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!

DW - PM /text me if you want to empathise about rats. They are an almost annual visitors to the void between our bedroom ceiling and DD's floor and I bloody hate them.

Hello party geniuses!

I've been lurking on your thread for a few days and am finding your ideas and enthusiasm inspirational!

DD will be 4 in May and I'm looking to hire a local hall and get an entertainer to ease some of the burden. I know I definitely want a more unisex theme as there will be a lot of boys, we have a DS (age 6) and he have a few pals there too.

I'm thinking of an 'on the beach'/seaside theme as we can still girly it up a bit! Will I be able to pull that off in a dreary church hall though?
Cheap decor ideas welcome! Also style/wording for the invitations......

Family member is launching a cake business so will get her to do that - thinking DDs name with pink heart shaped sunglasses or something similar....(she loves sunnies and usually chooses them over toys as a treat!)

I'd like to incorporate Sweetie/pick n mix table with vintage type paper bags instead of party bags. Kids can pick their own goodies at the end.

Food will be simple sandwiches etc I think, any simple ideas that fit with the theme would be great. I quite fancy cocktail umbrellas in the drinks!

I expect maybe 15 kids aged between 3 and 6, plus parents.

I think he'd like the pizza but what do I do with it?

Very jealous of your clean house DW. Mine never gets anywhere near. I hope the rat man can sort your problem on Thursday and that ratty leaves you alone in the meantime.

Hi citybranch. Seaside theme sounds lovely. I found some oyster shell biscuits a while ago that sprang to mind when I read your post so I'll have a look for them for you and get a link.

The pick and mix idea sounds lovely too. I bet the kids will love it.

How big is the hall? Would it be even vaguely possible to "tent" the ceiling for full on seaside effect?

It would be amazing to have Punch and Judy. And ice cream cones.

There are some great seashell beads which they could thread - or you could for party bags. I will find a link later.

seaside beads

Thanks to both of you, gosh the hall is quite big, possibly too big to tent but I will chew it over.

Oyster biscuits and Seashell beads etc sound amazing! If you do find a link that would be lovely. I'm taking notes

here is the infamous Shirley herself on the subject of beach parties, albeit for older DC

Here they are.

But without the eyes maybe?

Stealth text me cos i deleted your number accidentally.

Seaside theme: without googling i'd do...hmmmm....

• sandpit/sand table put plastic sheet down loads of buckets and spades etc. where i live they do beach in the town square and kids just live sitting in sand fiddling with it!
• bunting and inflatables would be great decoration.
• pick n mix is great but i'd use buckets and spades to hold/shovel them into bags. Bags are a pittance on ebay and you can get great colours. games- lucky dip in bucket of sand. I know its more halloween but maybe applebobbing to bring in a water element. Sports day games like sack races, egg and spoon etc may work well. Or a treasure hunt/scavenger hunt if you could hunt beach type objects that you've planted around. Food individual lunchboxes might work well here on a picnic type theme. Could you afford an icecream van to swing by and get the kids an icecream each? Might be a bit steep but worth asking as not particularly icecream peakseason so the man might be okay to pop round.

Hot dog sail boats

Gorgeous cupcakes

You could do the ever popular blue jelly pots with gummy fish in and the cakes in ice cream cones too...

Brilliant Melon Shark

Love this decoration

A good game?

I was in poundland today looking for bits for DS's party and they had bucket/spade/mould sets for £1 each. You could use those instead of a traditional party bag?

I have a stripy beach hut sort of theme in mind but can't quite find a picture.

What are the constraints? If the hall has a wooden floor they won't be keen on sand.

If the hall has an outside area, you'd probably be safe in may to stick a pop up paddling pool out there full of sand though.

The weather better be nice, it's my birthday in May too!

living the fish and chips in newspaper here

DS went to a party a couple of weeks ago where the Mum gave out fish/sausage and chips to all the kids. They loved it. Just remember the ketchup and wooden chip forks :)

All fantastic ideas. Buckets and spades for the pick and mix is inspired! Will get to pound land.
Also Shirley's blog is great. I actually have a shed like that in my garden but I just couldn't face so many kids in my house. Maybe next time.

Constraints, hmmmm. I doubt they'd fancy sand in there but the paddling pool could be a go-er. Last year May was dreadful weather if I'm correct, but who cares?

You could always pop it under a gazebo and surround it with stripey wind breakers to make it extra-authentic

Pirate Party in garden for 10 5yr olds, boys & girls. Bouncy castle and ice cream van will be booked. May. Game ideas? Themey stuff?

And thanks in advance!!!!!

Ooh, loads but I'm falling asleep over google at the moment so it'll have to be tomorrow. Night all x

how's about this for a whopping cake ha ha

Thanks Blathers,any advice much appreciated, no hurry at all!