Shirley's party advice part 3 - in which Shirley may make a guest appearance

[stealthsquiggle]

We appear to have filled another thread

tiger fabric

He'd roast in a fleece suit for a full day a School!

I was thinking black fabric paint/felt strips on a long sleeved orange t-shirt and some black trousers. Considering a tail and ears. Maybe I could get some plain cream-y fleece and make him a furry tummy? :)

It does say "help them to make a costume" and he could help me paint on stripes on the t-shirt and maybe paint a mask to match? In which case, I'd only need a tail. He's not particularly interested when it comes to doing art-y things so anything we do would have to be easy.

Yes, you're right - he would roast - but it would be very cute

If you masked up stripes on an orange T Shirt (with torn masking tape) then you could let him loose with black fabric paint and not have to worry about the quality of the result

I bought a Baker Ross pack of foam sheets the other day - I could easily extract one orange and one black for mask making - foam masks being a bit more durable and wearable than cardboard ones?

All fabulous ideas.

I've ordered a cheap long sleeved orange t-shirt from ebay. Will get some black fabric paint from hobbycraft. While I'm in I might as well pick up some foam sheets and save you posting them stealth. DS is fairly handy with scissors so he could do a few of the stripes for it. Shall I do the furry tummy? Paint/sponge one on with white fabric paint? Not bother?

I'll get some black and orange felt and make a tail too. I've got a huge bag of stuffing that I bought when I made the felt carrot to stuff it with.

The fleece suit would be very cute but I have visions of the poor girl who came as a wolf for WBD and was sweating in the morning line up before they even went in!

I vote sponge on tummy with paint once DS is done with stripes.

You're dead right about fleece, though - one of DD's friends has a tiger costume (inherited from older siblings) which has emerged for WBD (Tiger who came to tea) and for various parties. She always ends up shedding the costume after a couple of minutes hours as it is fake fur and very sweaty. We have a bear "tabard" thing which is a bit easier as it is sleeveless.

I also have a complete spider costume from when DS was in YR if you are interested - I found it still hanging on the back of his bedroom door the other day 5 years later

My egg moulds have arrived

You lot will understand the excitement of being able to make car/fish/teddy/bunny shaped boiled eggs and sticky rice. Everyone else is going to look at me like I'm mad - including DH!

Am quite amazed that just a few weeks ago they were in China too. Seems so odd somehow

link me to these egg moulds - I am having problems picturing them..

(please)

Here. I have the 4 that are together in the middle.

They look fun - you will have to feed back once you have played with them and I need to play with some of the other toys MN made me buy first.

Blathers they look brill. Are you getting into bento boxes now as well as sewing and cake making etc?

Im in the isle of wight next week but when i get back its all systems go on making the pastillage bits for these various cakes. I need to make building blocks for this other christening cake. Three blocks stacked on top, but im toying with fondant or pastillage. Pastillage i can make ages before and get a really clean crisp edge rather than just flattenening fondant, but it'll be far trickier putting it together. I've watched so many youtube clips now.

I want the blocks like this :
cakes.jordandchan.com/images/ethanbaptism1.jpg

Not this:
casacostello.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/cakes124.jpg

Which method is best do we reckon? Cover a cube cake in fondant or pastillage? Make cubes from fondant? Or cut squares from pastillage and glue into a cube? I want that clean sharp look that makes them believable as blocks.

I just wanted something to brighten DS's lunchbox up a bit. He likes eggs and a fish shaped one would be lots more fun :)

No idea on the pastillage, I've never got more technical that roll out icing - I'd guess stealth is your lady for advice.

Steaaaallllllthhhhhh......

I'm at work - back later

Bollocks.
So I was counting on at least 3 of the children (1 of whom is DS) to get in the spirit of the Gruffalo birthday party but I have just spoken to one of the parents and they have no idea about the Gruffalo!!!
Firstly - how????
Secondly - What is the point in doing all of this just for me and one other mum to 'get' it?
I may as well just save a load of money, have the party at home and buy some multi-coloured shit from Tesco! (Other supermarkets available).
Balls.

