Our Candyland Party

 

As I mentioned during the Dare to Share Party yesterday, we had a Candyland party at work yesterday.  As the days lead up to the party, I helped with a lot of the prep work.  I created games and decorations online, I crafted several crafts and games, and helped decorate for the party.  While I did get some pictures, I was too busy during the party to take more than a couple of pictures while the party was taking place. I will share what I have so far, with more to possible come early next week, because we plan on leaving the decorations up for a bit. 

One of our parents is a talented balloon artist. She made the rainbow balloons in our entryway in the picture above, and at the entrance below.  

As you entered it felt like you were in a real Candyland. Each of the rooms were a different land. We had Lollipop Woods, the Ice Palace, Chocolate Swamp, and Gingerbread Land.

,

I took these photos while I was setting up during naptime, so they are a little dark.  As you entered one of the preschool rooms Princess Lolli and several giant lollipops greeted you.  

In that room we had a cookie chair walk game.  It was a combination of a cake walk and musical chairs, but we did not remove the chairs after each round.  The kids and some parents walked around the chairs to the music, and when it stopped sat down in one of the numbered chairs.  If their number was called, they won a bag of cookies and some game tickets to use toward a big prize. 

The chocolate swamp mural was not completed yet in this picture, we were still working on it.  In the chocolate swamp room the kids had a chocolate matching game, and a maze.  

At the last minute I threw together this ice cream sundae.  We had hoped to play pin the cherry on the sundae, but ran out of time to finish making it. We will have the kids play it in class during a school day next week.  

In the second preschool room we had the Ice Palace. There was a big mural on the wall, and snowflakes all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling. 

In this room we had the punch cup game, and the penny toss game.  The kids won tickets and candy with both games.  I made these games by hot gluing regular size and mini red cups onto Dollar Tree foam board. 

I don't have pictures inside Gingerbread Lane room, but the kids who entered were greeted by Jip the Gingerbread man which I made for last year's party.  

In the center area, I play picture Candyland Bingo with a Bingo game I created that will soon be in my Etsy Shop.

At the end of the party the kids could turn in their tickets (hopefully they had a lot of them) for a variety of prizes.  Almost all of the prizes came from the Dollar Tree.  This is only half of the prizes.  There were just too many to get them all in one picture. 

Candyland is one of the parties we do for the kids yearly. We got a lot of good feedback on this year's party, so will have to wait and see what next year's party brings.   

  

Read More »

Purple Unicorn Party

My daughter's and I have loved unicorns for a long time, way before they became the current sensation.  Thirteen years ago, my oldest daughter had an unicorn themed birthday party and invited all of the girls in her class.  It was her first birthday party in her new school, and she was quite excited to celebrate with her new friends.  My youngest was only two at the time, and was very excited about the party too. (though she may not look like it in this picture LOL!)  She was thrilled to hand out the unicorn horn headbands to the guests. Because this party was held way before I became a blogger, I don't have a lot of detail pictures, but I do have some that would be relevant to a present day Unicorn Party.  Purple was her absolute favorite color at this age, so she chose it as her main color for the party.  (her entire room was purple down to the walls and the carpet) 

Disclosure:  The links to the items I used at this party are affiliate links.

At the time I had trouble finding an unicorn cake pan, so I had to be creative in how I put together the cake.  If my memory serves me right, I used a dome cake pan kind of like this one here for the head, and a large circle cookie cutter to cut out the nose.  The unicorn's horn is an ice cream cone covered in frosting.  In the picture it looked like I used Wilton Ready to Decorate Icings with tips instead of making my own.  I can not tell what the eye was made from in the picture, but it looks like a circle piece of candy or a flattened gum drop. 

In this picture you can see a better view of the unicorn horn headband.  I bought pastel colored headbands from the dollar store.  The horn and ears were made from felt, and the mane of color coordinated yarn. I think we might still have their unicorn headbands around her somewhere. I should see if I can find them. 

I know this picture is kind of blurry, but it is the only one I have of the craft  We made unicorn picture frames out of craft foam. When the girls arrived I took a picture of them in front of the fireplace wearing their unicorn horns.  I then printed off all of the pictures before it was time to craft.  This may have been a craft kit, but it kind of looks like just improvised. Even though the unicorns kind of look like Grimace, the girls loved them at the time. 

