'Stache Bash

I'll be back later today (or tomorrow) with the step-by-step tutorial for how to make the baby bow ties/ties seen in my post from yesterday, but right now....I've got something much more exciting in store.

You see, I'm that mom.  You know, the one that throw her son a half birthday party?  Yep, that one.

And it was a blast.  And I'd do it again.  And again and again and again!

The theme of Blake's little shindig was mustaches.  Yep.  We called it his 'Stache Bash.

We sent out invitations to family, and invited friends via Facebook.  Since we are very careful with how we spend our moolah these days, this was a great money-saver.  Invitations looked like this:

Please disregard my edits to hide our personal information.  I made the invitations in Word, using some free fonts I downloaded and some clipart.  I printed them out on normal printer paper and then mounted them on some cardstock I found back in my craft 'stache (<-- get it?  I'm punny). Then, I cut out mustaches and sat Blake down with his most daper bib (we got it at a shower, and I think it's absolutely darling) and stuck them under his nose with a piece of tape.  He was such a good sport!  Then I made a quick collage, printed out a bunch on card stock, and stuck them in with the invitation.  And the envelopes?  They're just brown paper lunch bags.  Have I mentioned lately that I am cheeeap?  I really am.  I didn't want to spend money on custom sized envelopes, so I just made sure that my invitations were the correct width to fit inside the lunch bag.  Then, I folded over the top, secured it with some glue, and used my card stock mustaches and printer labels to decorate the front.  I think they turned out pretty cute, and best part?  They were F-R-E-E.

The first thing I did for the party was the cake.   I really wanted to make Blake a mustache cake to fit the theme, but the molds I found online were like $20.  Eesh.  No go.  So I decided to improvise.  I baked two sheet cakes of german chocolate cake (box mix, nothin' fancy folks) and then printed out a giant mustache on legal sized paper that we had on hand.  Then, when the cake was still warm (the paper sticks better to the top of the cake) I used it as a pattern to cut out my mustache.  You can see that process below. 

The hardest part was transferring my mustache cake cutout from the baking pan to the plate.  I ended up using two spatulas under each half of the 'stache and then lifting it all as one big piece.  Tricky.

I frosted it and then dug around in my cupboards until I found some coconut that I had stashed some time ago.  Fortunately for me, on the back of the bag it tells you how to dye the flakes...a little bit of water, some food coloring, and a plastic bag.  Mix it up and shake to your little heart's content.  I used the coconut to mimic the look of 'stache hair.  I kinda like how it turned out!  The last thing I did was use to pipe a little frosting around the top of the 'stache to give it little more definition.  I have some pastry tips, but no bag, so I improvised by cutting the corner off a plastic bag and then sticking my tip in the hole.  Worked like a charm once I added some of the frosting to the bag.

The little banner was an afterthought, but I like how it turned out.  I just used Word to make some little triangles with Blake's name, then cut them out and strung them on some ribbon.  Add in a couple popsicle sticks and a glue gun, and BAM!  Instant banner.

Bonus?  The cake was so yummy!  In fact, the leftovers are on my kitchen counter.  My husband keeps telling me he'll take it to work...if he doesn't hurry, there won't be anything to take.  Ahem.

Here are a few other photo collages of the party:

I am no cupcake decorator.  Whoa.  Not pretty.  I did, however, love making these little cupcake toppers for the boy! 

Some of the decorations.  From top L to R: Put a 'Stache on it printable.  Found this free online (can't find the source, sorry) and used a 8x10 frame for our bedroom to display it on our entry table.  Banner.  I made this in Word (theme?) by creating large circles and adding in the text I wanted.  You might notice match the cupcake toppers.  I also printed and cut out a few pictures of Blake and used those in the banner.  Themed food:  All the food was "themey" (not a word, I know).  We had 'Manly Melons', 'Sandwich Cigars', 'Meat and Potatoes' (little smokeys and potato chips) 'Stud Muffins' (cupcakes).  Mustache lollipops.  Easy favor for guests.  I just cut out paper mustaches and used a hole punch to stick a lollipop through them.  Then, when guests suck on the lollipop, it looks like they're wearing a 'stache! Felt mustaches.  I had these in this little container (that, for some reason says 'chocolate pretzels' on it....let's ignore that) for guests to pick up as they came in.  SO fun!

Close up of the food

The verdict?  We had a blast, and I think our guests liked it too!  And the man of the hour....well, let's just say he had never looked cuter:

Baby legs and tie made by mommy!  Tutorials in the works.