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.

That's OK Amazon have them too :) for a lower price and not on a limited "clearance" offer either

Sorry IWOOT spoiled your Christmas though. Don't want to derail the thread by asking why but

There was a Pac Man one too for 80's themed parties but it was easy enough to do with a square cake and a sharp knife.

There's a brain ice cube tray for those Halloween parties too!

Ooo, cheers for that link. You know something? That would make a pretty amazing cake for your teddy bears picnic.

I ordered a bunch of presents online and they just didn't arrive! I ordered the stuff in bloody November or something and everytime I called customer services they had one of those "hilarious" kind of talking/play things on a loop going on and on about James Pond or something, and I had to listen to it for - LITERALLY - about 2 hours (if I added up all the time I spent on hold) and in the end I cracked and sent them an email telling them that they were contributing to the spike in suicide figures at christmas time due to the DREADFUL and appalling nature of their hold "music"

Get thee behind me devil woman!

I have 3 big boxes FULL of Halloween junk.

I want the brain ice cube tray. NOW.

Thinking of throwing a halloween party for DS and all his baby friends that we've met through mum and baby group. Now we're all back at work we don't see as much of each other as we'd like to, so really want to do something.

Obviously it will be fancy dress for all the babies. Thinking of saying adults need to be fancy dress too.

I think we could end up with about 15 little ones running about, ranging in age from 17m to 25m. Any ideas on what sort of games we could play? Or should I just expect it to be like a usual get together where they all get the toys out and generally create a lot of mess ?

Thanks Shirley - I think I will run that past ds - just doing an amazeballs family thing instead, will see if ex and extendedex family will go for it too sigh.

Dear Party Problems

My DD will be 12 in early October. In the past we have done the following

5 - Play Centre
6 - Build a Bear Party
7 - Princess Party
8 - Dusty Dreams Activity Party
9 - Cinema followed by Pizza
10 - Pink Disco
11 - Studio Party (makeover and photo shoot)

She is all grown up now (just gone to Secondary School). I have hit the menopause and am feeling very tired and lacking in inspiration. I would be happy for her to just go to the cinema with a friend then pizza and a sleepover, but that could be any Saturday. What can I do that is a bit different but does not take too much organising.

Jelly Mould

Hey glasto.

Now, Halloween is one of my actual specialities. I'm going to be blogging about it soon - it really is one of my absolute favourite nights of the year and we have been celebrating it since my boys were teeny.

Fancy dress - EVERYONE. Brook no arguments and have spare masks and hats for anyone who doesn't join in.

Decorations - cheapo stuff from the Pound shop. PLUS you can make some terrific garlands out of orange and black crepe paper. If you start collecting bits and bobs now, by the time the little one is 14 years old you will have 3 BOXES of shit stuff that lives in the shed and is lovingly brought out every year and cooed over (a bit like the xmas decs) and you will a reputation of being The QUEEN of Halloween. Like me!

The children are quite little, but you can definitely have a game of:

Pass the Pumpkin - Scoop out the insides and pack with kitchen roll a couple of days before. Keep replacing the kitchen roll until the pumpkin is dried out sufficiently. Fill the pumpkin with treats. I usually do little bags of Haribo, but as the children are smaller I'm thinking of something a bit less mad making. Um...dunno, let me think about that. You pop the lid back on and the children sit in a circle and pass the pumpkin in the same way as you play pass the parcel. Only in this version, when the pumpkin stops at them they get to open lid and choose a treat. My children, and ALL the kids LOVED this game and actually asked me last year (11 year old by this time) why we're not having a game of PTP.

Food is lovely and easy as I said further up thread. Add some bits and bobs for the little ones, sandwiches and stuff.

Oh HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN! YAY!

I will come back to this theme with sickening regularity! Let me check some of my books at home to give you some more little wee one ideas (as I have forgotten now and we just play bobbing apples and Nelson's eye nowadays!)

Ah Omni. I know how you feel lovey. I'm a lone parent too, but you CAN make a party out of very little and make it an amazing time for him. Honestly!

Just try and get some ideas out of him and I'll help the best I can.

Fabulous, thank you! Will start collecting crepe paper and making garlands in the evenings. I find I have to start early otherwise I never get anything done and end up snapping at DH in the last minute panics!

Are they too young to play a fishing game do you think? I think some of the older ones might be able to do it, but I think DS will just want to get into the water and / or splash it all around (he 'washed' one of his shoes in the cats' water bowl at the weekend0

I was thinking of asking parents to bring spooky food, so I can keep my contribution in that department fairly minimal (ie: jelly, a cake, maybe some biscuits etc).

Eagerly awaiting more of your fabulous ideas

I nearly posted the Jelly mould too but decided against after the Devil woman comment

The sandwich cake would be perfect if it weren't for the amount of people we're likely to have coming. I'd end up having to make 10 of them! I considered doing both but it seems a waste.

At the risk of being properly fallen out with - my sister got me a book called Zombie Cupcakes a few weeks ago which I really think you'd love Shirley.

I've just SEEN THAT BLATHERS.

And I'm going to HAVE to have it so now I'm going to be 6 pounds poorer. So THANK YOU VERY BLOODY MUCH.

Exit - I'm going to have to have a bit of a think for you. If you want to PM me with your area and a budget I can have a a little google for you? I'm only doing that for you cos you're so tired though

Glasto - The problem with providing any water of any sort under the age of 5 sends kids snooker loopy, if you ask me (which you did), so I wouldn't advise it TBH.

OH! One thing that's occured to me, make sure you tell people not to go too scary in their costumes. I had a little boy have a total meltdown one year due to some thoughtless facepaint and fake blood.

Some nice ideas for party games for toddlers here

I'm sorry Will stop now. Promise

(did you see those cupcakes with the FINGERS sticking out of them? AWESOME)

(Yes. The brain cakes and the meringue bones look good too)

Blathers / Shirley Am loving lurking on this thread but was forced out of the shadows to shout LOOK AT THE GINGHAM ICING SHEETS!

Can only find baby pink and blue alas but am googling now...

Oooh, thank you Hazel. Well worth coming out of hiding for :)

I've seen some places on Ebay that will print whatever you want on rice paper sheets for cake toppers, I'm sure I could get one to do Red Gingham if I asked nicely.

Hazel, that site is just pure

Are you One Of Us?

Hazel I think I might love you a little bit too.

Right, I am going to order a load of the skull shit for DD2's party as per Shirl's brilliant ideas. So, anyone that wants to use them and who is in or near to SW London is absolutely welcome to borrow them.

Ha, we're so close to starting the MN repository of party decorations

On that note, Shirley, I was thinking - do you want to borrow my Zombie Cupcakes book and copy what you fancy out of it? Not all of it is brilliant IMO so you might only want a few of the recipes/tips....

Ahem. I do.

That is all.

Shirley & Co, I aspire to be one of you...!

Oooh, ooh, if you make up lime jelly WITH MILK for the skulls, it comes out amazingly horrid!