1983 Trivia - 30th Birthday Party Game

A couple of years ago I made a 30th birthday party trivia game for my husband’s birthday with questions about the year he was born.  This game has become a hit on Pinterest so I’ve updated it for any babies that were born back in 1983 and are turning 30 this year.  Just print out copies of the 1983 trivia card I designed and have your guests take their best guesses (or stretch their memory) at the big pop culture hits and other facts from 1983.  It’s the perfect kind of laid-back game for a 30th birthday party or even a 30th anniversary or reunion celebration.  Well, “laid back” as long as you’re not me and don’t take trivia games super seriously and get all competitive and make your friends fear you (don’t mess with me at Quizzo)!



This year, I designed two styles for the trivia cards.  Below are snippets of the two looks, but the actual trivia card contains more questions than what's shown in the images below.  The first look is what I like to call the “Back to the Future” design:




And the second design has fun rainbow letters:



Since I’m a nerd and really into trivia, it actually takes me quite a bit of time to research the answers to each of the questions so I can make sure the the answer key is accurate (especially for the questions about the cost of certain items back in ‘83.)  I’m talking about digging through old census data and government reports.  Yeah, I take trivia seriously! 

So since I put a ton of time into making this trivia game each year and it’s available for download here totally for free, I ask that you do me a solid and follow me in one of the following ways in exchange for downloading this awesome game for free.

1- Subscribe to my RSS feed
2- Follow me on Pinterest

Thanks for understanding!  Now, here are the links where you can download either of the 1983 trivia cards and the answer key.

1983 Trivia Game – Back to Future
1983 Trivia Game - Rainbow
1983 Trivia Answer Key

I hope you enjoy this game and please make sure to either subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Pinterest before downloading!

P.S. If you’re looking for previous versions of this game, you can find the 1981 game here and the 1982 game here.

1982 Trivia (30th Birthday Party Quiz)

Last year when my hubby turned 30, I shared the 1981 trivia quiz that I had made for his birthday party and boy am I flattered at the response!  The 1981 trivia became a big hit on Pinterest and I got many emails requesting a copy of it. But since it's 2012 now, people turning 30 this year (or celebrating their 30th school reunion or anniversary) , are born in 1982, not 1981.  So I decided to update the quiz and answers for 1982.



To make it easier for everyone, instead of emailing me for a copy of the quiz, I've made the 1982 trivia downloadable.  The first page contains the 1982 trivia and the second page is the answer key (remember to only print one copy of the key). 

Feel free to print and use this trivia to your heart’s content, but please follow this blog first, then you can download this 1982 trivia here.  Enjoy!

30th Birthday Party Time!

This was the scene at our house last weekend:



My wonderful hubby, Rob, turned the Big Three-O and I didn't let him forget it. On Sunday, we celebrated his birthday with a 1981 inspired party.

To decorate for the big day, I made movie posters plastering his name and the number 30 in the titles of the biggest movies from the year he was born.  Like Rob and the Raiders of the 30th Birthday (I blurred out our last name in the photo below).



And SuperRob 30 instead of Superman 2.



And Cannonball Rob instead of Cannonball Run.



For desert, we munched on banana chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing (I modified the recipe to use more peanut butter and less butter and sugar).  The cupcakes were delish and very light and fluffy.  Of course I couldn't miss out on another opportunity to remind Rob of his age so I made paper pennants and decorated them with 30s.



If those didn't do the trick, his birthday cake was a sure reminder of his new age complete with a number 30 candle and 30 individual candles.



A playlist of the top songs from 1981 helped set the mood too.  Our guests appreciated classic ditties like Jessie's Girl, Keep on Loving You, and Bette Davis Eyes that topped the charts back in '81 (you have to watch the music videos for a full appreciation of their Eighties awesomeness).

And for some party fun, I created 1981 trivia cards and our guests took their best guesses (or tested their memory) at questions like the top TV show, cost of a dozen eggs, and the Superbowl champ from 30 years ago.



If you're throwing a 30th birthday party this year and want a copy of the 1981 trivia or the list of songs from my birthday playlist, feel free to email me and I'll send it over.

Update:  I have updated the 1981 trivia with 1982 trivia that you can download here.

The party was a hit and Rob may have even enjoyed turning 30.  Well maybe not, but at the very least he enjoyed and appreciated the party.  Happy Birthday again to my handsome, smart, caring, funniest guy I know, all around wonderful, love of my life, husband!

Fourth of July Fun

Happy July 4th!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed some Independence Day fun.  We enjoyed the 3 F’s: food, fireworks, and family!

Today we hosted an impromptu barbecue for our family.  I sprinkled some Fourth of July décor touches throughout the house.

