Kids Birthday Parties,Cool Birthday Party Ideas,Cool Birthday Parties,Cool Party Theme,Unique Party Ideas,Custom Party Games,Party Supplies,Video Game Theme,Party Tips,Making a Piñata,Cool Party Elements, Party Themes,Nintendo Birthday,Mario Party theme

Cool New Mario Kart Birthday Party theme

2011-01-05T06:41:10-08:00

This is a really cool new birthday party theme for the new year.

Imagine a Mario Kart birthday party theme for your son/daughter. Now sold online, Mario Kart party products to help create an entire birthday party theme for your special kid in your life.

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Cool New Mario Fruit Snacks from Kellogg's

2010-11-02T07:31:50-07:00

Kellogg's Fruit Snacks, Super Mario, 9-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 10)

I was at the store yesterday and saw these new fruit snacks on the shelf. Couldn't help but think how perfect these would be for Mario Party Birthday Loot bags, or Pinata fillers.

Halloween Costume Contest for PBS Kids Sprout

2010-10-12T08:57:33-07:00

Several years ago, my kids wanted to enter into a Halloween costume contest held by PBS kids Sprout. The Contest was to dress like Chica (the little chicken on the Sunny Side up Show on PBS Kids), but both of my kids wanted to participate, so my son dressed up as Kevin (the Sunny Side Up Show host at the time), and my daughter as Chica (the little yellow chicken on PBS Kids). Basically our goal was to re-create the Sunshine barn, which is where the Sunny Side up show took place. Since papier-mache is my choice of medium when it comes to art projects, the kids and I got to work on our contest entry. Below you can see on the left a picture of Kevin; the host of the Sunny Side Up show and Chica the little yellow chicken is to the right of Kevin. Kevin, the host always wore an assortment of fun colorful fruit Hawaiian shirts on the show, the one he is wearing in the picture below is a blue shirt with Orange printed all around.

You can see below all the fun we had creating this costume contest entry. Oh, and best of all, my kids WON! Yay! They received a big basket filled with all sorts of goodies from PBS Kids Sprout.

We pretty much started with plain white paper, markers and some tempera paint.

We used lots of big white paper, tempra paints and boxes to create the barn background. I cut strips out from the boxes to paint like wood panels. We slowly created all the different pieces need to recreate the Sunny Side Up Show set. The kids had lots of fun painting all the different pieces that were needed for the contest entry.

The Chica Costume (head piece, body, and wings) were created from papier-mache and painted with tempera paints. The Wings were created by laying strips of papier-mache out and letting dry. Once they were dried I cut out the wing shape and painted it. Then I used velcro to stick onto the shirt worn by my daughter. The Beak of the Chica head piece was created using yellow foam and red felt was used to make the comb on top of the head piece.

We made sure to include all the pieces from the Sunny Side Up Show set so that the contest entry was reflective of the real show. We made Kevin's desk (made from a box and decorated with pumpkins for Fall), The red barn door (made from box and painted red), the egg clock (made from white paper, painted green and glued on the numbers and clock hands), Chica's nest (made from a box and covered the outside with moss and brown pipe cleaners), also made sure that we included a funny fruit Hawaiian shirt for the Host to wear (made from white paper, tape the seams and colored in the design with markers). The Background was complete with art work pictures from my kids to hang up behind Chica. The Sunny Side Up show always displayed the viewers artwork for all to see, so we made sure to do this detail too.

This contest was really so much fun, it gave both my kids a boost of confidence when they found out that they won. They were so excited every time they heard it announced on television in between commercials or saw it on the PBS Kids Sprout website. They still talk about this contest to this day, and now they are eager to enter all kinds of creative contest that they hear announced. :o)

I would like to hear what kinds of creative contest have you and your kids have entered? Was it fun for everyone? Would you do it again in the future? Tell us in a short comment below.

UCF Graduate Party Customized

2010-09-03T07:52:56-07:00

Here's a cool University of Central Florida Graduate Party that I customized some party elements to make the event extra exciting. I thought I would share some images to encourage you to plan out the details of an event, after all its the details that make any event that much more special.

For this Graduate Party, I customized cupcake picks and a Knight Helmet (University of Central Florida School Mascot) card holder. This card holder was created to hold all the cards that party guests brought for the grad. Guests were able to insert their cards into the top of the Knight's helmet. The cards would them drop down into a box, where the grad could later retrieve.

I won't go into too much detail, but below you can see the various steps that were taken to create these Graduate party elements.

The Knight Helmet Card holder was constructed from papier-mache and cardboard. Once the structure was complete, I used gold and black paint to finish the look of the knight helmet.

