Life as Mrs A.: Dinosaur Party!!!

Both my boys had birthdays....Connor turned 3 and Grayson turned 1!!!! I can't believe how fast it's going and how grown up they are already. Since their birthdays are both the same week as Christmas (Connor the 23rd and Grayson the 31st) we had a joint birthday party this year the weekend after Christmas. I probably won't be able to get away with joint parties for long so I'll take advantage while I can!

Months ago I found these really cute dinosaur candles on clearance at target and scooped them up, and luckily Connor likes dinosaurs a lot more now than he did when I bought them originally, so a dino party it was! We're also preparing for Mr. A to get out of the army and for us to move back home in a few short months so money is TIGHT especially with buying for both kids for birthdays AND Christmas. The only way I convinced my husband to do a party was that I promised to DIY everything.

I ordered these tiny dinosaurs on Amazon for the cake toppers and favors. I didn't get a picture of my favors because I was running out of time but I found this tutorial and painted the lids of baby food jars and hot glued dinosaurs on top (I didn't paint the dinosaurs). I used this mold and made my own dinosaur shaped crayons. I also included these temporary tattoos, some dinosaur stickers, and a container of homemade Kool-Aid playdough. I put all of this in simple brown paper bags, punched holes and tied with ribbon (that I already had). I had some scrapbook paper laying around and I printed up "Thank you for coming" on the front and the recipe for the playdough on the back and included a packet of Kool-Aid mix so they could make their own at home.

I used store bought cake mix and frosting. Can't get much cheaper than that! I baked the cakes and cupcakes the night before, once cooled wrapped in saran wrap and put them in the fridge. It was about a 45 minute drive to the house we had the party at so by the time we got there the next day to prep for the party they were room temp and ready to be frosted. I threw a pack of oreos in a food processor, dumped them on top of the frosting (hey, I was in a hurry!), and tossed some dinosaurs on. Very very simple but everyone loved it and they tasted amazing! (The leftover crushed oreos were really good on ice cream, too!)

I created some cute labels and printed them on card stock. The veggie platter was "Herbivore Food", pretzel sticks were "Bronto-bones", peanut M&Ms were "Dinosaur Eggs". We also had "Prehistoric Punch", "Carnivore Food" (a meat and queso dip with chips), and "Dirt Cake".