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.

I'm also beginning to feel like I should invite DS's 2 best mates from School who have little siblings the same age as DD. I can see us forced to be getting close over the next few years.

It's only 4 more kids. No problem when I've already got 20-odd or one step too far?

I forgot to add - Make Gingerbread Bears and sort out sweets/icing/icing pens/aprons to the list above!

Bloody Hell Blathers - that is a monster list I am sure it will all be fine, Blathers.

All (ha ha) I have to do (other than working FT, that is) this week is to ice and decorate 9 mini cakes, buy and wrap and post Christmas pressies, post Christmas cards, write apologetic notes on the back of Thank you letters which the DC wrote weeks ago, and juggle all the end-of-term crap.

Wow - you've done a lot already.

Shopping list for food sounds perfect. Don't know if you're getting it all from Costco? Sainsbury's have mini sausages (and similar) on buy-one-get-one-half-price at the moment.

Have you got the plates etc already?

I had 12 layers for pass the parcel, but some children had to go twice because half of them had wandered off by the time we got to the end!

It's going to be fab!

Ah yes, I forgot - Write and Post Christmas Cards too!!

Have you got where you're sourcing your stickers for the teddy bear hats from sorted?

Not sure exactly what you're looking for but I found Baker Ross amazing, and arrived the day after I ordered them, and cheap in bulk.

What about these (?would children put them in their mouths though?) or these or these?

And what about these for your craft tables?

Not sure about DS's friends, Blathers - I see your point, but you do, definitely, have to draw the line somewhere. DD has one local friend (very local by our standards - about 0.5 miles away) and I would have loved to invite her but with DD's class (25) I was pushing my own personal limits and decided I just couldn't do it

Oh my good god Blathers. Jesus you make me wanna drive down and pitch in!
Is there anything I could do and maybe send down with your sister to help you? Genuine offer.

Right I'm glad you've all said that about the decorations (although you could well be sniggering behind your laptops going have you seen that tat DW expects someone to hang on their tree!!) I may try sealing them with clear nail varnish, but then maybe the sharpie would come off. arghhh.

Blathers that list is truly monumental but I'm sure you will be absolutely fine. Think you need a day at the shops just blitzing your list! Get wrapping that parcel in front of the tv!!

My list for this week...hmmm. Possibly buy a keyworker present if i bottle out of these decorations. I've got a landlord inspection on friday and that's it. All week we've been doing activity advent stuff. I finished my xmas shopping in October and sent xmas cards on the 1st dec with DD's thank you notes.

I got her to draw a picture that I scanned and printed and wrote the letters on the back. It was Mummy, Daddy, DD and "The Seed". i've now had an influx of xmas cards from people saying oh how lovely to hear you're expecting. I thought everyone had been informed so I'm a bit as I'm due in 8 weeks! They are gonna think I've had a baby in record time!

You are so nesting, DrsW (makes mental note to save some of these posts so that DrsW can compare and contrast in 5 years' time when she has 2 DC at school and is no longer so impressively scarily ready for Christmas )

I think it'll be OK.

I'm meeting my friend at Costco tomorrow to get the cake, platters for the food, catering packs of sausages, chicken nuggets and pizzas, pop and sweets and I have a Tesco order booked for Wednesday morning for all the other food bits. DH is off work on Wednesday and Thursday as he is using up holiday he'd otherwise lose so I can spend those days baking and running around for last bits. Mum, Sister, Brother and his Girlfriend are all coming down early Saturday to help with food and last minute panic and the party is not till 12 so that gives me all morning to do last bits. I'm thinking I might just go to Hobbycraft for the stickers and card as we're really struggling to get post at the moment (our postman was out on Sunday!) and it's really not worth the stress of waiting for it when I can pop over to Hobbycraft in 10 minutes.

Although if you do fancy coming down and pitching in, you'd be more than welcome DW. Just follow my Sister :)

Oh believe me, i know its scary to be this ready for xmas. it comes from when dd was born, I was due 16th Nov, she wasnt born til 25th!! I decided to make sure I was ready for xmas so I didnt have to do it with a newborn. Then i had a c section and thank god it was all done in advance. Then I realised what a bloody lovely christmas it was just sat on my arse with DD feeding etc, no stress so now I make sure I'm done by her birthday each year.

Mind you from now on I'll dread xmas, dd birthday 4 weeks before, Dc2 5 weeks after. i'm destined to be poor from nov-feb

Right, Tesco order done and list for Costco sorted so I'm all ready to go tomorrow.

Hobbycraft list not looking too long so I might be able to pop in and get those bits too.

If I lose these lists I'm screwed though!

how did Costco go, Blathers? That place is lethal - I have to only take cash to stop myself coming home with loads of fun stuff. I am currently gloating over my 50m rolls of wrapping paper and ribbon which were a good deal, honest . Disappointingly, last time I went in looking for bulk marzipan and icing, they had neither.

Tonight I shall be making penguins. If I ever get off the 'phone. I picked poor DD up without saying more than 2 words to her because I had to take my conference call with me .

Ooh what are penguins for stealth?

I'm thinking i need to get inlaws to sign up for cash and carry then! What other fun stuff do they have? How'd it go blathers?

