Sunday, February 15, 2015

Blue and Gold "Pow Wow" Banquet

I love Scouts.  I have 3 boys and plan on spending a lot of time in Scouts.  I am currently the Unit Commission, Scout Committee Chair and the Wolf Den Leader.  Did I say that I love scouts?

I wasn't in charge of the Blue and Gold Banquet this year, but it turns out that two of my best friends are the Cub Scout Committee Chair and Cubmaster, so I got to help plan the banquet.  

Feathers, arrows and all things tribal are kind of a big deal in decorating right now.  What a better theme to have for cub scouts, than a Pow Wow!!!

I designed the invitations in Photoshop elements.  We wanted to use blue and gold, but more specifically gold glitter and add other colors of blue.
For the envelopes, I cut a feather on my Silhouette Cameo and added a little washi tape.
Centerpieces on the tables were wooden tree slices.  We had mason jars with beads tied around the top.  Inside the jars were feather arrows.  Some were blue, others were white or natural color with gold glitter tips.  Along with the jars, we either had antlers, succulents or teepees.
We decorated this backdrop with craft paper and washi tape.  
I also made a few basic dream catchers.
I made a make shift teepee out of just 1x2 boards and some twine tied at the top.  I used old white sheets to cover it.  The leader who was presenting our Arrow of Light awards had the fake fire... it was the perfect touch.
Our main course was navajo tacos.  I didn't snap a shot of those.  For dessert we had donut holes with an arrow through them.
We also had teepee cupcakes with gold and blue sugar.  They turned out sooo cute!
We had a little "tee pee" trail mix snack.


We had a craft table where the boys (and family) could decorate a headress.
There was also a station where the boys could shoot the bow and arrows at a target.
And I really can't take credit for much!  My partners in crime really pulled this off and made it a fantastic night!!!

PS... my oldest son earned his Arrow of Light at the banquet and is moving on to Boy Scouts!!!  I'm excited to start on this new adventure.
PPS... red pants looks awesome with the yellow scout shirt!!!


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Video Game/iPad Birthday party {Terreria, Madden, MInecraft, Crossy Road}

For my son, Joren's, 9th birthday, he wanted a "late night" video game party... meaning a bunch of little boys come over and eat and play video games all night.  Sounded good to me... cheap and easy.
I created the invitation in photoshop elements.  I found a blank iPad template.  I had him text me a fake conversation... I took a screen shot of it and put that on the invitation.  Then I put his 4 favorite games at the bottom of the screen.
Whenever I have a party, I like to decorate the dresser I have in my kitchen.  Because it was a hodge podge of iPad games as well as playstation games, I decorated with all things gaming.  I had a banner left over from Brenner's Minecraft party as well as the Steve head.
I also put out remote controls on the tables, Skylanders, stacks of games, etc.  Joren had bought a football gum dispenser that he just had to decorate with... it worked out great because Madden was one of his favorite iPad games as well.
  
Brenner made this "Eye of Cthulhu" giant cake ball... that's something from Terraria.  
 And Joren insisted that his cake was his armor on Terraria... He also insisted it was made of fondant.  So, I baked 3 tiny square cakes and covered them in fondant.   Then, I tediously cut fondant squares and stuck them on the cake.
 I used mostly green and black because that was the minecraft colors and seemed to go with everything.  I made some torches for the table and also had Skylanders in the middle of the table.
 For the party favors, I got these little square buckets at the dollar store.  We put zombies and light sticks in there (both from Terraria).  We also put coins because, well, most video games have you collect coins in some way.

Aside from the fact that having a bunch of boys at my house late at night when I'm tired, it ended up being a fun party!!!