Dinosaur Party

Dinosaur Party

My boys Memphis (now 5)  and Fox (now 2) had a joint Birthday Party. This Dinosaur Party was literally a year in the planning. I think it was maybe a week after his last party (The Pirate Party) that we begun thinking, and planning. Whilst I wasn't literally doing things for it the entire year, there were lots of small purchases made along the way, and crafty things made in advance.

This picture doesnt do this Dinosaur justice- this guy was huge, 6 feet tall! My wonderful hubby made him!

I googled diy wooden dinosaurs and found an Awesome app with step by step instructions. I had the template printed out on huge paper, then spent 2 days cutting it all out. I actually had temporary loss of feeling in my thumb for 2 weeks!

After all the pieces were cut out hubby spent many nights out in the shed with the jigsaw cutting out the wood pieces.

Then we had to have a Dinosaur Hunt- I made Fossilized Dinosaurs, and thought Binoculars would be a  great accessory. However I couldn't find any cheap enough so started saving months before all our empty toilet rolls. Above was the first one I made. Toilet rolls, coloured card, glue stick, sticky tape, electrical tape for the ends and some ribbon, Super easy, but if I never have to make another set of binoculars it would be too soon! Memphis was pretty stoked. After 23 of them I was soooo over it.I made half orange and the other half green.

       

The kids smashing their fossils to break out the Dinosaurs hidden inside!

  The Goodie Bags.
I printed and cut out about 30 of these Dino foot prints. 21 of them for the Party Favor bags, and the rest to place around the house.I had planned on using the scrap paper to make my own confetti to put into the pinata. As one might imagine it's an awful job to do and I was over that in 2 seconds flat.

I still cannot get over how expensive flat bottom brown paper bags are. I ended up getting these off ebay. I bought a pack of normal bags from woolies in case I had extra kids/siblings turn up. Luckily I was spot on for numbers.

Inside the bags I had the usual, some lollies, annoying blower thing, dinosaur tattoo, home made Dino Chocolates, A Hatching Dinosaur- see below, and a Dino paddle toy.

 You may remember my post a while back about the playdoh I made? well I put the recipe to good use and made some more. I thought they would be perfect favors

I had little stickers made on vistaprint that said "Roar, thanks for partying with us, Memphis & Fox 2014''

Also in the bags I made a tonne of little Dinosaur Chocolates. I had planned to make crayons using another mold the same but just ran out of time.

I bagged up 4 little Dino's in a clear little bag (from Safeway) and into the goodie bag they went.

Grow A Dino- I found the Dinosaurs on ebay but as for the bags and tag it was thanks to Pinterest. I copied something another pinner did.

 The Pinata- I was all set to make an actual Dinosaur shape Pinata. Ran out of time and effort factor. So not only did i cheat, but I covered up Tinkerbell in the process (the pinata was store bought and fitted the orange /green colour scheme perfectly)

 I didn't want any old jelly cups. And after much convincing that putting chocolate frogs in jelly would only result in soggy frogs Memphis agreed no frogs. So instead I surprised him with a 3 layer jelly cup! Of course it was more time consuming- ensuring each layer was completely set before adding the next, but hey- they look great right!

The boys t-shirts were $4 each from Target, and I found on Ebay yet again some Personalized iron on transfers.. Teamed up with Milky Slate Cargo Shorts  from Baby For Life

 

 

Hoorah a family pic!

Last year the cake was almost the thing that made me lose it.. This year, and last minute I put a call out on our local page on Facebook to find a cake maker. The lovely Alison Leguido from Cupcake Ally came to the rescue.  She had barely a week to come up with it and I was so stoked. The boys loved their cake!

 

Dinosaur Cookies- Looked easy on Pinterest, easy in theory reality was a whole lot different!

 

I agonized over these darn Dino cookies. I had  researched how to use royal icing and everything but I wasn't convinced on the cookie recipe to begin with, and then the icing seemed like alot of hard work that wasn't guaranteed to result in my desired affect. So the boys got to eat them after the party. I quit before I really even got started. I know my strengths and to date baking pretty cookies isn't one of them!


Managed to get a group shot of all the kids!-





This Red blow up Dinosaur copped a beating. I was surprised it lasted an hour. The kids dragged him around the yard, jumped on him punched him. They loved it. Best $24.95 I ever spent!
(just 3 weeks later he finally got a hole in him)

Overall it was a fab day. I was lucky enough to have a special gal Kayla who helped me out with games and supervision with the kids and so on. Couldn't have done it without her.
For food, we had Dinosaur Fairy bread, Fruit Kebabs, cheezels, small amount of lollies.
Lunch we served Dinosaur nuggets (of course)
Grownups had gourmet sandwiches, and nibblies like Kabana & cheese, biccies and dip etc.

