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Sugar cookies that looked like Kaylees patches, however, were the most popular item on the table.
Firefly (Space Cowboy) and Serenity 10th Birthday Party
Every good party starts with an invitation. I designed these to look like the box of strawberries Shepherd Book gave to Kaylee to convince her to let him buy passage on Serenity (the name of the ship). It read:
My dear friend Liz–who is a wizard with textiles–actually knitted a Jayne hat for each kid who came to the party. KNITTED A HAT. Im so lucky to have such insanely gifted–and perhaps just insane–friends. Coolest party favor ever.
The cake, of course, had to look like Simons homely (mostly protein) birthday cake from the episode called Out of Gas.
My favorite thing on the dessert table? By far, the popcorn ball ice planets.
We had to have snow buns at the party. Even though they were never mentioned in the show, theyre Ainsleys favorite dim sum item.
The pinata was the only allowed planned activity (games arent cool any more, mom).
Our version of Saffrons kisses didnt quite pack the punch of the ones in the show. happily.
I also wanted to make a classic cake dress. You know, one of those ones where you stick a Barbie inside and the cake is her dress? But I wanted it to look like Kaylees famous layer cake dress:
We had to have Fruity Oaty Bars too, of course!
TheFireflyworld depicts a future in which Chinese culture has had a tremendous influence, so Chinese food was a natural choice for dinner. I interpreted that a little loosely, deciding that the Chinese would adopted some of the best of nearby Asian cultures cuisines, so it was a little bit of a pan-Asian feast. I took this liberty mostly because I already had great recipes and technique for lumpia (Filipino eggrolls) and pancit Canton (also Filipino–kind of like lo mein). I also made sweet and sour chicken, pork dumplings, crab rangoon, steamed rice, and picked up shrimp fried rice and bao from our favorite dim sum restaurant in town. Yes, I made way too much. No, I wasnt upset. My lunches wereawesomefor the whole next week.
Curry Yogurt Chicken Salad with Rice and Lemon Vinaigrette
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Our guests found their Ice Planets as problematic as River found hers.
The whole no-games thing really made it pretty easy. I actually got to sit down at the table with my friends (my kids friends have awesome parents!) and enjoy myself. There are definitely benefits to this growing-up thing.
After donning their hats, the guests went on to choose their glitter tattoos. Teddy bears, flowers, hearts, strawberries, and various kanji symbols. Watch the show and youll understand why we chose those shapes. It seems like an odd mix to the uninitiated, but they were chosen for good reason, I promise. 😉
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I love that Ainsley and her friends are old enough to be able to give glitter tattoos to each other, rather than needing an adult to be on hand.
The desserts were all inspired byFireflytoo, of course. I got to re-use the LED star ceiling I made originally for theStar Wars Pottery Barn Kids partya couple years ago. I love recycling props!
Refreshments were all inspired by the show. Strawberry punch (Kaylee Coolers–and notice Kaylees flower lights from her cabin?).
Shepherd Books strawberries and Captain Mals sliced apples were the healthy fare on the table.
Ainsley didnt think she wanted a pinata this year, but completely changed her mind as soon as we came up with the idea of a reaver ship pinata. Little sister graciously donated some dolls to the project.
Ill have tons of tutorials from this party coming up, so be sure to come back and catch it all! Any requests for what to start with? The reaver ship pinata? The Kaylee cocktail parasols? Homemade dumplings?
Even our dog, Murlin, got in on the fun. Though, technically, he looks a lot more like an Ewok than Jayne, even wearing the hat.
What better to drink it from than a glass garnished with a strawberry and Kaylees iconic parasol (in mini, cocktail-parasol form)?
No, no the bug kind of firefly. The amazingly entertaining, canceled-way-too-quickly,Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) show. Its a space cowboy sort of theme, but its appeal really transcends the genres. I actively dislike westerns, and I absolutely adore this show. If you havent seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it all. It will take distressingly little time, and you, like my daughter, when you reach the end will exclaim, Noooo! There needs to be more! We need to call someone. We need to call…the president! Yeah, its that good. Its no wonder a show with so few episodes has sponsored such devoted fans (called Browncoats). And it makes anexcellentbirthday party theme.
I even found theFruity Oaty Bars girls on Think Geekto decorate the table!
Which was a good thing, because it was a rather cold day, and the kids loved wearing the hats.
But I will always sing Happy Birthday to her, loudly and proudly, no matter how embarrassed she is. No singing = no cake. Im not backing down on that one.
I had the right color candles bought, but couldnt find them when it came time! The green ones were the only other tapers I had on hand. Oh well. Im pretty sure our version tasted better than Simons cake, at least. 😉
I was blown away by how enthusiastically all the kids wore their hats, in fact, especially since only a few had seenFirefly.
Sugar cookie versions of Washs dinosaurs were there, too.
I think not. It was epic, and the memory will forever make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Firefly Invitation Tutorial–Shepherd Books Box of Strawberries
And sipped up through straws decorated with tiny dinosaurs with text bubbles from Washs classic monologue:
My oldest daughter turned 10 recently. Shes starting to feel like shes getting too old for big, themed parties (say it isnt so!), but when she came up with the idea of aFireflythemed party, she knew she had to have at least one last big hurrah.
Is there anything better in this world than watching a bunch of kids wearing Jayne hats and trying to eat Ice Planets?
(a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles)