Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

Wandering around your yellow brick road looking for OZ? This Wizard of Oz Birthday party is full of fun ideas that you can recreate all on your own! Because really, there's NO place like HOME!

Pull on your striped socks, grab your ruby slippers and let's get this party started!

My amazing friend Jaime, is the creative genius behind this stunning party. She sews and cooks fabulous dishes, while I bring her party ideas to life with paper, paint and glitter!

Putting together a party can be hard work but it's enjoying what you've created that makes it all worthwhile. Make your dishes simple, so that guests can help themselves.

Munchkin Bites - mini corndogs

Cowardly Lion Stew - stew in a crock pot

Scarecrow Hats - Bugles

Yellow Brick Dip - hot queso dip in a warming dish

Witches Brooms - PB cups with pretzels stuck into the centers

Dessert Treats can also double as take home gifts for your party munchkins. 

Jaime served the cupcakes outside and passed out caramel apples and lollipops to the guests as they left the party.

If you ask a few of your guests to dress up, this not only makes for a fun party but also, great photos too! The tin man was a huge hit with all the munchkins and they gave him a heart, while blindfolded.

The sidewalk was turned into a yellow brick road with simple yellow table clothes drawn on with a black sharpie and held down by golf tees, so it didn't blow away in the fall breeze.

Rainbows can be created with dollar store tablecloths,  streamers, paper or even sidewalk chalk. Just remember to have fun and skip your way to a fabulous party!

Birthday Banner Giveaway

Update: Giveaway CLOSED - the winner has been notified!! 

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To celebrate the wonderful month of March, my Birthday (today) & LeroyLime's quite popular Minecraft Birthday Party Post...

I'm giving away this Happy Birthday banner to one lucky reader! Please follow LeroyLime on any form of social media and comment below how you follow. Giveaway ends March 20th 12AM EST. You can also share this post using the hashtag #leroylimegiveaway

Good luck!

This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed administered by, or associated with Instagram or Facebook. One winner will be chosen randomly & Banner will be mailed to winner. US residents only. 

Giveaway runs March 9 - 20th 2016. 

DIY Minecraft Party Ideas

My oldest son turned 8 last month and thank goodness he picked an easy party theme...seriously, if you have a square punch, you can put together a Minecraft Party, no problem!

For his school classroom party favors, I had to come up with something that didn't involve sweets or treats, so found a very simple creeper online that I printed out and turned into bookmarks that the kids could color. Glow Sticks are always fun and you can snag them very inexpensively at your nearest Dollar Store. I added a wearable paper mustache, just for fun, that I cut out using a Sizzix Die and my Big Shot.

Then onto the decorations for his actual Birthday and Birthday Party...

A fun banner, using brown and green. The green tops of the triangle pennants were dry embossed with a grass embossing folder and a Texture Boutique Machine, specifically for dry embossing.

The Creepers were made just like the invitations, using green cardstock and black squares.

A roll of green wrapping paper turned his packages into a fun little Creeper, which he posed with in the morning...I used a larger square punch and my paper cutter to make larger square pieces for the face. Some green and black balloons and streamers added a bit more pizzaz to his Creeper.

A package of green paper lunch bags and a square punch turned these into fun Creeper Party Bags...but what do you put in them, don't worry, we've got ya covered!

One square punch can make all the pieces you need, you don't need to buy multiple square punches. Just flip your punch over so you can see the cardstock, punch out the pieces needed and adhere to your party bags!

We filled the party bags with TNT (individually wrapped red licorice) and mini gold wrapped Twix bars for Gold Ingots. Added a bookmark and glow stick bracelet but the bags seemed a bit empty...so...out to the garage, where I cut scraps of wood into 4X4 squares. 

A quick sandjob by the almost 8 year old and then I put him to work painting them all green. 

 I made a paper template (which I used twice) using a smaller square punch and removeable adhesive, before tossing that in the trash and free hand painting the rest of the faces on the blocks.

I'd love to see your Minecraft Party posts too, feel free to link them in the comment section below! Happy Creeping...

Mustache Party Ideas

Mustaches are cool hip and trendy...perfect for all ages and such a fun party theme to throw together quickly! You can find mustache items pretty easily now, in the dollar sections at store, in the sticker aisle at craft stores and even in the punch aisle. I wrapped a piece of artwork with a black vinyl table cloth and then ran some green crepe paper around it to look like a package. Some quick mustaches cut out by hand on green paper added to the backdrop.

A mustache punch is how I made these cute mini mustache cupcake toppers. A little bit of cardstock, glue, wooden sticks and they doubled as a mustache photo prop! Just hold in place and say cheese...

I asked my son what color he'd like me to work with and he chose green, his favorite for the moment. Found this fab black and white wrapping paper in the dollar section at Target and picked up a roll of green crepe paper for decorating. Black and white chevron paper plates and cups were found at Wally World and a package of green napkins helped keep our green vibes flowing throughout.

I am not a fan of all the plastic kitschy toys that are usually passed out in goody bags. They usually break within the first hour and when my kids bring home whistles, um, no thank you! But really, what's a party without goody bags? A bit of sweet with the green apple Pop Rocks, a glow stick necklace, a fuzzy mustache (for wearing) and mustache foam stickers. Simple, not too over the top and I think they did the trick. It's always nice to give a little thank you for those that took the time to come to a party and I haven't had a kiddo turn down a goody bag...yet.

Elmo Rainbow Party (on the cheap)

I'm not a huge character fan *insert gasp here...but you can't help but fall in love with Elmo

and that's exactly what every one of my four kiddos has done!

