Kids Birthday parties

When I was little I wasn't allowed big birthday parties...except when I was 7. I have vivid memories because I was allowed 7 friends and my mum and sister had planned some pretty special games. There was a truth stool, a story time about a man with one eye and you had to put your hands in something (jelly) which was his eye socket. It was full of fun and magic. I want to try to give Tilly & Mima the same kind of magic. Last year for Tilly's 4th birthday I did an Alice In Wonderland Party theme birthday. 
What I figure is that really there are only a few years of fun birthdays, I'm guessing by the time Tilly is about 9, she'll no longer want magical birthdays but sleepovers.
With that in mind I'm going to make every effort to give them a great birthday but hopefully not too much cost. Tilly's birthday is not until early March but I'm planning and making now...this birthday may not cost much in real money but will be priceless with time and love.

Tilly wants an Octonauts party.
Thanks to my new found love Pinterest, I've found loads of amazing ideas for the party. One I liked was a homemade Gup A pinata . I love making things and am a dab hand at papier mache so I got to and got a large punchball balloon and started to paper over it.



As there was a pack of 10, I started to do another, not for another pinata but for decoration. I've hired a small hall for the party so there is plenty of space for the kids to play and the house won't get trashed by tiny fingers. However an empty hall needs good or at least clever decoration to get the theme across. 

The spare one is going to be Shellington...I cut up a polystyrene bowl in half and papier mache'd them for ears. I've added a nose and hair for some 3D detail. I read in a blog somewhere that if hanging something like this with string that it is a good idea to put a bottle top with the string inside the papier mache form so the string doesn't come out. 

I made the hat with a cereal box and an upturned bowl. 









I'm so pleased with it so far, I can't wait for it to dry so I can paint it.
I'm not sure what to do with it yet, I guess I'll have to add a body, a disembodied head may be a little scary for a group of 5 year olds. I think I'll make a paper body to hang (with weights on feet), perhaps kids could have their pictures taken with them.

Of course, there are 8 Octonauts....I'm not making 8, probably just the fave characters.... certainly not the Octopus head, Professor Inkling.

 

 

Dragonfly

A friend of mine is having a tough time at the moment.  I feel pretty helpless as to what to say or do. She loves Dragonflies, so I've made her one.

It only took an evening to make & I don't think the pictures really do it justice.

I used my wire frame to wind some garden wire in the basic shape.
Wrapped some coloured wire around it with beads down the spine. Adding two beads for its antenna. For the wings, I got some old musical score and cut it to shape, sticking it with Shimmer Mod Podge.

Hey presto. Hope she likes it.

Button necklaces

I've got two button necklaces that I practically wear every day. I love them. I thought I'd try making some for my sister and a few friends.
Hard to get the hang of but I think I've done it.

Personalised Russian Dolls

Tilly loves Russian dolls. This summer we went to a friend's house who also had Russian dolls and we discussed how cool it'd be to have a personalised set.  A quick eBay search and purchase gave me two blank sets and Christmas presents were made for friends. What  other Christmas present could you give which is so personalised and gives such a talking point? 

Gingerbread house

For the last four years I've made a gingerbread house, it has kind of become a family tradition. The first was very basic, the second and third similar. Tilly helped me decorate last years and we put a decorated Tilly & her best friend Niamh outside. This year I thought I make myself have a challenge by making a replica of our house out of gingerbread. First, I made a cardboard mock up (which would also form the shapes to cut around for the parts). It also helped me work out how many pieces I'd need.

Next, I rolled out the gingerbread and cut the right shapes out. I'd learnt from previous years to re cut the ginger bread as soon as I took it out of the oven to get sharp lines. I melted chocolate to use as the 'glue' to stick the walls and roof together.

Then for the fun part. We decorated with chocolate buttons, candy canes, chocolate fingers, jelly tots and it was done. I was so pleased.

What is more it *really* does look like my house. .. .hurrah.

and so now, the challenge really is on for next year. . . what ever shall I make?