Happy Monday! I know some of you are back to school already, but we’re still celebrating summer–even if it is the last few minutes of it. My little one turned 13 a week ago, and she said she wanted to have a few girlfriends over to hang out in the backyard.
“A few friends” is code for 15. Just so you know this. I did not.
As usual, I went into full birthday mode until my teenager quickly put the kabash on it. As much as she’s loved her birthday parties of years’ past, she made it clear this was to be casual–meaning JaG was just gonna have to reign it in this year. Ick.
I wanted a cute little burger slider bar; she wanted $5.00 pizza. I wanted a chalkboard wrapped in moss hanging on the wall; she wanted one from the basement leaning on a table. We definitely compromised and ended up getting a casual yet pretty party.
Sure…it’s missing a few labels here and there that I like to use. And maybe I would have liked a few more flower arrangements. But she’s the birthday girl, right?
Hit of the party? Pop in bottles. Who knew? Well, I guess I kinda knew since I bought them, but those suckers didn’t stand a chance with all those girls!
Another hit? Wedding sparklers. I ordered 20″ sparklers from here, and they absolutely loved them! They’re not the cheapest things in the world, but they really were entertaining.
My s’mores cart. No labels. No cutesy table layout. But this cute little Ikea cart stolen from my classroom did the trick. Our fire pit is actually a distance from the house, so we always bring out wet wipes or paper towel to wipe faces and hands. Very convenient!
We were blessed with some amazing weather and an even more amazing sunset that evening, so the s’mores and sparklers were put to very good use.
So those are some ideas for a summer birthday party that was 98% outside (hands up for not having 15 teens in your house all day!). The big dog of the party? This guy…
I’ll be back to give you some tips on how we did it! Enjoy!