Max's Monster Mash

Written by Shannon Leigh

So I am finally getting around to posting photos from Max's Monster Mash (only a month after the fact).

I still haven't gone through my pictures from August (or September or October) but I figured that this monumental event took precedence.

SO as you probably know… Max turned 1!  I know, I still feel like he is 3 months old too.  Where on EARTH does the time go?  It's cruel really.  At least he is turning into an awesome little dude whom I am falling even harder for as the months go by or else I'd stomp my feet and pout about the fact that he is getting so big.

I have ALWAYS been super into Halloween and I have been searching for a reason to throw a Halloween bash for the last decade.  This year I FINALLY had my excuse.  I mean what better way to celebrate the birth of your second born than with spiders and eye ball cake pops? Since Maxwell is a bonified giant/monster we figured "Max's Monster Mash" was perfectly fitting for his first birthday.

Max was a chocolate chip cookie for Halloween this year and I felt like it was just right for him since he is SO very fat and he obviously loves to eat (continually).


I sent out the invitations and requested Halloween costumes for the kids.  The party fell the weekend AFTER Halloween so it gave the kids just one last chance to wear their costumes!  It rained on Halloween this year so the kids only wore their costumes for a few minutes before we had to duck inside.  I was actually really glad that my costume slave labor was rewarded with a second wear.

In the invitations I sprinkled spider confetti.  My mom said she totally freaked out when she opened it.  Mission accomplished.

=

I really tried to be economical with the party decor.  I know that  parties can get out of hand and I was really trying to avoid spending an arm and a leg.

  

I really like to fill a table with STUFF for a party so I went to a thrift store and bought a million candle holders.  I spray painted them a glossy black and bought a bunch of white tapered candle sticks at the dollar store.  I figured I could use these again so I didn't mind buying so many. I even fashioned a little cake stand for Max's cake with thrift store finds.

I had been saving my empty glass jars for some project or another for awhile now and I decided to make a bunch of mustache ghosts/jack-o-lanterns to add to the table.   

All you need: old glass jars, white tissue paper, and modpodge.  I found some mustache wrapping paper at TJ Maxx awhile back.  I cut out the mustaches from the paper and modpodged them to the surface.  Throw in a tea light and voila- you have a glowing white jack-o-lantern with a mustache.  

I splurged on mustache printed burlap from JoAnn's (40 % off coupon) and I used it as a table runner. I plan to repurpose it in Max's room at some point.

Since the party was AFTER halloween I went out the day after and bought TONS of stuff on clearance- like the Martha Stewart spiders on the wall and the black frames for his name.  I even got eyeball bouncy balls to decorate the table with.  I probably spent a total of $10.

I had been taking a picture of Maxwell via instax every week for the past year.  I displayed his pictures at the party as well. The frame of pictures hung in his room for the last year so I figured it was fitting to bring it down for the party.  Plus it gave me some much needed height for the table scape.


I kept the menu fairly simple.
In fact I made all that I could ahead of time and froze it!  It was seriously so simple, I have finally gotten wise in this regard.  The simpler the better!

Menu:
Santa Fe Soup
Wild Rice Soup
Mummy wrapped weinies
Cheese ball and crackers
Fruit tray
chocolate mint and vanilla cake balls
Chocolate spider web cake
chocolate mustache lollipops


The eye ball cake pops were pretty much the reason I threw the Monster Mash to begin with.  I LOVE THEM and they were the perfect center piece.  The kids loved them:)
I put them in a black cauldron with black packing paper around the bottom.  The rest of the cake balls were served dipped in either vanilla candy coating or mint chocolate with an orange drizzle.
A big shout out to my sister, Brooke, for helping put them together the night before!



I made a small 2 tier smash cake for Monster Max (that is what Ruby has been calling him lately).   Surprisingly he didn't go crazy on the cake but enjoyed it nonetheless.






