The Almost Impossible Astronaut & Ballerina Party Photos

The party day was cold and windy, but that didn't deter us from having a great time! We added an outdoor  fire, s'mores and hot cocoa and we were good to go. The kids stayed outside for more than an hour playing with the rockets, gliders and zipline before we came inside for cake.

My tutu wreath made on an embroidery hoop

Our homemade rockets and goodie bags

I didn't get any pictures of the kids performing on the reclaimed pallet stage,
but both the girls & boys loved it.
They found instruments like our Paperjamz guitar and put on a show!

Dollar Tree foam gliders were a huge hit (while they lasted)

They girls liked the Rocket balloons as much as the boys

Rocket balloons from Dollar Tree - tons of fun!
Tip: buy several balloon pumps if you get these
otherwise they are really hard to inflate

Stomp rocket was played with all afternoon by both boys & girls

Everyone loved the zip line! The flight training sign blew down

 

Space helmet visors raised to eat s'mores

Fortunately you can eat s'mores with your tutu and tiara on

Cake with moon topper and tutu

rocket craft



Craft & cake aftermath...

 

Please see previous posts for more information about the cupcake toppers, rocket craft, helmets, tutus and my tutu cake plate.

Tips of you try this party at home: splurge and buy a zip line if your yard will accommodate it. If you can't manage a zip line definitely buy a stomp rocket (or two!)  The toys from the Dollar Tree (gliders and rocket balloons) were fabulous. You could probably skip the dress up costumes and just buy a glider & some rocket balloons for each guest and they would entertain themselves until they broke and/or were lost.

This was a fun party, but at the end I was (as always!) exhausted. Next year, I swear I'm going to talk her into having her party outside of the house. I'll pay the extra $100 - it took me almost a week to clean the house, decorate and cook. Surely my time is worth at least $100. Live & learn....



Simple Rocket Wand Craft

On my quest for activities for the Almost Impossible Astronaut & Ballerina Party, I got lucky and found pretty pastel star wands at Dollar Tree for the girls (3 for $1). I wanted something similar for the boys to decorate and play with. I came up with this easy craft.

I bought 30 paper rocket cut outs at Hobby Lobby for $1.99. I then bought 16 wooden dowels and 3 spools of thin ribbon at WalMart for about $2.50.

All I did was cut various lengths of red, yellow and orange ribbon. Then I glued them on to one of the rockets.

I rolled the end of a wooden dowel in glue. I outlined the rocket in more glue, place the dowel on it and then glued another cut out on top. This project  is so easy that your birthday boy or girl can help you assemble them.

 

The finished rocket wands were ready to be decorated! Each cost about 30 cents to make.

 

The Ballerina & Astronaut Party - The Menu & Recipes

This post pretty much embodies my imperfect style. Very few bloggers have the guts to post their mistakes. Not me! I mess up - probably more often than most of you. The pictures in this post are all things that didn't quite work out the first time...Stay tuned for Party Pictures if you want to see how the final versions turned out.

I really wanted to try my hand at a cake this year. I kept seeing beautiful pictures of fondant covered cakes. I really, really wanted one. (Note: I wanted this; not Danielle.) This was pure mommy-indulgence. If I had $75 for a cake I could have ordered one, but instead I explored the DIY route.

This was my inspiration cake - NOT the one I made!

Turns out fondant is extremely expensive at $10 a box, plus another $10 or so for tools - definitely not within my budget. It's also not a beginner's project. I gave up on my dream of pink cake perfection and decided to try a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting  (Danielle's favorite). I over beat the first batch of cream cheese frosting - it tasted good, but was too runny to use anywhere but in the middle. I wanted to start over but I was out of cream cheese. I only had enough powdered sugar for half a batch of butter cream frosting. Then Danielle wanted to color half of it pink and half of it blue... Despite everything, it tasted really good.

The practice Red Velvet cake - you can just see a hint of the blue frosting...

My Mom used to refer to my style as "assembling" rather than actual cooking. The hardest part of this menu is decorating the *&^% ballet slipper cookies. You can make most of it a day or two in advance. That way you can do what I do - spend the day of the party scrambling to pick up the house!

My big question is always what (and how much) to serve. I like to host parties at 2 or 3 PM. It's not lunchtime; it's not dinnertime. No one should arrive hungry, but if they do we'll have plenty of snacks as well as the cake. I'll be serving:

• Chex Mix (a space theme deserves a little retro food, don't you think?)
• fruits kabobs
• veggies & dip (everyone knows ballerinas are always on a diet!)
• pinwheel sandwiches (pb&j, cream cheese & ham, Italian...)
• ballet slipper cookies
• Mini Moon Pies
• marshmallow aliens & pink marshmallow fairy wands
• cinnamon sugar kettle corn
• cupcakes (Vanilla with Strawberry Frosting & Chocolate with Chocolate Frosting)

If you don't want to cook at all you can buy space themed treats at the grocery store: Starburst candies, Milky War bars and Moon Pies for example. I couldn't think of any ballet themed foods, so I stuck with pink, pink, and more pink (strawberry marshmallows, strawberry frosting, pink meringues...)

Quick Treat Preparations

Ballet Slipper Cookie

 

Thanks to Melissa at A Little Loveliness for this project! Mine didn't turn out as well as hers, but I still have time to practice. She used Nutter Butter cookies as the base, but I think any oval cookie would be fine. We're going to use Vienna Fingers.  I'm not sure anything that requires dipping in candy coating can ever truly be considered "easy"...

Marshmallow Aliens on a Stick (or "Martians")

 

These were my trial alien marshmallow pops

 

If you can't find colored marshmallows you can use food coloring to paint marshmallows. Pop the marshmallow on a stick or fork before you paint it to keep your fingers clean.

Use a new cotton swab. Dilute 6-8 drops of food coloring in a teaspoon or two of water or milk. Paint the top and sides of the marshmallows and then let dry. After about an hour you can flip them and paint the bottom if you want. No matter how tempting it is - don't dip them in the food coloring! They will never dry... Trust me on this one.

Use a dab of vanilla frosting to attach an eye to each marshmallow and you're done. I found candy eyes at both Michael's & Hobby Lobby in October.

 

My practice Fairy Wands standing in straws to harden

Pink Marshmallows on Sticks (or "Fairy Wands")

I'll also make some marshmallows for the girls...Stick a marshmallow on a stick, dip it in melted candy coating and then roll in sprinkles. Place in the freezer to harden. Voila! World's easiest party treat. This is why I do test runs in small batches before the party. I didn't like the brightly colored sprinkles with the pink candy coating so I used pastel sprinkles from Dollar Tree instead.

Tip: Place each lollipop stick in a straw to hold your pop upright while the candy coating hardens.

Recipes

Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix Modifications

The mix only requires three additional ingredients. Here are my changes for a "from scratch" taste:

          Instead of              --->              Use

• 1 1/4 Cups Water ---> 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar+ milk to make 1 cup+ 1/4 cup black coffee (for a total of 1 1/4 cups of liquid)
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil --->1/3 cup melted, unsalted butter, cooled to room temp
• 3 Large Eggs ---> no change - bring to room temp before adding to mix!

Also add

• 1 small box of dry instant chocolate pudding mix (don't prepare the pudding - just add the dry mix)

Mix and bake as directed on package.

Kettle Corn Recipe

• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• salt

Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Heat oil in a 3 quart pan over medium low heat on stove top. When it is hot enough to pop one kernel, add the sugar mixture and the popcorn. Cover. Shake the pan - keep it moving or the sugar may burn! If you've never made popcorn on the stove before (and most people these days haven't) - it's done when the popping slows. Don't wait until you hear no pops or it will burn. Pour into a large bowl and toss with salt to taste.

 

Be careful! Don't eat it for the first few minutes --  you can burn your tongue on the hot sugar. How do I know this? Experience!

Lightly sweet, salty and just a hint of spice - ready as quickly as microwaved popcorn
and so, so much better tasting

About Frosting: I learned how to make frosting a few years ago from my 15 year old baby sitter. I figured if she could do it, so could I. Frosting is quick to make, stores well in the frig for about a week and can be frozen.

A few tips:

• Set out the butter and/or cream cheese to soften before you start mixing your cake.
• If you use salted butter, leave out the pinch of salt.
• Make the frosting after the cake comes out of the oven - while its cooling.

