Create Your Own Pokemon Card - Pokemon Birthday Party

My youngest son went through a Pokemon phase. He clung to that deck of cards in his little hand and could rattle off facts about the damage and attacks each character could do. He would spend so much time just staring at the cards, flipping through his deck and wishfully talking about the cards he hoped to get for his birthday or from Santa. 

We decided to throw him a Pokemon themed birthday party. We don't do "friend" birthday parties every year because my son was blessed with having to compete with Independence day for his birthday and scheduling gets difficult. So I wanted to go all out BUT while maintaining a reasonable budget for a kid's birthday party. Also Known As- I wanted to be frugal!  

For the Pokemon party I needed to come up with ways to entertain a group of kids who may or may not be interested in Pokemon themselves. Several of the kids, thankfully, were really into it but a few had never even seen the cards before. So I created games and crafts that everyone would enjoy.

Create Your Own Pokemon Card- great activity while you wait for other kids to show up to the party.
Here is what you will need to recreate this craft:

• Pencils.
• Save this image to your computer and print out on white card stock, then cut out.

Pokemon Seek and Find Game - Pokemon Birthday Party

My youngest son went through a Pokemon phase. He clung to that deck of cards in his little hand and could rattle off facts about the damage and attacks each character could do. He would spend so much time just staring at the cards, flipping through his deck and wishfully talking about the cards he hoped to get for his birthday or from Santa.

We decided to throw him a Pokemon themed birthday party. We don't do "friend" birthday parties every year because my son was blessed with having to compete with Independence day for his birthday and scheduling gets difficult. So I wanted to go all out BUT while maintaining a reasonable budget for a kid's birthday party. Also Known As- I wanted to be frugal!  

For the Pokemon party I needed to come up with ways to entertain a group of kids who may or may not be interested in Pokemon themselves. Several of the kids, thankfully, were really into it but a few had never even seen the cards before. So I created games and crafts that everyone would enjoy.

Pokemon Seek and Find Game: kinda like Where's Waldo

How we played the game, I put several cards out for all the children to see and take turns having in front of them. The idea was to find all of the characters on the cards. Whoever found them all first was the winner. This was a great game because I didn't have to be present to help them do it, I was able to sneak off to the kitchen and prepare the cake and ice-cream.  

What you'll need for this game: 

Pokemon Cards: I purchased a huge lot of Pokemon cards off of eBay for super cheap, I didn't care how good the characters on the cards were I just wanted a lot of them for all of my games.

Pencils.

Print out a picture like one of these on plain office paper. I'm going to warn you- you will need to make sure that the cards you plan on showing to the kids to find are actually in the picture. This takes time on your part before the actual party, but I will say it is totally worth it. The game will guarantee you at least 30 minutes of quiet playing where children are not destroying your house! http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/8/88189/2458615-all+the+pokemon+ever.jpeg 

or 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0OOcDmE8Sl2o5t2ycupjYQq-_GNmW1jgVCcohsqKscZ4C7Bo3y5gDY03prMNPqR7aV-0jXX_7okxER9oPRAGdzZ2Dj_ax050TcrL9VOAKbt5_Piz_jn3i8A_kCXQq6Qjf5dWo0OaSDQ/s1600/6e9647dd2ed49c62145db02902c9fe0c-d3fvvj8.jpg 

or
http://www.pageresource.com/wallpapers/wallpaper/pokemon-and-new-list-runpict_643851.jpg

Don't forget to check out the Pokemon Shooter Game too!

Pokemon Shooter Game- A Spin on Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

My youngest son went through a Pokemon phase. He clung to that deck of cards in his little hand and could rattle off facts about the damage and attacks each character could do. He would spend so much time just staring at the cards, flipping through his deck and wishfully talking about the cards he hoped to get for his birthday or from Santa. 

We decided to throw him a Pokemon themed birthday party. We don't do "friend" birthday parties every year because my son was blessed with having to compete with Independence day for his birthday and scheduling gets difficult. So I wanted to go all out BUT while maintaining a reasonable budget for a kid's birthday party. Also Known As- I wanted to be frugal!  

