Shirley's party advice part 6 - don't be afraid to interrupt us!

[Tinkerisdead]

Okay, this is shirley's party advice part 6. Shirley ducked out a while ago and you'll notice us chatting about all kinds of stuff whilst we wait for party planners to barge in.

So, don't lurk, jump in and chat. We'll give you any advice on parties from costumes to cakes....

Here is the hook toss game. All you'd need is some plastic pirate hooks (should be fairly easy to find around halloween) and a board to attach them too. Plus some rings. Cut out of cardboard should do.

Mmmmm...a project for dh methinks! :)
Thanks

I'm going to do hot dogs for food. With a sail on a skewer they look very boat-like.

Blathers - treasure - yes, as long as you get laces and suitable beads - you know your guests - if there are one or two who need some help then there should be enough adults around since it's a small party.

Hook toss - you can get wooden hoopla hoops. I have some, bought for dragon hoopla last year. If you decided to go ahead you would be welcome to borrow them (either or both of you, if the timing works and you both want them) - they would be easy to post.

Ironically, I have never done a pirate party and won't get to now as DD is way too old and cool now . We did have pirates combined with princesses for her 3rd. I also have a pirate face mould for making cake toppers.

There are lots of good games here I particularly like Cannon balls but mine are definitely too small I think.

I think I might be able to do beads though. I'll have a look at what I can find...

Captain says could be a good one to have in reserve, Badvoc.

Morning all, badvoc i see your getting great advice so i wont chip in. Im just sticking my head in...to tell you all that i have news...no a revelation....about the new house, wanna hear it?

Stealth, dispite the trauma of the rainbow cake, it was blathers recipe that i ballsed up. When i added the gel colours it took so much i think i beat them to death and they came out like pancakes. So i made up a sponge batch each time and froze it. The one with the easy ratios, 332 is it? Or 443, i forget...im exhausted.

So who wants a story...

Go on, then...

So you know how the house is immaculate, renovated throughout, brand spanking new kitchen/oven/boiler everything...

The agent selling my current house came to measure up and says "oh yeah i know the place, the lovely big one with tons of lsnd? The one where the old boy died?"

Errrrrr....what?!!! He says "yeah yeah it was all in the paper, the fire and that!" Errrr...what?!!!!

So i googled, old man sets himself alight with a teatowel on the hob, the kitchen and him go up in flames and the house was gutted. Hence the complete renovation.

Is it wrong that ive invited the vicar that married me/blessed the girls to come for tea and errrr make sure he's gone?!

eeek.

I am sure it will be fine. Loads of people must have died in our house if not quite that dramatically, given that most families in the village have lived in one or other of the 3 tiny cottages which it used to be at some point in it's history.

Focus on the immaculate-ness, and the garden.

DH's Grandad died in the room that DH and I used to share that is now DS's room. Mum's house is 118 years old so I'm sure many. many people will have died there. The bonus of being an atheist is that it never bothered me

Like stealth says, I'd focus on the posh new-ness.

I've sorted my jelly pirate ship problem...here

Orange segments are less mess and less wasteful - and might actually fit in the cups! :)

When is your party Badvoc?

Those are really cute ships, Blathers.

They are really good
Am torn now whether to do those or the apple ones...have ordered some tiny pirate flags for them :)
Party is on 29th so have time to come up with ideas.

Apple ships would need to be dipped in lemon juice to stop them going brown, I would imagine.

I ordered blue jelly from sanza.co.uk I've been wanting to do blue jelly for years! saddo

Where did you get the tiny flags from?

I have been round every local charity shop this morning to get an old sheet I can make into a sail for the table but can't find one anywhere! I'm going to have to buy one I think!

What do you need? A white sheet? Would a linen one with holes in work?

This is Jake's ship "Bucky". I can't decide whether I want to get a white sheet and paint blue stripes on or whether I'm going to hack apart an old blue duvet cover we have and sew a sail with stripes. I'll definitely need to paint the gold skull and cross bones.

Do I need Disney-perfect or authentic hole-y?

A plain, single sheet from Tesco will probably only cost me a fiver...

Linen would probably look fantastic but I've got to pin the sail to the wall and it might be too heavy??

Sew the stripes. It would cost an arm and a leg in fabric paint.

I just checked on the sheet - it is well worn but with one big hole. It's a king sized sheet so plenty left. But if you are going to sew stripes then all you need is 2m of dirt cheap polycotton.

I considered just doing it in poster paint as it's not moving anywhere...

A Value sheet from Tesco or similar is probably the cheapest way of buying a couple of meters of cotton. I could not believe how much it was last time I went to hobbycraft!

Never buy fabric from hobby craft

.. But depending how big it is, you could well be right. Best I can find on ebay would be £3.98 plus £1.35 postage for 112cm wide.

(that's for 2 metres)

I know this now!

I should try the market but I'm never sure what days it's on and after my stint in Aylesbury, view it with even more suspicion now!

It's £7 for a single white sheet from Tesco. There are no Value ones on the website....