Super Hero Party

February 28th, 2010

A few weeks ago, we threw CheezWaster a Super Hero themed birthday party in the hall of our church. He is a huge fan of X-men, Spiderman and Iron Man. Since we invited his entire nursery school class, I wanted to do a really fun party.

First, I made invitations using the Create Your Own Comic feature on Marvelkids.com. I made a three panel comic strip. The first panel read: Are You Ready to HERO UP! and save the day for CheezWaster’s 4th Birthday? The second panel listed the time and location of the party. The third panel listed the RSVP details. In each panel, I inserted a background and 2 Super Hero Squad characters. These turned out really great and were all but free. I only needed to purchase a pack of Card Stock on which to print them.

Next, came the decorations. It was near impossible to find Super Hero Squad stuff, so I used a mix of various super heroes. I managed to find some Super Hero Squad tables cloths and paper goods on Ebay (Hallmark’s Party Express makes them, but you need to find a place that carries this stuff. You can not order directly from Party Express unless you have a wholesalers number). The rest of the decorations and paper goods came from Party City (Wolverine) and Oriental Trading (Spiderman, Silver Surfer).

Super Hero Party Decorations

I ordered some decorations online – these are available from various party sellers online – as well as some posters which I found at PosterRevolution.com. I also used the mini posters that come in the packages of the Super Hero Squad toys.

Posters and Decorations

For the activites of the party, we had each table set up with super hero balloons and printed Marvel maze/puzzle dittos which I photocopied from a Marvel Activity Coloring Book. I also found Iron Man, Spiderman and Hulk crayons at my local Dollar Tree store. I included these on the table in case one of the kids did not want to or could not participate in the obstacle course – or if the parents got bored.

Table Set Up

Upon their arrival, the first activity we had the kids do was to make their own Super Hero Cape. I found an inexpensive lot of 24 black capes on Amazon from a company called Making Believe. I purchased sticky back felt from which I cut shapes like stars, hearts, flowers, lightning bolts, shields and circles. I also found online sticky back felt letters and numbers.

Making a Super Hero Cape

After each child was outfitted with their very own Super Hero Cape, we had them run through an obstacle course which included 1) crawling through the Camo Tunnel, 2) running through the rings of fire, 3) finding a fractal, and 4) stringing up a villain.

Obstacle Course - Camo Tunnel and Rings of Fire

I purchased the Camo Tunnel online at Overstock.com. I made the rings of fire using hula hoops to which I binder clipped flame material purchased from Walmart. I also bought hoop stands online, but the kids were so excited to run the course, the hoop stands were not as effective as I had hoped. My mom wound up holding the rings up while the kids went through them (as shown above). For the find a fractal portion (If you don’t know what a fractal is, it probably means you’ve never seen Super Hero Squad), I bought green glow sticks at Party City and each kid had to find one in a slightly darkened room. The pack I bought came with chord to make the glow sticks into necklaces and the kids flipped over this! We also hid 2 large Kryptonite glow sticks which I purchased on clearance after Halloween. The kids that found them got a special prize – a Spiderman and Friends Super Hero puzzle I found at the Dollar Tree store. The posters in the decoration picture above have 1 side of good guys and 1 side of villains. For the last part of the obstacle course, we gave each kid a can of silly string and had them shoot it at the villains – another big hit (and surprisingly not as big of a mess as I thought it would be). I also had a Super Hero Squad bop bag out for decoration, which the kids demolished – literally. The thing was leaking water from the internal bladder that weights it down. Needless to say after the party, that went into the garbage – but the kids had fun beating the hell out of it.

My husband and I each wore shirts that said Super Hero Academy. I printed this logo found online onto iron-on transfer paper and ironed it onto plain blue t-shirts.

Super Hero Academy Staff Shirts

For the food, in the beginning of the party we had out snacks of a Pretzel Tray from a local pretzel shop, cheezdoodles, a veggie tray and a fruit tray. For lunch, we served pizza, pb&j and turkey/ham/cheese sandwiches. I had soda, juice and iced tea for drinks. We ordered CheezWaster an Iron Man Cake from Wegmans. The Iron Man on this lit up and spun.

Iron Man Cake

For goodie bags, I used Super Hero Squad treat bags purchased off of Ebay. I filled them with a bunch of Marvel Super Hero Candy (taffy, lollipops and gum tape) that I found at the Dollar Tree store (also available at online candy shops). I also included Super Hero Squad tattoos found online at Amazon, Marvel grow a washcloths found at the Dollar Tree Store, and little Marvel figures found at the Christmas Tree Shoppes. With the goodie bags, we gave each child a certificate stating they had completed Super Hero Training Academy and were officially Heroes. I used the FREE certificate maker (Fantastic option) here.

All in all, I think the kids had a great time. We received many compliments from the parents of CheezWaster’s classmates. Despite a lot of time, effort and research, I really had a TON of fun putting this party together!

A side note – If you don’t want to buy a professional cake, my mom made this VERY SIMPLE X-men Cake for CheezWaster’s birthday night at my parents’ house.

