my drivel: February 2011

GAME*SET*MATCH: The Tennis Players

(The original "tennis outfits" were abandoned due to freezing temps)

Tennis Mix Invitation by Inviting Company from http://www.finestationery.com/

Love these invitations! The wording (copyright -- me):

*GAME*SET*MATCH*

Join us for a *smashing* time

as we make a *racquet*

to celebrate

Victoria's 8th Birthday

Smash it!

{Insert Date Here}

Serve it!

fun, cake and ice cream

Win it!

{Insert location address here}

RSVP Coach Melissa mydrivel@hotmail.com

Tennis Ball Stickers from http://www.womenstennisworld.com/

I used the stickers as envelope seals on the invitations and thank you note cards.

The multi-colored tennis ball note cards were used as thank you notes. These are also available at http://www.womenstennisworld.com/

Pre-party set-up:

*Pink cups with Tennis Ball Stickers (I bought a big roll of 250 tennis stickers from http://www.womenstennisworld.com/ and I put the stickers on EVERYTHING!)

*The "Happy Birthday" Board (idea from http://www.howdoesshe.com/)

*The Tennis Ball Bowl filled with Clementines (because they are round like tennis balls) while sitting upon a lazy susan adorned with "ASTRO TURF". (It is a clear plastic bowl with tennis stickers)

*Vase filled with real Tennis Balls for decoration

*Other tray to be filled with vegetables: cucumbers, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower

*Two other Tennis Ball Bowls filled with Cheetos and Potato Chips (because we never stock these items in our home). Green plastic bowls with tennis ball stickers.

*Tennis Ball Green Plates with white lines (the lines are drawn on with a white permanent marker).

*Tennis Ball Sticker on three cups to hold (1) Straws (2) Forks (3) Spoons

*Pink polka-dot balloons to resemble "tennis balls"

*Light pink, Dark Pink, and Green mini bags for Pinata Goodies (adorned with a tennis ball sticker)

*Balloon Wreath (idea from http://www.howdoesshe.com/)

*#8 Pinata

*Festive Birthday Theme Banner (made from Birthday Theme Scrapbook Paper)

*Tennis Racket Stirrers for decoration around the house

1st Activity: Tennis Bracelet making

The guests began making bracelets as soon as they arrived and this kept the girls busy until the last guest had arrived.

The table cloth looked like grass (how fun!). Thank you http://www.womenstennisworld.com/! We added tennis ball stickers and plastic rackets (tied with pink/green ribbon). In fact, a big shout out to Women's Tennis World! They are awesome and they have great tennis items for all your party, fun, or game needs!

Tennis Bracelet bead kits from http://www.joannfabrics.com/. Bead Kit includes Tennis Balls, pink WIN beads, pink LOVE beads, white beads, glow-in-the-dark yellow beads, and string.

Outdoor table set up for hopeful weather! Another Green Grass Tablecloth. But to hold it in place since it was outside, I added a strip of ASTRO TURF down the middle like a "runner". And then I placed two more plastic rackets tied with pink/green ribbon. These rackets are Wii Rackets (available at Dollar Tree).

2nd Activity: Pass the Marshmallow Relay Game

(This activity was supposed to be an outdoor relay race but due to snow and wet weather, I had to improvise at the last minute and changed the activity to a sitting relay indoors. A "musical-chairs" knock-off. The girls sat in a circle on the floor, placing their left hand behind their back. I began with the birthday girl. The birthday girl placed one small marshmallow on the tennis racket (the racket is a stirrer; from http://www.womenstennisworld.com/) and then passed the racket to the right; going around the circle. Whoever drops the marshmallow, is out! The first round passed and only one girl was out. Oh no. The girls went around one more time with only one marshmallow. To make it more difficult, each time it got back to the birthday girl, I added another marshmallow. I added marshmallows on each round so that we had only two remaining girls passing 6 marshmallows. Prizes were awarded to the two remaining girls because it was difficult to determine "who" actually dropped the marshmallows in the end! This game was a hit!

3rd Activity: Scavenger Hunt

Once again this was to be an outdoor activity. But it was just as fun indoors! Each girl received a "magnifying glass", sharpened pencil, and a list of ten items to find. The items were hidden around the house and labeled with a number. The items were described in a rhyme: "I am oval. From Chickens, I do lay. Easter is my favorite holiday. What am I?" _______________ Answer: Egg. A plastic Easter Egg with the number 7 was hiding. Other items on the hidden list: a bottle of water, egg, plastic cockroach, balloon, tiara, toy bubbles (with a "take one" sign), apple, tennis racket, tennis shoe, and a PINK tennis ball (with a "take one" sign). During the scavenger hunt, the girls found all ten items from the given clues and #5 and #10 both had a "take one" sign (the toy bubbles and a pink tennis ball).

The final activity: A pinata!
Lots of goodies!! The snow had melted enough so that we could hit the pinata outdoors. Because really I wasn't sure how I was going to do this activity indoors. There are Tennis Ball pinatas available, however, they were on backorder and not available for our tennis party. When in stock, pinatas are available at http://www.womenstennisworld.com/.

The Cake!

I loved the colors!

Girls Tennis Cake Topper from http://www.womenstennisworld.com/!

Decorations: Dark Pink, Light Pink and Green Streamers to bring some retro birthday decor to the party!

Plus a Banner: Dark Pink, Light Pink, and Green. "happy birthday" separated by a "tennis ball".

And the most important ending to any party:

THE FAVORS

The Tennis Survival Kit: multi-colored bandaids, bath gel, lip balm and tennis soap. These small items were placed into a pink cellophane bag, tagged with "tennis survival kit" and tied with a pink/green ribbon.

The "tennis survival kit" items (tennis soap created by using tennis candy/soap mold from http://www.womenstennisworld.com/)

PLUS, post-tennis survival items: Hersheys Chocolate Bar, Bottled Water, and a Granola Bar

Lastly, a PINK TENNIS Visor and TENNIS TEE for court style

All of the above placed into a pink paper gift bag, tied with a green polka dot ribbon with a Personalized TENNIS Zipper Pull attached!

tennis zipper pull from http://www.birthdayinabox.com/

The coloring on this photo is distorted... sorry for the "bad" photo.

The End

Everyone in the world is experiencing this winter's weather whiplash.

54 degrees.
-10 degrees.
Ice.
Sleet.
Snow.
36 degrees.
65 degrees.
28 degrees
Sun.
77 degrees.

All I know is ... is that I have taken up listening (really listening, not just a head nod) to the weather for "how to dress for the day" cues. Because, frequently (translates into daily), I do not dress appropriately for the weather. Tank tops for 32 degrees -- thinking the day will warm up AND it never does. Sweatshirts for -10 degrees; thinking that it will be freezing cold all day long AND the air temp multiplies at a much faster rate than I can calculate. And four hours later, the temp has risen 70 degrees to reach a whopping 60 degrees. How is that even possible?

All I know is (#2) ... is that we are loving the new temps that this week has brought us southern folk.