For the Pokemon party I needed to come up with ways to entertain a group of kids who may or may not be interested in Pokemon themselves. Several of the kids, thankfully, were really into it but a few had never even seen the cards before. So I created games and crafts that everyone would enjoy.

Pokemon Shooter Game- A Spin on Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

We've all played "Pin the tail on the Donkey" well this is similar in that you are going at it blind. 

Here is what you will need to recreate this game:

• Pokemon Cards: I purchased a huge lot of Pokemon cards off of eBay for super cheap, I didn't care how good the characters on the cards were I just wanted a lot of them for all of my games.
• Water guns: purchased at the dollar store, enough to have for each kid to use for the game but to then take home with them as part of their party favor as well.
• Wine corks: with a bread knife cut slits into one of the ends of the cork, then slide a card into each one and set up several on a card table out in the yard. 
• Card table.
• Bandanna or scarf to blindfold.

I prepped the game by having all the water guns filled and in a beach bucket so we would be ready to play without delays. If you've ever thrown a kid party you know how important it is to keep things moving without a pause....so important! I reused the same corks and simply slid the cards into them on the next person's turn.

The Game: Once the child is blindfolded and spun three times, he/she has to listen to the other children to tell him where to shoot. Basically the other children are his/her eyes. Whatever cards the child knocks over in thirty seconds they get to keep those cards. So for kids who are collectors they were thrilled and for the kids who weren't, they were so excited to have a nice assortment of cards. 

The kids loved this game and we played several rounds before they wanted to just refill the water guns and shoot at each other while they ran around the yard.

Outdoor Water Play with Sponge Water Bombs

Looking for something to do outside with the kids on a hot day? Maybe the pool hasn't opened yet or maybe you have a group of kids at your house of various ages and you don't know what to do that will entertain them all…well this is it!

All you will need are basic sponges that you can find at Target or your local Dollar Store. Cut each sponge into strips and then take 8 strips and secure together with a rubber band in the center- that's it!
SO EASY!
We had two buckets full of water on either end of the playground that the kids had to run to in order to get their water bombs nice and wet. Once wet launch them at your friends. This is a great activity when you need the kids to be outside burning off energy but they complain it's too hot to run around.
Would also make a great craft project for the kids to make the water bombs at the end of the year class picnic and then run around launching them at each other.

The water bombs were enjoyed by kids from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade on a playground, everyone played together and were equally wet with smiles on their faces.

Apple Filling Crescent Rolls

The next time that you make crescent rolls try adding a little bit of goodness to it. Slice apples into small bite sized pieces and place in a skillet over medium heat with a little bit of oil and water until the apples are soft. Leave them as is or stir in a small amount of brown sugar.
Unroll each crescent roll and place a small amount of apples in the corner of the roll and then roll up as you would normally do.
Cook as directed on the crescent roll package.
I'm sorry I didn't get an after picture. They were gone so fast that I didn't have time to grab my camera. Be warned: there will not be leftovers!
ENJOY!

Indoor Party Game for Kids

Cooler weather means kids are cooped up indoors and so is their energy, which may be driving you a bit wacky. This is a fun and quick game that can be used for kids of various ages whether it's a rainy day indoors, a snow day home from school or an inexpensive party game to play at your child's birthday party.

Purchase a large bag of various colored craft pom poms, I like to use the kind that are about a half inch in diameter or smaller. Throw them in the center of the floor and have the kids try and pick up a particular color for one minute only using their feet. The person who gets the most balls of one color in a pile is the winner.

Not only is this game quick, easy and great for all ages but it also builds the muscles in the child's feet which will help their yoga practice, dance technique and soccer skills.

Chocolate Tasting

This past summer we went on vacation with my wife's family to the beach and had a fabulous time! I wanted to surprise everyone with a special dessert night- a chocolate tasting!