I do remember giving the girls a small goody bag of candy and trinkets, but what they loved the most were the stuffed unicorns.  We found several unicorns on clearance and then made sure we had enough for each of the guests and each of my kids. Looking back at this picture, I just have to smile. Every single one of these little ones are now between the ages of 17 and 20!   Time really flies!   How we handed out the unicorns was by playing a game. Each unicorn was wrapped in pretty paper.  The kids sat in a large circle, and then we played a version of hot potato.  If you were holding the wrapped gift when the music stopped, you left the circle and opened your unicorn.  The kids felt like they were receiving presents too, and they had something they could keep as a memento from the party.  I found a few unicorns online very similar to the ones we handed out.  You and see them here, here, and here.

The party was a success and to this day, it is still one of my daughter's favorites. 

We have several new unicorn posts in the works so watch for them very soon!!  

Read More »

No Churn Pink Party Ice Cream - Dare to Share Feature

I was not sure which post I was going to feature, until I saw this.. Lambie's No Church Pink Party Ice Cream by Views from the Ville. There were three magic words involved, pink, marshmallows and ice cream.   My kids are too old for Doc McStuffins, but I know many of my readers have children who are fans.  What is great about this ice cream is it is versatile enough that you can use it for other types of parties as well.  Be sure to stop over to Views from the Ville for the full recipe.  

Read More »

Superhero Party - Dare to Share Feature

As you all know I am love planning the at home kid's birthday parties. The birthday boy at this Superhero Party by Cute and Little recently had a party that he and his friends will always remember. You will definitely want to stop over to Cute and Little  and see this colorful party, from the cake, favors and one awesome pinata.  It almost makes me wish my kids were little again so we could have a Superhero party.  

Read More »

The LEGO Movie Party Ideas

Have you had the chance to see the new LEGO movie yet? We saw it opening weekend and LOVED it.  There was a lot of storyline for both kids and adults, with many laugh out loud moments. 

Read More »

Cinderella Party - Feature of the Day

As you know I love a good party, especially one that is put together on a budget.   Melissa from Willamette Valley Wonder Woman shared a Cinderella princess party she held for her daughter.  She has some great decor ideas that are quick and easy to put together.  So if you are looking for ideas that won't break the bank, be sure to see Melissa's  party post on her blog here.  Thank you so much for linking up to Dare to Share Melissa!

Read More »

A "Brave" Birthday

Do you love the movie Brave?  I saw it for the first time with my two daughters, and we all really loved it.   Brave is the perfect mother/daughter movie to go to together.   

Recently I was looking through the blogs,  when I saw this adorable little face.  She has a great reason to smile, her mom Joi from Heck Fridays was throwing her a fabulous  Brave birthday party.  

I knew when I saw this party that I wanted to feature it.  How cute are these bear paw cupcakes?! 

All of the food looked like it could have easily come right out of the movie.  

There were a lot of great details, like the water bottle labels, 

and the decorated goody bags.

Even the little bears made an appearance at the party with a great big thank you.  I am sure that this party had to have been a ton of fun. 

If you would like to see more about this Brave party be sure to go check out it here  on Heck Fridays.

Read More »

Dinosaur Party

It's been a few weeks since I have dug into my old photos and party archives to share one of our favorite parties.    There was a time a few too many years ago when my son was really into dinosaurs.  This photo reminds me how fast time really does fly, because that cute little boy in the picture is now bigger than me.    He really wanted dinosaurs at the party, but as we all know real dinosaurs do not exist.  The only way my son could have dinosaurs at the party is if I made them.  I cut out a triceratops and a giant T-rex out of large cardboard.    The triceratops greeted the kids at the front door. 

Read More »

Horse/Western Party

Disclosure: This post has affiliate links to the items used for this party, and other horse/western party ideas. 

A few years ago my daughter was really into horses.  She had a ton of  My Little Ponies as many little girls do.  About six months before her birthday, I was so excited to find  the Fur Real pony on sale for 50% off after Christmas.   Luckily we were at grandmas house at the time, and she was willing to keep it hidden at her house until Kara's summer  birthday.     Knowing that she was going to get the pony for her birthday,  I talked her into a horse/western themed party.   I scheduled her party for 2 weeks after her actual birthday, because we were going to be on vacation in Branson, Mo for the big day.   She was shocked and thrilled to come back to the cabin one day and find Butterscotch waiting for her. 

