Since I glean most of my ideas from the internet I like to share back.
Even if they are hokey homemade parties.
This is the year I promised myself to only do
EASY birthday parties.
It is very hard for me to refrain from the bajillions of ideas out there!
But I did try. I read some really good advice over at
O Happy Day about parties.
She suggests just 2 or so focal points.
So if you spend the time to make the most amazing cake then just have simple decorations.
If you spend hours creating a photobooth or centre pieces - get your food delivered.
If you're doing crafts and games and decorations - then get a store bought cake.
No worries it'll still be a fantastic party!
If you
kill stress yourself trying to create a million wonderful focal points
{the other mums will think you're supermum} but children will hardly remember.
Since we have a wonderful magician in the family I opted for a Magic Birthday Party!
Can't get easier than a Free entertainer!!
Since I did not want to be in the kitchen at all (AT.ALL!)
{why do most parties we mums end up in the kitchen and miss all the fun!}
I decided to serve up all pre-packaged junk food.
Chips, chocolates and some doughnuts, cupcakes and water bottles. Around $30
The party went like :
Kids arrive and birthday girl opened the presents straight away
{why not? she wanted to and so often you don't even see the kid open the present you bought}
That kept them busy for 20 mins
Eat some treats and look around our back yard
Magic Show - 40 mins
Cut the Cake and sing
Home time :)
All over and done in one and half hours!
Shortest party I've hosted and it was GREAT! As we don't have much room hosting 20+ kids (and all those parents) can be hard. I kept it short so they wouldn't get bored and turn to destroying everything in sight instead ;)
Magic party details:
Top Hat Cake
Looks a little more cowboy hat than Top Hat but oh well!! It was super easy to make.
{After giving up on the idea of a 3D round hats with fondant bunnies being pulled out of them - I'm smart enough to know my limitations and don't need to create an internet fail meme!} I made two rectangle cakes and froze ahead of time. Use one whole cake for the top and I used half the other for the bottom. Put chocolate icing all over and little strip of white icing. I used liquorice rope for defining the edges. Very quick and easy to put together.
Bunny and Top Hat Invitations
For the invitation I saw a similar idea on pinterest but made an easier version. Basically I printed out black hats and glued them onto cardstock. At the top of the hat on the ring I cut a slit. Then I printed out the details of the party on regular copy paper and cut out them out in a rectangle shape to fit in the slit. Then I printed some bunnies out and glued them on top of the rectangle invitation. The width of the bunny stops the entire invitation slipping through the slit in the hat. These were very simple and cheap and fairly quick to make and the kids loved the novelty of them. One girl lost hers and was very adamant I make her another {even though her mother knew all the details and she was coming to party regardless}
Top Hat Piñata
It's a bit wonky and not a perfect top hat (next time I won't free hand cut lol ;) but Piñata's are a party must have here. However we didn't end up using this one as I felt there were going to be too many kids. Instead I tried to make it more as a decoration. I was going to hang it along with a big number 7 but I ran out of time to make that. I also forgot to attach a way to hang this one before adding all the crepe paper fringe, so it was too difficult to hang so it became the table centre piece.
Basically to make a piñata cut a big shape out of cardboard. Make 2 {a front and back}. Then cut several long rectangles about 8cm wide. Bend this to the shape taping as you go. Then tape the top piece on and you have a 3D ish shape. Then glue fringed crepe paper all over your 'box'.
{PS Think ahead of time how you will attach a string/rope if you plan to hang it}
Wooden Dowel Magic Wands
We went to another magic party a few months ago {much better than mine!} and they had made these wonderful wands for all the kids out of dowel. Just cut dowel into lengths, paint black and paint tips white. What a great idea as a gift for each child and their own wand to use during the magic show. Our magician sneakily put some double sided tape on ours and taught the kids how 'to do a trick' by making it look like their wand was levitating!
Even better I got Grandad to make these for me now he is retired and has 'plenty of time' :)
Magic Popping Candy Thank You
I did away with doing party bags years ago. I personally don't like them {most of it gets thrown away, they can be really expensive, and they cause fights at home with other siblings (or is that just my naughty kids?!} We usually give one small gift or treat as a thank you and it usually relates to the theme. I thought magic popping candy would be perfect for a magic party. This cost $2 for 50 little packs. I popped a few in a bag and printed off a square that said Abracadabra - thanks for coming to my party. Fold over and staple down onto bag.
Number 7 star shirt
Just our regular
birthday shirt . I pick up shirts on sale for a couple dollars when I see them.
We chose some star material from our stash to try and match the theme. The material was attached to some white felt to give it extra strength and then I straight stitched the number on and zig zag stitched around the 7 so it is less likely to fray.
It looks like a lot here all described but it really was a simple, easy, cheap party and the kids sat still and kept very entertained by my amazing dad the magician!!
Miss 7 is a lucky girl!!
My party tips found here
Party Fatigue Prevention
