Finley and Grey’s Ballerina and Dinosaur Birthday Bash!

Oh my, it was fun, and I am so thankful to my mom and George and everyone else who helped make this big bash happen! Finley wanted Ballerinas, and Grey wanted Dinosaurs, so what’s a girl to do? Combine the two of course! And they turned five. Five. I mean, really?! I have lots of clichés and silly sayings running through my head, but mostly “Time flies.” Luckily you can have a cupcake along the way with this dose of aging reality!

I found some darling invitations on etsy, and had them printed on both sides so we could invite our ballerina and dinosaur friends! And Pinterest gave me lots of inspiration. Luckily my mom is the queen of craftiness and could help make it all happen.

We ordered piñatas, giant balloons, and party favors. We made decorations, and George constructed seats and photo frames, and the day arrived quickly! BTW, driving home with two giant piñatas in the car was pretty comical, especially the big orange dinosaur in the passenger seat when I stopped at a drive through to get a drink!

I put out ballerinas and dinosaurs to color and decorate with glitter glue and sequins before the piñata fun.

Grey’s dino table and his cake had one of my favorite things, plastic dinosaurs with party hats. This made me laugh, and it was fun to make the little hats too. And the boys got dino masks and custom dino party hats (thank you mom) to wear too.

Finley’s ballerina table was all pink. I was told, “All pink please mommy; Pink food, pink decorations and balloons, and definitely pink cake!” We ordered pink tutus and little tiaras, and we made tulle pom pom wands (my other favorite thing). I also found some roll-on body glitter (like Fin and the girls get on their hands at ballet if they are good listeners) and put them on the pink table. My mom sewed and gathered together the large piece of tulle I got into a super fun runner. We made giant tulle pom poms and hung them out on the porch. Oh, and George made 26 little round, polka dot stools for the kiddos to sit on. It was exciting to see it all come together.

The food tables turned out fun too. We updated a tulle wreath for Finley and included a ballet pose of her that I just happened to snap the week before (we used the same pose on her cake.) We made little tassel banners for the window too. And my mom helped me construct little mini name banners for the cakes. Oh, and two more dinos with stylin party hats. Yay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was the front yard. Well, George made gold glitter arrows and glued (yep, those are still on the front sidewalk) foam dinosaur footprints my mom and I made to welcome our guests. He also had these great metal frames we used for photo props, and he made some super fun blue foam teeth for the “dino” frame. 

 

 

 

 

And the piñatas! Man, they were well made, and much bigger than I had expected! George had to offer some “assistance” to get into the piñatas after most of the children had taken turns trying to open the dinosaur to spill the goodies. I was surprised at the strength of some of those kids! Although it was a little strange to see the kids whack at the ballerina with the piñata stick, it was even crazier to see them dig through the rubble to find every last toy and piece of candy. And then of course my husband put the ballerina’s legs on his head as a hat and danced around the yard. Those of you who know George are not surprised by this at all!

 

 

Fin and Grey got to have their own little cakes, and blew out candles in the front yard before the vintage 1965 airstream arrived. I’m so glad we had "Bubbles" come to the party and bring Trailercakes’ yummy mini cupcakes! We got “Happy Days” (white rainbow sprinkled cake with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles, of course!); “Slap Your Mama Chocolate” (chocolate chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting and a piece of chocolate – oh my!); “Strawberry Fields” (white chocolate cake and strawberry frosting with a little poptart like cookie on top), and “Hitched” (white cake with white frosting.) It was so fun to see the kids chase the bubbles and enjoy the sugary goodness!

 

After all the sugar, we moved to the backyard to go down slides and go to the “Dino Dig” in the sandbox. The kids dug and found little plastic bones. They seemed to love it. We even got in some present opening. Whew!

The adults were great too. We had icy beverages and sugary cupcakes for them too! Oh, I made these fun little frozen water balloons for the wine ice bucket (so clever; see it in the links below.)

 

 

The party was loud and a little crazy and just perfect. Finley and Grey ran around with huge smiles, and I know loved having their friends and family with them to celebrate. I loved working with my mom and George to make decorations; and if you know me, you know that I had a few things to make I couldn’t quite get to! However, once the party started, I left my messy kitchen and joined in the fun. The party had a little crying over candy, sticky messes, oodles of laughter and a whole lot of fun that day for two five year olds and their parents and a lot of other folks. Thank you!

Links:

Invitations:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaperPatchINK

DIY Tulle Pom Poms: http://pagingfunmums.com/2013/06/23/diy-tulle-pompom-perfect-party-or-kids-room-decoration/

DIY Mini Tulle Pom Poms: http://cassiefairy.com/2013/12/05/my-vintage-caravan-diy-pom-pom-decorations/

Tassel Tissue Garland: http://ohsolovelyblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/tissue-tassle-garland.html

Dinosaurs like to party idea: http://bringingthehappy.net/blog/13736633/dinosaurs-like-to-party

Mini letter banner: http://sugartotdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/12/mini-glitter-banner-for-christmas-free.html

Water Balloon Ice Buckets: http://asubtlerevelry.com/10-party-hacks-for-an-awesome-2014

Pink Tutus: http://www.alwaysunderpay.com/tutus/