Who smells smoke? Don’t panic, that’s just Clara’s dragon party, rollin’ into town (er, the internet?). Note: you can’t really smell this party through your computer, so if you smell smoke, please look into it. This year’s party was lower key than our last two (here’s her first birthday party, and her worm party from last year) and even though it was rainy and wet outside, eight kiddos and twelve adults jammed out inside. It was fun. And Clara made me cry. She’s just so big and sweet and hilarious and I’m the luckiest mom in the world.
Plus, dragons. I mean if that’s not a trump card for a party, I’m not sure what is. After she picked worms for her party last year I wasn’t sure it got more fun than that, but when she told us she wanted dragons this year, well, we laughed and jumped right in. She even told the doctor at her three year appointment that dragons were coming to her party and I’m pretty sure he was hedging for an invite after she name dropped winged-fire-breathing-creatures.
Look at this kid of mine, holding her cousin’s hand and dragging him into the sunroom for pizza. A second after I snapped this shot, she turned to Emanuel and said “be happy! there’s pizza!”
My favorite part of the whole day was this little painting of fire that I made on foam core and taped to the wall at kid-mouth-height. Everyone could be a dragon and we snapped lots of photos of all the kids having fun with it.
Burger even got in on the action…
Some adults posed for a few pretty hilarious photos too (turns out kid mouth height is adult bum height so you can guess where I’m going).
Here’s the sunroom all decked out. No balloons and streamers this year, just a few packs of paper lanterns from the dollar spot at Target (they sell them in sets of 2 & 3). The paper tablecloth is also from Target (it has some pretty dragon-ish consummate Vs) which is also where we grabbed the plates and napkins. Then we just ordered pizza, heated up some dragon-shaped chicken nuggets (aka: dragon nuggets), sliced up some vegetables, and tossed some chips and popcorn into a few bowls.
Oh and the table is the one from the deck. We just dragged it into the sunroom and wiped it down (dang rain!) and it was all good.
Who knew sliced peppers could look so fire-like, eh? John. John knew. Apparently guys + fire = besties. And of course we had the castles that Clara painted in the background with little rubber dragons on them (snagged at Michael’s in a few tubes of 8, so they also ended up in the kids’ favors). And those flame-like sunflowers were a few bucks at Kroger (that’s a local grocery store for the non-locals). How awesome are they?! They’re like fire on a stick.
We kept the food super simple. In fact, except for baking some cookies with the birthday girl herself, we didn’t cook a thing. We really just wanted this to be an easy and casual gathering, so we didn’t go crazy cooking or decorating. Plus it’s a fun challenge to look at “party food” like chips, jelly beans, and popcorn to see if we could somehow make it dragon-ish. Here’s what we came up with:
We also played up the hot/fire-breathing thing and had some Hot Tamales and FireBalls (clearly labeled so no kiddos accidentally ate them and blew smoke out of their ears). They were a big hit with the grown ups. Meanwhile the kids rocked out with the rock candy. I thought they were fire-ish so I grabbed them at the register at Michaels (hello impulse buy).
Gratuitous sunflower shot. I love them. I hope they last a good long time so I can soak them up through the move (I’m the girl who will hold this vase on her lap in the car on moving day so they make it to the new house).
Clara’s favorites were the lanterns. She thought they were balloons and even said “I’m sad they’re going to get small” and I said “Yay! They’re paper lanterns! We can use them for every birthday for ever and ever!” Cheered her right up.
On the other side of the sunroom we temporarily removed the bike art (it was John’s idea… I couldn’t believe it!) to make a little drink station out of the expedit bookcase with Clara’s monthly photos taped up on the wall between some fire-ish bursts of tissue paper.
That’s also where I stuck the favors, which are always my favorite thing to throw together. This year I found some red tins at the dollar store that I filled with tissue paper that I cut to look like fire.
They were each filled with a pair of dragon socks that I found at Target for 99 cents, a pack of crayons, a glowing bracelet, a dollar store pinwheel (they were 3/$1) and a few of the aforementioned plastic dragons from Michael’s that also graced Clara’s painted castles on the table.
In the drink tin we had red and yellow Izze bottles for the grown ups (along with bottled water, juice boxes, and a few other beverage choices in a cooler nearby).