Sorry, DW, no idea what you would need. I just mix icing sugar with water, food colouring if I'm feeling really adventurous.

Blathers - Do let us know how you get on with them. They might actually make DS's eat eggs! And they look cool too.

Oh we had that problem with the gruffalo. Dh sat all the kids down and read it and we also put the dvd on later for stragglers and hangers on!

Ive had my hair done. Whoop. Havent had it done since september!!!! And prob a year before that. I need to find 'me' again. Nails done, hair done need to get over the blatherskite lurgy (coldsore up nose) get some makeup on and get out of the maternity clothes. The over the bump jeans are perfect for hiding wobbly belly when im feeding

As we're (hoping to be) outside, I don't think they'll sit still to listen to a story. But I have until August, so perhaps I'll start 'teaching' my family members...

I never want to get out of maternity clothes! You can buy a vest thing that only goes up to your bra, so that when you lift up your 'normal' top, you are fully covered!
I'm not good at adding links like you lot
here goes
You must feel rather good today. I am envious of your new-ness :)

Nonsense, could you get some cheap copies of the book and use it as the invite maybe? Print the party details on paper and then use it to wrap the book? Or make a book plate type thing with the details on to stick into the front page?

That way you've got unforgettable, keep forever invites and can guarantee that everyone knows the story before the party.

There's paperback copies of the Gruffalo on Amazon for £3.91 each at the moment....

I'm getting my hair done tomorrow and even got my eyebrows threaded earlier this week. I'm loving feeling like me again.

How can people not know about the Gruffalo, FGS

Right. Am home. Feeling like shit. I think I have DD's sore throat/cold lurgy (she managed to come home in tears having lost her dress and her cardigan yesterday ) but with added period pains and the fact that I got up at 4:45am. Still, have to stay awake until DH gets home or DD will cut the house up and stick it back together with sellotape while I am asleep...

DrsW - blocks - I remember asking the same question a while ago on a surgarcraft thread. I think squares of pastillage, dried, stuck together, dried again, and then sanded to get the sharp edges. If I was not feeling brave enough to make them hollow then I would assemble them around a block of fondant (solid pastillage would cost a fortune and take about a year to dry) but I suspect they would dry better if they were hollow.

gruffalo is £2.99 on red house but unless you are buying other stuff then the delivery charge would probably make it more expensive than Amazon.

Stealth it sounds like you've got blatherspox like the dw household. You must have caught it here like me. Last night i coughed so much i was monementally sick. Then i cried like a baby cos i'd thrown the warfarin up! Not like you can just take more, nor can i take anything for the blatherspox. Apparently 5 paracetamol in a week!!! A week??!!!!

I do wear vest to pull down and top pulled up when feeding but the mat jeans really do give me that extra coverage and stetchy snuggliness. Why dont they make all jeans like it. No more muffin top!

Stealth i still cant decide on the cubes now. I did think what if a put a ball inside each joining corner of the cube and weld it in. I need a practice run along with bootees, towers and turrets and the fruit cake layer.

Nonsense sending out the book would be really nice idea!

If it's any consolation - and I'm sure it's not - but I still have my own Blatherspox and it's getting worse. I have the full itchy lungs/dry face/chapped lips/ever streaming now thing going on along with the coughing so hard I have very, very nearly puked.

Sorry I've managed to pass it on over the internet

Oh yes, that IS a good idea. And seeing as 3 and 2 of them repsectively are siblings, I wouldn't actually need that many copies! The adults can just get the details.
I think I will leave you all to it for tonight in case I catch your lurgy!
Feel better soon everybody xx

Yes yes blathers thats how fetching i look too. Dry tickly rasping cough. Awful. Everytime i get a coughing fit i wake dd2 on the boob!

Nonsense think you should def put some kind of bookplate in the book but you just have to do rhyming verse as your invite wording! It would be rude not to.

I read the Gruffalo's Child to the DC this evening. How about...

The Gruffalo says that all children should
come for a part in the deep dark wood
at 12 o'clock
because if you do, lots of fun will be waiting for you

Ok, lame but a start maybe?