I love giving parties, do you need some ideas?

[ShirleyKnot]

Hello!

If you don't know me I'm Shirley and I'm a great lover of planning parties. I do a blog about it (which I'm not going to link here, but if you look on the bloggers network for PartySpanner you'll find me)

ANYWAY

If you're chucking a do, I might be able to help - I'm not a business, I don't charge for my ideas or owt, I just love to trawl the internet find good invite ideas, games and food.

Jump in and I'll see if I can help.

Help! I need wording for DD's invitations. Cute but not twee if that's possible.

Need to get in a reminder for everyone to bring their teddy bear somehow?

I love this thread, it is theraputic just reading it - not sure why!

Well we had a lovely halloween party so thank you for inspiring it and giving me some ideas. We did an ice hand in the juice (the kids kept asking for "hand juice" which was a bit !) and some worms in jelly and all the usual suspects - apple bobbing, musical monsters etc. DS loves apple bobbing and has been practising on and off ever since! Unfortunately not many people were prepared for trick or treaters on Saturday night so I'll have to remember that for next time but the kids still loved running around like loons in the dark. One silly man told my 3yo to "come back on Monday when it is actually halloween!". Clearly not got the knack of talking to little ones!

The space and rocket parties both sound great.

Bythemoonlight - since seeing this website I am a bit mad that I will never get to have a rainbow party - could this tie in at all with the Carebear theme as I seem to remember rainbows and clouds and lots of bright colours. I also second nicking some ideas from Blathers with her teddybear's picnic theme.

DW - sorry to have shown you that table! Looking forward to seeing your cake. My DH has asked someone from the office who is good at these things to make DS a football pitch cake. Am a bit jealous of all your lovely themes and I am stuck with football! Oh well - there is always Christmas and new year!

"You and your bear are invited to join DD's Teddy Bears' Picnic on .. at ..."

(not forgetting the RSVP and umpteen contact options to reduce excuses)

BYOB - Bring your own bear?

Arghhh - the RSVP thing! I have had one reply out of 16.

Eggrules - I'll tell you something now about kid's christmas parties, I did one of the most popular invites ever, by buying up a bunch of advent calendars (chocolate ones natch) and printing the invite out and sticking it to the back of the calendars. (I do like giving chocolate and sweets as invites - it's so NAUGHTY)

Greedy - I'm laughing at the HAND JUICE thing. As for RSVP's they are always a pain in the arse IME. I usually just cater as if they're all coming (always rather have too much than not enough)

The invites already have B Y O on the front Greedygirl

Blathers - Oh ! I probably read that earlier in the thread then tried to pass it off as my own idea! What Stealthsquiggle said then. Are you going to have some spare bears in case? Surely everyone will remember to bring a bear to a teddybear's picnic?!

I'm going to make the cake look like a picnic blanket and sit bears round it so there will be a few spare if needs be

Fab idea's on this thread! Thank you everyone!

Off to check out all the links and see if I can pinch any idea's from Blather's Teddy bears picnic theme!

Oh and can I ask a question about balloons - is there anyway you can get balloons to look like the ones in this picture above the table ie sort of staying up in a big bunch without helium?

Oh and more question, I have a vegetarian child coming, hints and advice re. party food greatly appreciated.

I know the child wasn't allowed a pack of haribo that she was given at a nursery birthay before, so I was thinking of getting vegetarian ones and vegetarian jelly ... or just skip those altogether and supply something else entirely?

I think that would need helium, although I guess if you tied them tightly enough in a bunch and tied that to the top of a pole of some sort that would be close?

Blathers is your picnic basket going to have a full replica picnic on it? (says she who got seriously carried away with the cooking table cake )

Tomorrow I will be making a Noah's ark and a baby dragon coming out of an egg. Don't ask.

Looking closely I'm wondering whether those balloons are stuck to the wall in some way.

Hmm, might have to investigate a bit further...

I feared that stealth. I have three helium balloons which I had planned to take to the florists to blow up, buying a canister isn't really in the budget!

I found these cakes thanks to the fab suggestions of rainbow parties (be careful what you google though as I have discovered that 'adult' rainbow parties are a different kettle of fish altogether!)

Posted too early ... tired brain!

I was wondering how easy they would be to make? If you think they have a high chance of going wrong?

The homemade cakes on this thread sound amazing!!!

Oh I am dying to google rainbow parties now ! Those cakes look lovely and they make it sound fairly straightforward. Have you got time/the inclination for a practise batch?

Re the balloons - sorry I have no idea. They look good though.

balloon arch So, I found this which shows how to make an arch without helium. Will carry on searching tomorrow.

Night nurse is kicking in!

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay - just googled rainbow parties. Well you learn a new thing every day! Night night all! Hope you are feeling better soon Shirley.

layered ones look close to impossible to me, but random ones could be done - personally I would put the different coloured batters into (disposable) piping bags to make filling cases easier. The main problem is that cake batter doesn't like sitting around so you would have to work fast.

I'd make a plain cupcake and then decorate it like this

Wow Shirley those cakes looking amazing. I would have to use buttercream and spread it on though as I have never piped through a bag and not sure I have time to learn!

What are those sweets called in the top? Can't for the life of me remember!

Blatherskite Are you going to use the wording from the Teddy Bears picnic song?

The words:

If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares,
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily dance about.
They love to play and shout.
And never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mummies and daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they're tired little teddy bears.

You could just use one line Picnic Time for Teddy Bears or Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their Picnic and perhaps use the last few lines for the times?

Or if you are good with computers you could have the whole song very faintly printed on the background, with your actual invitation on top in bold. What are your invitations like? Picnic blankets? Teddy Bear shaped? A wood with a clearing and teddy bears peering out of the woods?

I also found this here on this website :

A teddy bear picnic
is what's in store.
We'll have food, fun
games and more!

Your favorite teddy bear
is a welcome guest.
Please come and make
LittleBlatherskite's 1st Birthday
the beary best!

I think it's definitely may be a bit twee, but an idea?

Hat's off Shirley; they do sound like the best invitations ever.

Thank you for the link, Shirley and the game ideas, Stealth and Blathers.

Wow you lot were busy after I went to bed

Trying to catch up....

I think the balloons are stuck to the wall. The ones on the right hand side closest to the camera don't have a string hanging down so they must be.

Stealth - My plan at the moment is to cheat buy a big costco cake and then cover the whole thing in a thin-ish sheet of rolled out icing which I've painted a gingham pattern on with food colouring. I was thinking if I then made lots of little sugar paste plates with sandwiches and cakes and jellies, I could maybe spell out a number 2 on the top. Then sit it on the table with spare teddies sat round the edge like they're having a picnic on the cake. Sound OK? I'm not sure I'm up to your baking table standards but I'll have a go. Advice and ideas would be gratefully recieved.

The rainbow cupcakes look do-able. Make standard vanilla cake mix then divide into however many colours you fancy and add food colouring. Then just spoon it into the cases colour by colour and bake. I've made plenty of marble cakes in the past using the slap dash filling method and while layering might be a bit more involved, I think it'd work.

Blastoff - I love those suggestions. The invites at the moment are plain white rectangles and now i'm having second thoughts. The plan is to cut out the letters B, Y and O and a bear shape to stick to the front so it says BYOB - Bring Your Own Beer Bear. I'm going to do the Y in red gingham and the bear in brown felt. Haven't decided for sure on the other two yet but they'll be bright and summery colours. Maybe a sky blue and a grass green? I think maybe the whole poem is a little too long but I love the idea of printing it in the background! I might do that and then go with Stealth's simple wording idea. That way I hopefully get the cute without the twee.

Toffeefudgecake - you're welcome :)