Hi everyone! Kelly here again, on a beautiful summer day. Hope your summer has been as busy and warm and super fun as mine so far! I can't believe it is mid-July already.
For today's post I chose to use a photo of me with my pop, Daryl, because this post is very much about him. My little sister reminded me a few weeks ago that Pop is going to celebrate a milestone birthday next week: the big 6-0. We wanted to celebrate in a big way, and we couldn't think of anything as classic as a summer evening out in the yard, with kids running around and cool drinks in hand. There are five of us Tucker siblings, three spouses, and six grandkids, so we settled on a big block party with family, friends, and neighbors. But when I went to look for inspiration for invitations, decorations, and party favors, I came up a bit short. It seems that we all want to celebrate kid birthdays, but there aren't a lot of resources for grown-up birthdays. Especially birthdays for men. So I wanted to share my plans with you, in hopes that they might help you plan a future party.
The theme: a bit of carnival/steampunk/day-in-the-country. Pop isn't into surprise parties or dress-up parties (no disco-dancing here), so I thought I would just keep things classic and not too fancy or frilly. I found some great basic plates, napkins, etc. at Target in red, yellow and blue, and went from there. I love to use up supplies I have on hand, so I went shopping in my stash and found some American Crafts papers in those colors to use. I'm in the middle of making a birthday pennant banner to hang somewhere. I used the scraps to make those fan-folded scallops to use in-between letters.
I'm planning to use photos of Pop as decorations in the center of each letter. Too much?
The invites: Pop is known for using Photoshop to make birthday cards that feature family and friends in famous settings or poses (I've appeared on vintage Vogue Magazine covers and in John Singer Sargent paintings). My older sister told me I should do something similar for the invites, but the truth is that my Photoshop skills are a bit too basic (lessons, please!). So instead, I found some very cool clipart here and used Microsoft Publisher to make a simpler postcard to send out.
Printing them on kraft cardstock lends them a bit more antique feel I think. Postcards are cheap, easy to address, and simple to mail (postcard stamps are only 29 cents!). I'm all for the e-vite, but this party called for old-fashioned mailed invitations. I like the thought of this image on people's fridges!
The party: We are holding our shindig at a park by my parents' house so the neighbors can wander over when they like. There's a playground for the kids, a pavilion with tables for treats, and lots of grass for frisbees, kickball and badminton. We putting together a special music playlist that highlights some of the best tunes of the past 60 years. There might even be a special appearance by my brother's and sister's band! We're keeping things simple by ordering cakes from a bakery and having lots of homemade rootbeer, bottled water, and soda on hand. We'll put out big tubs of ice with popsicles and ice cream in them. Did I mention we're going to have a candy bar? Lots of glass jars with old-fashioned candy in them (taffy, licorice, mints, cinnamon bears, gumballs). And I found a great deal on glow-sticks for the kids.
I made those stickers with some clipart from the same site as the invites. I printed them on big round mailing labels, and made some others that we can stick on water bottles, people, and anything else.
A few bunches of balloons, and the decorations are set! As a final touch, we are compiling a photo project to fill all the openings in a frame that I found on clearance awhile ago and have been waiting to use. My little sister says she has already started a collection of photos of Pop wearing funny things on his head. Can't wait to see that!
My last task before the party is to put together a photo album and cards for the guests at the party to use to leave birthday wishes for Pop. I think I will use a standard-size photo album and design some 4x6 cards so I can slide them in alongside the photos after the party. The cards will have journaling prompts on them, like, "Remember when we..." or "My birthday wish for you is..." or "Here's to another 60!"
If you're in the neighborhood next week, stop by and wish Pop a happy birthday!
