Amelia Bedelia isn’t the only beloved children’s book character turning 50 this year — Clifford the Big Red Dog, born on February 14, is also celebrating his golden years.
Created by author Norman Bridwell and published by Scholastic, Clifford was once the runt of his litter but he grew and transformed through the love of his owner, 8-year-old Emily Elizabeth. Since 1963, over 70 Clifford books have sold 126 million copies and been published in 13 languages.
I’m not a crafter. But I am cheap. And after splurging on a generator for my house when Hurricane Sandy hit last week, I decided to do a little DIY for my son Grant’s 4th birthday.
The party theme was a Batman birthday — I used last year’s Halloween decorations (cut-out bats hanging by fishing wire) as the main decoration, hanging them from the ceiling and even sticking them to the walls. And I bought a big piece of poster board and had my husband create a Pin the Tail on Batman game. There’s no tail but it still worked OK.
But the most important part of the party (at least as far as I was concerned) was creating a Batman cake. I’m a decent cook so I figured I could do this. But when I googled “batman cake” and looked for ones on Pinterest, they were all made out of fondant or in fancy shapes. I just didn’t have the patience. I decided to hit my local Michael’s and see what else I could do instead. I stumbled upon this Wilton product: Sugar Sheets. All you do is cut out the image that you want and plop it on the cake. And you can eat it too! I thought it turned out pretty well! Grant and his friends did too. It was demolished in 10 minutes. Which is also why I’m grateful I saved the money and did it myself!
If you’re looking for inspiration for fun crafts to try out this weekend or ideas for some simple, kid-friendly recipes to cook next week, you’ve come to the right place. This is the first installment of our new weekly Pinterest roundup, where we’ll feature the most popular pins from all the Parents pinboards. Check them out below, and leave a comment telling us what you like to see most on Pinterest!
Bring the kid’s menu home with these low-fat chicken strips. They only take ten minutes to prep, and you can make them even more fun by serving it with your kid’s favorite dipping sauces. The best part? Since they’re baked instead of fried, each serving only has 6 grams of fat!
To make this adorable ladybug, have your child dip yarn into a blend of equal parts water and glue before wrapping the sticky strands around two different-sized balloons. Let them dry completely before popping the balloons and adding antennae made from chenille stems and black felt dots to the body.
These healthy Blueberry-Banana Stacks are guaranteed to make snack time more enjoyable. Get the little ones to help pile each treat up, and watch them disappear as fast as they can make them.
Looking for custom invitations for your kid’s next birthday extravaganza? This cupcake invite is only one of the many free templates you can choose from, and we’ve made it easy to make them your own. Just download each pattern, fill in your information, and print them out!
Sign up for our free birthday newsletter! Get personalized party tips and ideas specific to your kid’s age delivered to your inbox each week leading up to the big day.
The creative force is strong with Tammy Bertrand. She hosted an out-of-this-world Star Wars birthday for her six-year-old son, Joey. The Jedis-in-training earned light sabers by playing games, such as docking Darth Vader with a water balloon. Defeating the Empire works up an appetite, and the party guests loved to refuel with Tammy’s homemade Yoda cupcakes.
Tammy shared her tips for making her yummy Yoda. Whip up a batch of your favorite cupcakes, then follow our instructions to make the face.
Here’s how:
Ingredients:
Candy eyeballs (find them in the baking section)
Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum
Frosting
Food Coloring
Make it:
Add a few drops of green food coloring to vanilla frosting. Mix until even.
Once cupcakes are cooled, frost with green frosting using a knife or spatula.
Fill a pastry bag or Ziploc with green frosting and make two round dots where the eyes will go. Add a wriggly line above the eyes for character, and below the eyes for the mouth.
Press eyeballs onto small rounds of frosting so that frosting comes up around the edges.
Cut gum pieces in half and snip one corner from each to create a point. Stick to the sides of the cupcakes.
Make sure to read our Tech Savvy Parents blog by Leticia Barr — she has some family- and budget-friendly ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday with fun online activities. March is also National Reading Month, so get your kids hooked on books with classic Seuss favorites such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Horton Hears a Who! Or plan a trip to the colorful Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando — where favorite characters, scenes, and places from the books come to life.
Update: Play a matching game online, The Many Languages of Dr. Seuss, to see if you can match the English versions of his book titles with the translations in other languages. You may need to print the image out and use a pen or pencil to draw lines between the titles. After you’re done, find the answers at www.smartling.com/seuss.
What are your favorite Dr. Seuss books? Which ones do your kids love?
Tomorrow, February 29th, is Leap Day! As you probably know, this date rolls around just once every four years, so if it happens to mark your child’s birthday (one in 1,461 people are born on Leap Day, with about 200,000 across the country and 4 million worldwide), you’ll want to be sure to make the occasion extra-special and memorable. We’ve got tons of creative ideas on how to do just this, along with helpful suggestions on when and how to celebrate your little one’s special day on those non-leap years. See it all in our new Make a Leap Birthday Special slide-show at Parents.com. And a special Happy Birthday shout-out to all the Leap Day babies!
But in Hollywood, the kids get more than just hot dogs and homemade cupcakes! From $100,000 extravagant affairs when Suri Cruise turned two, to themed and catered events like Stella McDermott’s third birthday, to Cruz Beckham’s costume party in Beverly Hills, Celebrity Baby Scoop invites you into the birthday bashes of Tinseltown’s tots.
