The Kid's Birthday Fun Review

New Bella Sara Miniatures and Sunflower Trading Cards

Linette — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:27:47 +0000

Bella Sara sent me a couple of their new miniature velvet horses, and some of their Sunflower trading cards to check out. I have a confession, I was horse crazy when I was growing up! I loved horses (still do), so I was like a kid when I received these in the mail. They’re adorable!

The velvet horses are soo cute and tiny! If I was a little girl I would love to find these in my Easter basket on Easter morning. Their price point of $2.99 for the card packs, and $1.99 each for the mini horses, makes them a perfect alternative to candy.

Each Miniature pack includes a secret code. Once they receive a pack of Bella Sara cards kids can head to BellaSara.com and sign up or sign in to journey through the magical world of North of North. They can enter their secret code to unlock Bela Sara Adventures and other fun games.

The new Sunflowers cards lets kids join Emma and her friends on a search for Herd Sunflower, unlocking new adventures on the way using secret codes.

The new Miniatures Series 3 set contains 20 new velvety little figurine horses to go along with the release of the new Sunflower cards. There are also new beautifully illustrated Keepsake Cases featuring 4 collectible carde packs, an exclusive collectible promo card, and one secret code to unlock Sunflowers adventures and Horseshoes at Bella Sara.

Bella Sara is offering a special coupon code for Kid’s Fun Reviewed readers! Shop the Bella Sara Website and use the promotion code: SUNFLWRS to recieve 10% off your order (limit 1 per customer) between now and April 30th 2010!

Disclosure: Bella Sara did send me some of these adorable little horses, but all of the opinions here are strictly mine. I can’t help it if I’m still a horse crazy little girl on the inside!

Cute Kid’s Birthday Cupcake Kits

Linette — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:14:29 +0000

I love it when birthday parties are easy, but still fun. These cute cupcake kits from Plates & Napkins Designer Party Supplies make cupcakes super easy, and they’re simply adorable!

Here are just a few of my favorites, but they have several to choose from!

If you have a little girl who loves kittens check out this cute kitten cupcake kit!

Add this dog cupcake kit for a puppies and kittens party.

dog cupcake kit">

Or maybe you’re having a pirates and mermaids party? They’ve got you covered.

Pirate cupcake kit
Mermaid cupcake kit
Do you have a princess fairy, or a fairy princess in the family? How about these cupcake kits?

Princess Cupcake Kit
Fairy Cupcake Kit

There are several more, and they’re all just as cute. You can check out the whole collection of cute cupcake kits here: Plates and Napkins website

Sweet Pea Cupcake Toppers and Scrapbook Pages

Linette — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:58:34 +0000

Do you have a sweet pea with a birthday coming up soon? My sister came up with a really cute sweet pea design for a scrapbook page she made this weekend and I thought it would make a really cute cupcake design, so I had to give it a try.

Here are the sweet pea cupcake toppers, and the sweet pea scrapbook page that inspired them.

The sweet pea topper was really easy to make. I used an oval shape to cut out the pea pod, then cut it back the other way to make the crescent shape for the pod (about 3″ long). The peas were circles about 3/4″ diameter. Instead of making double layers for the peas, I outlined each of them with a green marker.

I used scrapbook tape to stick the peas to the pod, then glued the whole thing to a toothpick, and stuck it into the top of the iced cupcake. If you want to make it a little fancier you can make a green wrap for your cupcake.

Here’s the scrapbook page that inspired the cupcake topper, isn’t it adorable? My sister made the pea pod in her scrapbook page the same way I did the pea pod cupcake topper, but she added a second circle to the peas, just a little smaller (about 1/2″) to give them some depth.

The letters were cut with my Cricut Expression Machine, which I adore! She used a royal blue for the background, which I think coordinated nicely and made the colors really pop!

Friday Giveaway~ Nintendo DS Alvin and The Chipmunks The Squeakquel

Linette — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:53:09 +0000

I have another Friday giveaway for you today. I have a copy of Alvin and The Chipmunks The Squeakquel for Nintendo DS to give away.