I decided that I wanted to do a blind tasting for the adults and the kids separately. For the adults I purchased six, various brands of chocolate bars that were truly unique. The kind of chocolate bars that I would never purchase for myself because I deem them too expensive or so unusual that I don't know if I want to commit to eating an entire bar. Among them were peanut butter and banana, orange peel, candied rose petals, spicy red peppers and quinoa!

I cut each bar into bit sized pieces and placed on a cutting board with a number next to it. We sat around the table and tried a bite of each chocolate one at a time, everyone tried to guess what it was that was unique about that chocolate bar, what flavor was standing out to them and which one was the best. The overall process took some time but it was a lot of fun to hear the unique ideas of ingredients and made for some interesting conversation. We made sure to drink water or wine between each numbered piece of chocolate to cleanse our palates.

For the kids chocolate tasting I purchased three different brands of milk chocolate that happened to be made in various locations around the world. A Hershey's bar from the United States, Cadbury from London and an Israel milk chocolate bar. For the kids they tried a bite of each chocolate bar and then voted on which one tasted the best.

Try hosting a chocolate bar tasting with your family this holiday season and see what flavor is crowned the winner!

Make your own Watermelon Roll

My wife LOVES Friendly's Wattamelon Roll, like it's her favorite dessert and the only thing she really wants to have on her birthday. The problem is that her birthday is in the middle of September and often times Friendly's only carries the Wattamelon Roll during the summer months. On her birthday I called three locations that were somewhat close to us and none of them had it in stock.

I thought to myself…it can't be that hard to make!

And it wasn't.

I purchased a container of lime sorbet, two containers of raspberry sorbet and mini chocolate chips. The hardest part of making this dessert is timing the melting of the sorbet. I lined a circular pan with wax paper and began with scooping out the lime sorbet and putting it around the entire edge of the pan. Having the raspberry sorbet thawing and a mushy consistency I then placed it in a bowl and slowly poured in the mini chocolate chips. I just eyeballed it and added chips as I stirred until it was the desired look. Then I quickly scooped it into the center of the pan and finished off with sprinkling the top with a few more chocolate chips.

The result was fantastic! Everyone enjoyed it and my wife was so touched that I went to the trouble to recreate her favorite dessert.
I highly recommend trying it for your family, it's low in fat and a wonderful dessert for guests who have allergies to milk/soy or who are gluten free. Just be sure to purchase gluten free chocolate chips!

Cucumber Tomato Salad

This is one of my favorite refreshing salads. It's so easy to make and and is both gluten free and without the cheese can be vegan. Combine all ingredients and enjoy.

• English cucumber, sliced
• Grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• Mozzarella cheese sliced in bite sized pieces
• Basil and mint leaves
• Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Chickpea Summer Salad

Summer cookouts are upon us and if you are like me you never want to show up empty handed, even when the hosts insists you don't have to bring anything. This is my "go-to" summer salad. It's quick, easy, inexpensive and I typically have all the ingredients in my fridge at a moments notice.
It's also vegetarian and with certain rice mixes it can also be gluten free. I especially like this salad because there isn't anything that will go bad. I've been at many cookouts where the food sits out and people graze throughout the evening and I personally get squeamish with dairy products being out for a long period of time; potato salad is a perfect example! I do enjoy cheese sprinkled over the salad so I will bring a separate container of crumbled blue or goat cheese and place it next to the salad bowl for people to do themselves.

Be warned this recipe might become a staple of your summer dinners as well!

Ingredients:

1. One box of wild grain rice mix; I've used Near East Brown Rice, Uncle Ben's Wild Rice, Zatarains is Gluten free, recently though Farmhouse has been on sale at our Safeway for $1 so I've used it a lot. 
2. One can of chick peas; drained
3. Half of a can of diced tomatoes; drained
4. 1 celery stalk, thinly cut
5. 2 cups of frozen corn, I cook it in the microwave and then add it to the salad
6. Salt and pepper to taste
7. 1/4 cup of balsamic vinaigrette dressing; if you are making this dish gluten free be sure to check the label of the dressing. Newman's Own makes a great balsamic vinaigrette dressing that just so happens to be gluten free.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and serve at room temperature.
Enjoy!