Suri Cruise:
One of the most celebrated tots in Hollywood, Suri Cruise, is well-known for her extravagant birthday parties. Most people don’t spend thousands on their birthday parties in a lifetime, but Suri isn’t most people. Her second birthday party made headline news when parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes spent a reported $100,000 on the event. The theme was butterflies, and the lavish cake had an excessive $5,000 price tag alone! Catering set back the famous parents $45,000, and the sweets didn’t end with the cake. Reportedly, $230 was doled out for cupcakes from LA’s Sprinkles bakery as well.
Fast forward a few years where we spotted the mini fashionista celebrating her fifth birthday with a lavish tea party alongside mom and dad at their Beverly Hills mansion last April. Wearing a pink dress and turquoise shades, Suri – famous for her fashionable duds, heels and makeup – sat at the head of the table, surrounded by siblings Bella, then 18, and Connor, then 16, and other guests.
Mama Katie talked about the party plans a few weeks prior to the lavish event. “This is my favorite day of the year,” the Dawson’s Creek alum said. “So we’re gonna have a little tea party, and I like to girl it up.”
Rumor has it that Tom splurged – big time – on his little girl. “Tom decided to add $5 million — in honor of her milestone birthday — to Suri’s trust fund,” a family insider said. “She already has several million in the fund.”
Harlow Madden:
Harlow Madden, the daughter of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, celebrated her 4th birthday on January 16th at the COOP in Sherman Oaks, Calif. This is the same children’s play space where Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz threw Bronx Mowgli’s third birthday.
The Toy Story-themed bash was attended by 35 kids, and all were treated to a visit from the Pixar film’s characters Woody, Jessie and Buzz.
Also in attendance was Jennifer Meyer, the wife of Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire, and their two kids Ruby, 5, and Otis, 2. Uncle Benji Madden arrived right after the arrival of Buzz Lightyear and Jessie from Toy Story.
“Harlow started crying when everyone sang happy birthday and Joel said she was crying tears of joy,” an onlooker said of the 4-year-old, who munched on pizza and juice, along with a sugar-free Cake Diva confection, at the bash. “Everyone had a blast and Joel and Nicole said it was their best kids party yet,” the insider added.
Simone Lynn Masterson-Horn, whom is lovingly referred to as “Nuggy” by her dads ‘The Guncles’ – Scout Masterson and Bill Horn – celebrated her first birthday in style at The Carousel at Santa Monica Pier.
Thanks to BFF Tori Spelling who helped plan the party, it was a day to remember! Joined by 60 friends and family, including godmother Spelling and her family, Ali Landry and Sasha Alexander, Simone enjoyed a raspberry and pink ‘Modern Circus’ themed bash. “Simone’s birthday was perfect – good friends, family, lots of fun on the carousal, and of course, cake,” her dads told Celebrity Baby Scoop. “Who doesn’t love birthday cake?! Simone’s now a BIG fan.”
The guests noshed on goodies from Grilled Cheese Patrol, Jenny Cookies and Sweet Lucie’s Organic Ice Cream Truck. The flowers were provided by The Bashful Rose and the invitations were created by Copper Willow Paper Studio. The birthday girl wore a dress by Luna Luna and treated her guests to gift bags from Gotta Have It.
A few of us unleashed our inner crafters and put together pretty paper medallions and Celebrate! cupcake stands (perfect to display our baked goods from Crumbs). And we completed the table with teal-colored napkins and paper cups (easily customized with names) filled with potato chips. Even though no American Girl dolls were in attendance, all of us had fun starting a workday with some sweetness and energy, and the staff (predominantly women) got nostalgic reliving their childhoods. (Sidebar: I, for one, have always wanted to dine at the American Girl Place in New York City, so this was the next best thing!)
Launched in October, the collection offers various party packs (Basic, Deluxe, and Ultimate) to help girls (ages 8 to 12) get creative about styling and personalizing their parties. Along with decorations and table settings, there are also invitations, stickers, party favors, thank-you notes, and easy step-by-step craft projects to entertain guests. Miniature versions of these party items are also available so dolls won’t feel left out. Products can be purchased at Michael’s, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, and EKSuccessBrands.com.
While we didn’t get to use our sticker party invitations (and their matching doll invitations), there will certainly be more meetings-slash-parties on the horizon…!
Amelia Bedelia isn’t the only beloved children’s book character turning 50 this year — Clifford the Big Red Dog, born on February 14, is also celebrating his golden years.
I’m not a crafter. But I am cheap. And after splurging on a generator for my house when Hurricane Sandy hit last week, I decided to do a little DIY for my son Grant’s 4th birthday.
There’s no one like you who
Tomorrow, February 29th, is Leap Day! As you probably know, this date rolls around just once every four years, so if it happens to mark your child’s birthday (one in 1,461 people are born on Leap Day, with about 200,000 across the country and 4 million worldwide), you’ll want to be sure to make the occasion extra-special and memorable. We’ve got tons of creative ideas on how to do just this, along with helpful suggestions on when and how to celebrate your little one’s special day on those non-leap years. See it all in our new 
This post was written by our friends at 
There’s nothing better than starting a Tuesday morning with a room full of glittery curlicues, pastel colors, and creamy cupcakes!
