Max's Monster Birthday Party

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures from Max's 1st Birthday Party. We had a small party for him, that was Monster themed. Since his birthday is right around Valentine's Day I incorporated a little bit of a Valentine's Day theme too. We had a great time celebrating with family and friends, this last year has flown by! Balancing two kids has been a challenge, and we are still adjusting to the changes. But Max has brought lots of joy and laughter into the family and I look forward to watching his funny little personality continue to grow!

 Paper Straws are available in my shop!

 I made the monster eyes by gluing the Wilton edible eyes onto toothpicks to stick in the chicken fingers.

We have really been trying to eat healthier and so I tried my best to keep the party food and drinks healthy too. Whenever I throw a party I tend to have a lot of junk food...Which we really try not to eat much, but I tend to serve it at parties! Junk food is easier, not much prep for some of it, and usually for parties you want lots of artificially colored foods to make the party look colorful and fun. However, I have noticed a link to Hudson's behavior when he eats artificially colored foods. I tried to make the food colorful by choosing healthy fruits and veggies! Here is what we ate:

• Veggies with Cashew Dill Dip
• Baked Chicken Fingers with Wheat Germ and Flaxseed - Lil' Monsters
• Baked Sweet Potato Fries - Monster Fingers
• Organic Grape Juice Jello cups with Fresh Blueberries - Monster Eyes
• Carrot Lemonade
• Strawberry Peach Smoothies
• Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Raw Brownies

 Kid's got to build a monster with play dough, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.

 How Many Monster Eye Can you Count?

The jar was filled with red sprinkles and googly eyes for the kids to count.

 We had a bubble maker on in the backyard and some homemade heart bubble wands.

 We had "Monster Foot" relay races! Using pillow cases the kids had to jump like a monster with one foot down the grass and back until their team was done. It was really cute to watch them cheer each other on.

 I love this picture of Max carefully picking at the sprinkles on his birthday cake! I have to mention also that his adorable knitted monster hat is made by Heather's Hook Nook. Heather makes all kinds of precious knit hats and can even customize colors and designs! 

 The kids made each other Monster Valentines that I had ordered from Oriental Trading. I also ordered monster bags for each child and moster lollipops to take home.

 The kids took home their valentines, lollipops, and handmade monster dolls. I found the monster doll template from One Charming Party.

Glow-in-the-Dark Slime

When I came across this glow-in-the-dark slime recipe at about.com I knew I had to make some for Hudson! It is the perfect Halloween craft for boys! It would also be great for kids Halloween party favors or gifts to give to your little one's friends. I made some free "Slime" labels to print and use on jars or bags of slime. You can find the recipe below along with the free labels!

Ingredients:

• 1 - 4oz bottle of clear or blue gel Elmer's glue
• 1 cup of warm water
• 2-3 tablespoons of glow-in-the-dark paint
• Green Neon Food Coloring
• 2 teaspoons of Borax
• 1/3 cup of warm water

I altered the recipe a bit from the original recipe at about.com, but it came out great! First mix together the Elmer's glue and the 1 cup of warm water. Stir in the paint and food coloring. In a separate small bowl mix together the 1/3 cup warm water and 2 teaspoons of borax.  Stir until the borax is dissolved. Now add about 2 tablespoons of the borax solution to the glue solution. You WILL NOT use all of the borax solution. Stir continuously while adding the solution. The more borax solution you add the stiffer the slime will be. So if you want the slim to be more runny, then add less borax solution. You can add more green food coloring while stirring these solutions together to get your desired color of slime! It should start sticking together and you've got green glow-in-the-dark slime!

This recipe can make 2 small half jar fulls of slime or your could package a smaller amount of slime into favor baggies. You can find the Slime labels here and tied them on with black bakers twine, which you can fine HERE.

TIPS: You can find glow-in-dark-paint at craft stores in the paint isles, and borax can be found at most grocery stores along side the laundry detergents. Also make sure to check the paint that you buy to see that it is safe to use for the project. This slime would not be suitable for small children who might put some in their mouth. You can also find products through link provided here.