When everyone arrived for the party, we gave out cowgirl/cowboy hats, bandanas and sheriff badges from Oriental Trading.  Each child then had the chance to pose with Butterscotch the pony.  I had made a cardboard corral out of a large piece of cardboard, but we had to keep the pony and corral inside due to high winds and the threat of rain.   

I don't have many pictures of the decorations from the actual party.   I wish I did, but at the time of this party I had no idea I was going to have a party idea blog.  =)    I know I found checkered tablecloths at the dollar store that I used on the main table and in the craft area.  I also used streamers, balloons and horse banners as decor.  At the end of the post, I am linking some items similar to what we used. 

We played several horse/western themed games.  In this picture my older daughter is showing how to run the pony race.  We had two horse sticks, and used them to run relay races.  The girls loved trotting around the yard, and it  was a good way to get some energy out. 

In this picture we are panning for gold in the sandbox.  I found a couple bags of gold coins, and hid them in the sand.  Each child took turns panning for gold, and then they were able to keep their coins.   While we did not have a Trading Post  at my daughter's party,  I really like the idea from Special Interest Day where the kids exchanged the gold they found for treats. This would be a good activity for this type of party because the kids would enjoy choosing their own prizes.   

We also played a game called lasso the pony.  I made a pony head out of foam board and paint. 

To make the lasso, I wrapped a dollar store hula hoop with rope.   Once they got the lasso moving they tried to catch the wild pony. 

YeeHaw! Look at that lasso go!

I do not have any pictures of the craft we made that day, but I know we made one even though I can not remember it.   A great craft for a horse/western party is for kids to design their own paper bag vest.  Crayola has a tutorial on their website here.

Oriental Trading  had this really fun paper plate horse craft kit. It is no longer in stock, but would probably be pretty easy to recreate with paper plates and craft foam. 

Other craft ideas could be to decorate horseshoes,  pony coloring sheets or paper bag puppets 

I made her cowgirl boot cake by cutting a sheet cake using a template I drew myself.   I know M & Ms and candles have an interesting look to them, but that is what happens when you allow a 6 yr old to decorate her own cake.     

I  also do not have pictures of the other food we ate, but I know we served BBQ meatballs, mini pizzas, chips, and baby carrots.  We also had pony punch (Hawaiian punch). 

S'mores would be another great option for this type of party.  

After opening presents the kids took home goody bags filled with horse stickers,  horse themed candy, horse finger puppets, and their gold coins.  They also kept their cowgirl/cowboy hats, bandanas and sheriff badges. 

Kara still has her Butterscotch pony and loves it to this day. 

Here are more horse themed items that you may like for your Horse/Western party. 

 

Brown Horse Pinata

Horse Themed Tablecloth

Horse Treat Bags

If you go with the Trading Post idea, here are some fun horse themed prizes 

Horse Cups with Straws

Horse Eraser Pencil Toppers

Horse Rubber Duckies

Squishy Horse Toys

Read More »

Children's Luau Party

Disclosure: I love Oriental Trading a lot and have used their products for years, so I recently became an affiliate. The links in this posts are to items I have actually bought and used. 

My daughter has actually had two luaus over the years.  When she was two, she was obsessed with Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. Since Stitch was from Hawaii, a luau seemed like the perfect party theme.   When she was 5 she wanted to have one again, but this time she got to bring out her favorite giant monkey.   I am going to share pictures from both of our parties.

Inflatable Palm Tree

Hibiscus Fringe Garland

For decor, I know I bought most of what I used  through Oriental Trading.   They have a good selection of Luau  goodies at reasonable prices.  I also know that the Dollar Tree carries quite a bit in the spring/summer months.  Since it is a seasonal item at The Dollar Tree, I would check after Easter.  In this picture you can see the Hibiscus Paper Lanterns

Family Fun has a tutorial on how to make giant  tissue paper flowers if  you prefer to make them at home.  I made them for one of our parties.  They were pretty easy to make, and you can use your own  party colors.   You can see the tutorial on how to make them  here. 

I made a sun pinata for our Lilo and Stitch luau.  Family Fun still has that tutorial on its site all these years later.  You can see how here.  If you would prefer not to make it, there is a really cute one at Oriental Trading here.

Read More »