My oldest turned eleven a week ago and we had the most awesome Cupcake Wars birthday party to celebrate. My kids love watching Cupcake Wars on Food Network and, apparently, their friends do too—which is the perfect recipe for a really fun party (see what I did there? #momjokes).

Samantha has actually been throwing the idea of a Cupcake Wars party around for at least a year now. For me, it always seemed like a big challenge. How would we do it? Where would we put all of the kids? Would my kitchen ever recover?

After surviving a wildly successful party of our own, I’m ready to give out some solid tips that will make your life a thousand times easier if you’re looking to host your own Cupcake Wars party for tweens.

Last Sunday we threw our big community Mad Science party at Big Bang Coffee Roasters in Peekskill. I’m not going to lie, parties like this always make me crazy nervous because a lot of time and energy goes into them and you never really know how many people will actually show up. But I’m happy to say that it was a huge success. I was actually surprised at how many Westchester and Hudson Valley locals came out to see the incredible show!

I was even more thrilled to see that kids and parents alike were completely captivated by the science demo. The cafe was packed and parents in the back were craning their necks to make sure they didn’t miss anything while their kids laughed and squealed up in the front.

Thank you again to everyone who came! I can’t wait to do more fun (free!) local events like this in the future.

For more on our Mad Science party, head over to my post about it on Glamamom.

If you own a business in Westchester or the Hudson Valley and would like to work together on another community event, email me at jen@cuddlesandchaos.com.

For me, tea and crafting go together like movies and popcorn. It’s a pair that you just don’t mess with.

There’s something so freaking zen about sitting down and making something with my own two hands while I sip a cup of tea. It puts me in my happy zone. Another thing that puts me into that zone is laughing my butt off with my closest friends. A few weeks ago I had a (brilliant) idea: why not combine these forces of goodness into one big, fat, happy party?

So I did.

It happens every time. As we draw closer to my daughters’ birthdays that Pinterest party pull grabs hold of me and lures me in. I search the specific themes my girls have mentioned some interest in, wanting to push them towards the one that I can come up with the most picture perfect decor and desserts and games and favors for.

It’s so stupid.

When did kid’s parties become more about moms throwing elaborate mini-weddings to show how creative and impressive they are instead of reflecting what the kid actually wants?

This year I tried to slap myself out of it, at least a little. Ellie has been talking about a tea party since we went to a local tea place this summer and she relished every last second of drinking hot cocoa out of her very own, very fancy tea cup. My eyes most definitely lit up at the possibilities that could be found in a tea party.

As her birthday drew closer she threw another element into the mix, deciding she didn’t want just any old tea party. She wanted a Zumba tea party. This was a wrench I was not quite prepared for. How exactly does one throw a proper Zumba tea party? What the hell is a Zumba tea party?

Instead of taking it and running with it, I consulted the only expert on the subject in existence: my daughter. She wanted tea cups and she wanted to do Zumba just like she does at her classes with Tanya at Intrigue.

So, we booked a party at Intrigue Dance and Fitness—and it was seriously the best decision ever.

Last week I wrote a post for Simply Designing about a fun summer paint party with my little ladies. I basically put the girls in (old) bathing suits, threw down a sheet, put out a bunch of paint supplies and let them go crazy. I made sure to stress that it was a “party” so that they wouldn’t think this little fun fest was going to turn into an every day thing. And let me tell you, they had a blast.