How to Host a Super Girl Birthday Like a Wonder Woman

I have not been compensated for this conversation. There are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy something that's suggested here, I'll get a small percentage. Thank you!

My baby turned seven! She is a big fan of D.C. Superhero Girls. Her favorite is Super Girl, but she was in awe of Wonder Woman in Superman vs Batman. I wasn't surprised when she announced she wanted a superhero birthday party. 

Last year, she wanted a spa party which was easy to host in our home. A superhero party needs a super place. There are so many great options from jump zones to gymnastics sites. Inspired by the jungle gym at a local McDonald's we had it there. 

The size of the play area is impressive and there is an enclosed party room with a door to the play area. They can't get out!

An Affair with Cheese: Hosting a Grilled Cheese Party

Products listed in this post were supplied for the party and I have not received monetary compensation. Opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

It's Grilled Cheese Month!

The month of April is dedicated to those magnificent, golden brown sandwiches of gooey yumminess.

For this month's potluck, the moms and I had a grilled cheese bar. We tried different types of bread, cheese, and filling to create some amazing combinations.

Coming from the city that brought the world Melt Bar & Grill, creative grilled cheese choices have become a staple. Doing it at home, for ourselves, now that was fun.

When I sent the invite, I was a little worried. With Melt within walking distance, would this be a good idea? Turns out it was! We put together our sandwiches, I grilled them on the stove, and we split the sandwiches so we can all try the different combinations.

Pesto and mozzarella, tomatoes and jalapeno pepper jack, grilled onions and cheddar - endless combinations and we overdosed cheese. It was glorious.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for a Frozen Princess Party

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I love celebrating the kid's birthdays with a party and sometimes a follow up dinner with family. 

I enjoy the planning and executing, and yes, praise for the job well done. I also have a formula for party planning, be it princess or tornado.

What's fitting for a five year old? A Frozen themed birthday party, of course.

Very similar to the generic princess theme we did last year but different in the sense that it is Elsa and Anna. That is a very important distinction (or so I'm told).

I put more effort into last year's party than probably any other party we've done for the kids and not because it was a princess party but, it was the first party, not in our home, that did not have built in entertainment like jumping on inflatables or trampolines.

This year I planned to make it easy, breezy and take Elsa's advice and "Let It Go." It being any and all expectations.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for a Frozen Princess Party  (or any party really)

1. Location

My ideal location is anywhere that is not my house. Sure, I've had two parties at my house for my son and it was fun but I don't feel my house will ever be clean enough for other moms.

I like locations that clean-up and serve. Yes, there is more of a price tag, but it saves me time in the long run that I can enjoy the party. Plus, we have a small house and want the kids to enjoy themselves.

photo credit: Picturologist

Our choice is the same as last year. Not only do the kids love it, it's a neighborhood staple, and it's cheap to host a party. Plus, ice cream! We just bring the cake.

2. Invites

Free printable! Edit it, print it, or use it to make your own.

Spongebob's Guide to Hosting a 2015 Kid's Choice Awards Party {free printables} #KCAParty

I recievied a free party pack from HouseParty.com to host a  Kid's Choice Awards Party

You don't need a magic book to know that Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award 2015 is March 28 and Nick Jonas will be hosting. You also don't need a secret formula to host a fun party for your kids to watch the event live!

If you are like me, I take over the family TV to watch the Oscars, the Emmy's, the MTV Awards, and on occasion, the CMAs so why not let them have a turn? 

Last year, the kids and I got to host a HouseParty viewing party and it was a blast. 

This year, I planned to do it again so I applied to be a host, and invited the kid's friends. I didn't think we would be picked to host another party but - we were!

Nick, nick, nick, nick, nick, nick, #Nickelodeon - guess who's hosting a Kid's Choice Awards live viewing #houseparty March 28. Printables #ontheblog now. #gotitforfree #kids #party #partyfavors #kcaparty #momblogger #fun

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Mar 13, 2015 at 3:50pm PDT

In honor of Spongebob's new movie, I was thinking of recreating this Spongebob cake I made for my eldest's fifth birthday party. 

6 Tips for Hosting a #DisneySide Potluck {plus free printables} #sponsored

I have received products from Disney Side at Home Celebrations to facilitate this post. I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.

I love hosting potlucks!

Sure, dinner parties are fun but there is so much pressure to cook all the dishes, plus clean the house. Hosting a potluck gives you the best of both worlds - a chance to gather friends and family for dinner in a low stress setting.

