Claire’s birthday was last weekend. I can’t believe she is already six years old. She was born in Boston in the middle of a snow storm, two minutes before midnight, which I was thrilled about because I didn’t want her to have a March 17th birthday. I mean, who wants to have a St. Patricks Day themed birthday every year? Apparently this girl:
In our family we don’t do friends parties for every birthday and for Claire’s birthday this year we decided just to have a celebration at home and invite over our cousins that live in Westchester. I’ve talked about my sweet friend Jenna here before. She has absolutely cornered the market on cuteness – her clothes, her kids, her blog, are all amazing. And girlfriend can throw a mean party! Between Jenna’s skills and Claire’s enthusiasm about a St. Patricks Day party, I knew I wanted to do something fun for the decorating, while hopefully not breaking the bank.
The Dollar Tree, Michaels and Party City came through for me. All of these stores have dollar or less sections that carry pretty cute stuff. You just have to hunt a bit, and then get creative. Streamers are two-for-a-buck at the dollar store, and buying eight rolls was an easy and cheap way to make a rainbow wall for our photos.
I love that my girls came up with most of these ideas and that they executed a lot of it by themselves. Nothing makes me more proud than seeing their little creative brains at work.
Since we are from Arizona originally, we hold true to the idea that a party’s not a party without a piñata. I showed Claire the Pot O’ Gold DIY piñata that Jordan posted a week or two ago and Claire said we just had to have it.
This was my first piñata and I was surprised at how easy they are to make! And pretty fun actually. It took me and Claire about two hours in all to cut out the cardboard and glue the fringed tissue paper. We watched Darby O’Gill and the Little People while we were at it, to get us into the spirit of the thing. :)
Chocolate coins and gold nuggets were everywhere! I think the candy scramble is so hilarious to watch now, but I remember being so stressed out as a kid as soon as that candy fell out. Must. get. all. the. candies!!
We let the kids pick out their favorites to take home with them, and then once the party was over, the rest of the photos were moved to the coffee table, where I’m sure we’ll enjoy them for a couple weeks.
Loved it…loved the way u decorate it..:)
Android Developer
I loved it! Please tell Claire that I was born on St. Patrick's day and I love that everyone is celebrating along side of me….love rainbows, lucky pots of gold and of course green and b-day cakes too.
Love a good trash bag for eazy clean up too.
pve
So cute!! I love seeing your little family. Everyone is so grown up! So many great ideas for the party.
This was so much FUN to see; thanks for sharing! I am inspired to step-it-up for the next holiday/birthday for my family.
We had a green-themed birthday celebration for my dad this weekend, too – Happy birthday to Claire!
Love the rainbow streamer idea! And the girls' cloud is awesome! So fun – thanks for sharing!
My birthday is on St. Patrick's Day and I've always loved that I was born on this day. All my birthday parties weren't St. Patrick's Day/Irish themed..only on was. The rest were like any other little kid's party. :)
I LOVE the rainbow streamers with the "cloud" and the gold pinata. Your girls are gorgeous!
This was such a sweet post to read! I love how you found all your supplies at stores like the Dollar Store and Party City! My favorite parts were the rainbow streamers, the little prints, and precious Claire's words to you! What sweet memories!!
You are a "super hero"…working the glad gig in to the best birthday party ever! Well done!! I am GLAD Claire had such a wonderful birthday.
Kelly
http://www.mysoulfulhome.com
What a fun idea for a themed party! I loved the coins inside the pinata, and the decorations were festive and adorable. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to have their say in the party theme and decor :)
This is all too adorable! I am terrible at planning birthday parties.
On another note, I'm been searching through your blog to see if I could find the source for that little table in the top right corner of the piñata pics but I haven't been able to. Can you please give me the source, I would love to find something similar. Thanks!
Aw, that looked like so much fun. And you even made me tear-up at the end. So precious!
Thanks for sharing. B
ThriftyHabit
DARLING. this is seriously the mothership of all St. Patrick's Day parties!!
How cute! (And I love Darby O'Gill and the Little People!)
Oh my goodness the last part has me crying. Being a mom is THE best! Don't you think?! Our little girl turns 2 in April and I have her party all planned out but I think I might need a streamer rainbow! Love.
This looks like such a great kids party! I especially love that all the kids wore their St. Patty's Day green!
Ahh that's so sweet! looks like such a sweet birthday party :)
I absolutely love this post! My mom is also a super hero birthday party planner, and some of my favorite childhood memories were the two of us planning and executing themes for my birthday parties. The best one? The Troll party when I was seven. We even teased our hair so it would stick up in a high poney tail and sprayed with that washout dye!
And good sponsor, Forceflex seriously is the best. I am selectively brand loyal about most home products, but these are the best.trashbags.ever! I've had a giant box that's lasted FOREVER!
Such a fun party idea! Those personalized baskets are a fantastic party favor.
It was so fun to see your littles in the home I've watched you transform. Also, love your new "about me" picture and bio.
What a fun party. I just wanted to share that I also have a Claire who will be 6 this month…not only do you have great decorating taste, but great taste in names as well :)
What a great party and what a lucky gal!!
What a fun party! I admire your kids' creativity, too. I am a St. Patty's Day kid, and I have to say I have always loved this birthday. Everyone is in a celebratory spirit and it feels like they're celebrating along with me. I don't actually remember any actual Irish themed parties…just lots of green food!
And I'm impressed you know Darby O'Gill and the Little People. The old Disney live actions are becoming forgotten. Another really fun one for kids is the Gnome Mobile. Check that one out!
Happy Birthday to Claire! Thank you for sharing the day with us. Also, after you post with Evelyn and and Linus, it was so cute to see him near her while she batted the pinata. What a fun mom you are! Also, I love sneaking looks at your decor in these pics. Sorry I sound so stalker-like!! I'm not!!
Such a great party for a special birthday girl.
I do want to make one comment, though – a lot of those streamers and decorations look like paper that could have been recycled instead of going into the trash.
Darling party!
My little sister told me this really funny story about a birthday party she went to with her daughter. The poor, poor mom hosting the party had purchased a pinata but didn't realized that they generally aren't sold filled with candy, you have to fill it yourself. All of the children had their turns and whacked it open only to discover that there was no candy. So tragic! But so hilarious. :)