All in all we had about 15 kids dressed up for the party.  I got a shot of all of them together but I forgot to change my camera settings so it didn't turn out (leave it to the photographer…).
:*(  I know somebody from the party got a shot so I will share it eventually!
We played pin the mustache on the ghost and we went bobbing for apples!  I think the kids really enjoyed it and I know we did!
Thanks sooooo much to all of our family and friends who came from near and far.  It really means a lot to us that Max is so well loved!  We feel beyond blessed by each of you!

Featured on On to Baby

Written by Shannon Leigh

Guess what!?

Tea for Ruby has been featured on On to Baby (one of my go-to sites for baby ideas).

Check out the feature here!

Featured on A Darling Day!

Written by Shannon Leigh

Tea for Ruby has been featured on another great party planning site, A Darling Day!

You should check out Jessica's amazing Etsy Shop too!

Check out the feature by clicking on the picture below.

Featured on The Sweetest Occasion

Written by Shannon Leigh

Guess what?

Tea for Ruby has been featured on The Sweetest Occasion!

I feel beyond honored!

Check out the feature by clicking on the picture below.

Tea for Ruby

Written by Shannon Leigh

I apalogize for the overload of pictures.

BUT my first child only turns one once.

We celebrated with a tea party last Saturday.

After all Ruby's favorite book is Tea for Ruby.

I made the invitations in photoshop and printed them on card stock.

I scanned floral fabric and then fashioned it into the teacup. I also scanned burlap to give the background a little bit of texture.

The fabric on the outside of the invitation is from a vintage pillowcase from a thrift store.

The gold and white medallions were left over from a project long ago.

The party was at our house.

It was a tight squeeze but everyone managed ok in our humble abode.

We used vintage tea cups (including some from Grandma Ruby, Grandma Dudley, my mom & my mother-in-law).

I even had my Great Grandma Hagen's teapot.

We also had real lumps of sugar (I was really excited about that).

I made Paula Dean's Strawberry Cake for the center of the table.

Ruby's smash cake came from Cakes on Walnut, of course..

I made embellished party hats for EVERYONE.

and EVERYONE wore one.

It was awesome.

I wish I would have gotten a pictures of the whole group.

I also made Ruby a party hat with a matching bib to wear while she ate her smash cake.

She wasn't thrilled with the hat.

O the menu for the day:

Strawberry cake

Chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting

Lemon cupcakes with lemon icing

Teapot shaped sugar cookies

Strawberries & grapes with whipped cream

Cucumber sandwiches

Broccoli sunflower salad

Cheeseball & crackers

Hot tea

Ice tea

Lemonade

&

Coffee

The chair swags are made out of doilies.

I got the idea from Martha, of course.

I LOVE that my grandma wore here party hat and sipped on tea.

So cute.

Kellen dressed up like a cowboy because... he's awesome.

I also made the garland on the window.

It's just fabric & ribbon tied to twine!

This one took some trial and error since I didn't have any kind of tutorial but I eventually got it looking the way I wanted.

Cake time.

We stripped down Ruby's dress (more on that later) and put on her hat and bib.

She wasn't SUPER excited over her smash cake.

We stuck her hand in it a few times trying to get her to go crazy but she just kind of nibbled on the icing.

She certainly didn't dig in.

It WAS a tea party after all.

She was just being a lady.

Since Matty turned the big 3-0 last week and he didn't celebrate with anyone, other than me, I decided to make him a cake and surprise him at Ruby's party.

I made him a baked alaska (one of his favorites).

I think he enjoyed it!

Then of course it was present time!

She was so spoiled by our families.

We feel so blessed to have so many people who love Ru like we do.

A special shout out to all who came and made Ruby's first birthday special.

(Especially my mother-in-law who slaved away in the kitchen with me for hours before the guests arrived. I couldn't have done it without her).

Over all the party was a great success.

I'm already dreaming up plans for birthday #2.

Dun dun dun...

Don't tell Matt.