Let’s Play Music Recital/Party

I am happy to report that I am still alive after last night! I am thinking I need to hire a professional photographer to photograph any event I am involved in, because inevitably, I am overwhelmed with last minute details and never get very good pictures. These pictures were quickly snapped as children converged on the refreshment table, and impatiently waited for me to cut the cake.

What was last nights’ event that I wasn’t sure I would live through? I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but I teach music classes for kids, and a few private voice lessons. We had a small recital at my house last night, to show off what they have learned through out the year. This probably wouldn’t be so stressful for everyone, but just having to have my house clean enough for 30+ people was stress enough (I can’t really bend over these days…remember?). I was also nervous about the program, since this is my first year teaching “Let’s Play Music,” and I was unsure about the best way to structure the recital. And then, of course, I get my insane ideas about the decor and refreshments and have to carry those out. Did I mention that it was also my daughter’s birthday? and although we had celebrated the weekend before, I needed to take goodies to her class at school. All of this while having just enough contractions to make me wonder if I needed to come up with a Plan B.

But enough about me and my stress. This post is for other “Let’s Play Music” teachers, or anyone who might want to throw a music themed birthday. The two semesters of the first year of the program are called “Red Balloons” and “Blue Bugs,” based on songs we sing and concepts we learn each semester, so I tried to keep everything in a red and blue scheme. The centerpiece of the dessert table was the kit kat keyboard cake. Mine didn’t turn out quite as cute as my inspiration, here. I needed to trim more off of the cake (two 9×13’s–should have turned the 9’s into 7 or 8’s), to get the right proportions with the kitkats. My other issue, was I used the cream cheese frosting recipe she recommended, which is really yummy, but it doesn’t frost the way my butter cream does. So it wasn’t ultra smooth. The kids were still pretty excited–it was cake, after all!

To represent the red balloons, I had cherry tomatoes stuck on toothpicks, in wrapped styrofoam (sounds simple enough, right?)

The Blue Bugs were from a Keebler snack pack called “Bug Bites” I could only find these sold as part of a variety pack. I found mine at Walmart. I then made some blue glaze frosting and piped it on to the bugs, laying them out on a bed of crushed oreos.

You can’t see the back of the table in this picture, but I had it lined with red helium balloons. I really wanted to get the 17″ ones that inflate nice and round, but the party store that carries those, was just too far away for me to make the trek, so we had the standard 11″ers. They were held down by the little bud vases I got for my daughter’s party, sporting some mini-carnations. I also used more red balloons as a back drop for the recital in my living room.

So that is my music insanity. If you are looking for a great music education program for young children, check out the “Let’s Play Music” website. It is really a great curriculum!

Don’t forget about the Tasty Paste giveaway! And stay tuned for some great BABY TIME guest posts!