We received a copy of the Alvin and The Chipmunks The Squeakquel game for Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS version both at the same time. My son took the Wii version for a test run, but I saved the DS version, now I want to give the game to a lucky Kid’s Birthday Fun reader.

My son had fun with the Wii version of this game, but I think the game is definitely aimed at the younger crowd. Kid’s can play along to their favorite Alvin and The Chipmunks Squeakquel tunes.

In the DS version kids keep time to the rhythm of the music with their stylus to earn points. In Jukebox Mode players can listen to their favorite unlocked songs while watching music videos. There’s also a Multiplayer Party Mode lets them play with up to three friends.

How can you win a copy of the Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel game for DS?

To be entered to win just leave a comment letting us know what your (or your child’s) favorite Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel character is.
You can get bonus entries by posting about the contest on your own blog, tweeting about the giveaway (tweet it to @Linetteg), subscribing to Kid’s Fun Review, or signing up for our newsletter (in the right column) but you need to leave an additional comment to let us know which bonus entries you did to get credit for them.
The contest is open to US residents only.
The contest will end at midnight EST on March 12th.
The winner will be selected from a random draw at the end of the contest, and will be notified by email, they winner will also be posted here at Kid’s Fun Review after the contest ends.

Good luck! Stay tuned for more Friday giveaways!

If you want your own copy, and don’t want to wait and see if you won, or land here after the contest ends, you can click here to order it from Amazon: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel for DS

St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Hat Cupcake Wrap

Linette — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:29:37 +0000

I made this Leprechaun Hat Cupcake wrap for AmazingMoms. It’s one of my favorite projects I’ve made for them so far. I love cupcake wraps, and they’re so easy and inexpensive to make and dress up your cupcakes for a party. I have several more up my sleeve to share both here and at AmazingMoms, so stay tuned.

Here’s the link with instructions on how to make it: Leprechaun Hat Cupcake Wrap

I probably won’t share the links to all the crafts I write up for AmazingMoms, but I’ll definitely share a few. Next week I’ll have some Easter ideas to share!
Here are a few more fun St. Patrick’s Day ideas for kids.

Veggie Tales Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn’t Coloring Pages

Linette — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:44:43 +0000

Today I have some Veggie Tales Pistachio~ The Little Boy That Woodn’t coloring pages to share with you courtesy of Big Idea. Pistachio is the latest Veggie Tale adventure. Pistachio is a parody of the beloved story of Pinocchio— with a VeggieTales twist! The movie follows the tradition of VeggieTales’ unique retellings of classic adventures.

Here’s the trailer:

Movie synopsis:

Once upon a time, a lonely toymaker named Gelato decided to carve a little boy out of wood. Imagine his surprise when he learned this little toy boy could walk… and talk… and definitely had a mind of his own!
When Pistachio tries to do things his way, he lands in a “whale” of a situation! Will he decide to listen the
wisdom of a loving father in time to save his whole family from becoming fish food?

Here are some coloring pages, and games to go along with the movie. Click on the link below the image for a printable copy:

Veggie Tales Pistachio Printable Coloring Page 2

VeggieTales Pistachio Coloring Page 3

Veggie Tales Pistachio Coloring Page 4

If you’re planning a Veggie Tales Party, here are some fun games you can play:

VeggieTales Pistachio Family Time Fun Games

Karen has a review of Pistachio over at Little Fun Little Learning, if you want to see what others think of the movie.

Veggie Tales is available at most major retailers, and online at Amazon.com: Order Veggie Tales: Pistachio

Baked Clay St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Necklace

Linette — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:57:27 +0000

I love playing with the baked and air dry clay. It’s so fun to make different things with it, from napkin rings to jewelry, and school projects. It seems like we’re always making something out of clay, but I haven’t shared much of it here.

Today I thought I’d share a simple baked clay shamrock necklace for St. Patrick’s day. If I made it again I think I’d make the shamrock just a little smaller, but it did turn out really cute!

I’m not a jewelry maker, we made this necklace strictly for fun, it’s not complicated or involved. Here are the instructions, if you make jewelry regularly and have any tips to add, feel free to chime in comments.

