danielle I am sure it will turn out great!

[FFC]

Awww I still like the new place Danielle!

So I was thinking theme for Katie.... I was researching "1st birthday ideas" and came across an "ABC 123" theme. All it is is alphanumerics and bright colors! I love it.... but I'm still getting pulled back to cupcakes by my mom. We'll see!

[DanDanNoodleBowl]

I'm so jealous, Danielle! My mom kind of likes to take over ( she basically planned my whole wedding for example) and she kind of basically took over Lily's first birthday party. I wanted a certain theme..I was SO excited about it...but she said no! And since it was at her house, and I didn't feel like arguing, we ended up with a Winnie the Pooh theme...and I don't even like Winnie the Pooh. She ended up ordering all the food and everything...I felt so left out.

I think your party is going to be AMAZING!

[Smurfette]

Oh the zoo would be so much fun!! Thats a great idea.

Well, I'm gonna have to cancel/change my reservation. :( The one person that we didn't ok the date with (my mom) is out of town the 20th! :doh: I didn't ask her because the only thing she leaves town for and couldn't reschedule is a family reunion in South Dakota and they always do that in June so I figured it was not an issue. Well guess what, this year they are having it the weekend of the 20th. She said she would skip the reunion but I don't want to ask her to do that because its like the one thing each year she looks forward to.

I'm bummed. But the other lodge is available on the 14th. Its $15 more, plus a $5 fee for changing reservations. I just really liked the smaller lodge better, but oh well! Its not a hige deal and at east the other lodge is available on that date!!

Here's the one we'll be using instead...

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6408/0/540x360.jpg

http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/webphotos/IA/pid610107/sid6408/1/540x360.jpg
You're lucky you have great venues to choose from. That's a great looking lodge. $20 isn't much to include Grandma in on Baby's 1st Birthday. I think you made the right decision. :coolblue: :heart:

[FFC]

Awww I still like the new place Danielle!

So I was thinking theme for Katie.... I was researching "1st birthday ideas" and came across an "ABC 123" theme. All it is is alphanumerics and bright colors! I love it.... but I'm still getting pulled back to cupcakes by my mom. We'll see!

Grrr.. I'm sorry Danielle. In reading this I came off as a mega-thread jacker :doh: :realmad: I totally didn't mean to. I was in the middle of a million things and I'm learning the hard way not to post unless I'm paying complete attention to what I'm doing!

I love the cozyness of the smaller lodge, but the big lodge can be fun too! I can't wait to see what you come up with for decor and such!

I found a site that's pretty cool that helps with 1st birthday ideas. I don't know if it's been shared before but just in case it hasn't, this is a helpful article I hope to follow up on more later on: First Birthday Party Game Ideas (http://www.amazingmoms.com/parties/1st-birthday-party/baby-first-birthday-games_63174).

[saltyveruca]

I like both lodges...and it's great everyone can attend!

Last week I ran out and picked up a bunch of summer stuff at Target. Figured I'd better get on it and get all the great outdoor party goods before summer is over! I got some lanterns, mini treat buckets, a huge drink tub, servingware, etc. I still have some more things to get but it was a nice dent! I really want some cute drink dispensers! I found some at Target in the non-seasonal section for like $30. Kind of pricey, but they were perfect and I like them. I'll keep my eyes peeled for cheaper ones but I'll at least know they're there. Walmart has some, too, but I don't like them as much. I don't mind spending a little money, because hopefully we'll be able to use all this stuff for several birthday parties!

JD wants to party at home. He has *promised* me that we will get the backyard under control. Since our discussion he has been working on our pool (we are always working on the pool or wishing we were...haha) and we bought stuff to make a fence so we can do an enclosure on the side of the house for our dog to poop in, because right now, it's just all over the backyard and I don't even like to go out there, much less play with Finn or host a party! Hopefully I can get him to finish the downstairs floor once and for all as a package deal. ;) Or else I am putting a rug over the part that's undone. lol

I saw a post on Offbeat Home this week about a backyard movie party (http://offbeathome.com/2011/07/how-to-host-an-outdoor-movie-party-%E2%80%94-treat-the-neighborhood-to-a-showing-of-the-brave-little-toaster?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OffbeatHome+%28Offbeat+Home%2 9&utm_content=Google+Reader)...which I think would be totally fun.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4940386490_f01863d479.jpg
We have a projector and I'm sure we could figure out something for the screen. We can set up chairs and blankets, clean our old swing, drag out the couch we have in the garage, and some people can hang out in the pool. We also have a trampoline that needs fixing (everything needs fixing...haha) and if we really have our business together we can lay out on that, too.

Early October will either still be super hot or at least comfortably cool. Although I am not sure about the timing. Obviously it has to be dark outside, but I'd been planning an early day party. Guess I need to check the almanac for sunset times!

[savepaws]

Any new party ideas Jessica and Justina? I am ready to be done with the girls' party but can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

So I have a dilemma. Too many people are coming so we can't grill. So we had the great idea of having a taco bar. Yum! Well here's the problem - we have other people making side dishes and none really compliment tacos. Would it be dumb to still do tacos? The sides people are making are potato salad, 7 lauer salad, fruit salad. We will probably have a veggie tray and cucumber sandwiches for snacks. I just loved the taco idea and it would be really easy. When I make tacos I don't make anything with it besides homemade chips because nothing really "goes" with it. If we don't do tacos then I don't have any ideas other than manwiches or maidrites which my MIL makes and I don't like. Thoughts?

[FFC]

Hmmmm... too many people and not enough food. Seems you're having the perfect end of summer meal. I'd say try topping it off with a huge pot of pasta salad (super easy!), maybe some rolls... You don't have to stuff everyone and it sounds like there's going to be a nice selection to begin with. I'd say maybe some spinach dip to go with the rolls and maybe egg salad. All super easy, and not much $$$ out of your pocket :winktongue:

OH! And if you have to have something hot - get a crock pot or 2, fill one up with meatballs and bbq sauce, and the other with 'lil smokies and bbq sauce. PERFECT way to incorporate a protein. It's quick, delicious, and not too expensive!

Ideas.... I haven't any! Except for I'd LOVE to have the girl's gifts done sooner than later because they'll grow out of them if I keep lagging the rate I'm going :lafhard:

[saltyveruca]

Haha, nope, no new ideas here! But we're going to a party tomorrow so I think I will be full of them then. :bbidea:

What about pulled pork tacos or fish tacos? You can make a bunch of the pulled pork in your crock pot and their flavor goes along with other stuff better than regular tacos with traditional taco seasoning. I could definitely see them alongside the sides you mentioned. We had leftover pulled pork in tacos this week, I'll give you my recipe if you want it!