The cute little blonde girl in this image was the “keeper” [...]]]>

It’s been a while that I have been thinking about changing the look of my kids-theme-parties site and today I actually did it. I hope if you are a regular visitor here, that you won’t click away thinking that you are on the wrong site.

The cute little blonde girl in this image was the “keeper” of all my posts on kids’ party planning and various other party stuff for many months , but she and I moved into different directions and today it was time to finally say goodbye to her.

I would like to hear what you think about the new look of kids-theme-parties…  I have  also changed the name of the site to “Kids Birthday Party Ideas” as I feel that it is more appropriate for all the  information I write about on hosting your kid’s birthday party.

You now have the option of subscribing not only via my RSS feed or to receive updates in your inbox whenever I post some new ideas, but you can also subscribe to receive updates when you leave a comment on a specific post.

Don’t forget that you can also listen to the posts and subscribe to the podcasts that you can download to your computer or iPod. Just click on the “listen now” button at the beginning of a post.

To celebrate the new look of my site I am sharing Peter Rabbit’s Family Recipes with you. This e-book has a beautiful little story of Peter Rabbit that you can print out for your kids as well as some delicious recipes that you can print out for yourself.

Cotton-tail’s Blackberry Lemonade and Peter’s Gooseberry Foolishness will be great for any kid’s party. You can soothe your nerves after the party is over with Mrs. Rabbit’s Chamomile Tea. Just click on the image to download the pdf. file to your computer.

Don’t forget that you can contact me with any questions or suggestions you have about planning your kid’s birthday party. I would also love to hear about the themes and ideas you came up with for birthday parties. Why not send me some photos as well and I will create a special page to share it with the other readers of this site.

As always, have fun when you plan your kid’s birthday party!

If I look back on it now, I realise that kids in the ages of 2 years to maybe 5 years, don’t really have to have a theme party. I tried to put a lot of colour into [...]]]>

So Mia’s 4th birthday party has come and gone and I can share a few photos with you.

If I look back on it now, I realise that kids in the ages of 2 years to maybe 5 years, don’t really have to have a theme party. I tried to put a lot of colour into the party decorations and even the food. One thing I noticed was that they could have cared less about all the hard work and preparations. They played, they ate and drank and most important of all, they enjoyed it all.

So it is ok if you can’t come up with a theme for your child’s birthday party or don’t have the finances to do it. Although kids love theme parties, as long as they enjoy the party, then it was successful, no matter if there was a theme or not.

Ok, let’s look at some of the party photos…

My son came up with the idea to tie the balloons to the willow tree’s branches and it immediately added a festive touch to the party settings. It was a lovely summer’s day here in South Africa and even though the inflatable swimming pool was a bit small for all the party guests, it was the main attraction of the day.

Adri (Mia’s mother) used different coloured frosting for the cupcakes to further give a colourful look to the party. The 4 pink ones was for Mia although she did not even eat one of them. One of the younger boys actually ate it after she blew out the candles (with a lot of help from the party guests…).

Here’s the recipe I used  for the cupcakes

Funnily enough the crisps in the foreground was not really a big hit at this party, the children actually ate a lot of the home-made pizzas, cocktail sausage rolls and the fried Vienna sausages.

It just goes to show that children will eat if there are food available, especially at a party. I really feel it is important to provide “real” food when you host a birthday party for your kid. It may be a little more work than to just put out crisps and candies, but so much healthier.

The only other food  I made was Marie Biscuits with a Marshmallow Filling.

This is one easy party snack that can be done in no time at all. My mother used to make this for my kids when they were small and in later years for all her other grandchildren as well.

You just need a packet or two of Marie Biscuits, marshmallows and a microwave oven. Place a marshmallow on a biscuit, pop into the microwave for about 5 – 15 seconds on high and watch how the marshmallow swells to double it’s size.

Take it out of the microwave and just place another biscuit on top, press down lightly and leave to set. I rolled the sides in 100’s and 1000’s while the marshmallow was still warm.

I printed these cute butterflies to decorate the straws, but to tell the truth, it was not a big hit with the kids although they did take the straws home afterward. They did not use the straws at all, maybe all the swimming made them so thirsty that they did not have time to use straws to drink their juice.

