Stacy DeGroot Photography

Okay, kids are in bed and I have a few seconds to fill you in on some party details.

Don't know if I shared or not, but this was the final invite design. I used red envelopes left over from Christmas... any way to save a dime, right?

I went with this one cause you all voted for it! And I'm really glad you did too cause the red white and blue color scheme was perfect for the all American sorta feel I was goin' for... E IS a 4th baby after all! Plus, the 3 color choices made mixing and matching easier too!

Of course, the choice of this invitation did necessitate some pretty specific party decor... um, hello super cute flag banner!!

(never mind the twist)

You know I had to have 'em with that invitation :) So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Grandma and Great Grandma for taking over my project and doing it the RIGHT way... as in real sewing instead of my hot glue plan! :) I'd say they turned out MUCH better this way!

So, here's the main table spread...

White table cloths - Catering tablecloths from Sam's Club. Cheap and versatile, I've had em forever and use them to death!

Runner - Just a yard of red striped fabric from Ikea! It was left from something else so I just cut it to get around the umbrella.

Silverware baskets - Stolen from the living room :)

Fence photo gallery - Love these frames! I picked em up on amazon a long time ago to make a large photo collage in the master bedroom. They're only $2 a pop when they are NOT on sale! The collage is down now but I use the frames ALL THE TIME. They were super cheap, hold 8x10's, are super easy to change out pics, can hang or stand, and are lightweight plastic but feel like a pretty good quality. Great party accessory!

Pictures IN the frames - Birthday photoshoot I did for the girls. I'll share some soon!

AND FLOWERS!

Flowers were kind of an afterthought that turned out great! I planned on throwing some filler flowers like White Asters or Baby's Breath in come cute soda bottles with a ribbon around it... but then I drove past my Mom and Dads house and saw THESE in bloom!!!

Um, Dad... do you mind if I use a few of your flowers for the party?? And well, some greenery from your backyard too?! THANKS!

Add a couple mason jars, the scrap fabric from the flag banners, some pipe cleaners turned florist wire, and one Great Grandma to help arrange and VOILA! Thanks Gah-gay!

On the tables, in case your curious...

- Runners I made out of Ikea fabric... that's right IKEA! I just about died when I saw red gingham there! I think I used one yard for all 6 tables! (could have been 1.5 yards, can't remember) I left the edge rough cut (sorry mom) cause I thought it looked cute that way... that and sewing 6 runners might have put me over the edge! :)

- Mason jars of flowers

- jars of fishie crackers

- plastic frames with pics and outtakes of the girl's birthday shoot. I use these frames for every party too... so easy!

Speaking of frames... look how I dressed up this blank wall! I picked this frame up for a penny during the Aaron Brother Penny Sale and it was just sitting in the garage... so I dusted it off and used the extra print I ordered from Costco ( for a whopping 5 bucks) to hang in the house. I didnt have a matte so i just turned the paper that comes in it around and taped the picture to it. The hubby drilled two screws into the under side of the eves and my dad used twine to hang it for me. Simple and easy!

Never underestimate the power of a picture to dress up a wall, eh?

ANYWAY...

When I first started planning this party I was thinking HOT cause it's July right? Only... it almost wasn't! The whole week before the party was down right cool and when the forecast showed "cooler" weather for the day of the party, I kinda started to panic!!! What the heck was I gonna do with all these kids if no one could splash around? That's when I made a bunch of signs and threw the "fun booths" together (got the fun booth idea from little Hailey's birthday, thanks V!)

Turns out though, that we were blessed with PERFECT weather and our little patriotic double birthday bash went off without a hitch! Sooooo if the booths seem like a "bit of an overkill" (to quote my ever pragmatic husband) they may have been... just a little. ;)

Kids didn't complain though :)

My challenge, and I love a good challenge... was creating fun activity booths without spending any money! I thought this would be hard but I actually came up with a bunch of ideas ( I can post a bunch later if you're interested for your next party.) Here's what G helped pick out...

GRACIE'S TEA PARTY - Complete with real water AND cookies (added by grandma great)! I think the kids were a little surprised by the real cookies... they kept asking if they were allowed to eat them!

I really wanted to add "NO PROGRESSIVES ALLOWED" to the bottom of the sign! :D

Anyway...

ELIE'S BUBBLE STATION - Gotta love the gazillion bubble machine! Thanks Auntie Jana for the bubble toys!

MINI CITY - I have been scouring Craigslist for months in search of a used one of these... to no avail! Side note to Craiglist people... YOU CAN'T CHARGE MORE THAN THE ITEM COSTS NEW AND EXPECT TO ACTUALLY SELL YOUR ITEM! Kinda irritating, that's all. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the play house... so my mom calls to see if the girls want a playhouse for their birthday cause she has some crazy coupon and it's on sale yada, yada, YES PLEASE!! And YES, they love it! In fact, when Papa came over to put it together they loved the BOX so much that I turned it into a garage for the party and made it into a mini city. HINT HINT... someone could do a whole party with a box city theme... tempted?

K, the garage looked a little better before it sat out overnight and got "dewed" on. SO when you have your mini city party, don't leave the boxes out overnight. :)

RING TOSS - Three (one is missing below) blow up rings and a tee ball tee! After I took this picture my brother showed up with what he thought would work better... and I don't want to know where the orange cone came from!

GONE FISHIN - Butterfly nets + bathtub fishy toys = toddler fishing. Simple fun.

GOOD CLEAN BODY ART - Cans of foam soap, bathtub crayons, and soap paint with paint brushes. Kinda messy, but it washes right off.

WATER BALLOON TOSS - Just so you know, the balloons go quick! I had a second bucket hidden away to bring out later but the clever little kiddos discovered it. I tell ya, never underestimate the cunning of a sugar hyped water balloon starved junior party goer! They WILL find your water balloons and they WILL pillage them till they're gone. Just sayin :)

Who cares though, cause sitting in the bucket turned out to be more fun anyway! In fact, we probably could have had an entire party with just buckets of water and the kids would have had a blast, right?! ;)

Not a booth but great to have around! I went to a party a while back (thanks K) that had a whole set up section for the little ones with exercisaucers and all. Made the party much more enjoyable when I didn't have to carry the non-walking kiddo around the whole time. If you already have it sitting in the garage, why not set it out right?

POST IS GETTING LONG so more on the PVC sprinklers later.... but first, DESERT!

A cupcake for the birthday girls and because I didn't want to be cutting and serving cake for two hours... a good ol' ice cream social for the rest of the gang! Now I'm hungry.

Thanks for your patience blog friends... I'll try not to be gone so long again!

Sooooo... Let the blog catch up begin!

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We had the girls' combo birthday party a little while back and it was VERY FUN! I'm so glad that YOU... yes, YOU, my blogging friends... convinced me to combine the birthdays into one big party! Made it nice for everyone I think! The girls had a total out-of-their-minds-fun time evidenced by the fact that G is still asking to have "another birthday party." I was able to let my inner event planner loose for a minute, get my creative outlet fix AND bring joy to my kids at the same time. Does it get any better!?! AND one mom told me her son woke up the next morning and wanted to "go to Gracie's house" ... in my world, that is success!

I'll post again tomorrow with more details, but for now I'll just share a few pics!

Come on in!!

Quick pic before the party girls?

How old are you G?

And she's gone to check it all out...

E, your turn...

Yeah right mom!

A quick sunscreen and you're free!

Yeah, the balloons didn't last long... but no mater, the bucket turned out to be more fun anyway!

E really wanted a water balloon too! After steering her away about million times I had the idea to give her a watermelon ball and she was in love! Seriously, I think she ate 3 or 4!