As for how I made the tissue paper poofs on the wall, I just smooshed them up and used one staple to hold them together in the back. One loop of painter’s tape held each of them in place between the Clara pics on the wall.
I also used a sharpie to draw a bunch of dragons on card stock and set them out on the coffee table in the sunroom with a bowl full of crayons.
Oh and we dragged out Clara’s train board, which ended up being a fun little kid zone while the parents chatted each other up.
We had planned on an outdoor “dragon egg hunt” (with a bunch of on-clearance plastic eggs that we got at Target after Easter with a few jelly beans in each one) but since it was too wet outside we hid them all over the dining room and the office. It was pretty cute watching the kids run around and grab as many as they could – especially when they were in such strange spots like under the chair cushions, behind the curtains, and even on our favorite concrete pet’s head…
As for desserts, we ordered 10 dragon cookies from Snickety Snacks (they’re like works of art – and they taste amazing!) along with making some homemade white chocolate chip cookies with Clara (we stamped them with “dinosaur footprints” right after they came out of the oven).
The cupcakes are local favorites from the grocery store (Ukrops) and I made those spikes in about ten minutes by cutting up airheads (yes, those crazy candies that look like long flat tongues). I just used a knife to cut them down the center to make two skinny strips and then cut little triangles from each row and shoved four of them into each cupcake in a spiny little line.
This picture is a small miracle. How I got the cookie in focus and caught her looking up at me, I’ll never know. Oh beansie, this makes me want to cry. How’d you get so big?!
As is the tradition, we did our best to grab a family photo. This was the best we could do, but I’ll take it.
When three of us were walking around wearing similar striped shirts, we had to snap a shot of that too. We’re practically triplets.
So Clara’s three and her dragon party was a fire-breathing good time. I can’t wait to see what she picks next year. Chickens? Ninjas? A Burger theme? Time will tell…
Charlotte says
Oh no! The video is set as private!
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry, all fixed. Whenever that happens you can just hit refresh and it should work :)
xo
s
Stefanie says
What an adorable party! We’re having our sons birthday party at home for the first time ever this year (we’ve previously rented out places..The Little Gym, indoor soccer..etc) and I’m kind of stressing about how to keep the kids entertained and not spending a ton on decorations and such. This post was just what I needed to see to gain some confidence.
Also, per your recommendation we tried Bottoms Up Pizza in Richmond for the first time this weekend and want to give you guys a big THANK YOU! It was delicious! After driving the wrong way down the one way street behind the building (whoops!) to find parking we sat down and enjoyed the amazing Goat in the Garden pizza. So delicious I got another medium pizza to take home with us!
YoungHouseLove says
Mmm, Goat in the Garden is my favorite! So glad you liked it!
xo
s
Stefanie says
We also hit up Diversity Thrift after seeing the truck pass us on the way from CMOR and MY GOD MAN is that place jam packed full of finds! Seriously. It was like the mother ship was calling me home. We tried to hit up Love of Jesus too but they closed at 5:00 on Saturday and we pulled in at 4:50. Boo. We did score a couple of finds at the huge thrift store across the street though.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
You guys are so creative! If this is keeping it simple, my standards are in serious trouble! LOL Hurray for paper lanterns indeed! Those babies could be used at her Sweet 16! :) Let’s not think about that.
Sarah says
Always love your party ideas! So cool to watch Clara grow up :)
I think that the video is still marked as private on YouTube? Wouldn’t let me watch it!
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry, all fixed. Whenever that happens you can just hit refresh and it should work :)
xo
s
Wendy @ New Moms Talk says
The sunflower shot is awesome! I carried a bouquet of sunflowers when we got married on a pier over the Potomac River.
They were in honor of William Blake’s “Ah! Sunflower” which my hub has set to music and sings to our daughter. It was also a fave of his son’s growing up…
http://www.kidseep.com/ah-sunflower/
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet!
xo
s
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
What an adorable party! I love the dino, er, dragon cupcakes!
Isn’t party planning the best? It’s like redecorating a room… but just for a day so you don’t have to worry about deciding to go with dragons!
