March | 2009 | The Musings of a Multilayered Mama

My eldest turned 10 last month. *sigh*

She said she didn’t want a party, because “no one has parties anymore”. ?? Which really ticked me off, because lately (well, actually, probably for the last few years!) all she wants is to be EXACTLY like her classmates. “Mom, can I have a —? So-and-so has one.” Or, “Mom, I want a sleepover. So-and-so AND so-and-so are having one!” And on, and on and on. I tried to explain that she should really be herself, that it really bothers me that she has to copy everyone. But a child wants what a child wants, and I’m ok with whatever – within reason.

So a little grudgingly, I acquiesced. But I wouldn’t let her get away without picking a theme. I have to have a theme. So we settled on “miniature”. She has this American Girl book, “Tiny Treats: Fun Foods to Make and Eat”, that has some really cute ideas and projects. That was one of the inspirations for the mini theme I got stuck in my head a long time ago, the other was this project on the DIY website: mini treasure chest.

I used a tag craft punch for the mini banner:

I decided this was the perfect time to try some mini burgers; I originally wanted the ones from Jack In The Box, because they looked so cute, and the commercial cracked me up. But we went with the ones from Burger King instead.

I made mini cupcakes for her to share with her class, as they are allowed to do that on their birthday, but sadly, forgot to photograph them. I saved some for each child that was going to be here during the sleepover, including my little ones, and this is the only photographic evidence left:

A very blurry close up:

One teeny, tiny cupcake would hardly suffice, so I was going to make a chocolate cake while the girls played, but we decided to go for an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. I had a $3 off coupon, which we get by email before everyone’s birthday, as part of their birthday club. I did want one of their tiny, round cakes, to go along with the theme, but they’re supposed to feed only 2-4. So that was out. Big sister chose cookie dough ice cream+chocolate cake.

The next morning:

Ach, the mini cardboard suitcase saga… these things are expensive, and not widely available. Only online, as far as I saw, and no one likes to sell them individually – maybe 2 or 3 vendors do. These are from Kate’s Paperie in New York.

I recently discovered we have a Japanese “dollar store”, in the Convoy/Kearny Mesa area, where everything is actually $1.69. Unless marked otherwise. So many cute things! It’s called Marukai, or Daiso Marukai. I was so happy they had lots of tiny things to choose from.