Shamrock Necklace How To:

Materials:

Oven baked clay, we used oven bake green Sculpey Polymer Clay in two shades, you could also use yellow or white with the green
Toothpick
Yarn, embroidery thread, or wire for the necklace
Clasp
Needle
A small mold for the shamrock

Instructions:

1. Mold the shamrock. We used a small chocolate mold to make the shamrock (then scrubbed it really well as soon as we were done). You can also shape the shamrock by hand, or use a small cookie cutter.

2. Use your hands to make the beads. We used two different colors of green, but you could also add yellow or white to the mix. Make some of the beads two different colors by blending and pulling the clay until the two colors are folded together. Don’t mix them for too long, or they’ll blend together into a new color.

3. Once your beads are shaped the way you want them, use a toothpick to poke a hole through the middle. You can also poke a hole through the top of the shamrock.

4. Bake your beads and the shamrock in the oven according to the directions on your clay. I used an old baking pan lined with parchment paper to bake the beads.

5. Use a needle to string the clay onto some yarn, embroidery floss, or wire. Add a clasp to one end, and make a loop on the other to fasten the clasp to.

Note of caution: If you’re making the necklace for a young child use a safety clasp so the necklace does not become a choking hazard, and be aware that the beads themselves can be a choking hazard for young children.

You can wear your necklace for your green on St. Patrick’s day. Make a few less beads and you can also make this into a bracelet.

Fun St. Patrick’s Day Ideas For Kids

Linette — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:54:20 +0000

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up fast, so I thought I’d put together a roundup of fun St. Paddy’s Day crafts, cupcakes, and other ideas for kids. It includes some ideas from here at The Kid’s Fun Review, a couple ideas I wrote for Disney’s AmazingMoms, and it also has some fun stuff from some of my favorite blogs and websites.
1. Let them know if you’re Irish with these St. Patrick’s Day button cupcakes.

2. Scrapbook a St. Patrick’s Day card to let your friends know how much you love celebrating green.

3. The other day I posted this Leprechaun finger puppet that’s quick and easy to make.

4. These Leprechaun Hat cupcakes would be fun for a party!

5. A fun St. Partick’s Day garland, perfect for decorating a mantle or doorway.

6. Hide some Leprechaun Gold for your friends, or maybe even a Leprechaun to find.

7. These adorable Shamrock Boutonnieres caught my eye at Martha Stewart.

8. This morning I posted this St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Necklace made from baked clay beads.

9. Dress it up with a Leprechaun Derby Hat.

10. Do you make a box for the Leprechauns?

Do you have any St. Patrick’s Day projects or crafts going on at your house this year?

St. Patrick’s Day Craft: Leprechaun Finger Puppet

Linette — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:58:10 +0000

I thought it would be fun to make a little leprechaun finger puppet for St. Patrick’s Day, he would be fun for kids to use with a little leprechaun house made from an old shoe box as a stage. He would also make a fun leprechaun pencil topper, to get all your friends talking and wishing they had their own.

I think he turned out really cute! Here are the instructions if you’d like to make your own leprechaun finger puppet. It’s really simple, it took us less than half an hour to make this little guy.

The finger puppet would be a fun activity for a St. Patrick’s Day party, a school project, or just because on a rainy March day.

How To Make a Leprechaun Finger Puppet:

Materials:

Green Felt~ I used 2 different colors
Tan or peach colored felt for the face
Yellow felt
Google eyes
Thread or embroidery thread
Needle
Glue

Instructions:

1. To cut out the body of the puppet, cut out two pieces of green felt twice as wide as your finger, measurements should be about 3 1/2 inches long, by 1 1/2 inches wide rounded on top.

2. Stitch the two sides together with a green thread and needle. The stitching doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t show on the other side when you flip it right side out, so don’t be afraid to let the kids do the sewing (with a little adult supervision of course).

3. Cut a circle or slightly oval shape from the tan felt for the face, about 1″ diameter.

4. While you’re cutting you can also cut another circle from the green felt for a hat brim, about 1 1/2 inch diameter, cut a hole on the inside of the brim so it will fit over the top of the puppet to make the brim of the hat (see photos).