When I saw these lovely coloured paper in a shop a few days ago, I knew it would be perfect to make favour bags from and it practically cost next to nothing. Although I bought four rolls of paper, I could easily have made four bags from one roll of paper. The party favours consisted of a pencil and a cute animal eraser, two small bars of chocolates, a candy bracelet, a lollipop with a whistle handle and a noisemaker.

Of course there has to be bubbles at every kid’s birthday party and as always, it was a big hit with the party guests. Adri bought a pack of 24 bottles at a discount from a wholesaler that specializes  in children’s party supplies, so the party guests were also able to take a bottle of bubbles home with them.

The face painting session went really well. In an earlier post on face painting I mentioned that you need a lot of patience when you paint kid’s faces but it is mostly to curb their excitement and getting them to wait their turn. Even though Adri and I are no experts and we only did a few basic lines and dots, the kids really enjoyed this activity.

I also made some play dough as a party favour. A few of the kids wanted to stay on after the party was officially over, so they kept themselves busy for quite some time with the play dough and all my cookie cutters that Mia “claimed” for herself when I made her her first batch of play dough when she was 2 years old.

My conclusion about this party without a theme? It had all the elements for a great party… balloons, food, games and activites and above all, fun! It was also done on a low budget.  So next time don’t break your head coming up with a theme if you have no idea about one, just follow your head and plan the party with what you have and can afford to buy. It does not have to be perfect, it just have to be fun for your kid and the party guests.

Maybe you have noticed that I did not say anything about party hats?  There were NO party hats; I wanted to make “crowns” from the willow branches but the kids were so busy enjoying themselves that it totally slipped my mind.

Oh well, this was certainly not the last party I will plan for Mia and since I have this easy party hat template on my computer, I will be able to make the party hats in no time at all.

Don’t forget to have fun when you plan your kid’s next birthday party!

That is what happened this past weekend while I was still busy making the plantable handmade paper I originally wanted to use for Mia’s birthday party invitations.

My daughter and [...]]]>

Sometimes when we plan a birthday party or any other event, circumstances beyond our control can force us to change our plans, sometimes with a neckbreaking speed.

That is what happened this past weekend while I was still busy making the plantable handmade paper I originally wanted to use for Mia’s birthday party invitations.

My daughter and I decided to change the Rapunzel party theme to a “normal” party and I had to come up with something else for the invitation cards.

My computer and I have a wonderful relationship…lol, so after an hour or two of playing around, this is what I came up with:

A spiral invitation card printed on pink card, cut out with decorated edge scissors. Small paper butterflies and some glitter glue lend a festive touch to the invitations. (The glitter does not really show up well on the photo, but it was a lovely purple/blue/pink mix)

Not a very good photo but it shows you how the spiral card opens and twists around – nice to play with!

The envelopes were designed using a square and 4 circles and printed on white paper.

The front of the envelope were decorated with the image I used in the countdown to my granddaughter’s 4th birthday party post. It added a personal touch to the invitations and immediately told the recipients that Mia will be 4 years old on her next birthday.

I actually forgot to add the names of the guests on the envelopes but since Mia handed it out personally, I guess it did not matter so much.

With a few hours and a little bit of work it is so easy to make unique cards and envelopes for your kid’s birthday party. I will admit it is also just as easy to go out and buy some invitations in a store, but to go that extra mile shows your kid that you really love him/her.

If you would like a blank template of the envelope, just use the contact form (in the navigation bar) and I will send you a .png file you can personalise yourself.

Don’t worry, your e-mail details are safe with me, I value your privacy as much as I do mine!

I would really like to hear what you think of these spiral invitation cards, so please leave a comment in the comment section of this post.

Remember to have fun when planning your kid’s birthday party!

I found instructions for two very easy to make paper party hats in a book this week and Mia was quite willing to model them.

Here’s another look at the orange [...]]]>

Party hats always lend a festive touch to any party and when the party hats are somewhat unusual, the guests will enjoy wearing them a lot.

I found instructions for two very easy to make paper party hats in a book this week and Mia was quite willing to model them.

Here’s another look at the orange paper hat:

I am not going to give instructions on how to make the hats; the following diagrams will show you what to do. One thing I can mention is that the cardboard band I used to make the hats for Mia is about 54 cm long. The orange hat was a little tight around her head, but the measurements are a good indicator for toddlers.