In the living room, my usual summer centerpiece, got a spray of 4th of July flair:



The dining room had a Fourth of July table setting as well. 



I added two red candles and a flag on my usual centerpiece to add a festive touch.



The kitchen got the star spangled treatment with festive American flag inspired placemats.



My mother-in-law brought over some beautiful Rose of Sharon flowers from her garden which I placed on an Independence Day inspired tray.



My sister gave me this lovely tray with a sketching of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which I particularly like since we live near Philly.



We spent the evening grilling, relaxing, and playing the Michael Jackson Experience on Wii!  How was your fourth of July?

Doggy Birthday Party

I realize that many of you will think I'm totally crazy after you read this post, but hopefully those of you with four-legged best friends will totally understand.  Last year, we adopted this adorable little puppy.  He has brightened our home and I look forward to his four paws, wagging tail, and doggy kisses greeting me every time I walk through the front door.  So when his first birthday rolled around this weekend, we wanted to make it a special day for him.  Don't worry, we didn't hire a clown and rent a moon bounce, but we did celebrate the day. We bought him a few new toys, got him some tasty doggy treats, and I might have baked some cookies and made some doggy decorations.  That's not too crazy, right?

Here's the birthday boy, freshly groomed and dressed for the occasion with a Happy Birthday bandanna and one of his new toys.



Now, here's where I may start sounding a bit wacky.  I wanted to bake some tasty treats (for us humans), so I made sugar cookies (with this awesome lemon glaze) using a dog bone shaped cookie cutter.



And of course no doggy birthday party would be complete without some decorations, so I made a simple dog garland by tracing a schnauzer shape onto sheets of blue and brown construction paper.  Once each shape was cut out, I punched a hole into each doggy and strung a white gift ribbon through them for a quick schnauzer garland to dress up my fireplace.





But my favorite doggy decoration (which I had to make for Halloween anyway of course) are these schnauzer carved pumpkins.  Better Homes & Gardens has awesome free dog breed pumpkin stencils and I couldn't wait to give the schnauzer stencil a try!



So there you have it, my dog's first birthday celebration.  That wasn't too crazy, right?  So tell me, do you celebrate your pet's birthday too or am I nutty after all?

Philly Phanatic Cupcake Tutorial

This year I made baseball themed cupcakes for Hubby’s birthday.  He’s a big Phillies fan so I knew I had to make a Philly Phanatic cupcake.  If you’re not familiar with the Phanatic, he is the fuzzy green mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies:

The Phanatic has bright green fur, big colorful eyelashes, and a megaphone shaped mouth:



I searched online for a tutorial on how to make Philly Phanatic cupcakes, but couldn’t find anything.  So I did some thinking and came up with my own Philly Phanatic cupcake design.

Check out how I made and decorated this Phanatic cupcake.  First I started with a chocolate cupcake:


And covered it with white Coolwhip frosting (with my Coolwhip and confectioner's sugar icing concoction).  Then to make the Phanatic’s mouth, I cut a marshmallow in half and placed it a little more than half way down the cupcake:



Next, I colored the cupcake green using Wilton Color Mist food color spray.  The spray worked pretty well and was like spray painting with flavorless food coloring.  Basically it's artificial coloring in a can, probably not the healthiest thing to eat, but it got the job done.



Next, I made two eyes out of marshmallows.  If I had mini marshmallows, I could have cut them in half and used them as eyes.  But since I didn’t have any mini marshmallows on hand, I had to finagle a large marshmallow to cut round eyes from it.



To make the pupils, I cut the tips off two chocolate chips and rolled them a bit to make them look round. Next, I made eyelashes using red icing.  If you read yesterday's post, you know I had a lot of difficulty using the icing I bought and don’t recommend it.  I had a lot of trouble with the icing, but managed to make something that resembled eyelashes.



Finally, I finished the Phanatic cupcake by adding a bright red tongue like he’s sometimes seen with.



And here’s the finished Philly Phanatic cupcake!



I know I won’t be on Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss anytime soon, but considering this was my first attempt to decorate cupcakes and I made up this design myself, I think the Philly Phanatic cupcakes turned out pretty well!  What do you think?  Have you ever came up with your own cupcake design?

This project is featured on Fireflies and Jellybeans, Pony Tails and Fish Scales, Beyond the Picket Fence, stop by to see the other great projects featured!

Phillies Baseball Cupcake Decorating

Happy birthday to my dear hubby Rob!  Although today is his actual birthday, we celebrated Rob’s birthday this past weekend.  And because I think you’re never too old for a theme party, I decorated the house with Phillies baseball decorations.  I even made my first ever attempt at cake decorating!

