It started with my mother’s 80th birthday and Independence Day in America, then there were 3 other family members who celebrated their birthdays between the 4th and the 9th of [...]]]>

Have you ever noticed how some months seem busier than others when it comes to parties and celebrations? July 2010 is definitely one of them.

It started with my mother’s 80th birthday and Independence Day in America, then there were 3 other family members who celebrated their birthdays between the 4th and the 9th of July.

On Sunday night,  11th July,  Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup  and I bet they had the mother of all parties afterwards. Congratulations on a job well done!

On the 14th of July France will celebrate Bastille Day.

Former South African president, Nelson Mandela, who also made an appearance at the soccer game on Sunday night, will celebrate his 92nd birthday on the 18th of July. What a great age and indeed worth a celebration!

On the 22nd July my  son will have his birthday and of course all over the world people will celebrate their own families’ birthdays during July.

Another event that will take place in South Africa is the release of the new Shrek For Ever After movie on the 16th of July (even though it has already been released in the USA on the 21st of May 2010).  Yes, the lovable green ogre is back in our midst and a lot of moms will have to find ideas for Shrek-themed parties again.

According to the movies.yahoo.com site “This is the end of the line for the Shrek films, so it’s the last time to enjoy the company of the big green guy” but definitely not the end of children asking for a Shrek party. According to statistics on this site,  over 50 fairy tale characters have appeared in at least one if not all of the first three movies.  Shrek will definitely go down in history as one of the favourite fairy tales in the world and kids will ask for Shrek parties for many, many more years to come.

Luckily you won’t have to travel Far Far Away to find  free downloads like  invitation cards, masks, doorhangers and even a lovely snack idea. So,  it would be quite “ridonkeylous” not to visit this  Shrek for Ever After site and afterward not to have fun when you plan a Shrek Theme Party for your child’s next birthday. 

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 [...]]]>

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!

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

There [...]]]>

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?

They can come in many shapes and sizes but they all have one thing in common… they add to the liveliness and festive feeling of any party.

They can be made from balloons, from newspaper or tissue paper, they can be adorned with feathers, [...]]]>

A kid’s birthday party is not complete without a party hat!

They can come in many shapes and sizes but they all have one thing in common… they add to the liveliness and festive feeling of any party.

They can be made from balloons, from newspaper or tissue paper, they can be adorned with feathers, glitter, sequins, colourful buttons, flowers or streamers, the choice is yours. Party hats can be shaped like a cone, a top hat, a simple band with Mickey Mouse or Bunny ears, a pirate hat, a witch hat… as with so many crafts, your imagination is the only drawback when it comes to the kind of hat you will make for your kid’s theme party.

The easiest party hat you can make yourself is the conical party hat. Draw a triangle on a piece of stiff cardboard or coloured paper – size 12″ x 18″ – use the 12″ as the height and the 18″ as the size to go around the head. Change the straight bottom line to a curve:

Decorate as desired, then glue the edges together and leave to dry. (Use paperclips to hold the hat together while it is drying). Staple both ends of a thin piece of elastic string onto opposite sides of the bottom edge of the hat so it fits under the chin.

A golden rule when planning your kids’ theme parties is to let them be a part of the planning from the beginning, so the older kids will really enjoy making their own party hats.

Download this colourful party hat template by clicking on this link…. http://kids-theme-parties.com/Party-Hats.zip The .zip folder  also contains a .png file with instructions on how to edit the file to design a party hat that will fit in with your kid’s party theme.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!

Once they get the hang of it, they will be able to finish a few bags in no time at all.

Once the favour bags are made, they can get creative with decorating it to suit [...]]]>

Let your child or children share in the excitement of an upcoming theme party by making the favour bags.

Once they get the hang of it, they will be able to finish a few bags in no time at all.

Once the favour bags are made, they can get creative with decorating it to suit the theme of the party.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to make your own favour bags or even gift bags (why buy when you can make it yourself?)

First off you will need some empty cardboxes like cereal boxes, biscuit boxes, etc.  (the size of the box will depend on the size of the bag you want to make – if there is no empty boxes on hand, try using a soft-cover book)

Other things you will need:

Scissors
Coloured card or heavy wrapping paper
Double-sided tape or glue
Cardboard
Hole punch
Ribbon, string or cord to match or compliment the paper

Lay box flat on long side of paper, ensuring paper will fold up to cover three-quarters of base.

Wrap paper around box to take circumference measurement, adding 2cm for overlap at side join. Mark dimensions with pencil, remove box and cut out.

Wrap paper around box to measure overlap, remove and open up again. Fold 3-4 cm over to inside at top edge of paper, glue in place.

Idea: Strengthen the places where the holes for the string or cord will be by cutting two pieces of firm cardboard about 3.5 cm wide and just a little shorter than the front and back width of the bag. Put glue on either side of the cardboard and position the pieces of the cardboard along the inside of the bag before gluing  the top edges in place.

Wrap paper around box and secure the overlap at the side with double-sided tape or glue.

While the box is still in the bag, fold the bottom edges over.

Secure with double-sided tape or glue

Tip:

For extra strength or a neater finish, you can cut a piece of paper just a little smaller than the base of the bag and glue in place.

Slide box out of bag

Another tip: You can also cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the base  and insert it into the bag on the bottom.

Pinch edges of bag together with fingers and crease down sides carefully.

Flatten bag, fold bottom and flatten. Fold bottom back and open bag.

Punch two holes in each side at top, measure the string or cord to the length that you want the handles and add about 5 cm.

Thread the string or cord through the holes and knot the ends. Make sure that the knots are big enough so that the handles don’t come off.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!