Year of the Crazy Birthday

I have dubbed this year: "Year of the crazy birthday."  Why you ask?  Here's a short story...
Back in July, my best friend celebrated her birthday.  I always try to do something really fun for her birthday.  When we lived in the same place, I did a treasure hunt all over town, a "bar hop" from significant spot to significant spot with her favorite drinks, and drove a picnic to her house on top of my car.  Last year I went down to visit her SANS CHILDREN (epic.) and we took in Westside Story.  This year, we decided she'd come back up here for her birthday fun.  As I started planning what I could possibly do for her, I made a startling realization.  She was turning 31.  Her birthday is July 31st.  You know what that means right??  It was her GOLDEN birthday!  You only have ONE of those in your entire LIFE!  I had to switch gears.  I had to include EVERYONE.  I had to go all out!  
Which was hard since most of her friends now live out of state and anyone she currently hangs out with lives in Chicago.  Huh.  Well, I'd just have to be creative.
In the midst of this frantic party-planning (starting early July), mr stops me and says, "You know who else is having a golden birthday this year right??"  My eyes grew wide.  Who?  WHO??  What had I forgotten?!?  "Uh..." there were several minutes of him staring at me expectantly until I remembered that the young'un is ONE YEAR YOUNGER than me.  Which means he was turning 30.  AND his birthday is September 30th.  Yikes.  "You!"  I stated, as if I'd known it all along... and then the full impact of this year hit me in a rush.  "You know who else has a golden birthday this year, right?" I asked him.  "Well, it can't be YOU..." he answered and for the life of him, he could not figure it out.  "Zoe!"  I declared.  Our daughter is turning 3 this year.  She was born on December 3rd.

Hence: "Year of the crazy birthday."

It began with a party in August (a few weeks belated for El)... and will not culminate until December.  Which, I realized just last week, isn't really all that far away.

I've decided to finally start showing off some of these birthday shenanigans I've been planning.  We'll start with El, since hers was first.  I'll share a few mini tutorials this week and on Friday I'll share the party in its entirety.  Are you ready for the fun??

Great!  Because it starts right now!  

The first thing I should mention about El's Golden birthday is that I was on a pretty tight budget.  I had to find things that were not necessarily awesome and make them awesome. I couldn't go crazy.  I had to reign myself in.

First up, let's make some boring food trays a lot less boring, shall we?  Wonderful!

You can buy some "faux crystal" trays/bowls/etc at the dollar store in the wedding/party section.  I bought two rectangular clear/"crystal" platters.

1: Find some scrapbook paper that matches your theme/decor.  I used this fun gold and white houndstooth.  Place the tray on top of your paper and trace around the bottom of the tray as best you can.  Cut the paper out.
2: Flip the platter over.  Brush glossy mod podge all over the BOTTOM of the tray.
3: Place your paper on the bottom of the tray and smooth it down onto the mod podge.  Gently push out any air bubbles.  Make sure to press the paper into the edges of the inset - if there is one.
4: Take your exacto knife and VERY LIGHTLY cut away the excess paper - making a straight edge along the raised edge of the inset.  You don't want to cut into the plastic, so be careful.

That's it!  You're done!  Adds a little pop of color, ties it into your theme and it's way more fun that a simple plastic tray.  Just remember this isn't washable, or you'll have a huge mess.

Stay tuned for more!

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!