/// JURASSIC /// THEMED CELEBRATION!

August, 8, 2018

Hey friends!
August is here and that means summer break is just about over.

Until I get myself a little more situated

 and back on track with "regular" posting,
heck, just catching up on the maternity ones;
I'll be sharing some fun birthday ones,
for my entertainment and hopefully your benefit. 
😄

 Check out our simple, budget friendly decor

 and some tips for your own Jurassic party.

Back in June of 2015, we celebrated our son ML's 12th birthday.

Yep that makes him 15 now.

He chose Jurassic World as his theme, 

as it was releasing just in time for his birthday.

It coincided perfectly with his day and we were able to work in a viewing

 as one of the birthday activities (all below).

As it turns out, I'm SO late in sharing this,

it's perfect for the newest movie. HA

Since his theme was pretty generic in nature,
it wasn't hard to put together.

I found most of what I needed at home, Dollar Tree and right on my computer.

A little creativity went a long way and I was able to set up his themed decor.

His birthday was also 2 day celebration.
Day 2 is at the end, if you're interested.

The day started with his surprise birthday decor.

A few key pieces helped create the jungle feel on the table:
faux fern, driftwood, dinos, jeep & Jurassic sign.
You probably have dinos at home already and if you also had real fern,

it would be that more realistic!

The details are below for your own setup:

1. Drift wood from our old travels to Eureka,

 but a few interesting branches would work just as well. 

2. Artificial ferns: Dollar Tree- separated from bunch and poked into already present holes. 

3. Dinos & Jeep: Dollar Tree toy section. 

( We had 2 dino's & a jeep from previous purchases, so only bought 2 more)

4. Jurassic logo: found online & printed out in the "save ink" option

5. Moss: Dollar Tree

6. Summer hat(far left)- Dollar Tree with green streamer wrapped around.

We didn't throw him a big party but he still got the same attention and effort on our part.
Some years we do smaller celebrations with a few close friends/family
 and then a larger outing/activity with the birthday kid.
Other times we go bigger and have ALL our close friends
 and family, with smaller outings/activities.

For this birthday he got to hang with a few buddies during the day,
have a celebration at home with family and then really celebrate the following day.

PARTY TIPS/IDEAS
1.To decorate more than 1 table,

replicate the idea and add brown, tan and green table covers.
I liked the black on my table so I didn't bother covering it.
You could also use camo tablecovers or Jurassic themed but those tend to be more expensive.
If the tables are the round party size, use 2 shorter branches
and cross them with the other items around them.

This works great as your guests could also use the items for table play.

2. Add themed coloring pages & crayons to the table (use empty aluminum cans as holders)
as another independent activity.

3. Serve dino inspired foods for fun or just easy to serve foods on colorful/themed platters.
4. Have the movie playing in the background or available to watch as the event is happening.
5. Have a Jurassic trivia game.
6. As an added bonus, have guests come in camo or themed shirts.
7. Fill a kiddie pool with sand and let kids dig for dinos with spoons or beach shovels.
8. Do a dino egg race with an easter egg or hard boiled egg.

I could go on and on, you get the idea.

DIY banner & birthday sign!

(Hey mom!)

Birthday Sign: 

1. Download free font here

2. Printed Manoah's sign & Jurassic logos- cut out and taped up.

3. "Dino" tracks- floral stamp like this, with 3 sides painted with acrylic.

Dino Track Banner: 

Iguanodon & Velociraptor

1. Party napkins: Dollar tree- (1)Green luncheon(Iguanodon)

& (6) Patterned guest towel/dinner (Velociraptor)
Not sure what is available but these are some options: 1 2 

2. Twine: Dollar Tree

3. Tape, glue or glue gun

VISUALS BELOW

⇩⇩⇩

Iguanodon shape- free handed and cut out 2x

 Velociraptor shape- Open up napkin 1x and cut at crease.
Now you have 2 pieces- fold over each one diagonally creating (4)long triangles,
cut.

If either edge is still joined, cut.

Flip left piece upward, short edge up.

FOLD top edges enough to allow for twine and some movement,
then overlap both pieces *OVER twine before taping napkin.

Repeat until desired length of banner is reached, adding 2 large or more tracks,
 centered or wherever you'd like them.

I was making these visuals LATE one night and gave you incorrect info.

I was out of it haha.

*DO NOT separate layers or place twine between.

Twine goes BEHIND.

That's it for the decor!

The birthday photo, birthday activities and day 2 of celebrating are below.

Photo taken at home, letters/number added through PicMonkey

and then printed through Sam's Club (a membership shopping club).

Our annual birthday breakfast at our favorite diner.

We picked up a few of his friends after breakfast and headed off to the movies: 

matinee makes it affordable.

They had some arcade time as well which included this very appropriately themed game :) 

My family

😍

Um, our 12 year old man child is just about as tall as us!

We got the shirts at Walmart and Kohl's I believe.

(it's been a few years)

One of ML's buddies, the other's had already gone home.

Respecting privacy

Grama made a special trip for the birthday boy!

A couple of gifts for my boy.

A cool way to personalize a simple gift bag is to print up a picture or logo

 and glue to bag.

In this case, it becomes a craft too because it can be colored.

He received the Jurassic trilogy.

My sister wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it to the celebration

so she face-timed herself in to watch him open gifts.

He was heavily into Lego's, so he was thrilled to get more.

He was showing her his gifts.

Later we had Five Guys for dinner,
went home for some LEGO building and Jurassic watching.

We ended the night with his requested brownies.

I printed up the small logo 2x and glued around the toothpick

for a topper.

I didn't have the correct candles so we improvised with what he had: Lego ones.

My silly boys!

It was a fun day ending in excitement and anticipation

 for the next day's activities.

<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

Day 2

June 28th, NASCAR races
at Sonoma Raceway

One of hubby's work perks is getting tickets to different events,

either through his employer or vendors he works with.

THIS was one of those blessings!

It was perfect for M.L.'s birthday 

and for a family friend who had celebrated her 50th days before his.

Ready to have fun!

We prepared the younger ones with earmuffs as this was our 1st race 

and didn't want to take a chance on their ears hurting or the noise scaring them.

We walked all the way around and sat right under those arrows.

Hubby and long time buddy P.S. 

+ my big boy.

It was so cool to see the KLOVE car out there.

This happen to also be Jeff Gordon's last race.

  Even though I don't follow the racing circuit,

I at least knew who he was and that it was big for him and his fans.

And still, knowing nothing about NASCAR or races, dealing with bad heat,

and SUPER loud cars, none of that mattered.

Everyone out there,

 from the die hard fan to the came-along-for-the-fun person, like myself,

had so much fun.

We made wonderful memories

and had a great time, celebrating my boy and our friend.

<<<<>>>>

If you stuck around through that whole post,

way to go!

It was a long one for sure.

Are you planning a Jurassic party?

I'd love to know if anything here helped you.

I'll be back with the next birthday post.