Pick me up

So I've just booked in a session with my Awesome coach Sal for next week. I always feel a tad weary, a bit apprehensive. Like Is she going to reprimand me for not doing x,y,& z right before a session. Not that she's any kid of task master- in fact she asked me when we were first begun how would I like her to coach me and I pretty much said to kick me up the bum! So I get exactly what I asked for! But I am a people pleaser, and having someone like Sal who will encourage and inspire and give that pat on the back is so Wonderful!

Sal is a pick me up, that pep talk a team gets right before the finals & end up winning the game . She's a breath of fresh air. She's straight forward and to the point. That's how I feel after a session- like I'm on cloud nine, like I can take on the world (even if it does mean a lot of hard work and patience)
I am so looking forward now to our session. 

Brain is suddenly into overdrive going, oh what can I do before we chat, anything that I know I should have been doing and perhaps neglected. I am not perfect, I think however I've been doing most things we've talked about previously. I've said it before, it's a tad lonely being one's own boss. Having Sal is like my boss, business partner, and guidance counselor all in one.

As usual, I get all inspired at the wrong moments- eg I'm off to my night job in 3 hours, and there's dinner to cook, kids to get ready for bed and all that so no brainstorming or planning tonight. First thing tomorrow I'm onto it. Motivation will be there no matter what...

oh, and first on my list is to finish my blog on my boys dinosaur party.

New Stock Dilemma

It's 43 degrees here today, and whilst I have 2 other blog posts on the go I cant seem to finish them. So instead I'll chat about other things on my mind- New stock.

Unless its a no brainer item (Baby related and sensibly affordable to everyone)  I get scared (well that's not the right word, but definitely weary) when choosing new stock to buy for Baby For Life. It's a cash outlay upfront, with no data to tell you if it will sell or sit in plastic tubs in the shed losing me money. I falter, I hesitate & usually I don't end up buying and then miss out later on when I see other stores successfully selling said item.

First up is the Pixie rug- It's so very popular, it's Great Quality and it looks Fab. I love it, but not sure if it's a right fit for the store- Will my customers- you people love it like I do? Will you willingly fork out the $85 for it? It ''seems'' like alot of money- but a Picnic Rug, and one that looks like this is not something you will have to buy often. So here they are.

 My reasoning on adding this one- is lifestyle, out and about with kids and babies and something Mums can splash and buy for themselves. 

My next item- One I've been thinking bout since before Xmas is the Kids Teepee's

Oh they're so cute- and I'd happily have this set up in my house instead of the countless amounts of blankets thrown over my table & the kids table- but concern again is price? I am still gauging what price bracket you're all in. If you cant afford it well it wont matter how pretty it is . I think my boys would lose their mind if they had one of these. Though I'm sure I'd get frustrated as it got dragged from inside to outside the house on a constant basis.

Here is one I've been looking at from Nic-Nac

nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m) and 7 foot (2.1m).  They are identical except for their size, and number of poles.  This is the page to purchase a FIVE foot (small) teepee - to order a SEVEN foot (large) - See more at: http://www.nic-nac.com.au/products/kids-play-tents-teepees-for-sale-online-in-australia-nic-nac/133/1#sthash.Wo5wjJBE.dpuf

nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m) and 7 foot (2.1m).  They are identical except for their size, and number of poles.  This is the page to purchase a FIVE foot (small) teepee - to order a SEVEN foot (large) - See more at: http://www.nic-nac.com.au/products/kids-play-tents-teepees-for-sale-online-in-australia-nic-nac/133/1#sthash.Wo5wjJBE.dpuf

Nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m)  $98.95 

and 7 foot (2.1m) $149.95

Each teepee (both sizes) comes with;
1x carry bag with strap for easy carting off to the beach or park

1x 100% cotton cover, machine washable, natural colour, light and breathable fabric, perfect for the Australian climate.  The cover has a tie at the top, to ensure teepee cover stays perfectly in place and can be adjusted.

