Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Mr's Birthday Party

Well Sunday was the Mr's birthday party.  We usually do a family dinner at the restaurant of our choosing (and we like to force our very chain oriented family to go outside the box so we look for restaurants all year to drag them to!)  This year the Mr wanted this really good food truck.  Well, that's not really feasible when you have a few elderly grandparents and a mama that's bone on bone in the knees.  So we looked into parks that were close to the food truck, no go.  They either didn't have picnic tables (seriously!?) or had outrageous shelter fees that just weren't in our budget.  I found a reasonable place not too far from our house so we decided we'd just buy the family's dinners then eat it at a reserved shelter.

From there it ballooned.

I wanted to invite a few extra friends.  Then I wanted invitations to make it cute.  Then I had to tell the people it was a surprise party and by invite only so they wouldn't talk amongst the people that weren't invited  because while I'd love to be able to invite the free world, it just wasn't possible.  Just inviting one branch of the family tree would've more than doubled the amount of people that showed up so we had to keep it somewhat intimate and thankfully, kid free.  The Mr saw me working on various projects over the past few weeks but he's not really a big picture guy.  He can see all of the components separately but doesn't know how it comes together until it's together which works in my favor for stuff like this.

While I had all of my projects pretty much done prior to our Traverse City trip, the one thing I left for the day before was dipping cake balls/truffles and let's just say that ended up with a carrot cake ball being murdered on the kitchen counter in complete frustration with the Mr eagerly picking up the pieces from the floor, just thankful it wasn't him.  I learned a few things during this process:
  1. I will never use Wilton Melts again.  They are too thick and I can't thin them no matter what.  It's not worth my sanity given the already very short fuse I have.
  2. One cake ball will always give its life to save the lives of others in a moment of sheer breakdown.
  3. I will always utter "this is the last @&%#ing time I'm making these stupid things!" knowing damn well its likely not.  The Mr knows this and therefore laughs at me every time.
I have some pics I took during the process but as far as a ton of great after pics to show you how it all came together?  Epic fail.  I used every single second of time I had to set up and clean before people started showing up.  I did manage to get some though!



I made the banner.  It was kind of a last minute project but I really like the way it turned out.  It wasn't supposed to be draped like that but the other place I put it was blocked by pillars so this has to do.  The tables were covered in craft paper then draped with 2 glittery mesh tablecloths I bought and sewed together.  The centerpieces were mini hay bales with mini pumpkins and red delicious apples.  The drink table was set up with a picture board in the shape of his age and then the drink tubs and iced tea container.


The price of beverage containers is ridiculous so I went to Home Depot and grabbed a galvanized trash can bottom (I think, I just knew it would hold my cider mason jars and that's all I cared about!) and a big ol' tub. I spray painted them the color I wanted and made a little sign for it and a mason jar for the paper straws.  I'll be going more into some of these projects this week.

If you remember the two tiered sea grass thingy I got from Sur La Table, this is what I used it for...


I made some of the Mr's favorite treats.  On the left are carrot cake pumpkins on a bed of caramel candy corn.  (Sooo dangerous.  An open bag isn't going to last around these parts)  The bottom tier was his favorite cookies- M&M chocolate chips on a bed of regular and pretzel M&M's.  People snarfed these like they were going out of style and what they didn't take, the Mr's co-workers got, of course!

We had a good time visiting with family and friends...


...singing to the Mr and watching him attempt to blow out 6 candles with bruised ribs and when everyone left, we enjoyed the fire and even had a pizza delivered to the park and roasted a s'more or two with big ol' pumpkin marshmallows.  We closed the place out and were there four hours after people left just enjoying our time together, fending off rude people who literally came back and started taking pictures of us, played some games of skill at which we sucked and cleaned up with 5 minutes to spare before the park closed.

We sent people (and the pizza man) home with a favor box.


Each box contained 3 truffles, either two maple pumpkin kiss ones and one chocolate covered nutter butter pretzel stuffed one or vice versa on the variety.  It kind of stunk not being able to see people's faces when they ate them but I saw the Mr's face and that was enough.

It was a special day with special people and he seemed to enjoy himself.  I know I did even if I felt like I barely got a chance to catch my breath until the end.  I love putting all of the details of things like that together and have people appreciate them.  Everyone raved about stuff and even the store bought cake was REALLY good.  I had to sleep sitting up if that's any indicator of how much crap I had...and I thought I was pretty restrained given what I wanted to eat!

I'll do a couple of tutorials this week if you guys want, just let me know in the comments.

What is your favorite party tip/staple?

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32 comments:

  1. I cannot thank you enough for all the hard work and planning you put into this. It showed! Everyone had a great time and every last detail was taken care of. You are the best and I love you so much. Thank you baby!

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    1. You're very welcome. I happen to think you're worth the effort! :) I love you too! (Everyone else, commence barfing)

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    2. Hey girl, you really outdid your little crafty self! Kudos! The Mr. is a lucky boy to have you! I know he'll enjoy the "high" from this milestone event long after the truffle high wears off! Hope he liked the little ditty I wrote! (Don't have any idea how it just popped out of my little pea brain when you asked for tributes, I guess your inspiration works in mysterious ways!) May the next 40 years be ever better than the first!

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  2. Everything looks wonderful, I have no doubt you had a great time! The decorations, the buckets, everything is adorable, you're so crafty = ) I need to know WHAT is in that maple pumpkin kiss truffle?!? Looks delightful!

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    1. My mom's a crafty person so I must get it from her. I just wanted all of the decor to be as homemade as possible. I will post the recipe for the truffles later this week, stay tuned!

