{real parties} a charlie brown inspired birthday

It's been so hard to hold off posting this party...but I wanted Chris at Celebrations at Home to have the exclusive! Thanks again, Chris, for featuring our party today. We love your blog and feel like we've hit the big time!

Since there are so many details to this party--menu, décor and lots of Create-Your-Own elements, I think I'll just do highlights and photos today. We'll save the tutorials and such for another day!

Inspiration: J (aka Jeff) has always loved the Peanuts comic strip and I often say to him, “You’re a Good Man, Jeff Brown!” Since he's such a great guy and his birthday falls 2 weeks before Christmas, I try to make his celebrations extra special. With his permission, I included a little Christmas magic in the décor.

Invitation: We wanted to honor Charlie Brown without going commercial.

Tablescape: The centerpiece of the table was Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree wrapped in Linus’ blanket. The backdrop was inspired by the CD artwork from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Menu: The menu was inspired by the Peanuts characters and food served by Snoopy on the TV special, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

Servingware: Food was served in Snoopy’s dog dishes, Lucy’s football chip tray and comic strip snack cones. Comic strip word bubbles added a whimsical feel to the table. Besides love letters written to the Little Red Haired Girl, Charlie Brown's mailbox held napkins and taster spoons.

I fell in love with the fondant cupcake toppers by LIV Creativity during an Etsy search. They were my "splurge" purchase for the party!

We asked our guests to bring a dip with them in lieu of gifts and we provided the dippers--chips, pretzels, carrots, celery, crackers and cocktail toast.

Woodstock’s Wings Bar: J requested wings for his birthday. Wings? Really? They weren't a food in my repertoire but I was up for the challenge. I found an easy recipe, tweaked it and created a wings bar. Woodstock was the perfect mascot after a little "wing" lift!

My sister, Dort, had brought us a Woodstock with bat wings to use as décor. I covered his bat wings with vellum and embellished them with glitter to create angel wings. Dort added the halo and then I perched him atop a little tree to watch over the wings bar and hold the big red star.

Beverages included the World War I Flying Ace's favorite drink, root beer, "Christmas Time Is Here" Apple Cider and Spike's Cactus Water.

Décor: We used 50’s-inspired colored lights on our Christmas tree this year and added a comic strip garland. Comic strip paper chains and garlands and plush Peanuts characters were placed throughout the house. The fireplace was adorned with our Charlie Brown small banner and Peanuts votive candles.

Favors: The favors were inspired by the Christmas tree and Snoopy’s doghouse. We filled them with Snoopy fruit snacks and peppermint patties.

Party Wrap-up: J and I created a "Charlie Brown and Peanuts Trivia Game" which I'll share in a future post. It was so fun to see the looks of bewilderment as our guests grasped for the answers!

The birthday boy guy had a fantastic time. He wore his new Charlie Brown t-shirt--a gift from his lovely wife--and thoroughly enjoyed his Charlie Brown cupcake!

Budget: The budget was a little bigger for this party than usual. J deserved an extra special celebration for all of his hard work during the launch of Piggy Bank Parties this year!

Piggy Bank Party Budget: $135.00

Food: $67.50

Servingware: $9.60

Invitations & Mailing: $16.74

Décor: $20.96

Favors: $19.75

{drumroll....}

Party Receipts Grand Total: $134.55

{break for an Under Budget Happy Dance!}

Thanks: J and I want to send a special message to my mom, Audrey, and my sisters, Dort and Nora...

Thanks for spending part of your Thanksgiving holiday

creating special touches for J's party!

We appreciate all of your love and support!

Giveaway: Please be sure to hop over to the Celebrations at Home blog and enter to win a $25 gift certificate to The Market!

Sources:

Invitations, Party Cards, Food Labels, Banners • Piggy Bank Parties

Fondant Toppers • LIV Creativity

Black RicRac Ribbon • May Arts

Plain Favor Boxes • Envelopments

Yellow Bin, Snowflakes, Red Plates, Dog Dishes • Dollar Tree

Foam Core, Blue Lotka Paper • Blick Art Materials

White Swirled Paper • Phoenix Art Supply

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree • Amazon

Football Chip Tray • Big Lots

Peanuts Paper Dolls • Toy-A-Day Blog

Stay tuned to Oink! for more inspiration...