(There's a "recipe" at the end for our go-to ice cream cake that my momma always made for birthday parties growing up. It's so easy it's almost ridiculous. ALMOST.)
I actually love Pinterest (@bdiddycrum is where I save all my random house ideas and recipes). So I really think Pinterest is awesome. When people hate on it I always have the same thought - DON'T GO ON PINTEREST. I mean this seems obvious to me.... But when I got to throw a party for one of my kids I rarely go on Pinterest for ideas and here's why -- I love trying to figure out what MY kid would want for a party. Not someone else's party. And with four kids we just don't have the budget to do lavish birthday parties every year. We want to celebrate our kids by communicating intentionality in ways that they will understand, at their ages right now (almost 10, 8, 6 and almost 3). I am all about #communityovercompetition so if doing lavish birthday parties brings you life and your kiddo loves it...GO FOR IT. This blog post isn't helpful for you - sorry! But if you’re a mom that is like me and thinks, "I don’t have the time/money etc.," then this post will hopefully make you feel like THAT’S OK! No need to feel less than or feel pressure to do the same. Here's what I know from Leslie Knope (if you haven't watched Parks and Rec just stop reading right now and binge watch the whole series...I'll wait....). GLAD YOU'RE BACK! So, now you know...Leslie Knope would NEVER throw Ron Swanson an Ann Perkins party. Like ever. So throw your kid a party that THEY would love! (Enter Crum Family Cinema)
When our little middle daughter turned 6 this past October we had to think creatively about what to do for her party because #covid. So my tall man and I tried to think what are HER favorite things? This was easy...MOVIES (really watching anything) and SNACKS. So we surprised her and turned our family room into Crum Family Cinemas while she played in her room on a Sat afternoon.
Yes, this is painters tape :). What, you're not impressed? Cool. You shouldn't be. She was :) No streamers on hand? No problem. Here's a ready-made look you can grab at Target.
We watched Brave. (A first for her.) We moved a little kids wooden sectional over (Indiana Josh made it!) and put it SUPER close to the TV like she was in the front row. Normally every parent would be saying (myself included), "You're too close, back up!" NOT TODAY.
This was the snack bar. We have had that little banner for forever and just printed out letters and taped them. Badda boom, badda bing. Here's a create-your-own-banner that could work too! (And use again! #winwin)
Popcorn, tortilla chips, pretzels, peanut m&m's and mini m&m's. Our girl's dream.
The best part was our two oldest were running around helping us get everything ready and adding green streamers (above :) and running bowls of snacks downstairs for us. #teamcrum
JUST LOOK AT THE GLOW OF THE TV. Hilarious. This is the perfect picture of our girl and her two favorite things. I love it.
I hope you throw Ann Perkins parties for Ann Perkins. And I hope you thrown Ron Swanson some good ol' Ron Swanson parties.
Make awesome memories that YOUR kiddo will love. This wouldn't be the perfect party for all of our kids (even though they all had a blast). But it was the perfect party for our movie/snack loving gal.
I am grateful that this crazy pandemic made us have to get creative with parties (we've also had an at-home birthday tea party). I hope you will do the same too. What a gift that we get to celebrate these babes every year by saying, "WE GET YOU! WE KNOW YOU! And We want to celebrate YOU!"
Last thing! Here's an awesome "recipe" for the best birthday ice cream cake ever. Yep, that's right...EVER.
ICE CREAM CAKE
(Best made the night before so the cake can freeze.)
Grab a spring form cake pan,
-1 container of Oreos (we prefer the OG kind but you can dabble in Golden Oreos...#yolo)
-2, 1.5 quarts of Ice Cream (Let the birthday kid pick! Can be the same or two different.)
-1 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
-1 Teaspoon Vanilla
-2 Teaspoons (to 1 Tablespoon) of Sugar
Optional: Food coloring of your choice for the whipped cream topping.
That's it!
Cake:
Set the ice cream out on the counter for at least 30 min to thaw a bunch.
Put half the Oreos in a gallon Ziploc bag and mash them up with the back of a large spoon.
Layer Oreos in the bottom of the cake pan so it's just covered.
Spread one of the ice cream containers over all the Oreos until the cake pan is half full (that might mean a tiny bit less than the whole container). *Note: If the ice cream isn't spreading easily then just microwave for a few seconds till you can somewhat spread it.
Crush last half of Oreos in the same bag and repeat step 2. by spreading around the crumbles around in a single layer, this time over the ice cream.
Repeat step 4. and add your last container of ice cream! If the pan is getting full, that's OK! Just ease off on the ice cream or next time put in fewer Oreos. YOU CAN'T MESS THIS UP!
Pop that bad boy in the freezer and leave it in there at least 8 hours - overnight. (Highly recommend making this is the day before, so easy!)
Whipped Cream Topping:
When you're ready for the cake the next day grab the Heavy Whipping Cream, Vanilla and Sugar
Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and grab your hand mixer (or use your KitchenAid) and whip everything together until stiff peaks form. *If you are adding any color now is the time to drop in a few splashes of any food coloring you'd like!
Note: This is NOT a super sweet whipped topping, and honestly? It's really good that way. My mom used to add ZERO sugar to it when we were little...but I like a little bit :).
Party Time:
Grab your cake out of the freezer and put it on a round serving dish with a slight lip if you can (just so the cake doesn't slide around) and then pop that lock, baby!
Slide the round cake pan off by pulling it up and then add as much whipped topping as you want! #yolo
Add candles.
Eat. (Cover leftovers with foil and store in the freezer.)
You're welcome.
Hugs & Kisses,
Best Friends Forever,
Never Change,
B