Penguins are for Christmas cakes for teachers. Depending how stupid I am feeling, they will either all be near-identical or they will all be doing different things

Always very of people with Costco cards. Don't even know someone with one as far as I know. Do you have to be a business to join?

Father Christmas (of the round table variety) just knocked on our door and ds1 (whose 3rd birthday it was) was beside himself with excitement. He was terrified last year when his childminder took him to see Father Christmas so we didn't, but think I will this year now.

I'm making the home made family Christmas cards tomorrow with the boys, so expecting house to be covered in painty hand and foot prints, glitter and bits of felt. Can't wait! it will be a disaster, ds1 hates anything crafty I am going home spun rather than beautiful...

Do you have a list of things you need to take to the hall blathers? Things like extra Sellotape, scissors, binbags for clearing up corkscrew/ hip flask I only ask because I should have done!

You can join as an individual, Blastoff, but you don't (understandably) get VAT-free prices - individual membership is what I have, and I think it is because my employer has an agreement of some sort with them - it's not free, though, so I have to shop there lots to justify the cost but if I time it right 1 year's membership covers 2 lots of DC birthdays, then I let it lapse for almost a year and renew just in time for the next lot IYSWIM.

It's just the size of everything which is fun - clearly I need 1l bottles of Tabasco, and whole boxes of freddo frogs, and giant pizzas, and the stationery section is fab too (as is wrapping paper and the like when they have it) - also the complete randomness of some of the other stuff is strangely appealing.

I got loads!

I got 3 massive pizzas which will do the adults and kids (I'm thinking teddy bear shapes might bite the dust as the pizzas are too think for it to be obvious and well, you very rarely need to tempt kids to eat pizza do you?) I also got a massive bag of chicken nuggets and a big box of party sausages plus some Pretzels and a 6 pack of 2l bottles of coke for the grown ups.

I got 16! serving platters because it was the smallest pack they did! and some cups for the adults drinks.

I also got 3 huge boxes of sweets and have done all of the party bag sweetie cones now complete with teddy bear reflector keyring and Happy Birthday ribbon. DS and DD were desperate to have them now so I think they'll go down well at the party.

I picked up some birthday wrap in Poundland this morning too so once I have the chocolate stars out of tomorrow mornings supermarket order, I can do the pass the parcel. Going to update the order now as I didn't manage to get any Pom bears in Costco so they need adding.

I've started packing things up into bags. I have a bag full of party bags, 1 full of the plates, tablecloths and decorations and I've started one for activities too. Bin bags is a great idea BlastOff, I'll get some stuck in now!

How long can you be not a member before you can't renew Stealth? I had a card years ago but let it lapse when it ran out. I still have the card but I bet t's about 4 years out of date! I don't think my friend minds taking me twice a year for cakes but it might be nice to have one of my own again.

Dh is off tomorrow and Thursday so I can go crazy getting things done while he does Schools runs etc. so hopefully I can get the bulk of it done in the next 48 hours. House tidying is getting worse not better at the moment as I just seem to be bringing more stuff in!

Humph. Just looked on their website - the nearest Costco is 38 miles away. There was one near where I used to live but I think 38 miles probably isn't worth the petrol

Excellent work re party bags Blathers. You're getting on brilliantly.

How is the cake?

Cake is ordered. It'll be here on Thursday. The stuff to go on top of it - I have yet to start!

For Ginger bread teddy decorating I have - chocolate buttons, hundreds and thousands, Chocolate strands, some Dr Oetker multicoloured chocolate beans (a bit like mini m&ms) and some gold pearls, some sugar stars and various assorted sugar balls, flowers and hearts left over from other projects. I've also got 5 coloured icing tubes (the mini ones) and will get 5 more. That'll do right?

I've realised that I've got DW's teddy bear jelly moulds and have completely forgotten jelly! I was thinking though, as there's far fewer moulds than children, maybe I could use them to put the decorations in on the table? I need some little dishes and I though the little moulds might be cute. Do you approve DW?

Gingerbread teddies - more than enough stuff. You're going to have some pretty smart bears. At ds's party they just ate the rockets as they went along anyway! They loved it.

Do what you like with those moulds blathers! Sounds like you've got a feast not a picnic ha ha. Maybe decant the biscuit decorations into them?

We too are making cards tomorrow. Made dvd for grandparents so need to make their cards. Was hoping to have had dd's school picture back by now but i havent so that'll have to be added later. Im so ready for xmas but all our parents are seperated and they all expect a visit. Its stressing me out as im so so tired i just want to hibernate not do the rounds!

Right, I have made some cake things. I've made plates, sandwiches, pizza, sausages and crisps. Got to make a cake next - plan is to make a little one to stick the candles in - and the tablecloth will have to wait until the cake is here. I'm thinking I might make a 2 rather than spell it out in the food. So many people missed the fact that DS's jungle cake was a 2 so I need to make it as obvious as possible.

I need to make my sausages shiny, anyone got any tips on what to use? I've got some glycerin and was wondering if just painting them with that might work?

What makes good party food? So far I got:

Pizza
Sausages
Cheese straws
Cheese
Cherry tomatoes
Grapes
Crisps
Biscuits/sweets
Cake obviously
Jelly and ice-cream?

That'll do surely? Maybe some breadsticks or a few olives?