How to Train Your Dragon Birthday Party cute quotes happiness, wallpaper with cute quotes, miss loving you quotes,

It's official. My babies are all grown up.
Ok, so maybe 3 years old and almost 7 years old are not all grown up, but it feels like it to me! I don't have babies anymore! I have 2 rowdy and rambunctious big boys. When I pictured myself with children, I imagined hosting pretend tea parties, playing dress up... anything and everything girly. But my life consists of super heroes, football, and farming. And you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way.

So when we were brainstorming party ideas for my little man, we had to find something that suited him. Not a cute firefighter party or a fun Lightning McQueen party... we needed something more... barbaric. VIKINGS!
My son absolutely loved the How to Train Your Dragon movie, and what would be more "Wyatt" than a bunch of angry, sword-yielding little vikings running around training their dragons. Perfect!
(If you have boys, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you have girls, you probably think I'm crazy. It's ok, I would too if I were you!)

Since the How to Train Your Dragon Movie came out a few years ago, it's hard to find any party supplies to fit my viking/dragon theme, so I DIY'd everything.

I made the invitations on Microsoft Word by using images from http://howtotrainyourdragon.wikia.com/wiki/Gronckle. The website has all kinds of neat information about the dragons and characters in the movie!

I decided to burn the edges of the invitation, because after all, we are dealing with fire-breathing dragons.

But after spending FOREVER carefully burning the edges and making a mess in the process, I decided distressed black ink around the edges looked just as good!

On the morning of his birthday, Wyatt got to wake up to a wall of balloons outside his door.

We always have balloons leftover from parties and these don't require helium, so I thought this would be the perfect way to start the celebration!

I made viking hats, shields, and swords all from cardboard and duct tape, and a "Happy Birthday Banner" using felt, burlap, and twine.

(P.S. check back on Friday for a full tutorial of how I made the viking hats, shields, and swords!)

I set up the viking gear on a table in our entryway so that party guests could grab them as they came in. The shields were left plain so the kids could color and decorate them at the party!

One of my passions is cooking, and I never serve boring party food, even if it is a 3 year old's birthday party! On the menu was:

Romaine salad with a homemade Lemon-Herb Dressing

Pasta Salad

Veggie & Fruit Tray

Salami, Cheese & Cracker Tray

Pickle Tray

(my son is obsessed with pickles!)

Burgundy Mushrooms

(4lbs. of mushrooms simmered in a liter of wine and 2 sticks of butter for 9 hours... This must be what Heaven is like!)

Zesty Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

(Perfect easy recipe for parties. Doubles easily)

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

(Tastes just like double baked, but much easier! Easy to make ahead.)

We also served a yummy Cherry Limeade drink for the kiddos.

I have a few rules when it comes to party food:

1) Choose things you can make or prep ahead of time. The last thing I want is to be slaving away in the kitchen with a sink overflowing with dirty dishes as guests arrive.

2) Have a few munchies set out before the party starts. No matter when the party starts, someone will arrive early and be starving. But only set out a few things so everyone's still hungry for the meal.

And apparently I didn't get a good picture of the cake (bad, bad blogger), so I cropped one to give you a closer look. To save my sanity, I ordered two 8" round cakes from a local bakery and decorated it myself with M&M's in a chevron pattern. I also made a mini "Happy Birthday" banner with paper and baker's twine and hung it over the cake with two wooden skewers. A rainbow cake may not have exactly fit my Viking/Dragon theme, but it was so stinkin' cute!

Here's some candids of my little viking and some of the fun we had on his birthday weekend: