9/25/08

Outdoor Movie Night Birthday - the Eats!

Part of planning a party is the food, of course. And so my daughter and I came up with a simple menu of “eats,” that would be fun, yet inexpensive.

Mini burger bar
Our mini burger bar consisted of burgers, buns, crunchy fresh iceberg lettuce and ketchup! I think I made up 60 mini patties, and for the buns I bought dinner rolls and sliced out the middle! (Thank you, Hoppi, for "bun" idea.)


How simple is that?! We cut up a large watermelon and served chips.


Beverage of choice
Our beverage of choice was this: Water! When my daughter asked for soda I asked her, do you want soda or party favors for your guests? I made her weigh out what was more important to her, since we were trying to keep costs down. She decided on water.


Individual cakes
Funfetti mini-fluted cakes were made for each girl the night before. We had 3 flavors of frosting and we gathered up the miscellaneous bottles of sprinkles (from past holidays) in our kitchen. The girls got to frost and decorate their own cakes!


Filling up the plates
The 17 girls went thru the line rather quickly, filling up their plates. They ate out on blankets in the backyard.




Hugs
Hugs and friendships is what it’s all about with these girls. My daughter has some great friends who mean a lot to her!


The movie
How many kids get to lie outside on blankets, watching movies and hanging out with friends? The girls plopped their blankets and pillows on the grass, and using extension cords, we rolled out the TV and DVD player and watched Hairspray. They had new silky pillowcases to lie on, and the weather was crisp and cool. Enchanting evening indeed.


A grateful daughter
Yes, at the end of the evening I had a grateful daughter. I could tell by the glow on her face!


Who says home parties can’t be exciting and fun? The smiles and laughter that I witnessed last weekend showed me that these girls had a blast at our simple, inexpensive outdoor movie night party.


What are some simple, creative parties that you have had in your home?

(If any of my "local" friends want to ever borrow my mini-fluted cake pans, or my GIANT cupcake pan - just let me know!)

19 comments:

Shell in your Pocket said...

I love the mini cakes and mini hamburgers..so very cute!
-Sandy Toes

Rebekah said...

What a great birthday party that your daughter and her friends will always remember. You are such a cool mom!

Jen said...

simple parties? I dont think i have ever done simple...lol. now outside the home we have done the winter Olympics, a luau, spa parties, pizza joints, mc donalds fun land, sleepovers, you name it and we have most likely done it. I made Madison quit having the parties when she was 10...so she gets to invite someone over for a sleepover and we take them to dinner and a movie or bowling or skating.....I started parties at 4...so Miller will be 3 this year....I do family things so next year is his big party debut...lol....I love your mini burger idea....

Kris said...

It looks like the girls had a blast. We have had several 'simple' parties. My eldest has had a fish party, a Buzz Lightyear party, and a Mad Scientist party. He would probably tell you the mad science was his favorite. We invited his entire class and had many experiments for them to try. My daughter loves tea parties, so both of hers have been along that theme. One party was a princess theme and her friends came in their very best and played kiss the frog (like pin the tail on the donkey) and this year was a fairy theme with all of her friends receiving wings from the Dollar Store as their party gifts. My youngest had his first big party this year and it was a bug party and everyone got into the theme.

We live in a small town and love to be creative. I love your blog!!

Anonymous said...

I love these ideas!! My daughter is 12, and I'm sure she would love this for her next party.

As for simple parties, we've done all kinds - we do something different every year. My daughter's fave was a video scavenger hunt. We had two teams of girls in two cars armed with video cameras and a list of lots of things from around our town. They had 1 hour to run around and video as much as they could from the list, and then we all came back together at our house and watched the videos over cake and ice cream. She LOVED it! I think it was her favorite party so far.

Deidre said...

This is such a great idea! I love everything from the movie, to the pillowcases, to the mini-burgers and cakes. My daughter would LOVE this. Her birthday is in November and gets rather chilly here, but we could always move up the celebration, right?

Kirstin said...

I love those ideas. i just bought mini muffin pan from Pampered chef. We might use them for my oldests birthday. Hers is coming up and we've been discussing what we'll do. I love the pillow case idea.

We usually do dinner for their guests and then whatever dessert they choose. My oldest is not a huge cake fan so we've done brownies, icecream sandwich sundays where the girls got to decorate them with all sorts of toppings.

This year we're talking of doing enchiladas and caramel apples.

Because she also has so many young adults in her life (we're youth pastors) she usually invites several people and then just her girlfriends spend the night.

She wants to get her ears pierced this year, but we may have to wait for her soccer break since she won't be able to remove them.

I don't necessarily go all out on decor because honestly I can't really afford it. The girls would rather spend the money on goodies to give their friends or on other things.

~j~ said...

So much fun with girls to do everything mini! those cakes are an awesome idea! the whole night looked so much fun!
A wonderful memory for your sweet girl!
xo
j

Anonymous said...

I just love home parties. For the most part all of ours have been at home except a couple. I think it is so lovely to invite your child's friends into the home to celebrate. I still wish I had your patio. I have such fond memories of our evening together.

Betts said...

We've had all at home parties until this year when she had a beauty shop party. My favorite was the cowgirl party where they had to dig for party favors in a pile of hay.

vanessa said...

Hi, sounds like a great party. I am a follower of your blog but have not left a comment yet, but I thought this was the perfect time. I just got done writing up a blog post on a party I had for my three year old. You can check it out at http://vanessa-hisbride.blogspot.com/ and just follow the link. We love to have simple fun parties in my home. I hope you enjoy.

Rindy R said...

What a lovely party. I just posted a "Sushi Party" for my 6 year old over at KitchenKlique.blogspot.com.
The highlight for the girls was eating with chopsticks and we took the legs off the dining room table and they all ate on the floor! I don't know who had more fun - them or me getting to watch them!
You have a great blog and I am stealing many great ideas for my up and coming Tween!

Anonymous said...

Amazing Blog

Sue McGettigan said...

How idyllic!! I'm sure that's an evening your DD (and her friends) will always remember :)

tammi said...

Oh, Sandy, these pictures and ideas are AWESOME! I'd really love to try an outdoor movie night sometime. Someday. And not for my oldest daughter's birthday, that's for sure ~ it's in January!

Anonymous said...

Well, we're having a creative party next Tuesday.

My husband, son and I have been at Fitness Boot Camp for a month, 3 months to go. One component most classmembers are having a hard time with is the nutrition. Face it, it is HARD changing your eating patterns.

One of the problems for me is the time and finances to try new recipes.

SO, next Tuesday night we're having a bonfire and a potluck for our class, but the ENTRY FEE to our party is MUST MAKE and BRING a healthy recipe from the Boot Camp website. I will be providing a breakfast burrito bar with sauteed veggies, tortillas and scrambled eggs kept warm in a crockpot.

Everybody is really excited : ) Will let you know how it turns out!

deb meyers

please sir said...

Looks so fun - I love the mini burgers - yum!

snazzykc said...

I think the most creative party we had was an "all holiday party." The girls got valentine invitations, came dressed in costume, put gifts under the christmas tree which was decorated for the 4th, decorated turkey cookies, took home treats in a green easter basket.

Anonymous said...

What a great party. You are super creative.