5. Cut a small strip of darker green felt (about 2″ long) for the hat band, and a small bow tie if you’d like.

6. Make a tiny gold buckle for the hat by cutting a small piece of yellow pipe cleaner and bending it into a small square.

7. Glue the face onto the front of the finger puppet, about 1/3 of the way down to leave room at the top for the hat.

8. Slide the hat brim into place over the top of the puppet, and glue it in place with a little glue. Add the hat band and the buckle and glue those in place then set the whole thing aside to dry for a few minutes.

9. Once the glue has dried, glue the google eyes to the face, add a small mouth with a red marker, and glue the bow tie in place.

You can also add arms to your finger puppet if you’d like by cutting two small strips of green felt and gluing them to the sides of the puppet.

Now you’re ready to play!

Looking for more finger puppets? Check out these penguin finger puppet instructions.

Personalized St. Patrick’s Day party supplies

Friday Giveaway~ Barney: Egg-cellent Adventures

Linette — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:20:58 +0000

I have a whole stash of DVD’s and other goodies stacked up on my bookshelf, so instead of taking up space I decided I would start passing them along to Kid’s Fun Review readers. I’m going to start giving away one prize per week until the stack goes away. First up is a new Barney DVD just in time for Easter, it’s Barney: Egg-cellent Adventures.

HIT Entertainment sent me this DVD for a review or giveaway, since my son’s a little past the Barney stage I decided a giveaway is in order. Barney Egg-cellent Adventures just came out this week, and I think it would make an excellent Easter basket addition for preschoolers.

Barney’s Egg-cellent Adventure Synopsis:

Your search for tee-riffic fun with Barney & Friends™ is over! Baskets full of egg-citement abound when Mother Goose, a nest full of eggs, and a mysterious, carrot-eating visitor bring super-Dino adventures to the whole family. Hop along for the super-dee-duper adventures with Barney and his friends!

Episodes included on this DVD include:

“Rabbits”
“Mother Goose”
“Ducks and Fish”

DVD Special Features:

“Barney’s Easter Egg Hunt”
“Gumdrops Matching Game”

How can you win a copy of Barney Egg-cellent Adventures?

To be entered to win just leave a comment letting us know what your (or your child’s) favorite Barney episode is.
You can get bonus entries by posting about the contest on your own blog, tweeting about the giveaway (tweet it to @Linetteg), subscribing to Kid’s Fun Review, or signing up for our newsletter (in the right column) but you need to leave an additional comment to let us know which bonus entries you did to get credit for them.
The contest is open to US residents only.

* The contest will end at midnight EST on March 12th.
* The winner will be selected from a random draw at the end of the contest, and will be notified by email, they winner will also be posted here at Kid’s Fun Review after the contest ends.

Good luck!

If you want your own copy, and don’t want to wait and see if you won, or land here after the contest ends, you can click here to order it from Amazon: Barney: Egg-cellent Adventures

How To Train Your Dragon~Viking Hat Cupcakes

Linette — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:09:44 +0000

I was checking out the How To Train Your Dragon movie trailer with my son, and I thought it would be really fun to make some viking hat cupcakes to go along with the movie. These cupcakes are super easy to make, and they don’t cost much since you’re making the hat with card stock, and the horns from gum paste.

Instructions to make Viking Hat Cupcakes:

I used the Jumbo Cupcake Pan from Wilton to make some larger cupcakes (I love this larger cupcake pan).
I cut out a band from brown card stock that was 1 3/4″ by 10 inches for the cupcake wrap.
Then I cut another band 1/2″ by 10 inches for a small band to go around the bottom.
I iced the cupcakes with a Wilton Decorating Tip #1Mand butter cream decorator icing colored a light brown.

I made the viking horns by shaping a little gum paste, I inserted a toothpick into the end that will anchor it to the cupcake for extra stability, then sat the horns aside to dry for a day or two. You can also use them right away, but the horns will be bendable.

The cupcakes were fun and easy to make. This would also be a great cupcake for schools that have a viking mascot.

Click here for more: How To Train Your Dragon party supplies and ideas.

How To Train Your Dragon Party Supplies and Ideas

Linette — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:06:55 +0000

My son is counting down the days to the premiere of How To Train Your Dragon. We’re thinking about inviting some friends along to go see the movie and planning a How to Train Your Dragon premiere party.

