Just Checking In

I have not been eaten by the alligators or fallen off the face of the Earth. I have just been keeping busy, but none of it has seemed "blog worthy". Most of what I've been doing has been seen here before, such as assembling 22 of the little popcorn boxes.

My most resent project has been making checklists of everything we will need to pull off Blaze's tenth birthday party (the airship pirate party). The very limited budget, and the unconventional theme, means this is taking a lot of work, time, and imagination. That is what all those popcorn boxes are going to be used for.

One of our biggest concerns about the party had been where to have it. Our apartment is far too small. That worry has now been alleviated. The common room for our apartment complex can be reserved, free of charge, for residences, but only if there is not something already planned for that day. This means, we have been able to reserve it, but we must wait until Dec. 17th (11 days after Blaze's birthday) to have the party. The 6th, Blaze's actual birthday, falls on a Monday this year, so that day was out of the question, if we want children to show up. The weekend before, is someone else's party and the day Santa visits. From the 9th through the 13th, the room is reserved for people who need a quiet study space for exams.

Here are two examples of the lists I've been making:
These lists are for the things that are already in a cardboard file box, ready to go ( I've been referring to the box as my "party-in-a-box" kit and it is already filled to overflowing. I want this thing to be as low-stress as possible when the time comes. We will have only an hour and half to get everything set-up before guests start arriving, so this needs to be well planned out ahead of time.




I have almost a month to work on this still, so I may come up with more decorating ideas, or if anyone else sees any that would be good for a child's airship/steampunk party, please post links in the comments. It will be an evening party, so I'm hoping dim lights might improve the look of the space we are using. With the lights on, the common room has all the charm of a sparsely furnished hospital waiting room, in a not very well funded hospital.

Today we have a child's birthday party to go to that has almost the same guest list we have made, so this will be a good way to see how many people will really show up to something like this. Now, off to figure out how to wrap a toy light saber so it doesn't look like a light saber.