One Birthday to Rule Them All

 Lord of The Rings Cake by Auntie Susan

Last weekend I hosted a Lord of The Rings(LOTR) birthday party for my son.  I have to say this was one of the more challenging birthday parties I've put together simply because LOTR is not the hot thing right now.  Translation, no toys, no decorations, and no birthday ideas on Pinterest.  That coupled with little time to plan a party required some quick thinking.  

For the invitations I went with a rustic look.  I found a free LOTR font called Ringbearer on Fontspace. I added a wax seal to the invitation like Gandalf does to seal the ring in the envelope.  Since I didn't have a wax seal, I had to get creative.  Instead of a seal I used a cheap metal cross that I placed into the hot wax, then I placed a thimble around it to make a circle shape.  Surprised it worked?  Me too!

Lets talk decorations, 

The birthday banner was made to look like Bilbo Baggins birthday banner.  I used craft paper and acrylics to make the sign. 

If you read the book or saw the movie, then you know Bilbo Baggins had a similar sign posted on his fence.  I printed one up with the font "Party Business" and placed it on the front door.

For the inside of the house, I tried to make it look like Bilbo's house.  I printed out a map of middle earth and framed it with some black card stock.  I found things around my house that looked like something Bilbo would have on his desk.  I also distressed some paper and rolled it up to look like scrolls.   Other decorations included a picture of Rivendell (salvaged from a PEZ box)  which I framed and placed on a side table.  If I had more time, I would have switched out family pictures for prints of Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, etc.

For the outside, I covered a beach cabana with a toy camouflage net.  My logic for this was the hobbit homes were dome shape. Plus, the tent made a nice place for the kids to sit and eat lunch.  I also covered a plastic picnic table/bench with some butcher paper colored to look like wood. 

Pictured above is my version of Shelob's (giant spider) cave.  I covered my son's room with yarn from wall to wall.  The kids had to crawl through it and find the gold rings Shelob was protecting.  This was by far the most popular game of the party. 

 Sparkler Candles

By the end of the party I felt like. . .  well I think Bilbo said it best, "Why I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over to much bread."

Craft Project: Table Centerpieces

A couple weeks ago I mentioned I was busy at work making tissue flowers for table centerpieces. Above is a picture of all my hard work. They worked out perfect for the event. I made the centerpieces for long rectangle tables. And maybe it's just me but I find long rectangle tables are always the trickiest. Round tables on the other hand are easy. You create one tall centerpiece and it's done. But with long tables you have to fill the space. Anyone else feel this way? Anyhow, below are simple directions on how I made the arrangements.

Supplies:
Tissue Flowers
Glass Vases - I purchased mine at Target but you can find them at Michaels, dollar store, etc.
Curly Willow branches - I purchased mine through a local wholesale florist shop but you can also find them at craft stores or the farmers market. They're very common.
Glass half marbles
Washi paper - any decorative paper will work
Removable Glue dots
Hot Glue

1. Cut paper to size. Wrap around vase and adhere with glue dots. The reason I used the glue dots was so I could remove the paper after and reuse the vases.

2. Cut four branches to desired length. Arrange branches, hold in place, drop glass marbles into vase to hold branches in place. This will also prevent the vases from tipping over.

3. Hot glue one tissue flower to each branch. For each vase I used four tissue flowers. It added just enough color. Done.

I was able to take this single picture amongst the craziness of setting up. Sorry it's not that good. To lengthen the table and add color I used Hallmark's textured gold wrapping paper. No one even knew it was wrapping paper, it looks that good. I placed to vases on each table. With the remaining washi paper, I used a sakura flower punch and sprinkled the flowers along the gold runner.

*Side note - Last week I mentioned I would be sharing a chicken recipe, I'll be posting about it Wednesday.