XOXO to my Birthday Girl

Happy Memorial Day!

We are so thankful to those who have served our country, my dad and my grandpa included. And our gratitude goes to those who are currently serving, including their families. What a privilege it is to live in such a wonderful country.

Recently we celebrated a birthday in our house. Our little girl turned eight, which is an important number in our house. We wanted to let her know how much we love her, so we pulled it into her birthday party theme. When leaving notes for each other, we always sign them with an XOXO. And so we gave her an XOXO party.

We did a Saturday morning party, so we started out with a breakfast. It was so easy. We served the girls, French Toast sticks (French Toast cut into strips using kitchen scissors = not having to cut French Toast into bites for 15 girlies), scrambled eggs, bacon and strawberries. Who doesn't like breakfast! (Note: I cooked the bacon in the oven using this tip from Our Best Bites).

Then we started our XOXO craft. We made Tic Tac Toe boards.

This is how we did it. We prepped the boards ahead of time. We bought the wood and cut them into 5 1/2 inch squares and the metal was 5 inch roofing tiles. We had the metal cut into 5 inch squares and I drew the grid with a black Sharpie and a ruler. We had the birthday girl help paint the wood squares. Then we glued the metal to the wood using Liquid Nail.

For the Xs and Os, I ordered bottle caps from the Bottle Cap Co. I was able to get 100 bottle caps for $9.00. They also sell them in different colors. I thought about just getting two different colors, but then the girls wouldn't really have a craft to "make". So we went with chrome bottle caps. Each board needs 10 bottle caps (5 Xs and 5 Os). We then glued magnets to them ahead of time using E6000.

Before the party started, we made a "kit" for each of the girls. Inside our bag was a board, 10 bottle caps, a sponge brush, paper plate, pencil, and a quarter.

When the girls were given their kit, they were then able to choose what color they wanted their Xs and Os to be. They could choose to do them all the same color or have the Xs be one color and the Os be a different color. I had strips of paper for them to choose. I placed 5 of each on the row.

I made the font size big enough that a quarter could trace around it. The top of the bottle cap is the same size as a quarter. The girls used the quarter in their bag to trace around the letters. They were able to use the paper plate to trace on, since we were outside and on the patio.

They then cut out their circles and used their brush to modge podge the letters to the top of the bottle caps. (The paper plate was used for glueing too). A little mod podge on the bottle cap, place the letter on the bottle cap, then a little mod podge on top to finish it off. I used the glossy finish. They loved it!

We then served our cupcakes. Instead of having something on top of the cupcake to give them, we made a necklace for them to wear home.

Super easy and super inexpensive. We used 1 inch washers. We stamped an XO using the 1/8" Steel Stamping Set. We then traced the X and O with a black Sharpie and wiped it off instead of oxidizing them. I got the ribbon in the 50 cent bin at Michaels. I think I paid $5.00 total for all the necklaces. Click on the picture and you can get a closer look.

As the girls walked out with the Tic Tac Toe board in hand and their XO necklace on, we let them choose a thing of Tic Tacs to take. It was a hit!'

POST EDIT: Adding it all up, we spent about $5.00 per girl, excluding the cost of breakfast.