Nina's 5th Birthday Pt. 2

For her 5th Birthday Party, Nina asked for a "Spa" themed party. She invited a few friends from school like last year and we did our best! :)

We started with a little flip flop decorating activity. Gotta keep them occupied! ;)

 The lunch table set up. 

Party pack is from here... 

My mom helped by doing manicures and pedicures for the girls :)

Mae got in on the fun too... 

Our neighbor, Dagny, came over to braid the girls hair. They all wanted "crown braids"! :)

Nina asked for Oreo Ice Cream in Cones for her dessert!

Gift bags for all - sparkly pink nail polish, little sunglasses, candy bracelets and hair accessories!

Kentucky Derby First Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated Mae's First Birthday (see photos of her month by month growth here) with a Kentucky Derby themed party. I knew that sitting in the hospital bed last year, holding my precious newborn baby girl who was just hours old, drinking a mint julep (in a styrofoam hospital cup with crushed ice) that "Derby Day Mae" would celebrate her FIRST birthday with a Derby party. Fate. Destiny. Whatever you call it... it was meant to be. :) Also, Mr. Evans went to the Derby a few years ago and we've loved the tradition since we were dating so what better time to host a party with friends and family. I think everyone had a great time (especially the winners of our horse betting contest)!

Here's a little recap (with tons of photos) from the fun day!

She's ONE!!!

Kentucky Derby printable set purchased on Etsy here (included banner, food labels, invite, etc.)

Hat via Etsy/Dainty Couture 

Horse Jockey Garland (free printable!) via Flair Exchange

Mr. Evans had to do circus baby!! :)

Mint Juleps in our signature Pewter cups!

The kiddos played Pin the Bow on the Pony. My in-laws designed and printed this as a poster! I didn't get a good pic of everyone playing, but you get the gist. :)

A few ladies and their hats... :)

My Aunt made her hat! Don't you just love the saying! Hehe!

The menu included:
Burgers with Kentucky Bourbon Caramelized Onions on Ciabatta Rolls
Baked Beans, Fruit Salad, Potato Salad, Kale Salad, Veggies (aka "Horse Treats")
Southern Pecan Pies
"Run for the Roses" Cupcakes
Junior "Mint Juleps" (aka Junior Mints)
Mint Juleps (be sure to make mint simple syrup and have crushed ice... we purchased bags of ice at Sonic!)

P.S. Nina's first birthday party blog post is here (pink + yellow themed)!

Nina's Princess Themed Third Birthday

This year for Nina's birthday I asked her what kind of celebration she wanted. To my surprise, she said a princess party... this is from a kiddo who loves watching Monsters University whenever we ask. Also, I'm not overly into "princessy" things so I knew I wanted pink with touches of Disney princess. See below how I incorporated it all... I think she loved it!! :)

Free bunting printable found here

Cupcakes from our local bakery

For a little activity, the girls decorated crowns with markers, glitter glue and jewels!

We didn't manage to get one single photo of us as a family or with the birthday girl, so here's the best I have... haha. It's a terrible photo but you get the gist. It's more for my memory than anything else. :)

Here was the super simple menu!
Jasmine's Princess Punch
Ariel's Dinglehoppers (forks) :)
Fairy Godmother Pretzel Wands
Olaf's Nose with Hummus
Snow White's Apples with Caramel Dip
Cinderella's Cheese Platter
Sofia's Sandwiches and Salad

In addition, for a special breakfast that day she had a donut - see below! How cute!! :)

P.S. Check out Nina's first birthday and second birthday parties!!

Christmas Minute to Win It

During the Evans family Christmas at our house, I planned a "Minute to Win It" game for the adults. We played with 4 couples and did 6 events, which lasted about 1 hour. I really enjoyed planning and playing, so I thought this deserved a separate post! :) More details are below, but for now here are a few fun photos!

Events:
Noodling Around
Face the Cookie
Caddy Stack
A Bit Dicey
Don't Tip the Joker
Penny Hose
(Just Google these to learn more, but I queued up the 30 second "blueprint" on YouTube/Apple TV so that everyone knew how to do the event prior to playing)

Rules:
- 5 points per event successfully completed within 1 minute
- Team with most points is the winner
- Team must split events (6 events, so each person in the couple must do at least 3)

Supplies Needed: (these are mostly things you have around your house)
- box of flat cookies (Nilla Wafers, Oreos)
- box each of penne and spaghetti
- 3 golf balls
- 6 dice
- popsicle sticks
- card deck
- empty, clean and dry beer bottle
- pantyhose (buy these new :)
- 2 pennies

I also made a little poster to keep score. :) Have fun!

p.s. If you check Pinterest, there are TONS of ideas for events for couples, families, kids, birthday's, etc.

Housewarming Party

Last Sunday, we had a Housewarming Party! We had about 70 guests throughout the day who surely helped "warm" up our house! See below for the invitation and menu. I was busy cooking (and so was my mom and mother-in-law... I couldn't have done it without them!!). I must have been too busy having fun that I forgot to take any photos of the actual people! If you were there and took any, I'd love to see them! :)

Also, I'm thinking about doing a "House Tour" on my blog. Show you virtually (whomever my readers are) what we've done, what I want to do next, ask for advice on some ideas, etc. Would you be interested in that? It would take a bit of work on my end, but I think it'd be fun! Leave me a comment!

The invites were postcard size and were designed by Pam at my in-laws print shop, the always friendly Sun Graphics!

I found free BBQ themed printables here. So easy, so cute.

I have a set of a dozen of these place card holders... they are very versatile, inexpensive and come in handy for parties of all shapes and sizes!

The red and white gingham placemats are from Sur La Table.

I wrapped the silverware in cute little napkins and raffia. The flowers from our local farmers market were displayed in mason jars.

I kept the menu pretty simple and "down home".... Scroll down to see the details! I didn't ask anyone to bring anything (except my mom and mother-in-law... love them!), so it had to be doable.

Menu:
- Appetizers were a plenty (gourmet cheese plate, meatballs, hummus and charcuterie, peanuts in the shell, beer dip with pretzels, a hot dip with crackers, animal crackers for the kiddos, etc.)
- Drinks were seasonal beer, red/white wine, lemonade in a giant spigot dispenser, water, etc.
- Pulled Pork (catered from here)
- Buns (catered from Hankerson's)
- Baked Beans (my Grandma's recipe)
- Fruit Salad
- Homemade Coleslaw (my mom's recipe)
- Vidalia Onion Dip with Garlic Toasts (my mother-in-law's recipe)
- Cheesy Potatoes (my mom's recipe)
- Desserts - Apple Slices with Glaze, Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, Key Lime Pie Bars, Homemade Carrot Cake