Jen. says
Yay! Someone else who remembers consummate v’s! What an adorable party. Looks like tons of fun. Happy birthday, big C!
Lee-ann says
That’s what popped out at me too. I loved the party theme – an awesome divergence from the typical princess theme for a young girl.
Anastasia says
I know! I love Trogdor the Burninator! Home Star Runner site was a huge part of life in high school haha Teen Girl Squad is even my twitter handle <3
Megan says
Yes! That’s exactly what I was coming on here to comment about! I love coming across a reference to another web-love :) Looks like a great party!
Janelle @ Two Cups of Happy says
She has a knack for picking fun themes that are not over-done! No beach theme here… I like how everyting comes together but not in a “look there is a dragon on everything” kind of way. Looks like you guys had a great time! Happy birthday, Clara.
prue says
Oh nooo…. the video is blocked in Germany for copyright reasons! :-(
And I was sooooo looking forward to watching it….
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! That’s so sad. I wonder why. Maybe it’ll pop up tomorrow or something once it’s cleared?
xo
s
prue says
Actually, it says the video contains contents owned by PEDL, Warner Chappell and UMG, and that one or several of these partners have blocked the video in my country for copyright reasons.
Any ideas as to why? (sniff)
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, the only thing I can think of is that we used the song Superstar by Madonna (we usually use creative commons music) since YouTube now lets you use other songs as long as you credit them and then they toss a link up for people to buy the song from the artist. Maybe that song is blocked outside of the US? So sorry Prue!
xo
s
prue says
Yeees, that’ll be it….. There are differences between what’s allowed copyrightwise in the US. So far, often I’ve not been able to watch some of the TV clips or other videos (I think) that you sometimes link to, but not your own videos as, as you said, you usually use creative commons media.
Well, never mind. Thanks for the dragony birthday report anyway :-D
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to upload a version without that song for you guys who can’t watch it! We’re at the new house today trying to finish up on painting the trim, but we’d love to get a new video up for you guys later if we have a moment!
xo
s
rebeccasdelightfulhome says
I agree with Clara – love the lanterns! I really should stop by that Target $1 spot more often. Those lanterns are great for any age. You really are so creative – I love the photo opp “fire” and how you came up with dragon themed names for the food. You got some adorable photos, too!
Liz E. says
I don’t know where to start! You’re the best parents ever! Clara’s one lucky girl, and you two are lucky parents to have such an amazing kid :)
The party looks like it was a blast! So creative and heartfelt. And I chuckled when I read your smoke disclaimer at the top. I can’t wait to exercise my creative muscles one day :)
Kelsey says
I said consummate V’s! CONSUMMATE! Geez, guy wouldn’t know majesty if it came up and bit him in the face.
Clara’s party looks like it was very majestic, though. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahaha! Now draw a muscley arm on there and call it good.
xo
s
Maureen @ The Parkland Project says
I will have to watch the video at home (now at work). I cried so hard at the last two I just know this one will be a tear jerker as well.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, I’m a sobber at these things. And the fact that John makes them and edits them together makes me cry even harder. Love my girl and my sweet man. Sniffle… oh here I go!
xo
s
maria says
“be happy! there’s pizza!”
words to live by. Clara is a wise little girl.
Angie says
Aw man, I’ve been craving rock candy for the past few months and those pics aren’t helping! The only place I know that sells the stuff is my hometown zoo three hours away. I’m about to break down and make me own, which I tried once as a child with disastrous results.
YoungHouseLove says
Might wanna check Michael’s by the checkout! It surprised me and I grabbed it before I even knew what was happening. Haha!
xo
s
Jennifer Laura says
Party city has it too!
Kristin says
That is such a cute party! You are incredible with dragon details :)
Courtney says
Clara’s birthday party posts are always my favorite! This one is great as always! :)
Monika says
Nice job, once again. $herdog, what happened to your bangs? They’re conspicuously missing. The picture of Clara you love is magic. Yeah, how do they get so big, so quickly?!