The first potluck I hosted, I was a bit of a wreck. First of all, would the group of moms that I barely know go for the idea? Secondly, would we be stuck with a bunch of food no one will eat or worse, all desserts. Well, all desserts is not such bad idea.

Needless to say, the party went off without a hitch and we started meeting on a regular basis, sometimes with the men and sometimes just us while the kids play. With that in mind, when I found out that I would be hosting a Disney Side Multi-Generational @Home Celebration I knew exactly who I would share it with - the mom group or as the Husband calls us The Hens.

As soon as I got the email, I started pinning.  There are so many brilliant ideas and I was determined to do as much as I could but Disney Side made party planning so easy that it was not hard to throw together a great potluck with fun games and decorations!

After hosting several potlucks, this one was by far the easiest! Who doesn't love Disney? Here are six tips I have found helpful planning not only this potluck, but any potluck.

1. Have a theme

Having a theme makes it easy for guests to narrow down their favorite recipes and bring something they really want to share.

Game Night Fun plus Printable Invites and Scorecards! #HasbroGamingParty

Right before Thanksgiving, I was picked to host a HouseParty.com party for Hasbro Games. Every so often I apply to host a party and I have been coveting this one since I got denied the previous year. I have been applying on off to HouseParty.com since before I started blogging. What's not to love? You don't have to be a blogger, you get free stuff, and it's an excuse to throw a party.

Hasbro Games, Duracell batteries, Ring Pops, and a Paper Mate pen
was provided, for free to host a party

Needless to say I was pretty pleased to get this hostess pack with Scattergories,  Sorry!, Twister, Taboo Buzzd, and Yahtzee Classic. These are all affiliate links to Amazon and all are under $15 except Taboo Buzzd which is $17! Such a bargain!

My official party date was mid-December but since my package arrived before Thanksgiving, I had two unofficial game nights before the official one. We broke out Twister and Yahtzee for Thanksgiving and when our niece and nephew (twins) spent the weekend we broke out Sorry and the kids played a few rounds of Twister.

Playing Sorry for the first time and lost both! #HasbroGamingParty preview #gotitfree #family #love

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Dec 13, 2014 at 7:53pm PST

Nacho Mama's Taco Party: Hosting a Taco Party

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 

I love to host gatherings at my house.  It gives me an opportunity to really clean my house and show off my limited Rachael Rayish party skills. Spending time with family and friends is a bonus.

Contrary to popular belief - I'm not the most outgoing gal, at least not on purpose. Oddly, I worked in the service industry most of my life and could fake social skills. I did really well but when I stopped and went to work in an office, it was a lot harder to fake that sparkly personality.  I'm out of practice.

So, it's time to dust off my sparkle and branch out into the world of neighborhood moms! How you wonder? Well, it all started at our Kid's Choice Awards party. The night of the party there happened to be a snowstorm and the moms of our guests decided to hang out instead of come back to get their offspring.

We spent the evening chatting, drinking wine, and even watching the award show with the kids.  It was a great night. It also got me thinking, why not do this again?

A few clicks on Facebook and an invite was sent for a mom and kid potluck.  Sure, I could have added our spouses but I told the husband he can have the night off and do something for himself.  By making the event a potluck it absolutely took the pressure off having to make a big meal.

The Simplest Ways to Make the Best Princess Party {with free printables!}

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It is so hard to believe that my baby girl is four because she acts like she is fourteen!

From wanting to wear heels and makeup to being a pretty princess she has my job cut out for me! When she requested her birthday party have a princess theme, I cringed a little. Just a little. Who doesn't want to be a princess?

I was worried about pulling it off.

She also informed me that she was to have a rainbow cake covered in butterflies and flowers. I accomplished the rainbow. The butterflies and flowers was replaced with her adding her own touch of pizzazz with sprinkles and "fairy dust."

Since this will be the first party that she got to invite friends and her birthday falls in a month with unfavorable weather conditions we opted to have the party someplace other than our house.

Besides, we were planning to have a family dinner the following evening so having another location makes it a true party weekend with less for me to clean up.

Hosting a Chili Cook-Off in 5 Easy Steps with Printables

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For the last six years, I have helped organize a chili cook-off in my office.  It is always around Valentine's Day and the proceeds go to charity. 

This is my pet project every year.  The first year that I suggested it we had no idea if it would work but eight people brought in chili and it has grown every year.

Check out new chili cook-off printables - invite, scorecard, award, and crockpot tags!

This event goes so smoothly every year that I wanted to share it - in five easy steps!  I even have some handy printables for you to use or use as inspiration.