These custom cupcake picks were created using Shrink Film sheets. The sheets were printed from the computer with the grad's name and graduating date all included on the Cupcake picks. Then they were shrunk down by putting them inside the oven. These cupcakes were complete with gold cupcake liners (Gold is a Main UCF School Color), and sprinkled with edible gold star confetti made by Wilton.

Hello Kitty Party Favor Bags

2010-07-25T17:09:55-07:00

Just finished making these really sweet Bags to coordinate to a Hello Kitty Party theme. These 15 Favor Bags cost me less then $3 in total. I will have the templates and instructions available very soon to share. Be sure to stop back soon to see all the details.

Park Party Checklist

2010-06-05T17:11:42-07:00

For all you Party Hosts Planning a Park Party this Summer, Here are some items you may need to to add to your list of things to bring with you. As a Mom, I like to be prepared for any circumstance. Better safe then sorry.

Don’t Forget to bring these essential items to the Park, they may be useful at your party:

o Heavy duty clear tape – to hang decorations, streamers, and signs

o Scissors –Seems like you always need them when you don’t have them.

o Broom and dustpan-You never know what you will have to clean up, or shoo away

o Ant spray- Ant hills are never nice near where kids play

o Sun block- Better safe than sorry, Didja know it only takes 15 minutes for the harmful SUV rays to penetrate your skin.

o Mosquito repellant – Mosquito’s suck!....literally. Be prepared with repellant if your party is near a lake, tall grass, forestry areas.

o Band aids- Be prepared for Boo- Boos, just in case. Fun colorful Themed bandages always seems to make it feel better.

o Garbage bin and/or recycle bins- If you plan to have cans or bottles water at your party, be sure to encourage recycling. Do your part, especially at the park!

o Bottled water- Great cost efficient refreshing beverage.

o Flavored powder single serve packets like Crystal light- Makes Beverage options for guests and you don’t have to lug 7 different soda/ Juice containers to the park.

o Rope & piñata stick- A piñata is no fun if it just sits there.

o extension cord- (if there are power outlets)-

o Radio & kids music- MP3 Players and portable speakers are always easy to transport. Make a Party Music Playlist and let it the tunes play.

o Bubble Machine- Bubbles always make for good times at any occasion.

o Fan – If it’s hot then try to make your guests cool off near a fan.

A Birthday Party Planned at a Park

2010-05-14T06:17:36-07:00

Parks are a great option when it comes to picking a location for your next celebration. Main reason is definitely because of easy clean up. Plus, it allows for you to have a more loosely structured party. You can get by with planning for one game, or a piñata, maybe a filler activity ( clown, bounce house, train, etc.) and of course the cake & ice cream time. The rest of the time is filled in with the park playground/play area. As far as present time…well I opt to take those home and let my child open them later after the party. It gives them a chance to really read each card and focus in on the thoughtfulness of each persons’ gift. It also gives me a chance to sit and jot down who gave what and even snap a few photos, Which I can use to add into thank you notes in later days.

When it comes to figuring out the details of planning a party at a park, keep in mind that you might not have all the amenities at a park as you would at home or somewhere indoors. I recommend making a list and checking it twice ;o)

What you would plan for an indoor party modified for a party planned outdoors:

Indoors you may plan for Cake, modify this for outdoors to Cupcakes – They are easy to distribute, no messy knife, and easy cleanup.
Indoors you may plan for Ice Cream with the cake, modify this for outdoors by serving the Single serve ice cream cups. I like to buy these from the wholesale stores like BJ's, Costco or SAM's club...you get more for your money.
Indoors you may plan for a Drink variety including cups and ice, modify this for outdoors by purchasing a case of bottled water and a variety of powdered flavor packets (i.e. Crystal light, Hawaiian punch, etc.).
Indoors you may plan for Kids' drinks, modify this for outdoors by filling a big bucket with ice and add in juice boxes, juice pouches or mini water bottles.
Indoors you may plan for a variety of food, modify this for outdoors with the all time favorite of Pizza. It is always an easy food that both kids and adults enjoy. When I order, I like to order the pies sliced twice. So instead of 8 pieces I get 16. This is a cost efficient way to increase the number of slices and it helps decrease wasting of half eaten pieces.

I also would recommend stopping by a week in advance at the park where the party will take place to scope out the area. Even if it’s a park that you have taken your kids to many times before. You might need to re-see the area through “Party Mode” eyes. This means you are looking for things like where the best place for the food table, the present table, where is a safe place to set up the piñata, how much seating is available, is there running water, power outlets, etc. If you are the party host, you need to already have an idea of where you want things to go. So when someone offers to help, or the filler activity needs direction where to set up, you can direct them with definitive answers.

Do you have an indoor/outdoor modification when it comes to party planning? Do tell, do tell. We would like to hear.

