Clara's Paw Patrol Birthday Party

Hi!  I'm still here!  I've been too busy to blog lately, but Clara just celebrated her 4th birthday and the Paw Patrol party was a HUGE hit so I thought I'd share.  PS - I was not paid by Nick Jr for this post.  I just loved all their free stuff!!!

PART 1: GAMES

Pin the Badge on Skye

This free poster came from the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol website.  I taped the poster together and also taped it to a piece of pink poster board, then laminated it.  I cut out the badges and laminated them as well so everything could be reused.

Clara's first attempt was a little bit off ;)

Photo Booth Props
The photo booth props were also free printables on the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol Website.  I cut out and laminated the Skye masks as well so that they wouldn't tear.  I found the pink elastic cord at Michaels.

I didn't laminate the Paw Patrol face cut out but I did tape it to white poster board.

I made the backdrop for the photo booth using brown craft paper and circle punches to make the paw prints.

(see Part 6: Templates for info about signs)

PART 2: DECORATIONS

Table Decor
The Paw Patrol confetti on the tables came from a Nick Jr. Paw Patrol Potty Chart free printable. I made the table runner using the same materials from the photo booth.  

Birthday Wreath
Click here to see how I made our birthday balloon wreath.

PART 3: FOOD

Snacks
I found these cute dog bowls at Dollar Tree.

Cake
I had a local baker make this cute cake based off a picture I found online.  We used Clara's toys as cake toppers.

PART 4: BIRTHDAY OUTFIT

I found Clara's outfit (pants, shirt and bow) on Etsy.  Unfortunately, when I received the outfit two days before the party the shirt had been made incorrectly!  She's only turning 4!!!

The Etsy shop couldn't send me a replacement in time for the party so they just refunded my money.  Luckily I have wonderful friends who came to my rescue.  One friend loaned me a Paw Patrol shirt to match Clara's outfit.

And another friend had this cute matching shirt made at Zoey's Attic in time for the party!

I'm so grateful to have awesome friends in my life :)

PART 5: ACTIVITY STATIONS

All of the signs that you see can be tailored for your party and purchased.  See Part 6: Templates below.

Station 1: Clara's Pet Adoption Store
I wrapped a cardboard box in a green plastic table cloth.  Then I used white card stock to make the fence.  The Adoption Certificate and Pet License came from the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol website.

The girls are obsessed with Beanie Boos!

 I cut out the Adoption Certificates and Pet Licenses and taped them to card stock.

Station 2: Clara's Animal Hospital

Station 3: Clara's Pet Grooming

I found the Paw Patrol lanyards at Party City.  I used elastic hair bands as a pet collar to attach the lanyard like a like a lease.

Station 4: Decorate a Dog Bone
I used a template to make the dog bones and found the stickers at Dollar Tree.  I used white card stock to make the bones.

Station 5: Make your own Pup Tag
I found the Pup Tag template on the Nick Jr. website. I used card stock and thin ribbon for the pup tags.

I also printed off some coloring pages from the Nick Jr. website. I found the Paw patrol bucket holding the markers at Party City.

PART 6: TEMPLATES

If you'd like to purchase tailored PDF templates for your party

1. Click the link to my Paypal account to pay the $5 for the templates:

Click this link: https://www.paypal.me/CReeves/5

2. Leave your email address, the name of your son/daughter (so I can edit your files) and the type of party you're having in the PayPal comments. 

My turnaround time is 2-3 days.  

I can also tailor the files for other animals if you are not using dogs.

Happy 4th Birthday to my baby. Mama loves you.

For more ideas, check out my Paw Patrol Birthday Party Pinterest board.

Also check out my Puppy Dog & Kitty Cat Birthday Party post and Pinterest board for ideas!

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for all your support in 2015.  

The New Year is going to start off slow for my blog, but I hope to be back in action by March.

Wishing you all a Happy 2016!

Portable North Pole Christmas Videos

I'm so excited to share with you the super fun and magical Portable North Pole videos and phone calls this year!  Christmas is such a magical time of year, especially with little ones. You can make it even more special with personalized video messages and phone calls from Santa Claus, delivered directly from his North Pole village! It's a great family tradition that my girls (and I!) look forward to every year.

And the best news ... one of you will receive a voucher for a FREE Gold Pass!! The Gold Pass costs $12.99 and allows you to create as many premium videos and phone calls as you'd like.  You can also download your videos in HD.  Keep reading to find out how to enter to win an Gold Pass!

VIDEOS
Last year I created free PNP video messages from Santa for each of the girls.  I even did a free grown-up video for Tim :) The girls still remind him about how he was on Santa's naughty list!  This year I created unique premium video messages for each of the girls. There are 7 storylines to choose from so each of my girls will receive a different message from Santa.  Click here to see some examples of the premium videos. Portable North Pole donates 5% of all proceeds from online sales to children’s hospitals around the world. Since 2012, PNP has donated over $100,000!

PHONE CALLS
There are 17 different phone calls to choose from and one was perfect for my girls - the "Not home for Christmas?" call. We are living at my parents' house right now because our home looks like this...

Ava wrote Elvis, our Elf on the Shelf, a note with detailed instructions on how to get to Nana and Papa's house in the hopes that he'd relay the message to Santa :)  I can't wait for her to get Santa's phone call on Christmas Eve!!!  She's going to FREAK OUT!

MOBILE APP
Don't forget to check out the PNP Mobile App.  You can create, watch and send videos and calls from your mobile devices.  Your kids will love the exclusive kid-friendly section with fun games and activities!

ENTER TO WIN!!
Leave a comment below by Saturday, December 19th and I will randomly select a winner on December 20th.  Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you with your voucher code for your GOLD PASS!

Merry Christmas from my 3 little elves!

And thank you for all your support in 2015!

Pumpkin Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love baking with pumpkin.  This is the new pumpkin recipe that I tried out this year.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg 
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process). 
4. Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. 
5. Mix in chocolate chips (if you want some chocolate to show through set some aside to press into tops before baking). 
6. Let batter rest 5 - 10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn't so sticky and cookies don't spread so much).
7. Scoop dough out 2 Tbsp at a time and drop onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. 
8. Bake in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Yield:
4 dozen cookies

Step 2

Step 4

Step 5

Step 7

The muffins turned out great too!

Happy Holidays!