X-Men Cake

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May the Force Be With Your Brownies!

February 18th, 2010

Saving the World One Spatula and One Light Saber at a time!

Yesterday, my Force told me to take out our Star Wars Cookbook and do some baking. I had my heart set on Wookie Cookies, but once Jedi CheezWaster saw the Bossk Brownies, I knew what my new mission was.

I'm a Super Jedi Baker!

Jedi Destroyer also accepted his mission.

Bossk the Bounty Hunter Brownies

Ingredients

2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate or butterscotch chips (we used butterscotch)

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Don’t forget to USE THE FORCE!
Pour into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake about 25 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).
Cool completely, cut and enjoy.

Makes about 16 brownies.

Notes about the cookbook –

I love that the pages are laminated so any mess we make can be easily wiped off.
The recipes are easy and VERY kid friendly.
These make great gifts for kids, husbands, fathers, brothers and Star Wars geeks fans!
There is a second cookbook, The Star Wars Cookbook II -Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes, in this collection that includes a plastic Darth Maul stencil – perfect for that Star Wars birthday cake you are looking to make your kid/husband/brother/father or Star Wars geek fan.
The pictures alone make this book worth it! HILARIOUS!

: The Chocolate Force is Strong in This one!

This is the batter BEFORE baking. The batter is VERY thick and definitely needs to be smoothed down before baking.

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May the Force Be With Your Brownies! has been posted in Crafty Mamamamahoney, Kiddie Mamamamahoney and Tagged: bossk brownies recipes, star wars birthday ideas, star wars books, star wars brownie recipe, star wars brownies, star wars cookbook, star wars gifts, star wars recipes.

Sprinkles of Valentine’s Day

February 10th, 2010

Since we were pretty much snowed in today anyway, we decided to make our Valentine’s Day presents for Oma, Grandma and Great Grandma. I originally wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries that look like rose buds into a bouquet, but the snow prohibited me from getting pink and red chocolate melts, so we stuck with the tried and true chocolate covered strawberries. I tempered a demolished Santa that came in pieces in our Christmas chocolate package from Germany. I dipped and the Destroyer sprinkled.

Sprinkling Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Well…..he MOSTLY sprinkled!

Eating More Sprinkles Than Sprinkling

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Sprinkles of Valentine’s Day has been posted in Crafty Mamamamahoney and Tagged: chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate for valentines day, decorating chocolate, edible valentine's day presents, edible valentines, last minute valentines, sprinkles, sprinkling, valentine's day presents.

A Healthy Chili Alternative

January 28th, 2010

This past weekend, I gifted my sister-in-law and brother-in-law with a meal since they just brought home their new baby boy. I wanted to give them something that would microwave well, freeze well, be healthy and taste good. Then my power went out (for 4+ hours!). So, I headed over to my parents’ house to borrow their kitchen where I made 2 pots (one for us and one for them) of Pumpkin Chicken Chowder. While I don’t have any pictures, I did want to share this recipe, as 1) it is a sneaky way to get your kids to eat vegetables (yeah pumpkin!) and 2) it is a nice alternative or addition to Chili (superbowl is coming!) and 3) it is quick and you can make it all in one pot. I’ve taken some liberties in altering the recipe slightly and have listed my changed in parentheses below.

PUMPKIN CHICKEN CHOWDER

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups warm water (I substitute Chicken Broth for this and DO NOT add the boullion cubes)
1 can (15 ounces) LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/2 cup whole-kernel corn (I use a mixed vegetable pack that includes corn, carrots, peas, green beans and lima beans)
1/4 cup long-grain white rice (I usually add a bit more as I like my chowder THICK – 1/2 cup)
4 MAGGI Vegetarian Vegetable Flavor Bouillon Cubes (DO NOT ADD)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

I also add about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt – though this is just my taste.

Directions

HEAT oil in large pot over medium heat. Add chicken, onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink.

STIR in chicken broth, pumpkin, corn, rice, basil and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

ENJOY!

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A Healthy Chili Alternative has been posted in Crafty Mamamamahoney, Parental Mamamamahoney and Tagged: chili alternative, chowder recipe, cooking with pumpkin, pumpkin chicken chowder, pumpkin recipes.

Racing our Hot New Motorcycle

January 8th, 2010

By far the coolest gift my kids (well any of us really!) received this Christmas was the Handcrafted All Carved Wood Motorcycle Rocker that my father-in-law made. The entire motorcycle is handcrafted from wood and then painted. My husband, the leather-worker, fashioned the leather seat (behind my back – apparently everyone knew about this thing except me…..always the last to know). My FIL even found a revving motor for the handlebars, not to mention the wheels actually move and the handlebars turn. Because I can’t thank him enough for this beautiful masterpiece, I have to publicly acknowledge all of his hard work, time and skill that went into this. There are rumors flying that he was still working on this on Xmas Eve.

Carved Wood Handcrafted Motorcycle

The boys have had a blast both riding & enjoying their hot, little motorcycle! Not to mention taking on their new biker personas and beating the crap out of each other deciding who is going to ride first. Uncle Marc would be so proud!