Harry Potter Party Decorations

 I saw on Pinterest this GREAT idea of having Harry's letter from Hogwarts shooting out of the fireplace. We made 25 envelopes. I used fishing line and lots of tape. The wax seal makes the envelopes heavy on the wire so I recommend buying strong fishing line. Hanging the letters was a little tricker than I thought. We used push pins to attach to the ceiling and tied the fishing line to the grate inside the fireplace.

I wanted to do the Sorting hat because that is one of my favorite parts in the book. I hung up these signs near the entry way. No hat needed. 

We gave each kid a wand made of a chopstick or straw to take home.

Harry Potter Party...Food and Invitations

 This year D wanted a Harry Potter party for his birthday. We based his party mostly on things that happen in the 1st book. Since all but 1 kid at the party had seen the movie we showed the movie at the end of the party.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out to theaters in 2001 so I couldn't go to Party City and pick stuff up. This party was really fun to put together. It took a lot of research and Pinterest ideas.  

 I knew I wanted to mail the invites. I found free Harry Potter font to download. I wanted to use Harry Potter phrases but I knew if I went overboard our guest wouldn't know what I was saying.We attached train ticket to the invitations. I was so happy that all the kids brought their train tickets. We had a drawing using the tickets and the prizes were glass jars filled with candy. I found Harry Potter stamps at our local postoffice. I bought the wax stamp at Michaels. I didn't mind buying the stamp because I was able to use it for invites and decorations. 

This is the easiest cake I've ever made! It is the cake Hagrid brings to Harry on his 11 birthday. His cake was pink and green but we love chocolate.

Using the same font as the invites I made up labels for the food. You can get real creative and come up with crazy names, we called tortilla chips Dragon Scales. 

I printed these labels form this website I found on Pinterest. I wrote on the bottom what the actual drink is, Cactus Cooler, Root Beer and Strawberry soda.  

Everything is Awesome

We went to Legoland California for D's birthday. 

 I really like Legoland. Everyone that works there is friendly and helpful. Here we are trading legos at a trading post. We were looking for Krusty the clown mini figure.

 It isn't Disneyland but it's still charming.

You can go inside Finn's Basement and see the actual set from the Lego Movie.

Skateworld

 Over the weekend we had a skate party for my birthday. It was SO much fun! 

 D was just showing off.

 D took this picture of my sister and me and I love it…Something about putting on a pair of skates makes you feel 13 again.

I wanted to showcase how rad my sister looked at the rink!

13 candles

This weekend F.W. turned 13! Every birthday we take F.W. and his friend to the Corvette Diner.

2006

2013

 F.W. wanted a strawberry cake made from a box and store bought frosting! I was kind of bummed he didn't want a grander cake.

13 Candles

What I wore Sunday:PacMan Party

Our church is getting ready for Vacation Bible School. The VBS theme is Kingdom Rock.  I am helping create fun snacks for the kiddos.

What I wore Sunday

Dress:: Gap

Sweater::JC Penny

Clutch:: Target

Check out fine linen and purple for more What I Wore Sunday, there are a lot of cute outfits this week.

We celebrated D turning 6 with a PacMan party. It was great having family and friends over. We even had a surprise guest when our nephew from North Carolina showed up! It was a great weekend.

The birthday boy making a PacMan face.

Playing crack the egg with the boys

Pac Man Party

How to have a Pac Man party in 2013...

To make the invites I got blank cards at Michael's. I got bright yellow card stock paper to cut out Pac Mans. I used a pencil eraser as the stamp for the dots.

 To make the banner I got yellow and black poster paper at Target, which was .60cents. I downloaded Pac Man font on to my computer and printed out the alphabet. Then I traced the letters cut them out and glued them onto the Black poster board.

 Pac Man walls

The cake was fun to make.

A birthday party isn't a party without a bounce house.

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

Today I made mini vanilla cupcakes to celebrate Summer birthdays at the school. All those poor kids that miss out because they were born during the summer months. These bite sized treats taste yummy but I forgot to add vanilla extract to the chocolate frosting. So the frosting is REALLY rich. I don't think the kindergartners will mind...haha. If I was putting the frosting on a full sized cupcake it would be to much but since these are minis I think it will be alright.  

Texas Sheet Cake and Cinco de Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo is my birthday. I didn't want a party or anything crazy. I just wanted to bake a cake, eat  the cake and relax. I made the Texas Sheet cake again. You've got to have chips and salsa on Cinco de Mayo. We had a lot of running around to do on Sunday but we were able to relax together as a family. Which is always nice!

Corvette Diner is always fun for birthdays.  We went there for milkshakes. The waitresses all dress in 50's attire and sing Happy Birthday to you.  I think I gained 5 pounds this weekend.

Valentine Nails

Valentine Nails

 1st bite of cake.

A mouthful

On Saturday we drove to Orange County for our nephew's 1st birthday party. It was a great weekend filled with lots of family...but no baking.

The birthday boy doesn't want to come home with his crazy Uncle.

After the birthday party the boys' Aunt let them release the birthday balloons. The kids wrote wishes on the balloons before they let them go. F.W and D's unselfish and loving wishes made me so proud.

West Coast Cousins