Summer Party Cost Saving Tips

2010-05-12T05:54:00-07:00

We all like to trim costs down when it comes to planning a party, but how? Between the obvious costs of cake, food, drinks, decorations and any extra frills where can one trim down costs? Well like I always say, you can plan for an extraordinary party on an ordinary budget. You just have to be aware of cost saving choices that result in saving money, or better not wasting your hard earned money.

Here's some money saving tips to keep in mind.

Instead of decorating with helium balloons, decorate with balloon sticks all around. Fill a few helium mylers for the birthday child and their special chair, or set them at the present table.

~ Instead of ordering your cake from a supermarket bakery, order from wholesale store bakery ( BJ’s, Costco or Sam’s to name a few). You can save $10 - $15 dollars easily. They have licensed cakes too.

~ Rather then providing a variety of drinks to your guests- provide a case of water and drink mix packets.

~ Rather then spending money on Pinata Filler Bags that contain small boring plastic toys that usually end up in the trash, instead buy fun fillers like stickers, Rice Krispies Treats ,mini Fruit Roll-Ups ,Fun Band-aids , Bookmarks ,Play Money , Individually wrapped Candy (stay away from Chocolate, it tends to melt), Jelly Bracelets , CRAZY Bands , Erasers , Shoelaces , seed packets, Dinosaur finger puppets , Rubber party Duckies ,etc.

Other Money Saving Tips while Party Planning.

Here's a Tip if you are planning on serving Pizza -

While placing your order, ask the pizza parlor to double slice all the Pizza pies. This is great for kid’s parties. Kids are usually in play/ fun mode at birthday parties, and not likely to eat too much. So this is what I like to do. Instead of seeing half eaten pizzas in the trash, I just order the slices half the size. This also is great if you have adults eating pizza, sometimes adults are more likely to try a small slice of pizza with a topping (like pineapples, peppers, etc.) they otherwise would not have committed to on an entire pie. Since I have started doing this, I find that it works great!

Here’s a Tip if you are planning on supplying drink cups for your party guests -

Be sure to have a permanent marker placed near the drink area. Even better tie the marker to a string and tape the string down near the drinks. Write a little note of instruction, for guests to label their cups with their name before they fill with ice and drink.

What about you? Do you have any great party tips that you want to share. Something that always seems to work great at your planned events. Do tell, We’d love to hear.

Simple Birthday Party Balloon Decorations

2010-02-03T09:21:56-08:00

A nice touch to any celebration is Balloons. Decorating your party area with Balloons can enhance the happy party atmosphere. Now you might first think of helium filled ones, the latex kind or the Mylar type, either way helium filled balloons can be an unnecessary cost that you needn’t spend. Besides, remember what a pain in the tushie it is to drive home from the party store with a dozen (or more) helium filled balloons in the back seat of your car. The balloons, well they are bobbing around while blocking your view of the road. They almost taunt you as they bop you in the head with every turn you make. Instead, this is what I like to do. I get a few of those nice Mylar balloons that coordinate to my party theme. Those are the few special balloons that are for the birthday child. For the other balloons, I go with a more economical solution that makes a rich party décor look.

Supplies you will need:

- Few packages of latex balloons ( match your party colors)

- Curling ribbon ( match your party colors)

- Scissors

- Heavy duty tape

- Oh and a good pair of lungs, or an air pump will do.

If at all possible, I like to decorate the night before my parties. And sometimes it is not always an option, depending on where I plan to have my parties. But if it is not an optionI like to at least make my decorations prior to the party, then I can quickly hang them around. You can prepare your balloons the night before too. Just group balloons in sets of three (your color choice) and tie the ribbons in the centers. Then when you arrive at the party destination, simply hang up using clear tape. Happy Decorating!

Halloween Costume Up, Up & Away

2009-11-03T01:58:00-08:00

This year I had a cute idea for a costume, except my kids had already picked out whom they wanted to dress up as so I offered the idea to my friend for her little boy.

A quick trip to the store is where I acquired a large white cardboard that the store was throwing away. My friend and I were able to utilize the cardboard for the main part of the costume. We outlined a house onto the cardboard, painted it using tempera paints, then cut it out. Russell (the boy scout from Pixar’s movie Up) and Carl (the old grumpy man from Pixar’s movie Up) were the two characters that I printed up from my home printer. I used packing Tape as a makeshift laminate to cover the printouts so they would be protected from the ink running. Russell was positioned in the window of the house and Carl was at the front porch. Once the house was cut out, two strings were strung through the roof part like overall straps so that my friends’ son could wear it. For the finishing touch, we filled two dozen helium balloons and attached them to her sons’ belt loop.

The costume was a B-I-G hit! Everyone was commenting what a cute costume. Every house we went trick-r-treating to had something great to say in reference to this costume idea, not to mention a few extra pieces of candy tossed in the candy bucket for our efforts.