I'm finally getting around to posting party photos from July 19 on the blog. I posted them on Facebook the day after the party, so I haven't had a lot of incentive to post them all over again. The Redhead picked another awesome theme- science. I had so much fun putting it together. I've been so blessed that she always picks such fun themes and has always picked them in advance, giving me plenty of time to perfect them and add such fitting details.
She knew she wanted this theme before we ever made it to California last July. Originally, we thought we'd have it at Mad Science here in Sacramento, a place where they help throw fabulous science themed parties. But after further investigation, I decided I'd much rather have a party here at the house so we could throw it for a few hours, rather than for an hour and a half. We had a noon to four party, giving us plenty of time for pizza, experiments, desserts, and opening packages. But barely enough time.
Before we get to the good stuff, I'll show you the parts you probably don't care about. Just because I can.
I lucked out finding all sorts of perfect items for the party. I shopped at the 99 Cent Only Store for certain little trinkets. These pencils and spiky balls went well in our pinata.
I also found these mustache tattoos 80% off from the Hobby Lobbyists. Those weren't the only sorts of items I put in the pinata.
We also found these fruit snacks at Target 70% off. Alexandra was a fabulous help putting them in.
We stuffed it as full as we could. Smarties. Nerds. Bouncy balls. Hopping frogs. Etc.
We also tried out some experiments
before the party, just to see which ones would work, which ones wouldn't, and just an excuse to try some out anyway, regardless of whether we wanted to use them for the party or not.
By the way, The Redhead and I agree that it was fun microwaving Ivory soap, but neither us enjoyed the smell. It has haunted us for a while now.
As neat as it was, we chose not to do this one for the party.
The Redhead decided that she wanted hands on experiments instead of demonstrations.
We made slime, which was amazingly easy. We had to have slime for the party! And yes, we really did put them in "pee cups." I had to buy them in bulk of 100 from Amazon, so we ended up using them for a few experiments. We used at least 36 of those specimen cups! I know I will find other uses for the rest in the near future. I'm just that sort of gal.
We also made Flubber, which was also easy enough to make it as a finalist.
Not all of our experiments turned out as simple. It took us three attempts with three different recipes to make bouncy balls work, but we eventually managed.
Once it was party day, we had the house ready to go, including the exterior.
Yes, I even had a wreath on the door.
And a sign too.
My Favorite Two had been busy loading our test tubes.
Forgive our messes. Parties are hard work. And preparation involves messes.
I set the living room up early. It dawned on me a couple weeks before the party that perhaps maybe we needed a table for the party.
And chairs. Yeah, that was a brilliant idea. I found a local place that rented ten chairs and the table to me for $20. I thought that was a bargain and we will most certainly use that method again. Would it be cheaper just buying them? In the long run, sure. But I don't have a ton of storage space. We're perfectly fine supporting a local business.
I used a drop cloth from the 99 Cent Only store underneath the table. This was good for the laboratory look as well as catching any messes. I also had multiple tablecloths for the table so we could pull one off after eating, pull them off after certain experiments, and never actually had to wipe anything off. I try not to be wasteful, but sometimes the occasion calls for conveniences.
The party fit wonderfully in my living room. I will never doubt myself again. Okay, that's probably not true.
I hid their goody bags, as I didn't want the distraction of them.
We don't keep a kitchen trash can inside the house, but here is proof we own one. (We keep a bag in the garage, so there's no need to tempt our Perpetual Toddler of a canine.) The trash can was a good idea though so our little scientists could toss their rubbish away without ever leaving the "party room."
I had way too much fun with this setup. And I've never had something stay up so well. I couldn't believe it! And just between you and me, it's still up. My Favorite Two want it to stay up forever.
After Christmas time, I found that awesome chevron wrapping paper from the Hobby Lobbyists, 80% off. I snatched it up immediately, knowing it would have some purpose at our party. (I also bought the lime green tulle I used in our wreath on the front door, from the same sale.)
I also enjoyed setting up this table.
One of The Redhead's requests was to have an ice cream buffet like at a fro-yo establishment. With the help of the Dollar Tree and the 99 cent store, we had a plethora of fun treats. Many cavities were to be had.
This was the cake The Redhead had requested. She was very specific.
Those brownie pops were adorned with poprocks. Poprocks were also hidden inside. The blue balls were Oreo balls.
I made the cake pop stands myself with cheap wrapping paper and Styrofoam blocks from random purchases.
If you're curious about the syringes, they're specifically for drinks. The Redhead really wanted them. I kept trying to come up with a use for them and ended up freezing fruit punch in them.
The buckets they're displayed in were full of ice. These were by far our most popular item.
And yes, we had lab coats. They were a must. The kids were so excited. They were just as excited about the fact their names were on their coats as they were that they could keep them.
I was going to sew them, but after discovering that the pattern I was using would take almost four yards of cheap white material and that the material alone was costing me almost $10 a coat (even with coupons), I cheated and bought them online. I did not regret this purchase. Not once.
We used a lot of white glue and plastic purple bowls for our experiments.
We made slime, flubber, and bouncy balls. Each experiment went inside its own specimen cup and every scientist had their own labeled biohazard bag.
In between experiments, the little scientists were ready for our table of junk food.
The Redhead had some issues blowing out the candles from so far away, but with some help, she eventually managed.
There were so many sweet choices. I went
just a bit overboard. As though I would
ever do that.
With some fun chevron card stock from Michael's, I put together our nifty goody bags, as previously blogged about.
They were full of these sorts of items (miniature bottle of Coke, Mentos, Poprocks, and a pen), as well as a Webkinz frog.
We found the pens in a four pack at the Dollar Tree!
The cat liked the box of bottles we used for our last experiment. We put baking soda in balloons and attached them to water bottles with vinegar and blew our balloons up.
We did this experiment last so we wouldn't have to deal with the stench until the end.
We found those awesome cupcake liners at Michael's, along with matching straws.
As imagined, we had a ton of leftover candy.
The cat sure was glad the party was over.
And luckily, our dozen little scientists enjoyed every experiment, including dissecting a frog.
No one ate the cake, but typically I just make them for blowing out the candles anyway.
The Redhead wanted to keep a slice, and then sadly, in the trash the rest of it went. I didn't want it hanging out for long. None of us need to eat much of it.
I didn't share all of my pictures in this post, as many of them included party guests, so those are reserved for Facebook viewing. But it was an incredibly successful party, despite the fact I forgot all about the five cans of whipped cream and the string cheese in the fridge.
