Food and Fun!

For those who like to create and have fun right alongside your kids to celebrate their birthday, Dana Holmes has come up with a few fun ideas and easy-to-do recipes to implement theme based parties your kids will love. From the adventure of a magic forest to camping or park time or going under the sea, there's some fun, fantastic ideas to run with to make your kid's day special.

You can incorporate the same food-related fun by including your child's favorite foods on their Birthday Wall, highlighting what their palette fancies! It can be a funny approach to show our kids how well we know them, even by the food they eat.

Imagination and the palette can be just the source to get your creativity going for a birthday they'll remember.

Let Your Kids Imagine!

Have you ever thought to ask your child what kind of party they want to have? Kids have a fun and colorful imagination, and with their ideas, you might just come up with something fabulous and memorable. Tori Spelling shares some tips on how she plans a birthday party with her kids, from decorations and color to theme and activities. Get creative together!

You might think that your child's birthday wall need to be a big secret, and you can, of course, keep it that way so they will be totally surprised. But sometimes it can help to get some ideas of what they would like on their wall so you don't end up doing something that simply doesn't hit the spot for them or even be embarrassing. I include a survey list of things you can ask about in The Birthday Wall e-book to get you started.

Have fun getting creative with your kids!

The Party: Keep It Simple and Stress Free

I love a relaxed approach to many things, including parties. Obviously, so does Rebekah Kuschmider, who shares in her article how she kept things simple and stress free as she prepared (minimally, mind you) for her daughter's first birthday, including invites, food, activity, and socializing. She shows that it doesn't have to be complicated to be fun and satisfying for all.

Creating a birthday wall for your child can also be fun and stress free. Just use your heart and appreciation for your child to guide the way and you'll know just what will make the visual pleasing and fun without making it complicated.

Enjoy the process and keep it simple.
It's the heart of it that matters.

Fun for Less!

Birthday parties are often a place that sucks your wallet dry--if you let it. But that's not necessary! All you need are a few volunteers and some money-saving savvy that Stephanie Frazier suggests in her article, 5 Ways to Save Money on Your Child's Birthday Party. From entertainment to cake options, fun activities to theme parks, she offers some great thrifty ideas that keep the fun without the expense.

When  it comes to making a birthday wall, you can keep it simple with just a few items and ideas that you can make yourself. I offer various theme-based and textual-based ideas for saving money in each chapter under the Heading, Birthday Budget, so you can know some of the best approaches to creating a fabulous display on budget.

Themes: Get Creative!

Sometimes it can be hard to figure a great theme for a birthday party, but your child is probably the best one to ask since they know what they love. American Profile offers some great theme-based ideas for a birthday party, from a Mad Hatter Tea Party to a Zoo theme. It's just a matter of your child's interest and a little imagination. :)

I offer several ideas in The Birthday Wall e-book for a theme-based party with a list based on party supplies as well as ideas related to possible child interests. That's what is so cool about The Birthday Wall; it's a custom creation showcasing what your child really loves, focusing on what makes them special and on their preferences and personality.

Themes can be such a FUN element to your child's birthday!

Birthday Party Money Savers

Whether it's food, entertainment, or decorations, it's easy to spend more than is necessary to plan a great birthday party for that super special child in your life. But you don't have to. Shutterfly shares some practical ways you can celebrate and keep the cost low and still have a fun and fabulous time. From details on party goods, food prep and invites, you will find some great ideas with room to splurge on what you just can't pass up. 

When it comes to creating a fantastic Birthday Wall for your child, you don't have to spend a ton of money to put up a fabulous display. Heartfelt messages to photos of friends may be all you need to enhance the visual of your child's birthday. In each chapter of my e-book, I provide a section titled Birthday Budget where I share tips on how to keep the cost of your birthday wall low while still giving enough ideas to run with to make it the very best. 

Budget Friendly Advice for a Happy Birthday

When it comes to birthday party planning, you want to have a happy child without the overt expense. There are so many variables that can affect how much you spend. Jessica Fisher of Life As A Mom has some fabulous, practical and fun ideas to keep your planning within budget, giving examples from her own birthday party planning experience. She includes all aspects of a great birthday party, including theme and birthday cake.

