Faith has a serious obsession with a certain obnoxious, back-pack-wearing cartoon character....and while not quite as passionately dedicated as Faith, Avery entertains a certain amount of affection for la niña desagradable. So- it looks like we'll be having a Dora Fiesta Party in a few weeks.
(By the way, Did I impress you with my Spanish-speaking fabulousness? Don't I sound intelligent? Well rounded? That, my friends, is why I love Google)
Cookie Cutter parties make me a little sad in my heart - and thankfully, my friend Kris feels the same way. We really didn't want to do anything too cheesy, fabricated, or mass-produced.
The thing is, lofty, snooty ideals are all well and good until reality slaps you in the face. Reality in the form of a cheesy, fabricated, mass-produced cartoon character.
We definitely have our work cut out for us.
In an effort to de-cheesify the event, we've been doing a bit of el research-o.
Top priority:
Getting Dora to come to the Fiesta.
I found a company here in town that sends costumed characters out to birthday parties.
For a nominal fee and your firstborn son, you get a bunch of balloons and 20 minutes of hang time with Creepy Big Headed Dora.
Budget constraints - not to mention affection for my firstborn son - prompted me to forgo that option.
On to Plan B:
Find a fun, outgoing, monetarily motivated teenager or college girl to BE Dora for us.
I did a little recon at church and found the perfect
With the victim secured, I moved on to the search for the perfect Dora costume.
I did some Ebay searching and found a super fancy deluxe wig. I also found some orange shorts on clearance at J.Crew (yes. Dora will be stylin' at the soiree) and rounded up the infamous pink t-shirt.
Side Note: Our Dora will be wearing a little longer version of the T-shirt than the Nick Jr. one. No belly bearing at this three year old party thank-you-very-much.
Once the Dora 'Do came in, I just had to try it on.
Y'all - I literally laughed out loud in the bathroom as I looked at the loveliness that was me in that crazy wig. And because I have no shame, here 'ya go:
Muy Bonita, No?
(Can you stand the smartness, people? This post is oozing with it. Smart, smarty, smartness)
For the Decorations, we found a little inspiration at Style Me Pretty
and another cute inspiration board at Wedding Bee:
At Brenda's Wedding Blog I found this:
Clearly, budget and time constraints won't allow us to do things as elaborately as the wedding inspiration boards I found, but we figure it's a good place to start.
Wedding blogs are insane these days. I wish they were around when I was planning my wedding 9 1/2 years ago.
I didn't even have a computer then.
Wow.
Anyway -
That's what we've got so far. Lots more work to do... Lots.... and since I'm currently quarantined to the house, looks like Etsy and the debit card will be my new best friends.
Adios, Amios
15 comments:
this may not work for your party, but i LOVE this idea and thought you might like it too (josh & maribeth took my wedding pictures and i've been lurking via maribeth's blog - you crack me up!) anyway, this gal has my dream job in atl (painting murals n stuff) and recently posted this about kids' rooms: http://kfddesigns.blogspot.com/2009/09/childrens-rooms.html
about halfway down, there is the suggestion that if your kid wants a theme but you don't want disneyland, you can use characters in monochrome silhouette. i'm sure a stack of dora paper plates at a birthday party won't kill you, but in case avery starts wanting to make more permanent decor choices inspired by nickelodeon, i thought you might like this idea :)
Buena suerte en su fiesta para su hija! I'm sure it'll be a blast. (And look at me! I didn't even use google. I think I'm correct, but it could be that I've insulted somebody's mother...)
Well you coulda fooled me -- I thought maybe you learned your Spanish from Dora :)
I feel your pain on the character-themed birthday party. Emma was not giving up her princess party.
I did see a cute idea for a Dora birthday party. The mom read a Dora story to the kids and the kids acted it out in the backyard. They set it up so the kids could go "over something" and "through the whatever" just like the book.
this is even funnier than hearing you describe it!!! i have all these "ideas" for tanner's bday too and my money is getting in the way of all my gloriousness.
Beth is going to look perfect in that get-up. I am so sad we won't be there to see it. I know you will take lots of pics!
My husband and I were Dora & Diego last Halloween and they were the best costumes we've ever come up with. Plus EVERY kid knew who we were!
oh great, now you've gone and elevated everyone's expectations with your fancy spanish and your dora hair! no pressure or anything, right??
i mean, beyond the pressures of two opinionated three year olds sharing their birthday party...
You crack me up! I love your Spanglish, and I cannot wait to see the teenage Dora and tons of pics from the fabulous bash!
I love theme parties!
It sounds like your Fiesta is going to be a HUGE hit!!
Puh-lease take lots of pics... I am DYING to see your victim, ahem, Dora. :)
You crack me up. Your party will be naturally fabulous, and I, like everyone else, can't wait to see pictures! I fear/dread the day when I have to succomb to the character party as well. I'm sure you will make it like no other, and I KNOW it won't be cheesy...I'll be ready to steal all your ideas for next year!
Glad the swine has left your house! :)
That wig is great! You make a cute Dora! : ) Sounds like it's going to be a fun party and the girls will probably be in heaven! Fun inspiration you found too. Love it.
Aw dang, I thought you said "credit" card at first, and I was going to go all Dave on you. Whew.
LOVING the hair. LOVING. Muy bonita senorita.
And my son would SO come to that party. He is all about the purple and pink Dora stuff. LOVES her. Shhhh.
looks like you we know what you can dress up like for halloween this year!!! ha
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