Frankie is two. Look out world. (Oops, that wasn’t a question. Sorry.)
He’s still not talking a whole lot, so his brothers and sisters got to pick the theme of his party and they picked: Moustaches.
When I started looking around online for ideas, I found a lot of really cute but really fancy looking professional moustache parties, but not a lot in the way of homemade backyard moustache parties. We like homemade backyard birthday parties. So, with the help of Oriental Trading Company and a whole family effort (Mom’s slowing down a bit!), here’s what we did . . .
The Decor
We set up a buffet on the dining room table (scroll to the bottom for details on that) and a bar on a card table outside.
As guests arrived they saw a big moustache on the front door and a hand-calligraphied welcome sign made by Jack (thank you Mother of Divine Grace sixth grade curriculum for the calligraphy). He also improved our latest family photo of the boys.
Two of the games: Pin the Moustache on Frankie and Snidley Whiplash Moustache Tug-of-War (you’re welcome Canada!) also provided some decoration.
I made that birthday banner in Publisher, then cut it into individual letters using a rotary cutter and stapled it onto a black ribbon.
I was going to put the moustache pops in the cupcakes, but they were too heavy, so they got to be their own thing.
The Food
Our menu consisted of:
- Charlie Chaplin chopped salad
- Sean Connery carrots
- Rollie Fingers finger sandwiches
- Swedish Chef chicken nuggets
- Magnum hot and sP.I.cy wings
- Clark Gable bagel bites
- Robert Goulet grapes
- Mike Ditka dogs in a sweater
- Mark Spitz chips
- Salvador Dali do-it-yourself moustaches (aka veggie straws)
The drink options were:
- Teddy Roosevelt rootbeer
- John Waters water
- Whiskey Sours (for manliness, for grownups)
The Activities
When guests arrived, they were greeted by Jack and his “‘Stache Town Grooming Center” where they could select a sticky moustache and/or some props on sticks.
The husband made a “Guess that famous moustache” game for the grownups. It was really hard!
Kids got to bring home a little goodie bag after the party.
The Guests
Frankie got to invite three of his little friends, but in our world that means a guest list of 20 kids and 9 adults! We are lucky to have the room to allow for us to include parents and siblings in all our parties.
Big thanks to our friend Claudia who is staying with us for a couple of weeks and was a HUGE help in set up and clean up! That’s her chatting with Big Frank.
The Games
To keep the kids occupied after eating, we played:
- Pin the Moustache on Frankie: I made the poster in Publisher and we used moustache stickers
- Snidley Whiplash Tug of War: I printed out a picture of Snidley, laminated it with packing tape, braided a skein of black yarn into a very long moustache and threaded it through slits I cut in the picture. I attached it to a stand, but it worked better for tug of war once we took it off the stand and made lines on the ground for teams to try to pull him across.
- Beard, Beard, Moustache: If you catch the person who “moustached” you, they have to go sit in the “blue liquid” in the middle.
The Cake
. . . was cupcakes. Very easy, but still cute and good for little ones. Frankie approved.
What I Wore
Hmmm, it’s Sunday NOW as I’m typing this, and I’m still in this dress . . . but I’m not sure if I’ll wear it to Mass. Not the shoes anyway, but aren’t they awesome?
Dress: Anthropologie. Betty and I agreed that the swirls on it were reminiscent of moustaches. It’s not a maternity dress, but it’s long enough that I could hitch it up a bit over the ol’ belly and it worked.
Shrug: Macy’s I think? It is old.
Shoes: But not as old as these shoes. I have had them since high school! Tredair.
Bump: 35 weeks
And now . . . the tutorial you’ve all been waiting for:
How to Create a Fancy Buffet
on Your Dining Room Table
Using a Set of Sheets
and Some Boxes from Costco
1. Put fitted sheet on table (a queen-size sheet works just right on our table).
2. Place boxes on table. Any boxes will do, of course, but we always go to Costco before a party, so we usually have these available. A taller one in the middle and two shorter ones for each side works great, but really anything is fine.
3. Drape the flat sheet over the top of the boxes, tucking in the edges around the boxes.
4. Arrange serving dishes and food tags on the boxes and table.
5. Put food on serving dishes.
Voila! Don’t you feel fancier already?
So, Happy Birthday to my darling, challenging, lovable, and loved Frankie. You keep me on my toes! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for you.
And Happy Sunday (and feast of Sts. Simon and Jude) to all!
I love all your moustache food! So funny!
I really enjoy your blog. Great moustache party!!
Katie in New York
(the upstate part)
I'm tired just reading all the things you did! I don't know how you do it! My fav part was the moustached actor foods. Robert Goulet grapes…I'll laugh about that for a week.
And I love all your anthro dresses. That should cover me for all your wiws posts!
And Frankie is adorable, I just want to give him a big hug!
Frankie is too cute for words.
This is awesome! I especially love the mustached actors and their themed food. Robert Goulet grapes? Awesome. I had bucks in elementary school because I thought they were cute and I got made fun of but that's just how weird I was.
We have a friend in common by the way!
Sean Connery carrots!!! I'm dying! Seriously, funniest menu ever! And I love that the foods are all pretty easy. Great tips for throwing a birthday party, Kendra!
This is awesome! It makes me tired thinking about how much work it would be to put together, but I love the idea, and the themed food is hilarious!
This is awesome! I might do a moustache party for my husband.