6 Secrets to a Successful Christmas Cookie Decorating Party

For the last several years, and to the detriment of my husband, my son and I have hosted a cookie decorating party.

It started off small with the first two years just my son and a friend but once he hit kindergarten it became a party complete with invitations. He started planning his cookie party right after Halloween and I went from two kids to nine kids.

As I was reading past blog posts about this cookie party I realized that I need this just as much as my son. I thought it would be a good way to help him socialize and get into the holiday spirit but really this is about me getting in the spirit, too.

Nothing says Christmas like sharing, cookies, and kids.  And, cocoa lots of cocoa.

The Husband says he hates this party and had hoped we had forgotten about it but I think he secretly likes it too. We both come from big families with lots of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins but as families do - they move away and have their own families so our family, now, is small in comparison. Having a house full of our kid's friends makes our family seem much bigger. This year RD will get to have some friends over as well. It will be a big to do.

Then there was last year's party when my son held a funeral for the elf on the shelf...

We are in the process of planning this year’s cookie party so I thought I would share a few things I have learned over the years.

1. Pre-make the cookies (pre-cut is even better)

I am a great big fan of GFS and especially their gingerbread cookies. They are the best I have ever eaten! I buy a box of those and a big box of their pre-cut sugar cookies. I make them the night before and we are good to go.



The first few years the kids decorated as I baked and it was messy, fun but messy. When you have a room full of strange kids it is best to prebake the cookies then let them frost and decorate the cookies.

2. Cupcake holders are not just for cupcakes

Cupcake holders make the best little bowels for sprinkles, jimmies, and red hots. They are easy to pass, and to throw away. They also work in a pinch for putting frosting in to decorate cookies.

Veggie trays work great, too.

3. Don’t Be Afraid of the Mess

Put a plastic table cloth on the table AND on the floor - this will be messy.

4. Candy Canes Make the Best Stir Sticks

And not just stir sticks but crush them up and you have another decoration for the cookies.

5. Take Out Boxes

The first year that we invited his class I didn’t think the kids would take any home. I thought they would eat them while watching a movie. They all took them home and ate popcorn while watching the movie. I have learned to have something for transporting treats home.

Old fashioned take out boxes work fantastic, too!

6. Invites Set the Tone

Just like any other party invites are set the tone. This year I wrote a poem. It is my first, feel free to use the invite.

click here for the printable

Do you celebrate the holidays with your kid’s friends?

Who's ready to host a cookie decorating party this #holiday season? 6 tips to make it easy! http://t.co/ygllsQIOoh pic.twitter.com/5ErBsh8UoH

— MryJhnsn (@mryjhnsn) November 6, 2014

Doctor Who Party Ideas for Whovian Moms

*this post contains affiliate links*

Ever since our son was born, my husband has tried to get him interested in comic books and super heroes. Eight years later he has only a passing interest in comics and only the ones with the characters that can control weather.  Our son is obsessed with tornados and weather.

Last year I got hooked on Doctor Who again thanks to the Kindle Fire the Husband got me for my birthday and Amazon Prime. I grew up watching the show but when the new episodes started I was busy being a new mom and to be quite honest, I don't even think BBC America was even offered my my provider at that time.

I have since watched all of the episodes. repeatedly.  And, so has my son.  Yes, to the detriment of my Husband our son is just as hooked as I am on Doctor Who.

My Doctor is Ten.  My son - Eleven.   Ah, well at least he likes the show.

This past March we had a Doctor Who viewing party to celebrate the return of the program and to hang out with out other Whovians. Since the 50th anniversary episode is quickly approaching I wanted to share some ideas on hosting your own viewing party.

source

Decorations

(9th Doctor said it isn't a party without bannasa and 10 agreed.  The 11th Doctor did not like carrots.)

I will admit that I am not all that into decorations.  

The closest I got to it was a blue table cloth and bananas around a bowl of carrots but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.  You can make your own like the fantastic pin of a Tardis out of painters tape or buy a life size cut out of the Tardis.

BBC's Doctor Who page has a couple things to print out like the Dalek victory poster and the Prisoner Zero wanted poster.  Sadly nothing current.

Food

What's a party with out food?

I made fish fingers cookies and custard.  The cookies were a sugar cookie coated with graham crackers and boxed custard.  I got the idea from Bakingdom but, I used store bought sugar cookie dough because I was short on time.

My girlfriend, fellow mom and Whovian, made a fantastic vegetarian chili and made Dalek cupcakes.

