A golden ticket for the birthday boy in a real Wonka Chocolate Bar! I typed up the following on a piece of gold vellum:
Greetings to you the lucky finder of the Golden Ticket from Mr. Willy Wonka. Present this ticket at the factory gates at 11 o'clock in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of May and do not be late! You may celebrate one birthday party on this day... and only one...but no more! In your wildest dreams you cannot imagine the marvelous SURPRISES that await YOU!
The factory gates
Watch out Veruca! Sebastian the Squirrel is looking for bad nuts.
This was an image I found online that I glued to a regular pack of gum.
Courtesy of Violet. (Blue Hawaiian punch, actually.)
We had Mike TeaVee dinners for lunch... well, Lunchables, actually, but they looked like little trays.
We took a dip in the chocolate river with Augustus Gloop and enjoyed a little fondue at snacktime.
I made this banner with cardstock and a free Willy Wonka font.
The cake!
An 8 year old boy's dream, right?
A tired mama's dream too. It took me longer to open the (blasted) KitKat wrappers than it did to decorate this cake (those things are wrapped in some kind of child-proof packaging I swear). BigBoy even poured the M&M's on himself and was very pleased that he got to help make his cake. Thanks to Kacky for the inspiration!
Also a dream... getting an original comic from his new favorite comic artist along with a special birthday greeting and a sneak peek of a few pages of Mr. Hatke's new book coming out in September, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl
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When I was at Party City looking for tablecloths and stocking up on candles, I found this purple velour hat. It screamed Willy Wonka to me. Well, first it screamed something else, but after I cut out a green "W", then is screamed Willy Wonka.
We are waiting for dad to get home so we can eat dinner and slice into that cake. (And then go to bed! Mama is T. I. R. E. D!)
Happy Birthday to our big 8 year old boy, BigBoy!
Another amazingly creative birthday party! I love all of your ideas for tying in the book, Charlotte. I think I am going to have to get the audio version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to share with my kiddos. Happy Birthday to BigBoy! And I hope you are able to get some rest, it's been a busy week for you!
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh, both parties were wonderful!!! Great job on both, and many blessings wished for both kiddos!!!
ReplyDeleteI just love the level of detail that you get into with your parties. Really, your kids must treasure these memories! Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteLove your amazing decorating skills! Both parties were exeptional. Now if you and Jessica were un-processed, chemical-free, non-artificial color type Mothers I could follow your food ideas as well! I just read "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon and I'm taking the plunge to try to stay away from the counterfeit stuff and feed my little family with what things that are not contrary to the Sacred Trust of Motherhood. Wish me luck!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the purple hat "screaming something else" at first. Beautiful pics!
ReplyDeleteThis whole post makes me wanna say, "Awesome Blossom!" …that's a freaky way of me saying I really dig something. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing gift an original illustration and preview of the next book from Mr. Hatke is. The birthday boy must have been over-the-moon excited. We have Legends of Zita the Spacegirl on pre-order and my kiddos can't wait. Wishing your BigBoy a very happy birthday and his inspirational mommy a good sound sleep.
…are you listening Cupcake? ;)
Can I just say that I am in awe of you??!! And, I will never, ever let my kids see this post, nor the one before it. ;o)
ReplyDeleteAmen Sue! I love seeing these beautiful parties but could never keep these up once I started! Would rather the kids not know what they're missing!!! ;-)
DeleteCharlotte, I definitely think you have a post-raising children job opportunity. Too many packaged birthday parties are bland, run-of-the-mill, and stereotypical. I think you could run a very nice business doing extra special birthday parties that are unique, personal, and way cooler than what anyone else is doing.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering, Charlotte, what do you do with all the decorations afterwards? Do you save/store them?
ReplyDeleteKatherine,
DeleteThat depends on what they are. The streamers get thrown away. They are just crepe paper. The factory gates on the wall were made out of left over wrapping paper so they will get tossed too. The curly ribbons were from my wrapping supply box and I will reuse those. The hat will probably get put in the dress up box. The squirrel is one of BigBoy's stuffed animals and it will be returned. The banners I do keep. I fold them up flat, put them in a zip baggie and keep them stored in a box called the Party Box in my closet. It's also where we stash left over streamers. This year's streamers were all courtesy of the Party Box so I might need to replenish my supply a little. The candy will be enjoyed a little bit here and there over the next few weeks. The tablecloths were just plastic ones so they will also get tossed. Any extra plates get put in the party box or used for lunches until they run out. The table decoration for Sunshine's birthday, "The Jane" as it is now affectionately called, has been taped to the girls' bedroom door.
I'm with Michelle. You have a gift, Charlotte, and are one of the most creative & talented people I know.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do know you! Isn't that cool?
My kids thought that cake was uber-cool (except for Angela, who couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that there was, indeed, a cake in there), and my oldest son sighed to see that Scrumdiddlyumptious bar at the top of your post. We do so love a good treat around here--which kid doesn't it?--and Mr. Wonka understood that.
So do you, Hon, and your children (and husband) are blessed in you.
Brilliant! All of it!
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative! I think you might have a calling as a party planner. You and Jessica could make a killing!
ReplyDelete