Archive for How-to’s
The Party Hat
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s not Christmas without those colourful little party hats that kids love and adults grudgingly wear. I think there’s something great about sitting there looking like a dill, just as everyone else is too. The kids love to see us get into the spirit of the occasion.
This year, when the kids are driving you nuts in those days leading up to Santa’s arrival, why not give them something to do? Why not let them make their own party hats this year?
You don’t need a lot of equipment and it doesn’t have to be messy. All you need is some paper plates, a stapler, scissors, colourful paint, glue and cotton wool.
This little video will show you how to make them and how good the end product can look.
How to Make Christmas Party Hats —powered by eHow.com
Simple Halloween Costumes
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Oh no! The kids want to join in on the Halloween festivities. Where do you start?
Halloween costumes don’t have to be over the top or expensive. A little thought and creativity and you can come up with something fun and simple and easy on the wallet from wardrobe basics or a trip to the Op Shop. Plus you can enlist the kids to help you make their own costume to add to their enjoyment of the event.
How about a scarecrow? A flannelette or checked shirt, rolled up jeans with patches, (you can tack them on with some cotton and take them back off again easily enough) and rope for a belt. Pad the shirt and jeans a little with some newspaper or plastic bags and stuff straw in the sleeves and jean cuffs. A bit of makeup on the face and there you have it. Cheap and simple!
Great for kids of all ages, why not dress up as a mummy? Wrap the ‘body’ in white bandages (rolls of gauze), use splotches of green paint for ‘mould’, paint on white make-up for the face and hands with “age lines” drawn on. Add a stiff legged walk and outstretched arms and BOOOOO!
Most little girls love to dress up as a princess or a fairy, and it’s not hard to rustle up a pretty dress, sparkly shoes, a tiara and a wand from the wardrobe and a few cheap purchases. Don’t have a tiara? They can be bought cheaply at $2 shops or made with some pipe cleaners and tinsel. Wands are easy to make with a piece of dowel, wrapped in ribbon and topped with a paper star or the Christmas Tree topper! Some glitter on the cheek bones and gloss on the lips and your wee girl will be the belle of the ball.
A little time and creativity and your little trick or treater will be as unique as your imagination allows. If only dealing with the post Halloween sugar rush was this easy!
Bats and Bats!
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Halloween is creeping up on us, sneaking its way closer and closer to a night of ghouls and ghosts, pumpkins and skeletons, tricks and treats.
Decorating for a party of any sort is fun and Halloween provides a once a year opportunity to be really creative and let your imagination run wild.
If the thought of carving and hollowing out pumpkins fills you with despair and causes the stress levels to rise at the thought of all the MESS, then never fear! There are plenty of other ways to get into the spirit of Halloween.
In fact, it’s the perfect time to go batty!
Really, all you need to decorate the place bat-style is lots of black; black cardboard, black paint, black crepe paper and a pair of scissors (not necessarily black!)
Draw up a bat shape on the cardboard and simply cut it out. Bats of various sizes are ideal, especially if you’re hanging them around the house. Smaller bats can be stuck to toothpicks or icy-pole sticks and used on ghoulish food platters or turned into finger puppets. If you’re feeling particularly creative you might even like to try a bat mobile.
Any empty aluminium cans can be used to create bats that will hang around the ceiling and if you’re into trick or treating, or just like to have some candy on hand in case you receive a knock at your door from a small ghoul, a bat treat cup could come in handy.
To add to the theme, hang some black and orange streamers for your bats to fly around, and finish it off with some balloons.
Once you’ve finished going batty, sit back and enjoy Halloween!
Parties For Toddlers
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When planning parties for toddlers then there is one main thing you need to take into account – simplicity. Generally the toddler age range encompasses the first birthday or any other special celebration event prior to the second birthday and for this age group, the simpler the better. They are just learning to walk, may still be a bit unsteady on their legs and have a very small attention span.
These are all things that need to be taken into account when planning the party. Toddlers, although no longer babies, can be overwhelmed by a large number of guests. Keep the guest count low for starters and plan the party around your child’s nap – usually a morning party works well before the midday or afternoon meltdown occurs.
By all means plan a tempting feast but know that the simplest touches like tablecloths and cutlery can become a hazard in little hands. It is also best to avoid balloons at the event as toddlers will not appreciate a popping balloon going off in their hands.
Children of course love presents, however at this age, it is best to open the gifts after the event to avoid further anxiety from the birthday toddler and their toddler friends.
When planning the event – outside is best to avoid destruction and breakage occurring within the house. A backyard or nearby park is great – anywhere that allows the toddlers to run around and play.
Weather depending, you can plan activities for the party although again aim for simple unstructured fun. Fun in a paddling pool or sandpit is a great way for kids to experiment or how about an age appropriate jumping castle? Children of all ages love bubbles and music – toddlers being no exception.
In reality, birthday celebrations for toddlers are more for the parents than the child, but you can still make sure that they enjoy the event as it occurs – even if they don’t remember it afterwards.
Let’s Go Hawaiian
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I love crepe paper and especially crepe streamers. They are so colourful and decorative, adding atmosphere to any party. They are really versatile, too. Here’s a way to use them that you might not have thought about. Let’s make a hula skirt. In fact, depending on the age of the children, they could make their own as a party activity.
You’ll need:
• Crepe paper streamers in lots of colours;
• Scissors;
• Staples or sticky tape (staples work best just make sure the ends are well closed); and
• Ribbon or tape.
