“TEE” Time!

well…my patient friends…I’ve finally sorted through all the pics from Canaan Boy’s 6th Birthday Party last Saturday.

i have some stuff i’d like to write about b-day parties…why we do them and why they are important to us, budget, planning, etc….but i am out of time! so be looking for a post about those things soon!

FYI: i’ve tried to include lots of details in case you want to have a Golf Party too!

so here goes…

The Golf Party.

The Invite:

i’m over-using the silhouette theme this year, but i couldn’t resist using it just one more time!

The Spread:

(the tablecloth was a twin sheet that my in laws had. cheapest way to cover a table nicely and stick within your theme colors…our’s were navy and green!!)

Menu:

Powdered Sugar Donut “Hole in Ones”

Popcorn “Golf Balls” (made like rice krispy treats, but with popcorn, and i added in a little white chocolate too)

“Club” Sandwiches

Yogurt Covered Raisins

Sweet “Tee”

Cupcakes:

easiest cupcake i’ve ever made!! the cupcake and frosting recipe was the Magnolia Bakery one i used for the Bug’s B-day. i dyed the frosting green, frosted each cupcake, and sprinkled green sanding sugar/crystals on top of each one to cover all of the frosting. i made the flags by folding a square of grosgrain ribbon around a toothpick and gluing with hot glue, and then cutting into a flag shape. the golf balls were small peppermint balls i found in the wedding section of Walmart. (the idea and directions for the cupcakes came from Martha Stewart.)

Favors:

i found these cool, aluminum water bottles (in our theme color too!) at the dollar store and wrote each kids’ name on them with a paint pen. its amazing what cool things you can find at the $ Store!! (especially when i can only spend $1 or less on favors!)

Details:

Scorecards: we made scorecards so the kids could keep track of how they did on each hole. (each hole was a Par 3). we weren’t sure if they would care about keeping score, but they LOVED that part, so it was a good addition to the party. a golf course down the street graciously gave us the little pencils (they actually gave us scorecards too, but we decided to use our own).

Clubs: i made the clubs out of a wooden dowel and a juice box. i emptied the juice box, duct taped it to the end of a wooden dowel, and then sprayed painted the whole thing silver. once dry, i used black duct tape on the top to make it look a bit more like a real club. i know you can order kids clubs online, but these cost me about .65 cents each, vs. the $10 a piece for real clubs. i was also a tad bit concerned about a backyard full of 6 year olds with real clubs, so these were a great, safe, cheap option!

Balls: we used practice golf balls, that are plastic and hollow inside, as opposed to real ones. i found a pack of 12 at Walmart for a few bucks!

The Backyard Course:

we used items that we already had (or found in the garbage!) to create this course. the only things i bought for the entire course itself were paint and pinwheels.

we had priced out artificial turf, but it did not fit into our budget at all, so my plan was to use green felt. however, my bro and sis in law just so happened to recently move into a new place, and for some reason, the entire backyard was artificial turf, which they were very happy to have us take off their hands! i was SO pumped to get it for free!! (i really do believe that God cares about all the details of our lives…even 6 year old b-day parties on a small small budget!!)

the 2×4’s that created boundaries for the holes were lovingly cut by the hubby from wood we already had. i spray painted them, but if i had to do it over, i would’ve rolled them. it took forever to get them all covered well with spray paint!

go here to see about the tissue balls…such an inexpensive way to decorate a large space:

THE COURSE DETAILS:

Jake cut the grass in the backyard really really low so the ball rolled easily on the greens without anything else underneath.

HOLE #1: Xylophone Hole

we cut the green a bit smaller than the size of a xylophone, dug the xylophone into the ground until it was level, and placed the green on top. the green also angled in towards the hole, to mimic the shape of the xylophone. when the ball rolled over the xylophone, it played a tune!

HOLE #2: Pinwheel Hole

i found the pinwheels at the Dollar Store and attached them to the top of a cardboard box (my grain mill box, actually!!) and painted on some red details. we lined the green with small pinwheels stuck in the ground.

HOLE #3: Sand Trap

we created the sand traps by cutting holes in the green a bit smaller than cookie sheets, placing the cookies sheets underneath the green, and filling them with sand from the beach.

HOLE #4: Tube Hole

i found these tubes in someone’s garbage, and jake cut them to size with a hand saw. the kids had to putt the ball through the tubes.

HOLE #5: Water Hole:

we stuck pencils into the ground and slid the pool noodles over the pencils, arching them so that the ball could roll under them. we had the sprinkler on just enough to wet the green and leave small puddles for the ball to get stuck.

HOLE #6: Croquet Hole

i used croquet hoops from a yard set that we have, and the kids had to hit it through each hoop, into the hole.

HOLE #7: Doghouse Hole

Plopper is the 5th member of our family (along with the 6th member, his sister, Sniffer, who is identical to Plopper, but pink!) if anyone knows our family well, they also know Plopper. Canaan has had him since he was a baby, so we had to find a way to include him in the party! i made the doghouse by piecing together a cardboard box, and hung the sign from a ribbon on a nail. Plops stood guard of his house during the party, until he became a ball, at which point jake rescued him and brought him inside!

HOLE #8: Hill Hole

we cut an old pool noodle, and stuck it under the green so that the ball had to roll over the hills. the spaces near the hole are filled with sand.

HOLE #9: Castle Hole

i searched the town for big appliance boxes, and finally found some leftovers at Best Buy. with the help of my sis-in-laws, we cut it into a castle shape, created a drawbridge for the ball to roll up, and decorated with tissue paper and toilet paper roll torches. and do any of you from the old HS ministry recognize that blue creature??? he was standing guard over the castle!

Canaan Boy patiently waiting for his guests to arrive!

little golfers in their madras pants…

sweet buddies:

jake chose to wear the party colors (navy and green) all on his own! i was so proud to see him get in the spirit!! he was a HUGE help to me with the creation of this party!!

all Canaan requested for his birthday was “Legos and a new baby.” he got the legos…but the new baby ain’t happening this year, buddy!

enjoying his new set of golf clubs…that we had been dying to get him, and had priced out at the sports store, but couldn’t spend that kind of money….but we just so happened to find the exact set almost brand new for cheap cheap cheap at a garage sale!!!)

i think we’ve finally recovered from the day! even though jake suggested selling the course on Craigslist to make some $$$ (glad i’ve finally turned him onto the goodness of Craigslist!), i’m not sure i can part with it just yet! so we kept the course to bring back out for some summer fun, so if anyone wants to come play a round, give me a call!

i’m excited to get back to regular blogging…one of these days! cause i have a lot to catch up on and lots of ideas for posts swirling in my tired brain! but we’re gone for the next 4 days to use the rest of our Disney tickets and to visit and stay with some dear friends!! are we crazy to try for 4 days of Disney with 2 small children??? i’m kinda thinking we are…but we are SO excited! and i still can’t believe that we even get to go on this trip…its really with thankful hearts that we go as we recognize God’s provision of something so fun for our family that we would probably never really afford to be able to do!

so…i’ll “see ya real soon!” and

i’ll tell Mickey you all said HELLO!!,