Birthday Traditions

My youngest had her 4th birthday this past week. Her birthday always creeps up on me a bit because it is right before Halloween. I am the Children's Minister at our church and so this time of year means planning a Fall Festival. With all that going on I have a hard time also planning a birthday party. One thing that helps is having a few birthday traditions. I know that no matter how much planning I do that those little things we do every year are going to make it so special.

Here are a few of our birthday traditions:
We have a special birthday tablecloth that we use for every party. Each year I use a permanent marker to trace my kids hands on the tablecloth and write their names and age on it. My children love this tablecloth and each year the look to see how big their hands have grown.

A few years ago my mom had a birthday crown and banner made by Cassie at Goldilocks Creations. She did an amazing job and the banner and crown match our tablecloth. The banner is made of felt and has clothes pins on either side so it can clip to curtains or window shades. It also has clips between each banner so you can clip pics of the past year to the banner for the kids to look at.

Another traditions we try to do most years is to having the kids make their own birthday cake. Sometimes this just isn't possible but it sure is fun when we can do it. My kids adore being in the kitchen with me and so they can't wait to make their own cake. This year it was a Rupunzel tower cake. The tower is made of donuts and we used M&M's for vines.

I would love to hear from some of you... what are some of your birthday traditions? Check out Potpourri Friday and some other memory keepers at Time Travel Thursday .