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.
This week, Sirius XM Radio launched a new radio program to celebrate kids’ birthdays nationwide. Laurie Berkner, the former preschool teacher and award-winning children’s singer and songwriter, will host the eponymous show Laurie Berkner’s Every Day Birthday Party.
The show will appear on Sirius XM Kids Place Live, a 24/7 interactive talk show featuring music, talk shows, and on-air games for kids.
Each month, Berkner will select a group of toddlers and preschoolers (ages 1 to 5) to feature on the show. Each lucky toddler will receive a personal birthday salutation and hear a special “kindie rock” musical performance by Berkner herself.
Laurie Berkner’s Every Day Birthday Party airs Monday through Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. ET and 2:30 p.m. ET on Sirius XM Kids Place Live channel 78.
Parents can submit requests to kidsplacelive@siriusxm.com. The deadline for September shout-outs is August 20, 2012 5 p.m. ET. (The SIRIUS XM website also recommends including a 30-minute window of time you listen to the show during the 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.
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.
I just took my son Grant, 3, to Elmo’s Birthday Party at the Sesame Street Workshop today here in New York City. Elmo claims that he is 3 1/2 today (he even had a cake with 3 big candles and one short one), but I think he’s around 10. (Anyone out there keeping count?) In any case, the party was really to celebrate Elmo’s newest DVD: Elmo’s World: Elmo’s Favorite Things which is in stores on Tuesday. At the party, we got a sneak peek. It’s Elmo as you love him, hanging out with Dorothy, Mr. Noodle (actually, Mr. Noodle’s brother, Mr. Noodle) and his kid friends and the subject is, what else: birthdays. Grant laughed out loud like he’d never seen an Elmo episode before — curiously, at home he says he’s too old for Elmo. As far as I’m concerned, you are never too old for Elmo. Love that little red monster. Speaking of monsters, at the party there were two balloon genius whipping up Sesame Street characters for the kiddos. Grant asked for Cookie Monster — check it out. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Elmo made an appearance at the end — the actual muppet himself with I assume Kevin Clash, his puppeteer behind the podium Elmo was sitting on — and Grant was shocked. “Elmo is real, Mommy? I didn’t believe Elmo real!” I said, “Now do you believe?”
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…!
True story: The other night I was on the phone with a friend at 11 p.m. when she had to put me on hold to answer the door. Her late night visitor? A deliveryman dropping off cookies for a bake sale at her child’s school the next day.
My friend is a busy working mom and didn’t have time to bake something herself (and is lucky enough to live in a city that delivers any type of food at any time of day). But what if there was no magical late-night deliveryman? What could she have whipped up with little effort in such a short period of time?
It’s a perfect question for Chef Britt Kurent. Trained at The Institute of Culinary Education, Kurent is founder and owner of Kurent Events, a catering company in New York City. She and her team cater everything from backyard BBQs to sophisticated weddings. Kurent was even a contestant on the hit Bravo show, Rocco’s Dinner Party.
And now she’s ready to help you! Kurent wants to answer your questions about food, cooking, and party planning. Hosting a party for kids and adults and clueless on what to serve to make everyone happy? Dying to learn how to stop burning every batch of cookies you make? Got an upcoming bake sale? Kurent has tips and suggestions for all of these questions and more.
Leave a question for Kurent in the comments section!
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.
This week, Sirius XM Radio launched a new radio program to celebrate kids’ 
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 
I just took my son Grant, 3, to Elmo’s Birthday Party at the 
There’s nothing better than starting a Tuesday morning with a room full of glittery curlicues, pastel colors, and creamy cupcakes!
