{Entertaining} Avengers Party

An Avengers theme isn't the first thing that came to mind while planning my daughter's 13th birthday family party but that's what she wanted.

She  cooked up the idea worked it out with a few of her cousins at an earlier party. 

They all  had become superfans over the summer after Grandma took a bunch of them to see it.

I used red, white and two blues as our super hero color scheme. I wanted to try this idea that I had seen on Pinterest (where else?) to combine balloons and streamers.  It made a nice photo back drop and was very easy to do.

You sew the balloons together by their tales.  I used wax twine and a big embroidery needle.

The streamers went up with masking tape and the balloon swag with Command hooks.

It was pretty easy to find Avengers party goods which was nice.

The overflow of party preparations.

I got a nice bouquet of white flowers at Costco for the dining room.

The menus for dinner and dessert.  

The mashed potato bar was a big hit and my eggplant rollatini was also very popular.

(vegan version)

Some party photos...of course I didn't get as many as I'd like. It's always hard to be the host, photographer and guest at the party.

Avengers candy

My mom and the birthday girl

Party guests who got into the theme.

Before we knew it, it was time for her to blow out her "13" candles.

I found these Avengers cupcake picks and liners at William Sonoma.

She made her now-famous Coconut Cupcakes.

More dessert treats....

Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with Better Than Cream Cheese Icing

This was another Pinterest find-Mini "Caramel" Apples.

It was great to have my eldest home for the weekend!

Another fun family party for the books. I can't believe she's 13!

Do you remember your 13th birthday?

Linking up with:

Sugar & Spice

Catch A Glimpse

Weekend Wonders

Whimsy Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday-Another Teenager In The House!

My baby is 13!  

She's not the Tween anymore. 

I guess I'll be referring to her (on the blog) as Teen 2 now.

Happy Birthday!

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A Pocket Full of Projects

The projects around here have been on the small side lately but just as important.  A few little things add up to a lot!  

#1)Let's Keep the Paper Off Of The Floor

We replaced the toilet paper holder in the girls' bathroom.  The old one (which wasn't that old) kept dipping down and the paper would fall off.  Aggravating!

Enter this sturdy looking Glendale brushed nickel holder from Lowes.

It covered the holes from the previous holder and so far so good....
I also updated the switch plates with a new look.

#2) Re-Magnetizing the Chalkboard Wall

 My daughter's magnetic chalkboard wall wasn't holding up as well as it should (probably because I did the paint job).  She added another coat of magnetic chalkboard paint and POW!!

Much better!

#3) Butterflies Are Free to Fly

 We also finally got around to hanging up these pretty butterflies in her room (a Christmas gift from her sister).  We used a small clear Command hook on the ceiling and they can now flutter away.

#4) New Life for an Old Lamp

She found this bright thrifted Ikea lamp at Goodwill over the summer.

We were looking for a new bedside lamp but when she saw this one, she knew her desk could use some more task lighting and was smitten.

I love how it pops agains the aqua walls.

To see more of her room, click here.

How about you? Have you been up to any little (or big) projects lately?

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Linking up with:
Tabletop Tuesday
Tuesday To-Do
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
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End of Summer Get Together

The tween(can't call her that much longer!) hosted a few friends for an end of summer get together before school started.

She planned the menu of light fare: popcorn and fruit with Passion iced tea and Izze drinks.

As well as these scrumptious coconut cupcakes.

They were really the stars of the party.

The recipe is from Ina Garten,The Barefoot Contessa.

You can find it here.

 It was my our idea to toast the coconut for the cupcake tops.
Don'tcha like their snazzy zebra cupcake liners?

She's become quite the cupcake baker!

The girls were coming over to hang out, eat and enjoy the deck and hot tub.

She set the table up outside.

I also thought they would hang out around the fire pit and roast marshmallows and I had a mason jar/glow light project I wanted to try with them but we never got to it.

Another time...

I had to be sneaky to grab a few shots of the party.

But it looked like they were having fun!

Linking up with:

Weekend Wrap Up

A Little Inspiration & Night Owl

Say G'Day Saturday

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Kiss Me Kate..Did ya know?

 My daughter just finished up her second year of Summer Stock and it's been such a great experience for her.  She 'moved up' this year to the high school production so she and the other younger kids were in the chorus.   They performed the musical Kiss Me Kate, which I knew nothing about.  Now the songs are all stuck in my head and I am in love with the show.

{My daughter's head shot-under her name it says, 

Appearing Every Night}

Kiss Me Kate was the first musical to win a Tony Award for the category of Best Musical, when the category was created in 1949.   All of the music and lyrics are written by someone you may have heard of...
only the Mr. Cole Porter. Wow!

Kiss Me Kate is a play within a play.

  The main characters are involved in a love triangle (or rectangle?) and are performing The Taming of The Shrew by another little known writer (William Shakespeare!) in a theater group,  all set in the 1940's.

The songs are catchy and the dance numbers will definitely get your toes tapping.

This is the whole company in their 1940's garb while rocking out a snappy number.

The show then opens up in the leads' dressing rooms where we find out that they used to be married to each other and might still have unresolved feelings for one another, even though the female lead (Lilli Vanessi/Katherine) is engaged to someone new.  The male lead (Frederic C. Graham/Petruchio) is also the  director and producer of the 'show'. 

To complicate matters, Fred sends flowers to the other female lead (Lois Lane/Bianca) who is involved with the other male lead (Bill/Lucentio) and they accidentally get sent to Lilli.  Bill also has a gambling problem and runs into a problem with some gangsters.

Are you with me?

It's ok if you're not.  Trust me, this show has something for everybody and is very funny!

I was so impressed with the entire cast, especially the leads (played by high schoolers). They had a lot of lines, many of them in Shakespearean dialogue, as well as many songs and dance numbers.

The show came together in 3 1/2 weeks--everything, the actors and their lines, songs, dances, costumes, orchestra, sets and props!!
She's on the far left, in the green.

There was a very successful revival of Kiss Me Kate in 2000 and set the record for the number of Tony Award nominations for a musical revival and that record still stands.

If you have a chance to see it, you won't be disappointed.

If you missed my post about her costume that I cobbled together from thrift store pieces, click here.

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