Together We'll Nab It

I think my most favorite thing in the world is party planning. In 25 years I've done a lot of crafts. I've made a lot of gifts, a lot of random little artsy things, and I've done a ton of projects. By far, though, my favorite thing to do it to plan a party.

The one thing a retail budget does NOT afford you is extra money to be rubbing elbows every Friday night (a weekend night off in and of itself is shocking!), throwing wine and cheese soirees as you chortle with your other D.I.N.K. twenty-something friends. Denny's is far more doable and realistic.

So when my good friend Joe (Peg Leg Joe as my boyfriend lovingly calls him. It references a gentleman who helped free slaves in the Underground Railroad. It's very much a term of endearment, trust me. Go with it.) came about his 30th year here on this planet, we knew we had to throw him a party. He's a great guy who bends over backwards for a lot of people (deserving or no). It was attempted to be a surprise, but being the sleuth-y and otherwise brilliant gentleman he is, in hindsight, we had some high hopes there. haha

A collector of many toys and an interest in many things, his girlfriend and I set out to create a Muppets theme for him, Kermit specifically, seeing as he is one of his favorite things.

Anyone ever tried to throw a Muppet themed birthday? No? Oh my sweet baby jeebus IT IS HARD! Unlike every other movie or show today geared towards families/children, they are not showered with the praises of a million merchandising options. So we ended up having to rely a little heavily on the theme colors (blue for his favorite and green for the color of Kermit) and I threw a little rainbow connection in there for good measure. ;)

I'm going to do a quick overview today then hopefully go into detail on a few projects, namely creating the Kermit heads (my first SVG project that I created!) and some cake tips that I learned in this process. I've been baking my entire life but this is the first sheet cake and certainly the largest project I've undertaken on my own.

 It all started with the banner; I tried to use this as my jumping off point since it would really be the main focal point

We had the party at a local fairgrounds due to some very nice people who were friends of the birthday boy. Otherwise, it would have been a VERY stressful day trying to fight others for a place at a nearby park that had outdoor grills. We set up by the pig pens (Miss Piggy, are you there?). I also recently learned how to make paper rosette fans, my new obsession!

 

In it's place of glory!

We were on a sort of a tight budget. We crowdfunded the guests to buy him a fancy camera. I found the chip baskets and the sand pails at Michaels. Its amazing what you find on sale during the switching of the seasons!

Also, those straws were amazing. Every party needs rainbow straws, from this point forward.



For activities, I had water balloons for a Swedish Chef Swedish Meatball Toss Challenge. We also had Fozzie's Knock Knock Box which encouraged guests to write a joke, place it in the jar, and whoever made Joe laugh the hardest, won a prize! 

Fozzie's Knock Knock Box

I loved this. I know it didn't fit perfectly in with the Kermit themed but when I saw the "30 Sucks" lollipop centerpieces on Pinterest, it just felt right, ya know?

Blue Raspberry and Key Lime cupcakes rounded off dessert (someone got to one before my picture!)

His throne!

I really had a lot of fun with this one. I took an entire week's vacation; originally, I had hoped to prepare for my upcoming move but it turned into pouring my heart and many hours into this party... which, oh noez, the torture! The crafty introvert had to sit alone with nothing but Netflix, Spotify and a pile of brightly colored paper! Someone call the authorities, that's just inhumane. :P

Sometimes I wonder how I even survive.

Anyway, that's it for now, I think. Look out for some upcoming posts. I'll share my SVGs and my instructional sources on a couple of my favorite items. :)

Happy Birthday, Joe!