Click on the image to open in a new window, click once to enlarge and then right-click to save to your computer. Have fun with these funky paper party hats. If you have any questions about making them, just use the contact form on the wooden bar to drop me a note.

Update of the preparations for Mia’s 4th birthday party:

The self-made plantable paper procedure went quite well today. Mia and a friend was put to work tearing a lot of paper and adding it to a bucket full of water. They also added a few pieces of green tissue paper and then we let it soak for about 4 hours. Here are two photos of the end product, still wet and I am not sure how it will turn out once it has dried completely. We added dried lavender and parsley seeds to the paper pulp.

As always, remember to have fun when planning your kid’s theme party!

You can find the link to this list of posts  on the [...]]]>

A friend of mine asked me the other day if there wasn’t an easier way to find older posts than to search through the categories, so I put together a list of posts to make it easier to see the content of this blog.

You can find the link to this list of posts  on the wooden bar above the normal post.  New posts will be added on a weekly basis with a small indicator.

I also added a contact form if you would like to ask questions about kids theme parties or even to share your kids theme parties and photos with other readers of this blog.

If you have read the previous post, you will know that I am busy planning [...]]]>

Papier mâché has been one of my favourite crafts a few years ago but as is so often the case, crafts come and go and my period of paper mâché gave way to quite a few months of salt doughing.

If you have read the previous post, you will know that I am busy planning my granddaughter’s 4th birthday party.  While I was busy jotting down ideas for the table decorations and trying to come up with a way to make a tower, my eye caught the spaghetti tin on top of one of the kitchen cabinets and I suddenly knew that a tower made with paper mâché will be perfect!

Paper mâché is really one of those crafts that cost next to nothing to start out with, but the end results can be fantastic!  It is also an ideal craft to do for kids theme parties, as you can make masks, favour boxes, noisemakers, even favours like bracelets, earrings, small jewelery boxes,  small animals  and fearsome monsters from paper mâché. The very popular pinata is also made from papier mâché.

To make the tower for the Rapunzel theme party, I  use newspaper strips, a mixture of flour, water and wood glue and of course the spaghetti tin to form the shape of the tower. If all goes well it should be finished by the end of the week as the only drawback is the time it takes for the newspaper layers to dry thoroughly. I have to add at least another six layers of newspaper strips to make the tower sturdy enough to stand on its own.

I was going to make a little Rapunzel from salt dough but since Mia has a Barbie doll, maybe I will just use her as our “Rapunzel” for the day. Somewhere in her toy box there must be a prince as well…

It is not always necessary to buy new items for a kid’s theme party, you can use toys and other items in the house if it fits in with the theme of the party and sometimes you can even ask friends or family members to help out with odds and ends that you will need (as I am going to do in the case of tablecloths for this party).

Remember, imagination and  fun go well together when planning your kid’s theme party!

She has heard me talk so much about the Rapunzel theme party I posted about in December 2009, that she was quite happy when I [...]]]>

My granddaughter Mia will be 4 years old on the 6th of March. Yesterday I sat down with a piece of paper to start my checklist for planning her birthday party.

She has heard me talk so much about the Rapunzel theme party I posted about in December 2009, that she was quite happy when I suggested that we should use this theme for her party this year.

I have decided to keep you up to date with my planning and I can tell you that a preliminary guest list has been set up already. I decided on the party snacks, but still have to decide if I am going to make a faux tower/castle cake or bake two cakes and “chop and paste” them to build the cake.

This weekend I will try my hand at making plantable  paper and will add some herb seeds to the paper. I will then use the paper to make  invitation cards.

While I was writing down all the ideas that popped into my mind, I realised once again how easy it is to use items that would normally find their way to the dustbin to make decorations for a kids theme party.

The eggs that I bought last night, came in lovely green cartons that will be perfect for party favours or to hold candy and will fit in nicely with the colour scheme of the Rapunzel theme. It can quite easily be turned into little treasure chests with the aid of  glitter and a few other odds and ends.

Empty toilet rolls (or any other empty rolls like kitchen paper rolls) can easily be turned into fun decorations by using paint, coloured paper, buttons, wool and many more. I will use a few rolls and turn them into small towers to decorate the party table.