I think for the next party I am going to try some of these:

For the kids

Doctor Who is a kid's show after all so we can't forget to do something fun for them.  

Coloring pages are always fun.

BBC's website has a few coloring pages and printouts of masks and the kids loved these.

Maybe a game to play while waiting?

Will you be watching?

Check out the prequel!

Because You Want to Clean Your House

Last week I wrote about the guilt I feel about having a less than clean house and I was meet by an overwhelming amount of comments sharing not only my disdain for housework but also the difficulties that I have encountered (i.e. better things to do).  Since, I now know that I am not alone I thought I would share my tips on cleaning.

Top 5 Tips on Cleaning

(or making it feel like cleaning)

1. Spot Clean

Pick a spot in your house, and clean it.  My go to spot to clean is the dining room table.  For some reason, no matter what the rest of my house looks like, if the dining room table is clean - I can deal with the rest.  Of course by clean I mean, shove all the bills into a pretty, ornate box, push the crayons, pencils and paper into the window seat drawer and wipe the table off with Pledge or Murphy's oil soap to make the whole room smell fresh and clean.

2. Do the dishes

I hate doing dishes and I can leave them in the sink, go to bed and not feel bad at all about leaving dirty dishes in the sink.  But, clean dishes make me feel like the rest of the room is clean.  As an added bonus, doing the dishes does help me emotionally.

3. Utilize Your Kids Need to Help

There will come a time when your kids will not want to please you and this is the time to capitalize on it.  Trust me, my seven year old is over the need to please me by cleaning but he does have a fascination with tornadoes. By telling him that there is a tornado in the vacuum and he can manipulate the force within you better believe he jumps at the chance to clean the carpets.

Since Baby is still a little to young to vacuum she does love to mimic me so I use our quality time to fold laundry.  So what the towels aren't perfect.  She is just excited to help.

4.  Invite Your In-laws Over!

Nothing gets me to clean like inviting my Husband's family over, well except for...

5. Host a Party!

Because there is not enough going on in my life right now I decided to host a Tastefully Simple party for three reasons:
1.  I really do love their products.
2.  To have a reason to clean my house
3.  My son is making his first communion in May and I want the discount.

Join my online party here.

What are some of your tips for cleaning (or feeling like you are cleaning)?

@Celebr8Express Knows How to Put Together a Great Party (even if I don't)

When did I start planning C-man’s birthday this year? A week before school ended in June. Why? Because, his birthday is a week before school starts, we don’t really see his friends in the summer and there are no kids his age or from his school on our block.

Of course, as soon as I handed out the invites I promptly forgot about it till two weeks before the big day. I worried and fretted that no one would be there but, to be honest, I was not that worried. I knew his close buddy would be there and really that was what mattered, that his close friends will be there to celebrate. And, I suppose his family.

I know it is not necessary to have a party every year but, why not? I love having everyone over and I miss the big family gatherings of my youth. I also think that every birthday should be celebrated because they grow up so damn fast!

Any way… back to the party. I did plan somethings and pinned other things I wanted to do but nothing really took shape until after the Spider-man review the Husband wrote. After it was written, we were approached to do a review for party supplies and would you believe his party was a week off? I could not say yes fast enough and the wonderful folks at Birthday Express sent us the Summer Time Fun Deluxe party Pack for 8. 

The birthday boy was just as excited to open the box as we were to get it. It came the day before the party so when they say on time delivery, they mean it! It was way more fun to decorate this year then in the past!  Don't get me wrong, I decorate with balloons but never streamers! I had never hung streamers before so this was a new adventure and it turned out so cute.  It was a great thing to open the box and have everything ready to go.  The kit includes:  (8) dinner plates, dessert plates, cups, forks, spoons, knives, (18) lunch napkins, (18) beverage napkins, table-cover, tray, a foil beach ball balloon, (18) balloons (3 colors), crepe paper rolls (3 colors), and curling ribbon (3 colors).

Since the party was supposed to be a beach theme, in August, you could imagine the surprise when the big day came and it rained all day. It not only rained but it was downright cold and windy. Never the less, we held the party on the front porch and laughed at the wind.

We did divided our time between the play room in the attic, the dining room and the porch.  But, I'd say the porch was were most of the action was.  The hardest part was lighting the candles in the wind so we pretended.

The party turned out great and the birthday boy had a blast with his friends and family.  Thank you, Birthday Express for sending us the supplies!  We only received what was featured to facilitate this review.  I did not get paid to write this post and the opinions are 100% my own.  Or in this case, our own.