Muppets are great: Party part 1

I am about to become the mother of a 5 year old. Don't ask me how it happened. I blinked and Matteo went from this:

to this:

Woah. At any rate, I find myself planning another birthday party. It would seem that birthday parties have now become this overblown mega deal. Everyone seems to go to fancy indoor playgrounds, of gyms etc. And man is that expensive! (You want $300 for a 5 year old's birthday party?! Right. I'll just phone Switzerland and move some money around.) When I was a kid we'd rent a movie, eat hot dogs and chips, play outside and call it a day. So, I'm pretty much determined to avoid major production if I can. That being said, since Matteo's birthday party is in January and the weather forecast is usually Biblical rain, I'm not that crazy about a bunch of little kids running around my rather small house with no focus or plan. The theme birthday party seems to be a hit in this house.

I'm sad, or maybe happy, to admit that Ethan and I are the kind of parents determined to brain-wash our kids with all those things we are nostalgic about. Enter the Muppets. We started early on this one. By the time Matteo was 2, he was well acquainted with not only all the best characters from Sesame Street, but also a selection of favourite Muppet show episodes. The legendary episode featuring Paul Simon was, and still is, his favourite. It is so great- how many puns on "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" can you come up with. Matteo had about 10 by the time he was 2. I digress. We were so excited this year when the Muppets Movie came out. And we were even more excited when it was, in fact, completely wonderful. It delivered in a big way- somehow it re-introduced a whole new generation to the loveable characters without sacrificing their integrity (even if they are now owned by Disney). Here was born this year's birthday party theme.

I spent a good deal of time online finding great ideas for this one. I have to say, thank you big sister for the awesome find: if you haven't already, check out www.ikatbag.com . This woman is PHENOMENAL and has more artistic and creative capability in the fingernail of her left pinky than I have at all. Her site is chock-ablock full of great and creative ideas. I've used several of them for this party, adjusting them to fit our needs. Another source that was invaluable was http://familyfun.go.com/. This is the website for Family Fun Magazine which is so great and full of very feasible ideas that are usually made of very common, cheap and easy-to-find things. What more can you ask for?

So for the last couple of weeks, I've been sewing and glue gunning, getting ready for Saturday's party. Here's our party favour. I hate making goody bags. They cost a ton, and usually are just full of junk I wouldn't want kicking around my house. This year I decided to go a different route. I found a website that sold plain t-shirts for cheap ($3.19 per shirt- I know, right?!) and made each kid a Kermit t-shirt. Pretty easy, albeit, time consuming. All it took was some fusible webbing, fabric scraps, an iron and a sewing machine and after a few hours of work I had 9 lovely appliqued Kermit shirts. The template for Kermit came from a book that my Aunty Sandy bought for me (she is so thoughtful- always considers your interests when buying presents and seems to find the coolest stuff). My mum made a fantastic quilted wall hanging for Matteo using this book for Matteo's 1st birthday. It leant itself very nicely to this project too- from t-shirts, to crafts, to cake. Invaluable.

Here's what the t-shirts look like. Pretty cute I think. Plus, they are usable- a bonus in my book! Stay tuned for more birthday party madness: decor, cake and activities to come.