Fabric Micro Suede Flowers for Wedding Centerpiece

As I previously mentioned I was recently influenced by Martha Stewart and a micro suede fabric flower tutorial.
I used the flowers at the base of the topiaries that I made for our wedding centerpieces. I bought the moss topiaries at a Michael's Craft Store in the flower arrangement section and using a Martha Stewart butterfly craft punch, I punched out different colored butterflies from textured card stock and pinned them to the topiaries. The base of the topiaries were mason jelly jars filled with sand and rock and a little bit of artificial straw grass. Simple and fun as they sat on tables surrounded by votive candles. 

(Pictures by Jessica Shepard)

Placemat & Gift of Thanksgiving

I came across this placemat on Pinterest. It was one of those things that seemed like everyone was re-pinning. It is so cute and functional, you can see why it was going viral! (Click here to see the rest of the Thanksgiving collection.)

Around my Thanksgiving table each person had a placemat and in front was a small gift from me. I used a toilet paper tube and taped scrapbook paper to it and folded the ends inside. I printed off a small picture of each person and adhered it to the outside in lieu of traditional name cards. Inside each tube was a felted acorn ornament that I made and a small note telling the recipient why I am thankful for them. 

For my youngest son I wrote:

When I look at you it's like looking into a mirror of my own soul. Being your mom has taught me to embrace who I am as well as embrace what makes you- YOU!

So often I think words are left unsaid and I don't ever want to leave this earth and not tell the people whom I love how much I in fact love and cherish them. 

Use your words.

Take a moment and tell the people in your life how thankful you are for knowing them. I believe it will be cherished.

Spinach and Cheese Puff Goodness

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I typically host, my mom handles the turkey cooking (my least favorite part of Thanksgiving) and I do all the sides. Each year I make something new. I try to never repeat the same dishes. Most families like the tradition of having the same thing each year. But I prefer to take the time and experiment, to try new dishes with obscure ingredients. One of the dishes that got the most thumbs up amongst my family was this Spinach and Cheese Puff, originally pulled from Martha Stewart's website.
Within her recipe is conflicting directions. Here is what I did to make this yummy goodness a success.

Ingredients:
3 (10 ounce) packages of frozen, chopped spinach. Thaw and squeeze dry.
1 1/2 cups of fat free half and half
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces smoked gruyere cheese, coarsely grated.
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients (set aside a half cup of cheese) and stir. Spread evenly in prepared dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Thanksgiving Dinner Party Games 2011

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday for throwing a dinner party. Once everyone has finished eating and we sit around the table, finishing wine, settling our stomachs before dessert.... I pull out the game of questions. (Last year I did this.)

This year I put questions on small strips of paper and stored them in a mason jar. One person reads the question and around the table everyone answers, then you pass the mason jar to the person next to you and we begin again. I choose questions that both children and adults can answer, in hopes of getting to know what our guests are thinking. Everyone around my Thanksgiving table this year was family. And though I know them all very well I love to hear the answer that my teenage niece gives to questions like "who are you most proud of amongst your friends?". Or what my 8 year old son will say when asked "if you could pick a color that represents your personality what color would that be?"
(His answer by the way: Black, when I probed further on why he chose black his response was, "cause it's all the colors into one." That kid is smart!)
The website, How Does She?, has a wonderful selection of questions that they created for family dinner time. I used their lists as inspiration. Make a list of questions for your family, it doesn't have to be for Thanksgiving...it is something that can be used anytime. Start a new tradition! This would also be a very inexpensive gift to make and give to another family.

Great Mustache Giveaway!

Did you fall in love with the mustaches I made for the boys Valentine's?  Do you have a party coming up and wish that you had time to make these?  Well this is the giveaway for you!!!  I have 8 new mustaches (without lollipops) for the random winner who leaves a comment off of this blog post.  Remember leave your comment here, not on Facebook.  Winner will be announced in one week.