I was standing in the party aisle at Wally World trying to come up with something crafty and found these fun chevron rainbow colored plates, perfect for a rainbow themed little girl's Birthday and of course with the color red, I was able to fit Elmo into the theme!

 I snatched up the last of the mini paper rosettes at .70 cents per pack of two, a total steal in my book and promptly went home to punch out elmo features to make his face. I used two different sized circle punches for his eyes, an oval for the nose and a large circle that I cut with my Big Shot and xl Sizzix circle die and then trimmed in half for the mouth. Because the rosettes have gaps, hot glue was the best way to adhere the pieces onto the rosettes.

 Streamers are a fun way to add color inexpensively to any space, so I hung mine in a rainbow pattern, first covering a piece of artwork with a red vinyl table cloth so it didn't show through.

 I can't take credit for the cupcakes...they were already frosted in primary colors and the elmo cupcake toppers were also found at Wally World in the party aisle. 

Here are a few more shots of decorations, our 2 year old was a very happy camper and LOVED all the Elmo's. The Happy Birthday Rainbow banner is one I now have listed in my LeroyLime Etsy shop, you can view that HERE. The two rainbow colored paper balls were also in the party aisle at Wally World. Wally World for the win!! And a party wouldn't be complete without gobs of balloons!

Lego Birthday Party Ideas

I love planning parties...but

my kids usually get the short end of the 

party planning stick since Mama is running

around like a crazy last-minute lady! 

(crafting party items for LeroyLime on Etsy)

If I haven't mentioned before...well, I don't do cakes, 

I'm more of a paper gal, so if you need a paper cake,

I've got you covered but those tend to not like flame.

I asked the lady behind the cake counter for a lego cake and 

my son was happy, so win win for this Mama...

and onto the decorations and party favors.

We held my son's 5th Birthday at the bowling alley,

(he's now 7)

which makes for easy cleanup and is a great venue

if you are looking for something fun for the kids

to do without breaking the bank!

The party patrons weren't many, so I opted for a small

box of legos for each child and made a "thank you" lego

bookmark, that I had my son color for his friends. 

I printed out a lego man online, typed a little thank

you note, attached to a piece of 

cardstock and added a piece of bakers twine. Bam!

Pizza, Cake, Legos and Lemonade 

A simple party that everyone enjoyed...

just wish I had taken more photos!

Below are a few of my favorite Pinned Lego Party Ideas,
if you've got some great ones, please link them
in the comments!

Betty Crocker nailed it with these lego cakes using
marshmallows!! Pure genius!

If you'd rather have cookies than cakes at your Lego

Party, check out this fabulous Lego Man Cookie

tutorial from Sweet Sugar Belle.

Surviving the Stores created a fun post
on how to have a Lego Birthday Party
for under $100.

For more fun Birthday Boy Ideas, click on 

my Pinterest board below...

  

Follow Dawn w/LeroyLime's board - Birthday Boy - on Pinterest.

Tropical Girl's Birthday Party

I still can't believe my baby girl is NINE, wowzers!

Where has the time gone?? 

She wanted to have her Birthday at the indoor water

park near us, so picked a tropical motif for Mama to

work her magic with this year. It was fun working 

with all the fun colors and seeing her face light

up when she saw the decorations, was the icing

on top of the store bought cake.

(yup, I'm that Mom)

Before her big day, we of course had to make 

party invitations, no store bought of digital ones

for this family...

Addie had fun coloring all the toucan birds, I 

cut them out and we used a pop dot to made them

fly off the invitations.

Her simply "loud" store bought cake was 

gobbled up by all the sugar hungry party girls...

A bit of coordinating party table flair to adorn the tables.

We picked up a carton of tiny paper umbrellas and scattered

them in the middle of the tables with tropical flowers, that the 

girls had fun playing with while they were waiting for the

pizza to arrive.

and finally a Thank You to all her silly friends for

helping make her 9th Birthday a splashing success!

 We made flower hair clips and added a few pieces of 

candy taffy to their thank you bags.

Happy Birthday baby girl, I LOVE you
to the moon and back!!

How-To Make a Paper Bag Rosette

I recently made decor for a cowgirl themed birthday party. A request was made for much larger rosettes than what I typically make for my banners, so I decided to try my hand at a paper bag rosette. It really is quite simple and I took photos of the process to help guide you during this fun project. They make a great natural backdrop, hung from different lengths of ribbon or twine and you can add any color in the center to make them match your own party or wedding decor.

1. I only used one side of the paper bag and cut the entire back off (the part without the bottom) then cut the large rectangle in 1/2, straight down the middle, so you have two long rectangles.

2. start folding an elementary fan fold, back and forth, back and forth, just try to keep the folds the same size.

3. Attach a strip of adhesive to the inside fold of the ends. I use double sided strong sticky tape (or what crafters call boloney tape, since you peel off the red backing), you can find this at any craft store and it really is amazing stuff! and then depending on how full you want your rosette, you keep attaching more to the ends, to get your desired length. I used three strips of paper bag per rosette.

4. Peel off the last piece of backing from your tape and now you'll have a full folded circle, which you form into a lamp shade shape and then lightly push down the center to form your rosette.

5. Have a hot glue gun handy and insert glue into the center hole and around the top edges where you will be covering with whatever shape or stamped image/message you'd like. Attach that right away.

6. Punch a hole in one top side and string up for decoration. 

You can also make smaller versions of these for your Christmas trees, a fun project to do with your little kiddos or young cousins! Have fun folding!