YoungHouseLove says
Eh, they’re just pinned back and half grown out. Maybe I’ll trim them again when I have time to do them (it takes a certain amount of time in the morning with a hairdryer that I don’t seem to find most days :)
xo
s
Avone says
We saw those bangs one time, I believe. And they caused me to cut mine AGAIN(I’m constantly in a state of love/hate with bangs)since they were so adorable. And yep..I’ve worn mine down ONCE also.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! I am always doing that (getting a bob only to wear a tiny ponytail, cutting bangs only to pin them back). It’s a pattern with me…
xo
s
Kari says
HAHAHAHa fanny height flames!!!! I can imagine the adult fun that was had!!! HILARIOUS!
Alice says
You guys are so creative! I am looking forward to next year’s party!
jess hogue says
clara and burger are so lucky to have such super cool parents! can’t believe you whipped out this fab party just before MOVING! eeek.
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oh, and the video was totally adorable. thank you for sharing it with us ;-)
Megan says
How fun! Clara is gowing up into a beautiful little lady. I may have to steal almost all of these ideas for my next party. My husband and I are both July birthdays (him at the beginging and me at the end) so the last few years we’ve been throwing a giant Birthday BBQ mid July. I think a dragon theme could elevate it to the next level. Sure, I’m in my late 20’s and he’s in his early 30’s (forver the youngest!) but one is never too old for dragons.
Burninating the countryside!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! I’d love to go to a dragon BBQ! You’re never too old ;)
xo
s
Lil says
Love “Happy Birthday Clara” cookie shot!
mollie says
herein lies the difference between your blog and katie’s…she would have posted the adult “poof” pics. ha! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! We had to swear they wouldn’t be shared on the blog before anyone let us click our camera – but we have them for our family album. Mwah-hah-hah!
xo
s
Sara says
The Homestar reference kills me! I had to do a double take when I saw that in there. You guys get cooler by the day. Hehe
Nicole says
What a terrific party! it looks like so much fun!!! Happy Birthday Clara…and a question? the 2 larger Dragon’s by the sunflower’s and dragon eggs are they from Michael’s as well?
YoungHouseLove says
Those wooden dragons are actually from my best friend (we were at a toy store in Old Towne, Alexandria called “Why Not” and I was in love with them and she surprised me and got them for my birthday for me). You’re never too old for wooden dragons! Haha!
xo
s
nicole says
I couldn’t agree more! they are adorable…thanks for answering :-)
Bonnie says
Heehee, it’s always funny when Americans innocuously use the terms which mean something completely different to Brits. When you mentioned the perfect ‘fanny’ level, I was all, ‘At a kids’ party??’ and then I remembered that the word means something different in America. Also with the parents ‘chatting each other up’ :)))
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! Oh yes, it’s bum-level to you guys, right?
xo
s
MissCaron says
I can’t believe you included a Strongbad reference! TROGDOR the BURNINATOR! Clara’s party FTW. Very cool y’all. Great job!
Amanda B. says
Yes! I love it! Our friend’s 3-year-old can sing the Trogdor song, start to finish. (Yes, it is the most adorable thing ever.) She pointed out that a lot of those old Strong Bad videos are surprisingly kid-friendly. Such a fun party theme, you guys. Great pick, Clara!
Sherri says
The video says it’s been set to disabled on mobile
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry, we’re not sure why. Maybe try watching it at home?
xo
s
Hannah says
I got that too. I hope it’s just an error, not a new policy. I always catch up on YHL from my phone during my commute so that would be a bummer.
YoungHouseLove says
What we think happened is that this time we used a Madonna song (credited and linked of course) but apparently her rights keep the video from being accessed internationally or on a mobile phone. We hope to upload another video with a non-rights-managed song sometime soon if we get a spare second :)
xo
s
Sherry says
That is the cutest video ever! I can see Clara dancing to it all year — and me too. So fun! Well done, you guys.
Mary | lemongroveblog says
What a cute party idea! Love the fire breathing cut out, too ;) So fun!!
Courtney says
I loved watching the video! It showed so many things in the past year that your family did that you did not share with the readers, I think that is great that you keep part of your life private, and while we all probably think you live, breathe, eat, and sleep the blog and household DIY, you obviously don’t.
Happy Birthday Clara!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Courtney!
xo
s
Kim says
So adorable! The fire on the wall for pics? Genius! Love the lanterns, too. Like balloons, but better!