Sometimes it can be a challenge not to overspend when you want your child's Birthday Wall to be super fab, but you don't have to go above and beyond to make it special and meaningful. Just work with one or two ideas from your child's favorite things and you'll have plenty to work with the make the best, most fun visual representing your child's personality with sparkle.

A Little Birthday Help

It can sometimes help to get a few good ideas for a great birthday party for your child, especially if they save time and money and include creative ideas to keep the kids occupied and happy. Linda Ann Nickerson provides these tips, focusing on simplicity and keeping track of stuff you don't want to forget. She also includes a tip on choice of theme to keep things unified and fun.

I provide plentiful ideas for a terrific themed birthday wall in Chapter one of my book: The BirthdayWall: Create a Collage to Celebrate Your Child. Themes can be so much fun, especially when they reflect what your child is loving right now. Enhancing their day with their favorite things can make their time and celebration extra special.

A Furry Friend for Fun!

How does a cuddly, furry experience sound for a great birthday party? Fun? Interesting? Vicky Welton tells about her daughter Grace's 6th birthday party with Build-A-Bear! She shares the heart-warming, furry activities, detailing the whole build-a-bear process (in case you didn't know!) and what a great time her daughter had with her friends picking out accessories and loving their animals.

A birthday wall can contain so many fun elements from your child's life, whether it's a favorite stuffed animal or learning to sew. When you share this aspect visually to celebrate your child, it will show them just how well you know what they love and will make them feel special.

A Birthday Science Synopsis!

Next time you're planning a birthday party for your child, consider the possibilities a little experimenting can do! Angie Lee at Seven Clown Circus blog shares with many color photos the fabulous science themed ideas she used recently at her 7-year-old twins' birthday party. From fun foods to food coloring, she really brought out the FUN in science. And it was a true hit in the neighborhood!

When you create a birthday wall for your child, you may find some awesome ideas percolating that have a experimental flair to them. What has your child discovered in their past year about themselves and the world around them? Feature photos, games, and friends who were alongside during these discoveries, showcasing what really matters to your child with fun and pizzazz!

It's time to experiment!

Happy Birthday: It's Playtime!

Instead of birthday parties being about all the amenities, perhaps a simpler approach, like playtime and a homemade cake, can be what the party planner ordered. Erin Guerrieri shares her view point on keeping simple traditions with her kids. It can be refreshing to just give them time to play with friends and family, making memories and having a good time.

You can keep things simple when you create a Birthday Wall for your child; just highlight the best of the best and what you know will matter most to your child. I give suggestions for keeping it lightweight and less complicated in How I Did It sections in each chapter.

Simple can be Sensational!

Is Bigger Better?: A Birthday Party Analysis

Sometimes laying down ground rules for the party planning is the way to go, especially when you're looking at the birthday budget. Christine Berry MacKenzie shares her point of view about the necessity or lack thereof of a big party with all the amenities in her article, How to Control Growingly Elaborate Birthday Parties. She explains how keeping it simple may be the way to go and be just as successful and memorable in the long run.

Each chapter in The Birthday Wall contains a section called Birthday Budget which helps you see how you can save money while creating the best birthday wall ever simply by choosing what works best for you.

You can make your child's birthday memorable and still keep it simple.

Celebrate and Learn: A Mom's Point of View

I appreciate it when moms share their life experiences. Organized Mom at Mom to Mom website shares a fabulous rendition of her daughter's 6th birthday party which includes her supplies, her decor and the activities in detail. But what I really like is what she shares about what she learned in the process; in other words, what she would do next time to make it even better.

Sometimes when we want to create something fabulous for our kids, we run into an issue we didn't expect or we see later that doing something a certain way would have made the whole experience a lot easier. I share trouble shooting issues in The Birthday Wall concerning display options, how and where, as well as concerns your child's feelings.