 

Naturally Pink Strawberry Frosting

• pinch salt
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and pureed
• 3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Beat butter & salt until light and fluffy. Add 3 Tbsp strawberry puree and vanilla. Sift confectioners sugar in gradually. Do not over beat or it will turn to liquid. Again, this comes from personal experience....

 

 

The Almost Impossible "Ballerina & Astronaut" Party - The Planning & Decorations

Only Danielle would decide to have a Ballerina & Astronaut party! I think she wanted a ballerina party, but knowing that the boys she plays with wouldn't like it, she tacked on astronauts.

I love my daughter but I refuse to spend a fortune on a birthday party. Around here parties  start at $200 for 8-10 kids -- and that doesn't include food or cake.

I don't know about you, but I only remember a few of my own birthday parties. I want this party to be fun and special, but it doesn't need to be extravagant. So, how can I create fun and special for for less than $200?

Danielle is in kindergarten this year and the expectation is that we invite the entire class to her party. If they were all to show up with their parents I could have 60 guests! How can I possibly keep the cost reasonable? Besides the obvious hope that most of them will already have plans for the afternoon of the party...

I love Smilebox, Evite or Punchbowl for free evites. I really like being able to track the number of guests. I remember my mother frantically trying to redistribute the contents of goodie bags when a neighbor showed up with all 4 of her kids instead of just the one who had been invited.

I'm not much of a crafter - or much of a cook- but the obvious answer to staying on a budget is DIY. Or to cut the guest list - dramatically.

Thank goodness next year they will be old enough for a drop off party! I  think I'd rather corral 8 unruly kids by myself than have host so many people...

Want a good laugh? Go to Catch My Party. These people are hosting over the top birthday parties for 100 guests. I really wish I knew the budget on these extravaganzas! One woman wrote, "For months I have been making and collecting all of the special details that made this party what it was..." And I thought I was insane. What happened to cupcakes in the backyard?

Decorations

First I had to think pink. That's the basis of ballerina-party decor.  Pink tablecloths, streamers, plates, napkins, balloons... Wrap everything that doesn't move in tulle. Add a little sparkle and you're done.

But, how do I combine all of that PINK with a space theme? I needed to come up with decorations that worked for both themes. Inspired by a recital costume that I paid for but Danielle never wore(that's a post in itself!) I think I'll add some dark purple, lavender and silver accents - like the night sky. The stars will help create a glittery effect.

It's always good to look for inspiration in your own home. As I walked around our house I found things I could use for decorations - a Moravian star light, a crescent moon light from Ikea, a toy space shuttle, a ballerina statue, old ballet slippers, the unused recital costume...

My first DIY project was to paint pictures of ballerinas to decorate the mantle. I'll use a feather boa from Dollar Tree as a garland. I'll finish everything off with silver stars and pink crepe paper streamers.

Next I made a tutu wreath for my cake plate. I bought a 25 yard spool of pink tulle for $2.50 at Hobby Lobby. I didn't want to pay $9 for a wreath form so I figured out how to make a tutu for my cake stand out of a $3 embroidery hoop.

Tip: Always get online coupons for Hobby Lobby & Michael's before you head out. They typically save you 40% off of one full price item. Also check WalMart & Dollar Tree for craft items. They often have the same things for a fraction of the cost.

Since we always end up outside I have to think of ways to decorate the patio area. I'll hang some flower balloons. Thanks All Things Simple for the instructions! I also get some mylar star balloons from Dollar Tree.

Photo from All Things Simple

And, of course, I'll make signs! It's my favorite part of party prep. It takes a while to letter the signs but they add a big splash of color to the party decorations for a dollar a piece. Best of all, this year the kids can actually read them. I copied a font called NASA-lize for these. I printed out the NASA logo and the rocket ship.

 

I folded this sign like a giant table tent

Next we made rockets for decorations! We used recycled materials - mailing tubes, cardboard boxes and paper plates. It took about 10-15 minutes.

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The Table

Instead of individual place settings I'll set out a buffet. I'll wrap empty shoe boxes in paper to elevate some of the dishes on the table.  I found pink tulle for 97 cents a yard at WalMart that I can use for bunting.  

I hung tutus (that will double as party favors) from the windows. I distributed space helmets around the room (these will also be party favors later.) I made a moon cake topper based on the instructions in Urban Comfort. I modified the rosette to look more like a tutu for my party.