Carolyn says
So cute! Have you guys heard of the book ‘Dragon Pizzeria’? Sounds like Clara might like it. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Annie R. says
So adorable! You guys are a great family unit. Watching the video there is such Joy often!
“Grab me a wipe please daddy!” Bahahaha
I can’t believe how much she’s grown up this year-she’s just beautiful!
Great job on the fun yet not over done or commercialized product birthday party! I love the dragon cupcakes- I must make those soon!
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
I love all of the videos and the pictures! You’ve documented such sweet moments in Clara’s life and have so much to look back on as the years go by. I can’t believe she’s 3!
You guys truly encourage me to record as much of life as I can because it definitely passes by way too quickly!
Carla B. says
Looks like a bunch of fun! You guys did a great job. My almost 2-year-old’s birthday is at the end of July, so thanks for some party decorating inspiration! And, LMAO at the Burger pic! Hilarious! :)
Liv says
Happy Birthday Clara! It looks like it was a wonderful party.
Nicole says
Oh geez! I got about 34 seconds into the video and had to stop watching cause I started crying. My little girl will be 3 in June and the video just reminded me how fast she’s growing up! Thank you for sharing your year with us – it really has flown by. And your birthday parties for Clara seem like such a good time. I can’t wait to throw my girl her princess-themed one in a month…and to welcome her baby sister home in just a few days –that might explain my extremely emotional reaction to your video!
Courtney says
I haven’t even finished the post, but I had to tell you, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Homestar Runner reference. “Draw an ‘S’, now draw a more bigger ‘S’.”
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha! It’s so funny. We quoted it the whole time we were decorating…
xo
s
Bethany says
This reference made my day! I just watched the video again for the millionth time over the weekend. So hilarious!
Kristin Z says
YES! I’ve loved this blog since I stumbled across a few weeks ago. But now that you’ve brought up trogdor… you’re officially my new best friends.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Kristin!
xo
s
Michelle says
Just when I thought I thought I couldn’t love you guys any more … you threw in a Strong Bad reference. AWESOME.
Such creative ideas and Clara just keeps getting cuter. My nephew’s birthday is May 13 and we celebrated 3 pirate style. They’re getting so big!
MJR says
Fantastic party! You all always do such a great job with the details.
Kim@NewlyWoodwards says
This turned out so cool! I love that all the details make the party extra fun and pulled together, but not fussy.
And I think it’s too cute that Clara was sad that the balloons were going to get sad. Precious.
Heather says
Such a cute party! And a sweet video of memories!
Nupur says
Happy Birthday, Clara! My favorite thing from this post is the foam photo prop- what a neat idea.
Rachel says
OMTrogdor!! You made my day with that blast from the past! I haven’t seen that since high school. lol 10 million cool points to you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Rachel!
xo
s
Amy B. says
Okay, that video almost made ME tear up, and I’m only a blog-follower. It’s easy to get sentimental when you have two little ones of your own. Such a wonderful tribute.
The party looks (and sounds) like so much fun. Definitely keeping this in mind as inspiration for our older son. He has already informed of us themes for his next 5 birthdays, and “dragons” is either year 5 or 6 :).
Lauren h says
What software or program did you use to make this video? I’m not too tech savvy, but I really want to have memory savers like this for my son, Scout. He is 16 months so if I start now I won’t get too far behind ;) I live how you can incorporate pictures and video together. Her party was so precious!! I cried the first 15 seconds of the video. They grow way to fast!
YoungHouseLove says
We used to use iMovie (a free editing software that comes with Macs) but now we use Final Cut Pro since we had to buy that to do a book preview video a while back :)
xo
s
alivicwil says
If you’re on a PC, you should be able to download Windows Movie Maker for free – it’ll let you incorporate pictures and video, too. And then there are online programs like Animoto, which are cool, too!
Ashley says
I got a huge grin on my face when I read this:(“I’m the girl who will hold this vase on her lap in the car on moving day so they make it to the new house).” I would so do…have done that before! Happy Birthday to Clara! Looks like the party was a red hot blast!
Daiana says
Feels like I’ve watched Clara grow up in front of my eyes! Not in a creepy way, of course. Lovely party :) Hope the Beansie had a happy birthday!