Cat in the Hat Party

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've posted on the blog. Yikes!  Well, mainly it's because I went back to work full time.  And, then, I planned 2 parties in one weekend - Nikhil's 3rd birthday party and my parents' 40th wedding anniversary party.

So, I'm finally posting pictures from Nikhil's birthday.  The party just kept getting bigger and bigger - I'm not sure how.  I did a Cat in the Hat theme, since he loves the TV show, it's one of his favorites.  But, I did want to use all the Dr. Seuss pre-made stuff that's for sale, I wanted to do things myself.  My friend, Daphne Hargrove, took most of the pictures.  She's an amazing photographer and was so sweet to come armed with her camera.

I swiped the idea for the invite from this blog.  It had a lot of great ideas on there for Dr. Seuss food ideas, but since we were having the party around dinner time, I didn't really use any of the food ideas.

When guests arrived, they were greeted with a Dr. Seuss book to sign.

I rented 3 kids tables with these cute chairs (I think the total was like $30!) and then put them all together.  I wanted the kids to have their own table, since there were 25 children invited and they seemed to love having their own seats.

I made coloring book Cat in the Hat placemats and the orange fish out of cloth as table decorations.  I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed coloring.

For the adult tables, I made red/white striped hats out of Gerber puffs cans and red flower pom poms.

The big splurge was getting a bounce house.  But, it was well worth the money - everyone enjoyed it, and I loved seeing Nikhil's face as the castle was inflated.

And, after the party, my parents and my mother-in-law jumped in the bounce house too!

Instead of a gift, my parents got Nikhil a balloon guy and this guy was terrific.  Nikhil was so happy.

 Of course Nikhil wanted a Thomas the Train balloon.

Here's the food stations.  I didn't keep with the Cat in the Hat theme just because I wanted to have food that people would actually eat. I had a separate adult and keiki menu.  And, we also had a sushi bar - it was actually a really good deal and we had more than enough food.  

I spent the most time on the dessert table.  It was the first dessert table I've made though i bought cute red and white striped straws for bottles of milk and I totally forgot the milk.  I made the birthday sign on my printer and strung it with ribbon.  Our surgical coordinator made the delicious cake pops and the cake.  They were such a hit.

 The same blog had this great tutorial on this DIY cupcake stand.  I pinned it on pinterest and it's been repinned like 60 times. Kind of neat.  My parents helped me make it.

 I've seen tons of Thing 1 and 2 cupcakes with blue cotton candy topping all over the internet. But all the sites reported how the cotton candy melts after like 10 minutes and since we live in Hawaii, I didn't think it was a good idea.  Plus, even though I like sugar, even I thought a red velvet cupcake topped with cotton candy didn't sound that tasty, so I just dyed the frosting blue.

My mother-in-law bought this singing candle which unfolded into a flower when lit.  It kept singing, even after we threw it in the trash for 2 days (we were warned about this!)

 My niece, Maya, who came all the way from Boston to celebrate her cousin's 3rd birthday!

 My dad and Taj

Family portrait

My good friend, Hope, and her son.

Our AWESOME nanny Shawna and her fiance.

And, here's the final shot of the gift bag table.

And, yes, I was crazy enough to hand paint those little clothes pins.

All in all, a great birthday party for Nikhil!  You can see all of the pictures from the party here

Kids Art Display

This is a quick post on a simple little project I did to display Nikhil's art.  All the projects I choose to do have to be things that can be done easily with a newborn.  I would love to do more detailed projects, but somehow there's just never enough time.  And, as I gear back up to return to work in 3 short week (where did the time go?).  I have to prioritize.

I was inspired by this pic in Coastal Living.  I love this room. and it's funny because it has the same colors as Nikhil's room, though I guess there's nothing really crazy about turquoise and white.  I've seen the clothes pins on fishing line idea for displaying art, but I liked the fact that this didn't use fishing line or string or something that I'm always worried can be a choking hazard for little boys.

So, I bought the metal clips on amazon and there was only one size that would ship to Hawaii.  Turned out they were way too big and way too hard to open and close.

So, then I decided to use clothes pins, a little Modge Podge and Japanese paper I bought at Ben Franklin.

I cut out strips of the paper the size of the clothes pins and Modge Podged them on.  You can also remove the springs and paint the entire pin white, but I was too lazy.

Then, I bought 2 pieces of 8 foot white molding at Home Depot.  I think each piece was $10-$12 and had them cut it in half, for 4 pieces.  I glued the clothes pins with gorilla glue to the molding and let it set for an hour.  I think that was the hardest part since gorilla glue takes a while to completely dry and I don't really have a space in my house for such long boards, I kept accidentally moving the pins.  Then, just use a nail gun to attach the molding to the wall.  At some point I'll go back in and use a little wood filler and paint to cover the nail holes, but for right now, I'm too lazy.

And, here's the finished product.  A rotating canvas for our budding Picasso.