I also made tutu cupcake toppers and rocket cupcake toppers. The rockets were easy. The first few tutus were a bit of a pain. If you decide to make them you'll need to sew crepe paper. (Who came up with that brilliant idea?)

I made three of the adorable crepe paper tutus before I had an epiphany. I saw Meri Meri Ballerina cupcake toppers in Marshalls. I realized that they were just the cutout leotards with a tied piece of tulle glued on. I went home and tried to replicate them. In less than 10 minutes I had 11 sweet little tutu toppers!

My renditions are never picture perfect, but my audience isn't particularly critical, either. Luckily for me most kids care about how cupcakes taste - not how they look.

 

The best part is that Danielle helped me put these together.

When you're working on a budget you need to have plenty of time to do things yourself. Buying three dozen little paper cupcake toppers through Etsy would have cost about $35 - crazy for things that will end up in the trash. Making them ourselves cost less than $1, but took almost an hour and a half to cut out and glue together. All we needed were 2 sheets of 8x11 scrapbook paper and a few feet of crepe paper from one of the rolls of streamers, some glue,tulle and toothpicks.

I hate goodie bags, but Danielle considers them de rigueur and it is her party.

I found a great blog,Smitten blog Design, that provided a link to free Space Downloadables for the boys' cups and Princess Downloadables (including tutus and ballet shoes) for the girls'. By finding them on the same site the sizes and color palates are similar. (If I'd been thinking clearly I would have saved a lot of time and used these for cupcake toppers as well.)

I'll keep the contents minimal. A few wrapped pieces of candy and some trinkets. The girls' favor bags will include only plastic bracelets - on sale at Michaels' for 50 cents. The boys get foam rocket launchers (75 cents each through Amazon).

It took a little creativity and a lot of planning, but including everything from coffee stirrers to space helmets I spent $199. I just barely stayed within budget!

Every year Danielle makes a new front for her bean bag toss. I got half this year! My side is astronauts. Her side is dancers.

Coming Up Next The Menu & Activities...

More pictures will be posted after the party!

How to Make a Rocket from a Cardboard Tube

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Super Easy Rocket from Recycled Materials

Today we made rockets out of mailing tubes. I had two mailing tubes in the recycling.You can make rockets, shuttles,etc. following the same basic plan using smaller tubes like paper towel tubes or empty toilet paper rolls. It took about 10-15 minutes.

We cut tail fins from old boxes. Use the first one as a template for the others so they are all identical (especially important if you want your rocket to stand.) Triangles are the easiest shape to cut out.

Cut slits in the tube with a box cutter to the length of the end of your tail fin.

I followed Martha Stewart's instructions exactly to make the nose cone - measuring the cylinder and making a compass out of a pencil and string... Turns out you get a half circle almost exactly the same size as half a 9" paper plate. Save yourself the time and use a paper plate trimmed and cut in half for the nose cone!

 

When the glue was dry I spray painted the whole thing white. I decorated it very simply using duct tape for stripes when the paint was dry. Danielle was a little more creative with hers.

 



These will make a great addition to our Ballerina & Astronaut Party Decor!

Rocket Spaceship Cupcake Toppers

There are lots of exquisite rocket cupcake toppers for sale on Etsy. They are lovely and undoubtedly required a great deal of time and talent to produce.

Mine are much simpler in design.  That makes them very simple to make. I was inspired by the rocket shaped shelves at our local library.  The shelves are such a simple design, but very effective - and easy to copy!

This cost me nothing. I had a piece of leftover scrapbook paper. I also had toothpicks & glue on hand at home.

It took about half an hour to trace, cut and glue 15 of these cute little rocket cupcake toppers.

This is actual size - just trace from the screen.

Instructions:

1. Start by tracing the Rocket onto a piece of cardboard. I used a left over cereal box for my template.
2. Cut out the cardboard template
3. Fold a piece of scrapbook paper in about 1-2 inches along the long side.
4. Trace the template on to the white side of the paper so your lines don't show up.
5. Cut the rocket out. You should be cutting through a double thickness of the paper.
6. When you are done glue the white sides together, sandwiching a toothpick or lollipop stick in the middle. Allow to dry.
7. Decorate with round windows, flames, etc. cut from other pieces of scrap paper. I used stars from the School Supply section of Dollar Tree.

Part of my rocket fleet drying