Shirley's party advice part 5 - Here to Help - come and say Hi

[Blatherskite]

Didn't notice we'd gotten to the end of the thread!

To be fair, a good proportion of it was like being taught to suck eggs but I do feel more confident because of that now.

Well worth the £7 it cost me :)

Might even sign up for the advanced course!

£7 - the one which was cancelled was going to cost me £100

There were so many of us, we worked out a private class with the tutor and then the ladies I do the face painting for paid half.

The advanced one is £23 and she teaches us how to do cuts!

DS was very impressed with the dragon you painted on your DD, BTW.

That is praise indeed! I pinched that one off the internet and copied. DD loved it so much, she refused to take it off again and we had tears at bathtime.

Hello. I lurk here from time to time as I believe I have the potential to turn into a party obsessive, given half the chance. DS is only 22 months so we have his 2nd birthday party coming up. He's a big fan of the Postman named Pat so I'm toying with the idea of unleashing my hidden party-nutso and going crazy with a themed bash, or holding off for one more year.

I have a feeling you ladies will sway me towards the former when I hear all of your brilliant Pat themed ideas.

Should add, the party will be in june at our, erm, modest sized home. We have an 80ft lawn though and a substantial covered area outside, so outdoors activities are likely to feature heavily. Will be for prob around 10ish kids the same age.

Ooh, that sounds good Fred. I'll have a think and get back to you.

Am imagining some sort of post delivery challenge game in your big garden...

Envelope shaped sandwiches with stamps on...

Eeek! Am so excited! Thank you.

That may be so Peekaboo but you have to pay to advertise on Mumsnet.

Postman Pat sounds fun, although for 2yos it's realistically going to be mostly decor and food theming - not much point trying to do too much by way of organised activities.

Oh phew, it's not just my 2 year old who can't/won't follow instructions then! No, I thought just lots of toys out on the garden.

I might try and make a postbox, as DS loves posting things, and a pile of letters/postcards they can 'artify' before posting. Then when it's full I can get DH (dressed as pat) to come and empty it, and maybe deliver some little parcels, which can do instead of party bags. Too much?

A post box, and if you can fine a giant box, a van would be great, and I love the idea of brown paper and string parcels as party bags - delivered in a sack. Blathers will be along with lots of food-theming ideas which only the adults will get soon. What about cake? A Postman Pat van? 2yos definitely appreciate silly cakes - the very hungry caterpillar I did for DGoddaughter got a big hug before she ate his foot .

Yes, was thinking a van for his cake, then ordering a pat and Jess topper online (am not very talented). Or, if that looks too tricky, I might just decorate a round cake as the fields of greendale and order a van, pat etc to pop on top.

Just thought, I could stick stamps on the postcards they decorate and send them out as thank you cards after.

And yes, a big van to play in/have photos would be amazing. Might have a google to see if there is anything out there that's affordable, as I'm not sure where id get a big enough box from...

it's a bit expensive (understatement) - I have been looking to see if anyone hires them out - this looks hopeful but not ready.

Just for your/DH's amusement, Fred: patvan

Hello! I just typed out a big post n its gone!

You'll get a big box if you ask at an appliance place like currys or euronics.

If you ask reaaally nicely at your lical sorting office they may well agree to sending a postie round in his van. I'd get them all to make a pistcard/card with a stamp to send back to themselves and if you ate lucky enough to get a postie visit he can take them away. The thrill is getting their own letter back i've found.

I got my friends kids a little postie set a few weeks ago here

You could make a better postbox but the little bag and stamper is good to have. I also used a vistaprint offer and make charicture stationery for them to play with hope this link works

I've got the debbie brown character cake book with postman pat like this if you feel like trying it?

Postcard and local. I cant type 'o' today it seems.

Are all the kids 2 because i was thinking of some kind of treasure trail with envelopes etc a bit like finding all the little letters in the jolly postman book if you have that at all?

Can you make a little postoffice and be granny goggins (sorry they call her mrs goggins nowadays!) stamping their letters.

Some nice ideas here, if mostly a bit too complicated for 2yos.

You would think at least one American supermom would have made a van for a party and blogged about it, but I can only find one made by some children for their baby brother - very sweet, but not quite what Fred is after.

I am loving the idea of named parcels to be handed out by each postman instead of pass the parcel.