artsy fartsy,  Bug,  party party

Let the birthday party mayhem begin!

January 1, 2009 /

the big THREE!

Without a further thought to my disgusting carpet and the possibility that my house might be too small to fit thirty-some people, I am pressing onwards with a great big green puppet show birthday party. I’m SO EXCITED!!! I didn’t plan a big birthday bash last year and though it was sweet, I sort of missed it…I live for this sort of stuff.

This birthday party we're planning together

Good thing I birthed a child who seems to be into the hoopla as much as I am. I don’t know what I would do if Bug was the anti-social sort. We’ve been scheming for days. Besides the fact that she thinks every day is her birthday and cries when I can’t magically produce green birthday cake on command, it’s been a lot of fun having her in on the plans.

the initial plans

So far we’ve worked out the food: everything green. The cake: made by Bethany. The Puppet Shows (finger puppets, a big box theatre and a light shadow theatre) and of course a make-your-own-puppet craft table. I think it will be great fun. My only worry is I’m not going to hire anybody to put on a puppet show so that means I need to either recruit my ten-year-old niece or put it on myself. Or both. I will probably suffer from some stage fright but I know I can do it since I used to do this all the time as a kid. I was the queen of puppet shows. But thirty-some people who are not my doting aunts and uncles?…. eeeeeeee!

the invite

The invitations are done and mailed so there’s no going back now! We can’t have a puppet show birthday party without a puppet show. Unless there’s somebody out there in internet land who can pull off a puppet show like the ones they have in the Jardin du Luxembourg I think it’s going to be me.

The invitation turned out really cool. You can pull the little tabs at the bottom to make the Bug puppet and the cake puppet bob up and down. I know it will last about five seconds in a child’s hands but it was worth it for the fun. I love making things with paper.

my desk

Which leads me to my other problem. I need to stay away from this store!!!! I want to buy everything in it. They are a very handy source for envelopes but I have a very hard time walking by the wall of paper without sampling. Some people have problems collecting fabric. I have problems collecting paper. But that’s okay. I’ll use it someday. I just need to find a place to keep it all organized. I feel a purge coming on.

(Oh lovely. I just noticed I spelled seventeenth wrong on the invitations that are already in the mail. Oh well. It keeps me humble. I’m keepin’ it real.)

46 Comments

  • elizabeth

    January 1, 2009 at 5:53 pm

    Dude, those invites are SO cute and “seventheenth” is totally a number.
    That party looks like it’s going to be so much fun, I hope the rest of the planning goes well for you!

  • margalit

    January 1, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    http://www.spyrock.com/nadafarm/html/punch-mayhew.html

    is the the original punch and judy script from London, 1851

    other punch and judy scripts:

    http://www.puppetresources.com/index.php?what=simplesearch&type=3&searchterms=Punch+and+Judy

    a traditional punch and judy script:

    http://www.punchandjudy.com/cvdcscript4/index.html

    Not that I’m a bit of a punch and judy fan or anything. Heh.

    My invitation hasn’t arrived yet. Perhaps you got the address wrong? :-)

  • Spandrel Studios

    January 1, 2009 at 7:03 pm

    Interactive invitations?! What will you think of next? Everything looks adorable – even your party-plannning schematic. (If you tell me the next step is to also color it in, I will just fall over.)

    And the link to the paper store is very dangerous, indeed!

  • Gayle

    January 1, 2009 at 7:57 pm

    Those invitations are great! Don’t feel back about spelling seventeenth wrong. One year on my homemade Christmas cards I spelled Christmas wrong!

  • Jacquie

    January 1, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    woah! I just wrote a post about how crafty i thought I was finally getting. I so cannot compare myself to you or I’ll just cry ;) Just kidding. This was totally cool. You’re so inspiring B!!!

  • Jennifer

    January 2, 2009 at 12:07 am

    I’m getting excited just reading about all the plans. Emily would help out with the puppet show, but I don’t know how well she would do with a script :P

    I didn’t even notice the typo before. Those H’s are sneaky.

    My green shirt has paint on it from the gingerbread house project. I need to find me another one. You can’t beat a green theme.

  • Kuky

    January 2, 2009 at 3:51 am

    What great invitations! I bet it’ll be a great party. Very exciting. I thought it was so cool that I showed Alan. I even read the invitation to him out loud. I got to the “three to five at the Ponnay’s” when Alan interrupted me and said, “WHAT?”.