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  3. You are amazing. To put all this together - wow. My Mr.'s 40th is in a few weeks and he'll be lucky to get a cake. Not that I don't want to make a big deal of it, just that I clearly don't have the "throw a great party" gene that you do.

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    1. There are all kind of ideas floating around out there (none of which I did but I looked after most of my work was done to see if it "stacked up".) I've seen those Charms Blow Pop with a little tag that says "40 sucks" or something like that. It doesn't take much to put something special together. Even a little coupon book is something nice to let them know you're thinking of them. :)

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  4. Everything looks delicious. Those truffles look absoluely sinful! Yummy!

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    1. Yes, sinful would be the word. They were not made calorie conscious. ;)

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  5. I just love the decorations! You are so crafty. Seems like a very nice birthday to me. Thanks so much for sharing.

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    1. Thanks mama! I usually just buy stuff but I wanted this birthday to be a little more special.

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  6. What a beautifully done party!

    It's pretty weird that people took pictures afterwards, surely it was of the decorations and not you two??

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    1. Um, I honestly don't know what they were taking pics of but yes, WE were in a few. 2 people ignored us when we said it was reserved and they couldn't park there. They laughed and went on a trail walk!!! If we had been alone at that point, it would've gone much differently but there were witnesses. ;) However the other people (who also took pics) were told it was reserved and they're like "we're just walking the grounds and taking pics." I said "no you're NOT!" and the Mr approached the guy who walked practically INTO our shelter taking pics and said "you are RUDE! You need to leave, we PAID to be here and you did not." They left. Finally, a family HOPPED A CHAIN that said "Private Area, DO NOT ENTER" and proceeded to swing their kids when this was an adult party. Nice lesson to teach your children...they were asked to leave especially since they were fully aware of what they were doing and the parents acted like they didn't know it was reserved. At least 15 people pulled all the way down the private road and either parked or turned around in the lot when it clearly states it's a reserved area. We had to end up putting a "closed" sign up in the middle of the road to keep people from coming down there and interrupting the party. People are seriously IGNORANT!

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  7. Love to get your recipes and craft ideas. It looks like everything went beautifully, and I would be so glad if you shared some more detailed instructions so maybe someday I could try to put together something like this for my Mr.

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    1. Will do. The truffles were made with a "calories be damned" attitude, particularly the maple ones but the craft posts will be calorie free! HA!

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  8. The Mr. says we're supposed to stop over and tell you how AWESOME you are for making his birthday amazing! I guess he doesn't realize some of us stalk you everytime you post because of your awesomeness. Anyway, the party decorations are beautiful and I'm so glad you guys enjoyed yourselves.

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    1. Aww, you're too sweet! Thanks so much for supporting me, girl!

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  9. I've been waiting for this ever since you started dropping hints about party projects. So glad it turned out great, despite a few rude people who apparently couldn't read. For his 50th, consider hiring security, lol. I'm afraid I let my DH down for his 60th birthday (earlier this year). But it's his fault for deciding we'd get married on his birthday, so every time we have to decide between celebrations. Since we're in a new town with no friends and family far away, it was anniversary this time. But I'm storing away ideas for his 65th.

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    1. You know it! I'll have 2 big burly bodyguards at the gate. People amaze me in some not so great ways. That's funny my grandparents married on my grandma's birthday so they'd never forget too!

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  10. Looks like it was awesome and tutorials are ALWAYS welcome from you, my friend!

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    1. It was definitely fun even if I stressed myself out doing some of the projects but it's worth it to have the praise. :)

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  11. Love that. Great pictures and really cute ideas. I have always wanted to throw a Halloween party like this, but just haven't done it yet.

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  12. Seriously, you could have a second career as a party planner. I am really impressed! So many people aren't good with these little details (*cough* me *cough*) and you totally nailed it. It looks like it was a great party!

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    1. I was the same way with my wedding. 16 years later and we had people approaching us at a funeral last month that we haven't seen since then and they were raving about it! I would love to have the patience to plan for others but I can barely get through my own without twitching. HA!

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  13. So awesome! You always seem to outdo yourself from the previous event! Can't wait to hear more about the truffles!

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    1. I like to leave people with something to remember and people were oohing and ahhing over the cider jars and the letters on the tubs and stuff. I know they'll remember those things which made it worth it in the end!

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  14. Happy Birthday to the Mr!!! I'm so sorry I've been gone all week...super short staffed at work and that's where I've been. I'm just now reading my emails and loved the recap of your Traverse City trip! The pics were beautiful and you always give such nice details that I feel like I've visited myself. I am SO happy all your hard work and preparations paid off for your husband's birthday bash. From the pics, the place looks so much like a similar one that we go to here in town. The decorations and treats looked amazing! I'm always in awe of people who have "that touch". While I have the desire, I don't have the talent or ability. I know he had a wonderful time and this will be one to remember for the ages. And congrats on losing that vacation weight! You knew you'd do it and didn't hesitate to get right back on your plan...and look how quickly it paid off! Awesome!!!

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  15. You have some awesome gifts and creative ideas and you did an beautiful job creating a true celebration! Thanks for sharing all your hard work!

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  16. Oooh love it..u are awesome..now I shud make sure to never show this blog to my husband...hahahaha...

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  17. YAY!!!!! I won!!! Thank you so much! I will look forward to some cherry deliciousness! I just got back from visiting a friend and her new baby so this was a treat to come back to. You outdid yourself on the b-day party--treats, decorations, all of it--outstanding!

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  18. Amazing! So happy everything turned out so well! You've been planning this for months!

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