I love the colors of the How To Train Your Dragon Party Supplies. The blues and golds will be easy to match up with solid color decorations to complete your look.

Click here to order: How To Train Your Dragon Deluxe Party Pack

Here are some more ideas for your How to Train a Dragon party:

I decided it would be fun to make some How To Train Your Dragon Cupcakes, with a twist. I made Viking hats! They’re super simple to make, check out the instructions here: Viking Hat Cupcakes
A while back I posted instructions for making a knight shield, which would make a perfect party craft for this party theme, you can check out the directions here: make a viking shield
If you’re looking for some personalized How To Train Your Dragon Invitations check out these at eBay: How To Train Your Dragon Party Invitations
How to Train Your Dragon toys are coming soon! I’ll be back to let you know more about them.

More How To Train Your Dragon Party Supplies~ Including favors, invitations and pinatas:

Enter To Win! LEGO®: The Adventures of Clutch Powers

Linette — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:21:52 +0000

Lego is releasing their first full length movie on DVD on February 23rd. My son’s a huge Lego fan so I’m totally excited that they’re sending over a copy for us to review. I’ll be back to share the the verdict after we check it out.

I have some great news! LEGO going to give a copy of the new LEGO®: The Adventures of Clutch Powers DVD to one lucky Kid’s Fun Review or Play Library winner! So you could win your own copy of the movie.

Check out the trailer:

You can check out more clips from the new movie here.

In the new full length movie you’ll meet Clutch Powers, the best builder and explorer in the LEGO®universe as he heads off on his most dangerous mission yet.

Your child can join Clutch and his team of LEGO®experts as their adventure leads them from LEGO® City to the Space Police prison planet to the medieval world of Ashlar. Once they’re there they must help the rightful heir to the King’s throne find the courage to regain the kingdom from the evil wizard Mallock the Malign. Their brick-building skills will be put to the ultimate test as they face off against Mallock’s skeleton army.

Sounds like something my son would love!

So, how can you win a copy of the new LEGO®: The Adventures of Clutch Powers DVD?

To be entered to win just leave a comment letting us know what your (or your child’s) favorite Lego set or game is, or what you think about the new movie coming out.
You can get bonus entries by posting about the contest on your own blog, tweeting about the giveaway (tweet it to @Linetteg), or subscribing to Kid’s Fun Review, but you need to leave an additional comment to let us know which bonus entries you did to get credit for them.
The contest is open to US residents only.
The contest will end at midnight EST on February 28th.
The winner will be selected from a random draw at the end of the contest, and will be notified by email, they winner will also be posted here at Kid’s Fun Review after the contest ends.
I will be combining the comments here and at Play Library to give away one DVD total to one lucky winner. You can only enter at one blog or the other, not both.

Good luck!

I’ll be back in a few days to share my opinion of the Lego movie.

Disclosure: I am receiving the DVD copies from Universal Home Entertainment, but all opinions expressed here are my own.

You can order your own copy of via Amazon by clicking here: LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers

Image used with permission from Universal Home Entertainment

Kid’s Fun Review’s On Alltop

Linette — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:08:18 +0000

The Kid’s Fun Review is now listed in the top kid’s section on Alltop, woot! I also write Play Library that’s listed there too, so I was super excited when they added Kid’s Fun Review.

There are several really cool kid’s blogs listed there, so head on over if you’re looking for some inspiration.

Winter Craft Project~ Penguin Finger Puppet

Linette — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:33:56 +0000

We’re getting snow, yet again, so it’s been a great time to stay inside and make some winter crafts, so I thought I’d share some ideas with you.

Today we made some penguin finger puppets. They weren’t hard to make, and when you’re done you can have your own finger puppet show. Just stick the puppets on the ends of your fingers, or the end of a pencil.

I made a simple pattern, but I may have to come back and upload it in a bit, my scanner has decided not to work just now.

You don’t need much to make these simple puppets. You’ll need:

scraps of felt in black, white, and yellow or orange
googly eyes, or tiny buttons for the eyes
thread or embroidery floss
needle
craft glue or glue gun
scissors

How to make your penguin finger puppet:

1. I cut out the body of the puppet first, just make it about twice as wide as your finger, and rounded on top like the photo, cut two of these.

2. Stitch the two sides together with a dark colored or black thread and needle. This doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t show on the other side when you flip it right side out.

3. Use a pencil, or your finger to turn the puppet right side out.

4. Use your craft glue, or a glue gun if an adult is there to handle it (don’t let your children play with the glue gun, it’s hot enough to burn). Glue on an oval shaped piece of felt, cut to about 1″ long by 1/2″ wide. Go easy with the glue, if you use too much glue, or press too hard, it will go through the fabric to the next layer. It only takes a couple tiny dots to hold it together.

5. Cut out a small beak from the yellow or orange felt. Make a tiny triangle, fold it over and cut around it for the other half of the beak.

6. Glue the beak and the eyes to the head of your penguin puppet.

7. You can also add wings, cut two more ovals the same size as the white belly, and glue them to the sides of the penguin.

8. You’re ready to play!

You can use these for finger puppets, or to cover the ends of your pencils.They would also make a fun craft project for a winter party, or if you want to make them up ahead of the party with your kids, they’d be fun party favors for a penguin party, or snow party. We’ve got plenty of snow around here, we may as well celebrate it!

I’ll be back with more finger puppets, so you can have a whole zoo of finger puppet animals.

Barbie All Doll’d Up Party Supplies and Some Barbie Party Ideas

Linette — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:38:30 +0000

Check out the latest Barbie Party Supplies! I think they’re super cute. If you’ve got a Barbie fan in the family, it’s the perfect time to plan a Barbie party. She’s still a favorite for little girls every where even after 50 years.

Barbie’s unveiling her latest persona, and career at the 2010 New York Toy Fair next week, so if you don’t have a birthday coming up, you can plan a celebration to mark her latest transformation.

One of my favorite cakes is the Barbie or doll cake.

This cake is super easy to make with the Wilton Wonder Mold Kit. Then just insert your favorite fashion doll for the upper part of the cake, and decorate. Make sure the doll is new and clean. When you’re done with the cake, wash the doll off and present it to the birthday girl to add it to her collection.

Check out eBay for some Personalized Barbie Invitations

Here are a few more Barbie party favors, supplies, and decorations:

Barbie All Doll’d Up Party Favor Box	“Barbie All Doll’d Up 19″” Pull-String Pinata”	Barbie All Doll’d Up Bracelet & Necklace Set (1 set)	Barbie all Doll’d Up Diary (1)
Barbie All Doll’d Up Electroplated Tiara (1)	Barbie All Doll’d Up Favor Value Pack	Barbie All Doll’d Up Mylar Balloon	Barbie Glitter Glasses Asst. (10)

Minnie Mouse Party ~ Ideas and Supplies

Linette — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:47:16 +0000

I was always a Minnie Mouse fan growing up, but I never got to have a Minnie Mouse theme birthday party. So sometimes you’ve got to entertain your inner child and put together your own party if you want it to happen, so today I have some ideas to share for a fun Minnie Mouse Party!

Starting with the cake. You can use the famous mouse ears as inspiration for the cake, or even Minnies big bow, or a Minnie Mouse silhouette. Here’s a fun red and white polka dot Minnie Mouse cake.
Make Minnie’s bow out of fondant colored black, and let it dry for a couple days before you decorate the cake. Cover the cake in fondant, or butter cream icing, then add the fondant polka dots, and fondant mini Minnie Mouses. Add a scalloped border and you’re done.

Check here for more: Polka Dot Party Ideas, they would go well with the Minnie Mouse theme.

If you’re looking for a simple cake idea you can find Minnie Mouse edible cake images at eBay.