With some  imagination and creativity, you can save a lot of money when you plan your kid’s theme party.

Remember also, always have fun when you do it and don’t forget to use a checklist from the moment you start planning the party.

On the other hand, the small guests enjoyed it thoroughly.

There was a [...]]]>

My granddaughter went to a kid’s birthday party and although I do appreciate the fact that the mother of the birthday child is working long hours, I really feel that she could have gone to a little more trouble with her child’s birthday party…

On the other hand, the small guests enjoyed it thoroughly.

There was a birthday cake, nothing fancy or outrageous, just a normal frosted cake with some decorations and candles of course.

The mother bought candy from a wholesaler that stocks candies in all shapes and sizes and not normally found in ordinary grocery stores. She also purchased small packet of crisps from this wholesaler as well as small, inexpensive items that she used for party favours.

I was actually quite impressed with the small guitar shaped bottles filled with bubble mixture that my granddaugter brought home.

A small carton of fruit juice was added to the favour box, and that was  the sum total of the party snacks.

The kids had a wonderful time in the inflatable swimming pool, jumping for hours on the trampoline and playing and talking to each other.

The party also kept on for an hour or more than the time stated on the invitation cards.

This set me to wondering if we do not sometimes go overboard when we plan a theme party for our child. Should we not try to cut back on expenses especially in these tough economic times when it can be  difficult to give your child a party that really incorporates all the elements of his/her favourite TV character, superstar/hero or just to keep up with the Joneses.

I know and understand that you want to do the best you can for your child’s birthday party and to make it a special day for him or her. However, do we not also unwittingly teach our children to expect theme parties that have to get bigger and better each year?

Would it not be more beneficial for them if we teach them to enjoy their parties even if there is not all the things kids automatically expect these days when they have a birthday party.

A party can still be fun even if it does not have a specific theme. It should be planned with love and should be fun even if it does not have all the elements of a fully fledged theme party.

What do you think? Should we really go all out when planning our kids birthday parties or can we get away with a more simple party but still have lots of fun in planning the party?

Yes, it is Valentine’s day again on Sunday the 14th. Maybe you have a kid that will have his or her birthday [...]]]>

It’s that time of the year again when pink and red hearts, cupids, red roses, glittery lips and kisses and all things that has to do with love and parties, are the latest news.

Yes, it is Valentine’s day again on Sunday the 14th. Maybe you have a kid that will have his or her birthday party over the weekend and in most cases, the party will have a Valentine’s theme.

This is one occasion where you can go wild with a colour scheme of red and pink, but do add a little white or green to break the strong colours.

I have decided not to give you a lot of ideas, (at the moment there are millions of Valentine Day party ideas not only on the internet, but also in magazines.)

You can however, download your free Valentine’s printable gifts by clicking on the image of the door hanger.  There are quite a few printable crafts in the .zip folder,  so I hope you will be able to use them and have fun with them.

While I was pouring milk for my granddaughter last night, I suddenly realised that empty milk cartons can be used for party favour bags. Simply cut of the top part, cover with crepe paper to suit the party theme colour, punch holes through two opposite sides and thread ribbon or twine for handles. Decorate with paper or felt hearts, small flowers, glitter and sequins.

Tip: Use the milk to make milkshakes or smoothies.

Salt dough… (yes I know, a gazillion sites feature this for Valentine’s hearts) but it is an inexpensive medium to use for lots of different gift ideas and children love to play with it. It really brings out the creative spirit in them.

There is still time to make a Valentine’s salt dough heart mobile as well as a few decorations for the house.

Teenage girls will love rose petal soap when they receive it as a party favour. Simply buy a few silk roses, take them apart, melt grated glycerine soap in the microwave or on the stove (over low heat, as the soap really melts quite quickly), add one or two drops of fragrant oil, use a tweezer to dip the rose petals into the melted soap.  Place on wax paper dry. Use a pretty round box and arrange the soap petals to look like a rose.

No Valentine’s party is complete without at least one piece of chocolates. Use the home-made marshmallow recipe I posted a few months ago to make heart shaped chocolate covered marshmallows.

Remember, have fun when you plan your kid’s theme party!

If you do not have Winzip to open your free Valentine’s gift,  you can download the latest version here.