DIY Felted Sweater Wreath Party

 

I saw this sweater party on the Green Eyed Monster's blog and I wished that I was invited.  It looked like such an amazing time and then I thought to myself, why don't I throw one?  So I did!  I invited some crafty ladies over to my house for a Sunday brunch and wreath making party.  Each woman brought 3-5 felted wool sweaters that we then cut up and shared with each other.  Thankfully we had enough wire coat hangers for some folks to make more than one wreath, if they were so inclined.  I served this yummy banana pumpkin bread and this easy cheesy potato spoon bread dish along with mimosas, it wouldn't be a CocktailMom event otherwise.  

I'm hoping to throw more of these crafty brunch parties, it was such a great way to spend the day.  What should we make at the next crafty brunch?  Share your ideas in the comments.

Valentine's Mustache Treats

I saw these featured on Disney's Family Fun Website and I knew it would be perfect for the boys to take as Valentine's treats for their class parties.  They were so easy to make,  all you need is a sheet of craft foam and a sharpie marker to trace the mustaches.   After I cut each mustache out I used a small hole punch in the center,  the tootsie roll lollipop easily slipped through the hole.  I was able to fit 25 mustaches on a sheet of craft foam that I picked up at Michael's for only 99 cents.  I secretly left some on a few friends' doorsteps hoping to brighten their Valentine's Day.  What adult doesn't love a fake mustache?

These would make great party favors too!      

Thanksgiving Dinner Questions

A few years ago I wrote a post about dinner party conversations and when I saw this great idea over at Skip to My Lou I knew I had to use it for my Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I printed out the questions on card stock and hole punched the corner so that they would all fit on a binder ring.  This way we can pass the mini book around the table and each take a turn reading a question and answering them.  If you don't have time to do that just print them off and have the kids cut on the dotted lines.  Place them in a bowl or glass jar so they are within reach on your Thanksgiving day table.  I hope this starts a new tradition of enjoying the moment with those whom you are feasting with.

Click here to print out the PDF for the questions.

It takes a villiage...

I hate baby shower games.  I understand why people do it though, you are combining people from different parts of one person's life and they may or may not get along or have anything in common.  You need an activity.  For my cousin Sarah's baby shower I promised her that we will not be measuring her baby belly to see who cut the ribbon the exact length to fit around her swollen midsection.  Who thought this game was a good idea?  Hey, let's make fun of the really HUGE person who feels like crap and is about to burst at any second...great idea!  (can you hear the sarcasm?)   I also promised that we would not be smelling diapers to guess what gross mystery thing is inside, again not a good game to have around a pregnant woman who is sensitive to smell.  After doing some research for games I came up empty.  So instead of a game I decided to have each guest fill out a card.  On the card it said: 

 It takes a village to raise a child - African proverb

I promise…

Each person at the baby shower declared a promise to this baby, I think it's pretty special and I hope something that many years later will be pulled out and re read.  I combined all of the cards and the pictures taken that day into a mini scrapbook album for Sarah.  For the scrapbook  paper I used the same exact paper I used on the celebration banner and the diaper cakes at the shower and then binder rings to complete the book.

And I promise you, dear readers, this will be the last post about the baby shower, well this baby shower.  :)  

In case you missed any previous posts here are the links:

celebration banner

Invitations

favors: pocket tissue holders

diaper cakes

   

And here is the sweet baby we were all celebrating.   

Elizabeth Beatrice!

Scrapbook Paper Celebration Banner

About a year ago I posted a celebration banner I made from oilcloth and recently for my cousin's baby shower I made a very similar celebration banner but out of scrapbook paper.  No sewing required!  I cut the triangles from a stack of coordinating scrapbook paper and then hot glued them on a long piece of bias tape that you can find at any fabric store.  I attached the banner to the table cloth with safety pins and it added a festive bit of fun to the tablecloth I already owned.
You could do this for any party you are throwing, it's cheap and easy party decor!