Plan, learn and celebrate!

For Your Sweet Tooth: A Sprinkled Special!

I love it when I discover a birthday theme that is clever, cute, and well designed. How about Sprinkles? Yes, these colorful collections can be found throughout this theme, from decor the activity ideas. Kirstin of Kojo Designs created a fabulous setting, favors, and fun with this adorable birthday theme.

How about throwing some of that sprinkly fun to a Birthday Wall, showcasing more of your child's loves? Yes, you can easily incorporate the funnest of themes to your creation celebrating your child's personality in all of their glorious dimensions.

Have some sprinkle-based fun and celebrate the best of your child for their special day!

A Pretty Princess: Pink Playfulness

This Mom, Abby Larson, who wrote the post, SMP (Style Me Pretty) at Home: Audrey's 4th Birthday, showcases how you can have a terrific birthday and use what you've got (with a bit of super frugal spending to fill in the gaps). With pink enhanced photos galore, Abby shows all the dimensions and elements of her daughter's 4th birthday, with activities, decorations, and costumes. A Perfect Party for a Pretty Princess, indeed!

When you have a birthday party with such adorable decor, you'd want to embellish your child's Birthday Wall with some of that glitter going on! There are so many wonderfully fun and fancy options with how you can visually please while enhancing the self-esteem of your wonderful child. Add some pizzazz and have some fun!

Fun at Home with Bounce!

I love the simplicity shared in today's featured post, In Praise of the Old-Fashioned, DIY Birthday Party by Katie Granju; it amazes me how something as simple as a bounce house can make a child's day on their birthday. You may be surprised when you ask your child what would make their birthday special; it is often met with something simple and doable.

One of the elements of The Birthday Wall is focusing on what makes your child happy. When we listen to what our children want and why, we can discover what is in the hearts of our kids. And that's what we really want to know anyway, isn't it?

Themed Inspiration: A Penguin Party!

I thought this penguin themed party was the cutest, from the decorations to the cupcakes and then some. But I think what inspired me most about Noah's First Birthday Party: Penguin Style was the celebratory aspect of friends and family for this one-year-old named Noah with his parents, Abby and Rick. This was the perfect birthday story of how one life can change another for the better in ways that are just awesome and wonderful.

This post truly inspired me with the application of what makes a child truly special--one of a kind--in reference to The Birthday Wall and how we can show this clearly as a visual in ways that help our children understand how much we love and appreciate them. Noah's story is a perfect example.

Outdoors, Anyone? It's a Summer Time Party!

Are you looking for some great summer-style ideas for your child's birthday? Well, Becky Sher provides quite a few, from food to activities, invite ideas and decor. This fun outdoor theme post is sure to spark some inspiration for the outdoors as you celebrate your child.

Some of the decor ideas Becky provides can be incorporated into the birthday wall you can create in conjunction with this very fun, summertime outdoor theme. I provide some terrific theme ideas in Chapter One, A Thoughtful Thread: Choosing a Theme in my e-book, The Birthday Wall: Create a Collage to Celebrate Your Child..

An Affirmation Celebration!

We all want our kids to feel special, don't we? And their special day, their birthday, is the perfect time to show them how much you appreciate them. My good friend, Sarah Bryant, who recently shared about her and her son's Birthday Wall experience, also shares how she affirms her son on a daily basis with her post, Affirming the Good in Your Child.

One of the distinct benefits of creating a Birthday Wall for your child is being able to affirm your children by showing them how much they are loved and valued with a custom visual display just for them.

Celebrations: Give Them a Choice!

When we plan a celebration for our child's birthday, we may run into an unsatisfactory situation such as described by Sharon DeVellis with her two boys. She shares her experiences with birthday parties, the cost involved and where to have one in her post, Birthday Party Alternative.  She decided to give her boys a choice of party or family time. She shares their activities and what choices they made with memories in the making.


Our kids know what they like and they know what matters to them; when we highlight these all-important aspects of our kids' lives, creating that birthday wall becomes all the more meaningful and satisfying for them and for you.