Did you ever have one of those projects that kept on growing? Getting bigger and bigger until you yourself might explode because you couldn’t actually achieve all the awesome things you wanted to in a specific time frame?
Our honeymoon started out a little bit like that. I wanted to do about 25 things, but we were only taking a week off work. It was still awesome, but far more protracted than I originally planned.
Nearly 7yo’s birthday party is also in the Growing Out Of Control category.
Nearly 7yo loves gold and money and caaaash, and I can’t remember whose idea it was but it was agreed upon immediately, that the theme for his birthday party would be gold mining. So. I have gold and silver spray paint and rocks, and a pinterest account fit to burst. I also have a poor memory so have been taking and refining notes for a few weeks, and was wracking my brain this morning because I thought of another idea last night, but didn’t write it down and now it’s gone. Shits me.
While the muffins bake for the volcano cake

(diamonds come from volcanoes, yo, or something), I have washed the egg shells and peeled out the membranes as best I can to make geodes inside them.

What the hail is Alum powder? I found it in with the spices at the store, and apparently when combined with glue and some pinterest know-how, it will be totes the bomb.
We have the sticks laid out for the rock candy lollies as well.

I bought a pack of 100 as I’m expecting some of them to fail. We will see. We have invited nearly 7yo’s entire first grade class, siblings and parents also welcome, so, yeah. Half of the packet will be right on the money.
What initially included only gold rocks now includes geodes, dinosaur fossils, the bones of unsuccessful miners from years passed, glow in the dark rocks beneath an abandoned mining settlement, faux geodes with treasures inside them, and a plethora of themed foods. I also want to spray paint the letterbox gold, because why wouldn’t you? We will have to set up (everything) a geode station, for breaking those things open. They are tough nuts to crack, thats for sure! We did a few while on holiday and tore the shit out of a towel and chipped the concrete, too!

I just remembered I have sparklers in the pantry – they will be perfect for the volcano. But I am considering plaster of paris stuff to chip out, because I always like more of everything, and I want the parents to have stuff to do if they want as well. But what?
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So it should be dinner time but I’ve started the fixings for the rock candy. And it’s basically sugar and water, and lots of it. I grew up on metric so the whole imperial pounds and ounces is still some sort of crazy bullshit to me, which is why I came up with needing 23.3lbs of sugar, which is stupid. So I will recalculate… well, that seems to be about right actually, which is even more stupid, and a shame because I only have just under 10lbs of sugar, and that will have to do.

I could pour some out, but the water is already as hot as beJAYsus, so I will forge ahead and hope for something more than limp biscuit rock candies.

There is about 36 jars, quite a few more spares than I thought, but I can’t imagine doing it all over again. Rock candy can go to hell.
I still can’t remember that awesome idea that I didn’t write down the other night, and it’s really chapping my hide, but I did come up with another idea that husband probably won’t like. Planks of wood as pathways! The weather here is on and off again rain with intermittent sunshine, which is great for the tulips, but rubbish for the lawn. It is very soggy, so even if we manage to mow it without tearing it all to hell, it will probably still be icky to walk on with whatever party shoes people choose to wear. And after watching the Yukon mini series with Husband, I think I’m expert enough to say that plank pathways are totes legit. Now if I could only get my hands on some army grade canvas tents.
I was wondering how to organise all the cars, and know we will need some sort of hanging sign. I hope double-sided tape will work on the siding, that is what I plan on using to hold up the old Christmas photos I had laminated for use as placemats. I have drawn large letters on the back of them in white-board marker, and that is the best use for them since they were made, as we never really used placemats. I have always found it easier just to wipe the table down after (ahem) every meal.

I’ve started on the faux geodes, which I’m intending to fill with diamond rings, snakes, and gold-themed chocolates, but the coffee grinds – grounds? – I have are moist. They need to be dry but I don’t want to wait another night, because I think it takes a while for them to dry, like days. So I’m drying them in the oven, and have a bit of time to kill.

The faux geode recipe calls for sand as well as coffee, so I got a bag at the hardware. A 50lb bag. The recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of frigging sand. I could have used dirt from the backyard! Anyhoo, I’ve got it now. Dumb ass.


This is a work in progress, so there will be a shitload of stuff that I leave for the last minute, because that’s how I roll.