Minnie Mouse party and game ideas:

Pin the Bow on Minnie, use the Minnie Mouse Standup and put some sticky tack on the back of a paper bow. Blindfold the kids and let them try to “pin” the bow in the right spot. The standup doubles as a party decoration when you’re not playing the game.
Play the “Squeaky Mouse” game, have everyone get in a circle and have one person be the cat, and one person be the mouse. The cat is blindfolded, and has to find the mouse as it squeaks every few seconds. The mouse has to stay inside the circle and avoid being “caught” by the cat.
Use a large hair bow to play “hot potato” the person left holding the bow when the music stops is out.
Ahead of the party you can make up some tick tack toe boards on poster board, and sew up some bow shaped bean bags in two different colors (like red and black), then let the kids play “Tic Tac Bow.”
You can find Minnie Mouse personalized invitations at eBay.

Don’t forget to include the Minnie Mouse Party Supplies!

If you’re having little boys and girls coming to your Minnie Mouse party you might want to mix in some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday supplies, and have a Mickey Minnie party so the boys don’t feel left out.

Here are more Minnie Mouse party supplies, favors, and party ideas:

Minnie Mouse Ears with Bow – Pink	Minnie’s Closet Dress-Up Minnie Mouse Plush Doll — 13”	Spiral Bound Classic Minnie Mouse Journal	Clubhouse Minnie Mouse Placemat
Minnie Mouse Standup	“Minnie Mouse Personalized Birthday Banner Standard 18″” x 61″”"	Minnie Mouse Party Favor Box	Minnie Mouse Invitations (8)
Minnie Mouse Thank-You Notes (8)	Minnie Mouse Cake Toppers	Minnie Mouse Bracelet Sets (8)	“54″” Minnie Airwalker Jumbo Balloon”

Winter Olympic Mascot Cupcakes~ Quatchi The Sasquatch

Linette — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:37:48 +0000

We were snowed in for the weekend, so I decided it was a great time to bake some cupcakes. Since the Winter Olympics are coming up I thought it would be a great time to make some Olympic theme cupcakes.

I was going to make some Olympic ring cupcakes, then I saw the Olympic mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, and I decided I had to make Quatchi.

I went to the official Vancouver Olympics website, and printed out a pattern from their printables page (after I shrunk it to about 2″ tall). Then I traced each part of Quatchi with tracing paper.

I thought about making him out of fondant or gum paste and laying him on the cupcake, then I decided I would cut him out of card stock so I could stand him up.

I enjoy scrapbooking almost as much as cake decorating, so to combine the two was really fun. I traced Quatchi’s parts onto card stock and pieces of scrap paper. Then glued him all together.

After I decorated the cupcakes by swirling them with a Wilton 1M tip and a little buttercream icing, I added Quatchi to the top, and sprinkled coconut around the bottom for snow.

Here’s Quatchi at the Winter Olympic opening ceremony.

He wasn’t too tough to make, so I wouldn’t mind making a few, or making one or two of each mascot. These would be really cute mixed in with the snowflake cupcakes I made a couple weeks ago.

Homemade Valentine Idea~ Heart Fish

Linette — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:31:26 +0000

I have a super easy homemade Valentine idea for you today. If you don’t really care for any of the kid’s commercialized Valentines that are available, you do have another option. You can make your own.

It doesn’t have to be difficult. You can make these heart fish in just a couple minutes each. You can use construction paper, or scrapbook paper to make the hearts, and all you need is one googly eye, or you can even draw the eye if you want to.

Cut 2~ 5 inch hearts from construction paper, or cardstock in your choice of colors, cut 1~ 3 inch heart for the tail. Flip one of the 5″ hearts and glue the two 5″ hearts top to top like the photo above. Then attach the 3″ heart for the tail, and glue on the eye. Write your Valentine’s Day message on the back. It’s that simple!

You can adapt these to any size you want, they’re still super simple.

Valentine’s Day Printable Word Search For Kids

Linette — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:24:10 +0000

If you’re planning a kid’s Valentine’s party I have a quick Valentine’s Day word search you can use. This is my second printable, earlier this week I made the Super Bowl Word Scramble.

I had a little help with this Valentine’s Day word search. My nephew, Logan, loves to create word searches, so he helped me make this one. I think he did a really great job. I added a couple words to his search, but he came up with most of the words, and the grid.

Here’s a link to the printable version: Valentines Day Printable Word Search

For more Valentine’s Day party ideas check out our Valentine’s Day section.