Captain America Party: The Party

The Stars & Stripes Bounce House.

Perfect. 

That's the only word I would use to describe the party.

From the invitations, to the entertainment I had a great time pulling it all together and we had so much fun celebrating his 4th birthday. This year we received the correct bounce house (and it worked), and we had just enough people show up. We had a mix up the year before with the rental, but Blue Baboons pulled through and helped it to be great event this time around.

The kids bounced around the yard for the first hour or so, and then we shuffled everyone into the garage for a few more "party games" and food (grilled hotdogs, chips and cake).

Avenger's Coloring Masks & Avenger's Crayons.

While the kids were waiting, I had parents help with Avenger's temporary tattoos I picked up from Michael's. Each kid was also able to color their choice of Avenger mask: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk. I even found Avenger's crayons at the Dollar Tree.

One of the many Captain America masked guests.

Everyone cut out their masks (some needed help) and then we used pipe cleaners to fasten them to their heads. This was the perfect distraction while we fixed plates and brought the food out to the garage.

Overall it was a lot of fun, and unlike year's past I was able to enjoy the festivities. I had everything staged and ready which made it a breeze when I needed help transitioning from the yard to the garage. I even had a chance to jump in the bounce house. 

##LESSON###

Party planning is exhausting, kids never run out of energy, and it's awesome when all you have to do is clean up the garage floor after a party. Next year I think we'll opt for something small, like a family trip to Disney or something...

~ Jessica

Captain America Party: The Cake

This time around I wasn't very adventurous with the cake decorating. I found some sugar sheets that could literally be cut into any shape you want, so I opted for the simple round cake with the Captain America "sugar shield" cut out on top. I also made cupcakes since the party guests totaled 20+.

The "Shield" cake.

I "doctored up" a Funfetti box cake to make it taste more homemade (here's the recipe for that) and I made homemade icing (here's that recipe, I always use this one). I decorated the sides of the cake and the tops of the cupcakes with Wilton red, white and blue stars sugar decorations. 

I cut out the sugar sheet shield the night before and wrapped it in wax paper until I iced the cake the next day.

##LESSON##

Sugar sheets are very sensitive to heat. The star was the top layer and melted a little over night. I had to re-cut and piece together a small portion of it because it stuck to the wax paper. Probably should have put it in the fridge or pieced it together the same day.

I found the cupcake liners during a random trip to Michael's. They were technically for a circus themed party, but because I didn't use the circus tent toppers they fit the theme perfectly.

Captain America cupcakes.

I made a total of 48 cupcakes and one double layer round cake. My son loved it and everyone thought the cupcakes tasted as homemade.

Mission Accomplished. It was a success.

 ~ Jessica