A TinkerbeLL 4th Birthday Party

This year's 4th Birthday Party was a test for my party organizing capabilities. I haven't really organized a party for twenty kids for quite some time. But preparation is just one agenda, the party itself is another. 

The Tinkerbell idea came up because it is Khloe's desire to play with her friends in this indoor playland favourite of hers, Cheeky Monkey. At first I was thinking of a Safari Theme. Then I can't seem to come up with a good birthday dress for her. So Tinkerbell because I could let her become the Tinky, with the girls being the fairies & and boys the pirates. After the theme finalized in my brain, I started the planning.

Venue & Guestlist:

I rounded up the guestlist. It was around April, five months before the birthday, when I thought of inviting the girls from her Ballet Class. But because their Recital is around May, I have to give them out the invite before the busy recital day. So I booked the venue, then had the invites ready for their last rehearsal. When the summer started and I registered her for Soccer, I tried to add up the list of her teammates before their last game. Just like her Ballet, Khloe loves playing soccer. In her mind, all the girls are her friends. But because the party was set up on a long week-end before school starts, most of the girls are away. Then I mailed the rest of the invites for friends from Hamilton, Missassauga & Toronto. And handed out the ones from St Catharines. 

Give-aways:

For boys: I ordered pirate hats and a sword and eye patch set from Halo Heaven. To have it cheaper, I waited for their 60% and 40% sale online.For girls: I ordered flower halo for their hair from Halo Heaven as well, and tutu & wings for their dolls. I took advantage of the 35% off and Deal of the Day from the sites Facebook page. Some of the light items I had it shipped directly here in Canada for a fee, while the rest, I had shipped to California at no extra charge for order over $40. The loot bags I used were provided by salesgirl  from Chapters-Indigo/Kids for free.I lined it with green gift tissue from the Dollar Store.

The Cake:

The Cake is one of my proudest find for this event. It is an experiment of some sort as a preparation for her 7th brithday three years down the road. Devoid of Filipino bakeshops here in Canada, where I can just order the most adorable cake I trust, searching for that satisfactory baker is not an easy task. I googled, facebooked, searched and searched some more. Baker's list is not a problem. I am more concerned about the cake design and the taste. Usually, you could find a lovely fondant cake. Then, it would taste like it was not worth any fondant price. I ordered a cake once for my niece 7th, with a princess castle for design. When I opted 'yes' to the castle being edible, I didn't realized it will matter on the outcome. I ended up with a cake and a tiny-winny castle on the top. So I learned from that. I relied most on the reviews of the baker's websites. The clicker is  the "yummy" word. Surely, you can find websites with reviews raving about the design. But seldom will you find reviews that the general content was how beautifully it was done and how yummy and 'to die for' is the cake. Cake By Cheryl is my only choice. It was pricey, but it was all WORTH it. Everybody was asking me where I got the cake. And I am most proud to say, Cheryl made it.

The Dress:

Thanks to my dear friend, Cher, the Tinkerbell dress was an easy task. I begged her to drag my husband to the Disney Store in San Jose, California. I was hoping that their Tinky dress is the one I fell in love before they changed the design from the one online. Unfortunately, it was the same as online. And because I am running out of time before hubby fly to join us here in Canada, I let Cher picked the one from the store. So the Tinkerbell dress happened. 

The Food & Venue:

Cheeky Monkey has a packaged for twenty kids, with pizza or hotdog and unlimited drinks for the kids. This of course, includes a 2-hour play and party time. Added to the package is icecream or sundae. 

The Party:

Her friends came, and my friends came. It was a blast. I was crazy tired, but her joy is all worth it.

Next year will be a different story. Hopefully I will not run out of ideas untiL she'll turn 7.

Note:

We would like to thank all the friends for their wishes, their time and their presents. Love the love.

We would like to thank the Sadowski's for the bike, the Zamora's for the bike accessories and the Lazona's for the Cake. Above all, thank you Cher, for the lovely dress.

If you need help with your party ideas, just message me away. I would love to share my thoughts :)

Trying to Organize a Toddler Birthday

The thing about a toddler's party is, they know what they like.. and in their little brain, that's what they wish for their birthday.

My toddler started believing that she'll be a princess on her birthday when the dress her Aunt Yolly
sent her arrived in the mail, and the only way she'll take it off (after trying it) is by promising her that she'll gonna wear it again on  her birthday. And that was 3 months before her birthday. Then her dad have to fly back to California after his visit, and the only way for her not to be upset about him leaving, is by promising her that he will bring her a princess birthday cake.

What a Mom to do?

For long, I have always wished to be a party organizer. A  lot of ideas in my mind. But for whatever reason, I can never find the time. Especially for my own little princess. To think, I was very organized and creative prior to motherhood and being a wife. But still, I have to try. If not for my passion, but for my dear daughter.

Princess is a theme I tried to push away for her birthday. I've been saving it for her 7th. But I am that kind of mother who believes that a kid's fascination with characters are a timed-kind of thing. She was crazy with Barney on her 1st birthday, so I hired a Barney. The glee on her face was worth everything. On her 2nd birthday, I brought her back here in Canada to celebrate for the first time her birthday, with her co-celebrant, non other than her Aunt/GodMommy, Cherry. So now for the 3rd, it has to be something special. She is into Princess and she believes that Princesses and Tea Party goes together. Or maybe, I am just trying to use this as an excuse to plan something pink. (haha!)

Again, I firmly believe that this princess-thing and tea-party-thing will also pass. So I am going to indulge her because I don't wanna look back in the end and regret the fact that I let her missed the chance to enjoy this phase. Who knows, on her 4th, she'll be asking me for a Justin Bieber or One-Direction theme of a party. With the rate her cousins are training her, it's never far-fetch.

However, as I've said, TIME is never enough for me to attend to everything. I tried doing it myself on her 1st and I felt so beaten right after. I'm not doing that again. So hired help is what I did. With a Princess Theme, I booked a package for them to decorate and host the kids for fun & entertainment. The venue is part of the package, so all I need is to invite, buy the cake & loot-bags, and bring in the foods.

I will post my suppliers and vendors when all of this is done. I'm pretty excited, because this time I am able to purchase the supplies a month before the event. As I am not really into the usual loot-bags (unless I ran out of time like what happened to her 1st), I hand-picked all the give-aways and I am so excited about it. I wish I can post the photo's right now, but unfortunately, I don't have the right until I received the packages.

The food, pretty much, I am ordering. Because it is a Tea Party, it won't be the usual Filipino feast. I am sticking to the theme and the venue is limited for Kids schedule only. Also, added to that, we won't have time because my family will just be arriving back from a long trip. Just like my supplies, I post the  vendors, too, and throw in my own 2-cents.

Organizing a toddler's birthday party is no picnic.The good side though, she'll be running all through out, unlike the first birthday when she was just starting to walk. And to indulge her for that release of energy, the hosts, allotted the kids an hour of play time in the gym with princess theme games. Added more, they have a half-an-hour craft time. Then, an-hour party to celebrate.

All moms need help. Especially on occasions like this. So I am hoping, what I planned will all work out. Who knows next year, I might be able to have that PERFECT TIME to organize everything myself.