Within a week of his 3rd birthday pirate party last year Elliott announced that he wanted a Snoopy party when he turned four. Being a Snoopy loving family we were all on board for this plan.
We found out sometime in the spring that the new Peanuts movie was being released in November. I thought that this would guarantee that lots of Snoopy stuff would be available for the party. I was wrong. It was actually very difficult to find Snoopy items in the stores. Even a Snoopy shirt for Elliott was impossible to find. Everything available right now is Star Wars. If Elliott had wanted a Star Wars Party I could have closed my eyes, blindly grabbed some stuff in any store and put together a pretty great party. But I digress.
As is my new tradition (after 8 years of throwing children's birthday parties I've learned a trick or two), I baked the cakes (homemade devil's food) on Thursday night and frosted/decorated them on Friday night. Baking and frosting the same night leads to cakes being completed at 2:00 am. No bueno.
I came up with the brilliant plan (if I may say so) of using a gingerbread house for Snoopy's house. I made plain vanilla buttercream to frost it and then used food coloring spray paint for the color. The stripes are chocolate licorice and the door is melted chocolate chips that I spread on wax paper. I found these great cakes boards with a grass print so I made the cake base green to go with the grass motif. The gingerbread cookie bones were a last minute addition.
The front
The back
The side
These are just some of the things I got ready the night before.
Platter of dog bone cookies
Mugs for hot chocolate and coffee
Various decorations
This usually hangs in the hallway. I moved it to the kitchen under the cabinets.
Goody bags for the adults. Those are everyone's Christmas letters too.
Cups for the kids
We borrowed a lot of stuffed Snoopies from Brendan.
My dad gave me the Snoopy phone last year. He found it in his garage. I've been keeping it in a box in my garage since then. When I got it out Spencer looked at the rotary dial and said "Whoa, Mom! Cool! Do you know how to use this?"
Michael and I got new Snoopy shirts. Spencer's is old. I'm serious when I say I checked like 11 stores and could not find a Snoopy shirt for Elliott. I totally lucked out when, the day before the party, I found a Snoopy sweatshirt at Target.
We did a hot dog buffet for lunch.
I bought the house at Build-a-Bear months ago. I decided that day to serve the hot dog buns in there.
(this was pre-being cooked)
Hot dog toppings. You know, I don't remember putting that jar of jalapeno slices in the refrigerator. I wonder if someone stole it.
Baked beans
Cookies, cole slaw and fruit in the back corner.
Chips, chips and more chips.
Cake and hot chocolate
Elliott ate chips and fruit for his birthday party. And many, many, many cookies.
It was incredibly cold, but Spencer insisted on wearing shorts, just like Papa.
Presents
(side note: I thought I would have to fight and bribe Elliott all day to wear the hood, but he loved it and didn't want to take it off. And luckily it really was cold so he wasn't too hot in it.)
Yep, Monica and Rick got him a Snoopy Sno-Cone maker.
Too bad I didn't just go online and order a Snoopy shirt like my Aunt Karen and Uncle Terry did. It would have saved me a lot of time and grief.
Guests
Time for cake
I did a terrible job of photographing the people that were at the party, but I did get this gem.
And I did remember to take a family picture, although not with the cake like we've done the last two years.
The birthday boy with mommy.
The birthday boy with daddy.
The birthday boy!
After everyone left and we were cleaning up I discovered that my uncle had moved one of the Snoopies to one of the nativity scenes. It's a long standing family joke that he always puts a dog into the nativity. The year that we had the dinosaur party he moved a dog and a t-rex.
Elliott announced on Sunday that he wants a Super hero party when he turns five. There was an actual superhero section at the party store, so I vote YES. Now, to start thinking about the cake.
2 comments:
What an amazing party! That cake is just awesome!!!!!
Awe, that was such a sweet party for a special little man! I love that he picked Snoopy this year. I think he and Snoopy have a lot in common. That little Snoopy coat with the snoopy ears and face on the hoody was just way too cute on him. He reminds me so much of Brody, and they both just melt my heart. The cake, the decorations, the shirts...it is all perfection as usual! Way to go, mom. I'll just give you the slow clap now! ;-)
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