    I said, “at the Ponnay’s”.

    He’s like, “what in the world is that?”

    Ha ha ha! He knows what I’m talking about if I say Brenda, Bug and Toby but I guess I never mentioned Ponnay before. He thought I was taking jibberish. :-D

  • Marissa

    January 2, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Happy Birthday Party Planning!!
    Love the invitations. My daughter turns 3 on the 20th so we are with you on the party planning. She is so excited about her party too.

    I am realy bad, I collect paper & fabric.

  • Starryprincess

    January 2, 2009 at 9:09 am

    GORGEOUS, I am with you on the big birthday bash all the way. Starryprincess will be 7 in July,how did that happen, but we’re expecting baby no 4 in March so woohoo I get to plan and prepare now. We’re having a bizarre mix of luau and animals.

  • Kari

    January 2, 2009 at 10:40 am

    OMG – isn’t the paper source addictive? I’m so glad that I don’t live near one – I’d be there all the time. Your invites are adorable!

  • nicole

    January 2, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Paper source rocks…Dels always wants to go there. They have a bunch of paper 50% off right now! I also love the invite. Very clever! Happy happy.
    PS It was great to see you last week, I am just sorry we didn’t have time for a longer and deeper conversation. Next time.

  • rapunzel

    January 2, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    dear 34 year old aunt saj

    dont worry ill do it with you and thats not nice what you said cause that includes mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    love your ten year old neice

  • BeachMama

    January 3, 2009 at 8:47 am

    Is it wrong that I am salivating over the invitations? I too love paper, my Mom used to tease me when I was little because I would always, always spend my allowance on paper and paper products. I still have stores of it, but nothing as beautiful as what you have going there.

    In the meantime I am going to enjoy watching you plan like the wind, just like you did for the great Gumball party. I am only sorry, yet again, that I am not closer and can’t offer to come and put on the puppet show, then disappear so you can just keep on entertaining. If my Sister ends up in California (again, she seems to go often these days) I could send her over in a show of good faith (this is a joke, just so you don’t think I am that crazy).

    You continue to be an inspiration to us all and for that, I thank you.

  • Kristen

    January 3, 2009 at 10:09 am

    Each time I read your blog, I am amazed by your creativity and talent. If I ever have kids, I hope your blog is still up and being updated (or you could write a book!!! That would be an awesome book!).

  • OTC

    January 4, 2009 at 11:00 am

    I love your gift for creativity. Everything looks and sounds delightful. (and, for what it’s worth, i would have never noticed the ‘seventeenth’ misspelling)

  • lynne

    January 5, 2009 at 4:09 am

    If I lived in California I would gladly put on a puppet show for Bug, as before I went digital I was a dolly waggler ( well still am soft of) , but it sounds like you have a lot of experience yourself.

    I love your doodles of the intinary and of course the wonderful invites. Looking forward to reading the birthday post.

    P.s isn’t “seventheenth” olde English or something… :)

  • Janna from Honeyed Hashette

    January 5, 2009 at 7:56 am

    Those invitations are ADORABLE! What a creative mommy you are!
    You could do a puppet show like the one in The Sound of Music. You could make little green sheep/goats with green cotton balls for wool and they can eat green grass and you can use green yarn to give the little girl green braided pigtails! Baaaaa. yodellay hee hoo!

    I LOVE Paper Source too! Are you on their mailing list? I have to limit myself to one purchase a year! I use their products for Christmas cards and go all out. :)

    I also LOVE that you spelled Seventheenth wrong! I did a mural for a friend’s baby nursery and painted “I’m bringing home a baby bumble bee.” song above the chair rail and right behind the door I spelled bringing “brigging”…oops.

  • Kerri Anne

    January 5, 2009 at 8:09 pm

    There is a Paper Source AROUND THE CORNER FROM ME. It’s wonderful and terrible all at once, as I too have a paper collection affinity, though it typically comes in the form of letterpress cards and notebooks. Though right now I’m staring at a newly acquired stack of paper I bought for no reason beyond it was adorable and I wanted to write on it, so who am I kidding really?

    (Super cute! invites. I never played puppets as a kiddo; it sounds quite awesome.)