6x wooden poles for the 7 foot (and 5 poles for the 5 foot)

Teepees are fantastic for use all year round, and both inside and out, in the bedroom, in the park, in the garden, at the beach, so many options for imaginative play ... and more importantly - these are the ideal gift for any age, from babies, through to toddlers, kids and tweens, and even as a reading (ipad?!) nook for teens - they're fantastic. -

nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m) and 7 foot (2.1m).  They are identical except for their size, and number of poles.  This is the page to purchase a FIVE foot (small) teepee - to order a SEVEN foot (large) - See more at: http://www.nic-nac.com.au/products/kids-play-tents-teepees-for-sale-online-in-australia-nic-nac/133/1#sthash.Wo5wjJBE.dpuf

nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m) and 7 foot (2.1m).  They are identical except for their size, and number of poles.  This is the page to purchase a FIVE foot (small) teepee - to order a SEVEN foot (large) - See more at: http://www.nic-nac.com.au/products/kids-play-tents-teepees-for-sale-online-in-australia-nic-nac/133/1#sthash.Wo5wjJBE.dpuf

I think I've sold myself on this Teepee :) I'd like to add this to the store because I think Imaginative play, and especially outdoor play is really important for kids. Whilst we bought our son Memphis (who has just turned 5) a leap pad tablet for xmas he is on limited usage per day as i want him to continue being active and doing all the wonderful things kids should do (no couch potatoes here thanks)

eepees ... the 7 foot version!
nic-nac teepees come in two sizes ... 5 foot (1.5m) and 7 foot (2.1m) This is the page to purchase a SEVEN foot (large) teepee - to order a FIVE foot (small) teepee, click here 
Each teepee (both sizes) comes with;
1x carry bag with strap for easy carting off to the beach or park
1x 100% cotton cover, machine washable, natural colour, light and breathable fabric, perfect for the Australian climate.  The cover has a tie at the top, to ensure teepee cover stays perfectly in place and can be adjusted.
6x wooden poles
6x wooden beads which slot between each pole at the top, to ensure perfect spacing
- See more at: http://www.nic-nac.com.au/products/nic-nac-wooden-pole-teepees-7-foot-lg/197/1#sthash.HDZ7I2R6.dpuf

Next on the list is the Beautiful range of Muslin Wraps, sleeping bags, toys, cuddlies & more from Aden + Anais. I love this range. I hesitate with the sleeping bags only because there are so many different designs to choose from then lots of sizes in each design. It's alot of stock to have on hand but if we were to stock this brand I'd happily take special Customer orders :)

                     Lovey $29.95                                           Easy Swaddle $34.95

This brand is definitely relevant to baby for life, and I think it would sell well. Perhaps I should just start with a small range and go from there.

So where to from here?? You all comment below or on facebook or via email info@babyforlfie.com.au and let me know your thoughts! I'd love your input- Baby For Life should be what you all want! 

Seriously Help! Please

 

The aftermath

I'm in a low spot today. Yesterday was D Day (as in the boys Dinosaur Party) I am in the process of blogging about that awesome day and how it all come about but I'm waiting till I get pictures back from the photographer before I post.

I can just say though that the party clean up was fast and painless. It's as if, nothing happened at all.

I was personally looking forward to the party all year. It wasn't just about the boys, I'm honest enough to admit that. Firstly I love planning- anything really, but especially a party. And secondly it gave me something Big to look forward to. And not to mention a chance to attempt catching up with friends & beginning to build new adult friendships.Right now I'm in that lul, the aftermath of a year long wait and now its all over I just dont know what else I'm gong to do with myself all year (of course being a mummy to two wonderful boys) but I mean something else, something I class as fun & challenging to keep my brain busy.

Both the boys have been wonderful today. As if they've known I needed to be still, and alone with my thoughts: they have played the best together than they have in ages. I think after all yesterdays excitement they were glad for it to just be the two of them. It's given me plenty of time for thinking and contemplation.
I didn't make any New Years resolutions, I believe any day you can start anew. And with this on my mind I am thinking about the coming 12 months and what changes I can and need to make. I get closer and closer to my must do's in life when I have these thinking moments. I don't know when I will take action on them, but it will happen. I just know that my kids will be more of a priority above any and everything else. The price my kids and my family have paid for me to be working so much has finally dawned on me and I dont want that to continue. They are only young once.





I have been so busy, especially the last 2 months, with My son's 2nd birthday, then xmas, New years, and then the final details of this party. I have been a tad absent from the business. Whilst I know thats not cool business wise it has been best for my family. I think I need to switch off more from it in fact in the future.

I did however do a little light reading today on some more SEO tips- particularly on blogging and getting traffic. It went in the too hard basket today, maybe for tomorrow. You could help me but by letting me know you read my blogs, that would certainly help!
I will awake tomorrow, back to my busy Buzzing Bec self, and get stuck into life. These low spots are ok, as long as we rise from them as quickly as we fall and know that everything is going to be alright.