The art of the two-fer

....the science between combining birthdays.

Often, as a children's event planner and especially during these tough economic times, I am asked by clients, friends and family about how to combine a birthday for siblings, often the children are of differing sexes and usually under the age of 5. So what are some cost effective suggestions to get you started in the right direction? I am glad you asked.

First, look for commonalities. Maybe your adorable offspring both like a common television show, color or activity. That commonality could become your central theme. Some gender neutral themes are Sesame Street, Mickey and Minnie (the yellow, blue, red and polka dots could be too fun!), safari (think pink and blue safari helmets... too cute right?). Don’t forget the ever favorite pirate and princess or knights. Even favorite books and colors can be springboards for fantastic party themes.

If you have a girly girl and a tough boy remember that you can play with colors within a more masculine theme to suit the girls. I know my girls would love a Barbie convertible to play with at their brother's monster truck themed party! My youngest daughter would opt out of the pink entirely and go for the lifted one with some knobby tires!

Lastly, remember the ages of each group and plan activities accordingly- younger children are less independent and prefer to play individually and close to parents. A ball pit or playdough make for great open-ended fun. Older children, ages 4 and up are more independent and capable of cooperative play. (Think treasure hunts, kiddie obstacle courses and other exciting games)

Most importantly, remember kids are simple and birthdays are about celebrating time with one another. The best party is one where friends and family can smile, laugh and make memories together.

Here's wishing you a million wishes and endless happily ever afters!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

The fifth of May, a regional holiday in Mexico, is a fun way to celebrate diversity and culture in an entertaining and creative way. Here at Over the Top Productions, we love any reason to celebrate and the fact that this celebration has tacos, enchiladas and chips makes it even better. (My family loves the make your own taco bar and festive paper flowers.) I have assembled some links for crafts, recipes, activities and more to make your cinco de mayo "muy bueno" (very good). So, kick off your shoes, & salsa in the living room with your wee ones!

crafts, history, easy dinner, how to salsa (dance), rockin santana play list (exercise caution- youtube may have content not suited for young listeners),

Haute Mom Says: 6 Days until Mother's day. Make sure your cards get in the mail.

Cupcakes: How about some Sprinkles?

Cupcake week Continues:
Sprinkles Bakery

Possibly the most famous of the cupcake world, with features on Oprah (one of her favorite things), Live with Regis and Kelly and numerous magazines- Sprinkles bakery, with California locations in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, serves a delectable variety of cupcakes with panache. From classics like red velvet (my personal favorite), dark chocolate and vanilla to trendy twists such as chai latte, lemon coconut and ginger lemon there are 20 flavors to suit any pallate. Stop by their quaint store and indulge in the modern design and ease of ordering. I even love their little cupcake knives and forks!

Haute Mom's tip: For select locations, they deliver.

Adventures at Wonderland

Cupcake week continues:

Wonderland Bakery, Newport Beach, Ca

Nestled in the heart of Newport Beach, Ca is Wonderland, a decadent little bakery filled with glitter, smiles and delicious goodies baked by the mother daughter team of Sondra and Allyson Ames. If you have the will power to pass up the delectable chocolates and other confections in their charming glitter infused bakery- you will no doubt be amazed by the whimsical (and tasty) wonder blooming cupcake.
Wonder Blooming Cupcakes are adorable from their tower of fluffy frosting to the dainty wrappers. They create each tasty work of art to suit your over the top celebration. Select your cake flavor from one of their 21 Enchanting Flavors and your celebration will be heavenly.

Haute Mom's tips: A cupcake's individual portions take the mess out of cutting and serving cake. Words of experience: Avoid using "cupcake cakes", the one "unifying" frosting layer tends to make a messy serving nightmare.

A Family Friendly New Year's Party

I have to admit something and it may seem strange to you: I love New Years.

Don’t get me wrong- the fall warmth of Thanksgiving and the warm fuzzies of Christmas are fabulous and they seem to get ample attention at my house- but I love New Years. The idea of a fresh start and the anticipation of the year to come gets me as giggly as a kid with a new batch of play-dough.
Every year I have a celebration with my closest friends and family and I’d love to share some of my traditions with you. Here is what our family will be doing to ring in the New Year and some tips I have found to keep it memorable for all the right reasons:

Celebration gluttony: New Years around the world

To get the most out of our party, every year we celebrate New Years around the world. (Why only celebrate one very late celebration when you can have many celebrations all night long?) Above the buffet of family friendly snacks- chex mix, taquitos and other fun finger foods- hangs a giant clock (A great goodwill find a few years back) You can find one like it by searching for over-sized wall clock at http://www.target.com/. Beside it I hang 4 clocks, set at the appropriate times (see below), each with its own label for the location it represents. Through out the evenings festivities we can watch the wall clock and celebrate each city’s new year as it approaches.
Avoiding the mid-night meltdown:
My kids are young (all four under the age of 11) and the idea of keeping them awake until midnight seems like quite an undertaking. (A little research on my part has shown that most kids aren’t really ready to see the ball drop at midnight until about the ages of 10 or 11, anyways.) In order to avoid the “up waaay past bedtime meltdown,” we will celebrate New Years around the world.
Check out http://www.timeanddate.com/ for a nifty little new years calculator. I used a world map and stuck flag pins in the places we will “travel” to celebrate. Use this site for flag images: http://www.flags.net/indexa.htm

We will celebrate these cities (Since we are in California PST, United States)
London, England :4 pm
Buenos Aires, Argentina :6 pm
Santiago, Chile :7 pm
New York, New York: 9pm

At each given hour we will do the count down and run outside with our home made noise makers (decorated painted plastic soda bottles filled with beans and decorated with ribbon and stickers) Each kid gets to open up a goody bag for each time zone with activities to entertain for the next hour- a coloring page and crayons, some play dough and a cookie cutter, stickers and a frame- whatever makes your wee ones excited. Set the bags out for display on the buffet and decorate them with a clock for each hour you celebrate.
Our own New Year’s ball drop
I love the ball drop at times square so this year we will have our own version: Our New Years Pinata Party ball. Using paper mache and some foil paper squares- make your own pinata (or buy one at the store) Hang it from the highest point of the house and lower it each hour until the long awaited ball drop (We will do ours with New York, USA.) where you can give it a whack at “midnight.”

Reflection: Looking back at the past year
I love to scrapbook. Each year I grab a few pictures of each child during a memorable event and make a scrapbook station where they can scrapbook the past year and make a page for the next year’s resolutions. Each kid makes their own page and adds it to their album. I help the young one’s with their journal entries. It’s fun to watch how their pages morph from messy toddler pages to coherent school age creations as time goes by.

No matter how you choose to celebrate the New Year with your family, you too can create traditions that they will cherish for a lifetime. I hope you enjoyed taking a peak at our New Year's traditions. We sure enjoy participating in them.

In the Press: OC Register

Today the Orange County Register published our first business article. We couldn't be more excited. It's a feature talking about how we got started, life motto and more. Click here to check it out.