Now to assemble the skirts.
1. The first thing to do is to cut long strips of crepe paper in all the different colours. They need to be long enough to reach from waist to knee.
2. Cut a length of tape or ribbon for each child. This is for the waistband so make sure it’s long enough to go around the waist with plenty left over to tie.
3. Now staple the strips to the tape until there is enough to make a good hula skirt.
4. Tie them on!
They look great, are light to wear and won’t damage the clothes underneath. Add a paper lei and some Hawaiian pizza and you have a party on your hands!
How To Have A Tea-Party Party
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Children love having pretend tea parties. Imagine how excited they will be to have a real tea party for their birthday, with all their favourite friends invited.
You can either have a general tea party or one with a specific theme and then base the invitations, decorations, games and activities, food and drinks, birthday cake, lolly bags and costumes around the theme. You can have a lot of fun here and get really creative!
Below are two ideas for a tea party theme:
Pink Princess Tea Party – basically everything is pink! Ask the guests to dress in pink clothes and decorate the area using pink paper buntings, pink balloons and a pink tablecloth. You will also need pink plates, cups and cutlery. For food, offer pink iced mini cupcakes, fairy bread using pink sprinkles, pink lollies, iced vo-vos and don’t forget the pink lemonade!
Miss Cupcake Tea Party – centralise your theme around your little guests decorating plain cupcakes. Have an assortment of icing colours as well as bowls of decorations such as 100s and 1000s, sprinkles and smarties. You will need some of the fun Miss Cupcake invitations, napkins and loot bag tags. Coordinate with some pink striped or spotty plates and cups.
Other theme ideas could include a teddy bear tea party, fairy tea party, Kings and Queens, or ask the guests to bring along their favourite doll or toy.
Of course you don’t need to serve real tea at the tea party, maybe choosing instead to serve lemonade or special juice. And don’t forget the teapots and cups! Get some cheap porcelain ones from a discount store, second hand store or perhaps even purchase a special child’s tea set.
No doubt you will have as much fun planning the tea party as your little birthday girl (or boy) will have at the actual party!
The Pinata
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A Piñata (pronounced pin-yar-tah) is made from paper mache or cardboard in the shape of a popular or traditional character or animal and then filled with wrapped lollies, small prizes, toys, balloons and confetti.
Piñatas are one of those kids party basics that every birthday party should have but they are also popular at adult parties such as Hens or Bucks nights, weddings and anniversaries. Piñatas are also a novel and unique idea for a corporate event such as a product launch, meeting or motivational conference.
Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to make your own piñata including a video.
Many people believe the piñata originated in Mexico. In fact, the origin of the Piñata is somewhat disputed. It is thought that Marco Polo took it from China to the West and it spread from there. Others believe it originated in Italy, Greece, Spain or Portugal. Nowadays, the popularity of piñatas is slowly spreading throughout the world.
To play, hang the piñata from a clothesline, ceiling or a tree. Make sure there is adult supervision and ensure everyone stands well clear. Everyone takes a turn, after being blindfolded and spun around 3 times. They then use a broomstick or bat and try to hit the piñata.
Once the piñata is broken the guests can collect the goodies that fall out. A simpler way for young children to play is not to use a blindfold, rather the children line up and take it in turns to try and “smash” open the piñata.
Here is some information on how to make a pinata including a video for you to watch. If you don’t want to make one, why not look at our clever pinata designs which are flat packed and ready to fill? They will save you time, money and lots of glue!
Games for an Elephant Themed Birthday Party
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Inspired by our gorgeous range of Elephant themed birthday party paraphernalia, including cupcake toppers, your guests will love these elephant themed birthday party games!
(Please note these games are specifically designed so children under 5 can play but we are sure even the older kids will want to join in!)
The Trumpet Game
Have all the children sit in a circle and practice together making an elephant sound. Choose one child to stand in the middle of the circle with their eyes closed. While the child’s eyes are closed, you walk around the outside of the circle and pat one child on the head and that child then makes the elephant sound. The child in the middle can then open their eyes and guess which child made the sound.
(If the children are older than 4, you can have all the children make any animal noise and only one child make the elephant sound. The extra noise makes it more challenging!)
The Elephant Walk Game
Split the Group into two teams. Have each team line up single file. The first child has one arm forward like an ‘elephant’s trunk’ and puts his second arm under his leg like the ‘tail’. The child behind the leader grabs hold of the ‘tail’ with his ‘trunk’ and has his other hand under his legs as the ‘tail’. This continues down the end of the line. On the word “Go, elephant, go!” each team must race to the designated finish line. If at any time the elephant chain breaks they must return to the beginning and start again.
Elephant Scavenger Hunt
Once you’ve downloaded a couple of pages of this elephant sheet we’ve created, all you need to do is cut out the images of the elephants and then using blue tack or sticky tape, stick these around the party room or backyard. On the word “Go, elephant Go!” the children then race around to find the hidden pictures. The one who finds the most wins. Click on the link and when the picture appears just save it to your computer.
Elephant Race
This game sounds simple but is a lot of fun and more challenging than it sounds. The object is simple – roll a peanut across the ground to the finish line. The fun part is the peanut must be pushed with the nose! (Double check with parents first for peanut allergies and replace with an M&M)
How to prepare a pirate party for less than $100.
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