The Lapinski Family: Samantha's Birthday Parties

We celebrated Samantha's 7th birthday with friends at our house two days after her actual birthday. Experience has taught me that it is easiest to celebrate with friends on Saturday and then have a family party on Sunday. Most everything is all set-up and I typically spend the afternoon following the friend party prepping for the next day. The kids take nice naps and I have some quiet time to do what I love doing ... reorganizing, decorating and baking.

It snowed on the day of the party (it seems to do this every year!), so I put a simple sign on the front door to greet our guests among the blustery winds and snowflakes.

I also strategically placed the Wicked Witch tights that Sophia had stuffed under the house to look like it had landed on the witch. The ruby red shoes were left over from my Dorothy costume two Halloweens ago.

I carried through with the green Oz and rainbow theme in the decorating, keeping a lot of it simple knowing that we would have a lot of little guests in our house -- there were 16 girls that came, in addition to my two girls. And Jack.

The favor bags were purchased (cheaply) and filled with some rainbow tissue paper to give them a little boost. The guests were then able to choose whichever color bag they wanted and we wrote their names on them. They continued to add to the bags with their game prizes throughout the party.

I set up the dining room table as our craft supply area. As the guests arrived, they were able to make a bookmark using the background of their choice, a movie quote of their choosing and a pair of witch legs (that I made over the course of two evenings).

The idea was that the witch legs would then stick out of the book and hold their page. They loved this!

They also loved the second craft, which was stringing together beads to make their own personal Emerald City bracelets.

We had just enough time to clean up from the crafts and wash their hands before the pizza arrived. Yes, I made this easy on myself by ordering pizza and breadsticks. The kids all loved this (pepperoni and cheese) and then I filled in with some veggies, rainbow fruit skewers (of course, Sophia helped with these) and pink lemonade.

Chowing down on their food before the games began:

I had two games planned for after lunch -- Wizard of Oz Bingo and Pin the Heart on the Tin Man. The kids played Bingo first, and had a blast as I called out various details of the movie. Each time, I made sure to ask the girls questions so that they understood the plot completely. We played until everyone got a bingo and was able to choose a package of candy (Skittles or Starburst) to put in their favor bags.

Pin the Heart on the Tin Man was a huge success. The girls took turns tying to pin their heart on the huge printout (thanks to Steve for taking care of that for me) and cheered everyone on.

Then, everyone was able to come and choose a prize for their hard work -- Rainbow pens and light-up rings.

The girls, minus one who wasn't really in the mood for pictures ...

Soon, it was time for cupcakes and ice cream. Rainbow cupcakes! (I like to make cupcakes for "friend" parties and cake for the "family" party).

They looked incredible inside.

Singing happy birthday to myirthday Girl:

Opening presents:

And last on the agenda? A piñata. Yes, Samantha specifically requested this for her birthday and I am not one to disappoint. So, Steve cleared an area in the basement then we watched as everyone had a chance to hit the piñata, beginning with Jack.

And then the Guest of Honor, followed by everyone that was interested in having a turn.

Everyone ended up with some candy to take home with them in their favor bags and chatted excitedly about the party as the parents began to arrive. So much fun!

********************

For the family party, Samantha requested a rainbow cake. I set to work baking the night before and frosting on the big day. I added in a few other decorations and we celebrated with burgers (Sam's choice), chips, pasta salad, beans, fruit ... Lots of it.