Rob doesn’t like traditional birthday cakes (weird I know!), so I made him cupcakes instead.  First I made chocolate brownie cupcakes from this Woman’s Day recipe (I substituted the eggs with “Better’n Eggs”).  I also made chocolate cheesecake cupcakes from this BakeSpace recipe (I substituted the cream cheese with low-fat cream cheese).  I enjoyed both types of cupcakes, but Rob preferred the cheesecake ones.
However, since I planned to decorate the cupcakes, I didn’t make either of the frostings included in the recipes.  Instead, I made my own frosting by just mixing a little confectioner's sugar into light Coolwhip.  I prefer this frosting because it’s healthier and not super sweet like traditional frosting.

I decorated the cupcakes with Phillies and baseball designs using Betty Crocker Decorating Icing and Wilton Color Mist food color spray.  I must say that although the Betty Crocker icing was very tasty, the decorating tips it came with were nearly impossible to use.  I had a lot of difficulty controlling the icing as it came out and wouldn’t use this icing again.


I was pretty disappointed I couldn’t design the cupcakes how I had hoped because of all the difficulty I had with the icing, but I managed to make a few baseball cupcakes,  Phillies “P” cupcakes, red sugar cupcakes with “All Star” flags, and even Philly Phanatic cupcakes!




My favorite cupcake was the Philly Phanatic cupcake I invented.  Check back tomorrow if you’re interested to see how I made it.


Despite my decorating mishaps, the baseball cupcakes were still a hit and Rob loved them!  Here’s all of the cupcakes at the party:


This post is shared on Blue Cricket, stop by and check out some of the other great projects featured.

DIY 4th of July Decorations

I love the bright colors of the 4th of July: the fireworks and red, white, and, blue everywhere.  To decorate for Independence Day, so far I’ve bought a pack of mini flags and lined my front yard landscaping with flags and popped one in the planter by my front door (unfortunately the 95 degree weather here hasn't been too kind to my plants as you can tell).  It got dark before I could take some more pictures, but here’s a sneak peek:

 

Indoors, I still need to add some 4th of July decorations and luckily I’ve found a lot of great easy printable decorations.  Check out these super cute and fun printable and DIY 4th of July decorations:

Stars and Strips printable fans – Martha Stewart

Patriotic Drink Parasols – Martha Stewart

Patriotic Napkin Rings – Martha Stewart

4th of July Star Spangled Party Banner – Executive Homemaker

Red, White, and Blue Paper Pom Poms – Centsational Girl

Patriotic Ribbon Hanging Tea Lights – Sunset

Patriotic Candle Holders – Better Homes & Gardens

How are you decorating for the 4th of July?


This post is shared on Centsational Girl, stop by to see the other great projects featured.

Aloha! My Luau Birthday Party

Earlier this month, I celebrated my birthday.  I didn't have much time to prepare a birthday party this year because I had just gotten back from my vacation the previous week (poor me, I know).  Thinking it would be quick and simple, I decided to throw together a luau style BBQ to celebrate with my family.  Barbecues are my favorite when hosting a last minute party because most of the cooking is done on the grill during the party, so little preparation is needed in advance.  In fact, most of my party prep just involved the Hawaiian and tropical inspired decorations.

Some decorations I already had, like this cute hula girl I got at Old Navy years ago.  I also picked up a few cheap luau party decorations like this awesome monkey, hand carved from a coconut, for just $3 at the Christmas Tree Shops.  


There, I also snagged these tropical pink paper lanterns for about $2.




I snagged these fun colorful lantern string lights at Walmart for about$5.




And of course, I needed some tropical paper goods too (from the Dollar Store).




The guests were decorated too, wearing their most tropical looking outfits and donning Dollar Store leis that I provided- modeled here by an inflatable monkey decoration:


Even the puppy got in on the fun:


Although the decorations were cute, the party didn't go exactly like I had planned (notice the decorations are all hanging indoors). My thought to throw an "easy" backyard BBQ didn't work out so well when our grill wouldn't light up! So much for my idea of a simple BBQ. Then, as my hubby and brother in law attempted to fix the grill, rain started pouring down and my hopes for a barbecue were completely washed out. So instead, we went to plan B and ordered pizzas! Luckily, I had a few snacks and hors d'oeuvres (that didn't require the grill) already out to munch on while waiting for the pizzas. My sweet family was very understanding about the food delay and didn't mind pizza, but I learned an important lesson to have plenty of food on hand in case the BBQ doesn't light or something else goes wrong (who knows- stove doesn't work, food delivery doesn't come, etc).

In the end, everything worked out and I celebrated a wonderful birthday with my family, but next time I will definitely test the grill in advance and have alternative dishes on hand in case something goes awry!

(Pssst...If you like party talk, stayed tuned I have a big new blog feature coming soon!)