Shirley's Party Advice Part 7 - how did they all get so big...

[stealthsquiggle]

Part 7 - link to previous one to follow!

Messy i feel bad suggesting you may not be able to trust people. At my wedding my own BROTHER took four bottles of champagne, and him and his girlfriend went back to their room to tip it over themselves in the bath "for a laugh".

This is someone i trust with my life and he still thought he'd help himself to the "free booze". Sigh.

Only you know your friends though so sorry if i offended you

Knowing some of my friends, I'd have had someone dealing out the tickets too. It's amazing how silly people will get at the thought of free booze.

We're definitely doing DS's party at home. I've said I'll spend £10-ish on 4 Lego sets which they can each build and play with, then we'll do food - probably my usual pizzas as they're easy and likely to get eaten - and then they can have the Xbox on to play Minecraft together. He's really excited :)

Being as we've moved away from the Lego movie theme, I was thinking I'd choose 4 Lego sets from different themes and wrap them in paper so that when they arrive, they have to choose from 4 blank boxes and won't know what they're getting until they open it. I'm hoping this might a) make choosing faster, b) save arguments and c) make it a bit more exciting. I'll put the set with some sweets and some cake in a party bag to take home. I'd not normally spend that much on party bags but as we're not spending out on a party as such, I don't mind this year.

DS is excited now but I'm worried that it doesn't feel much like a party. Any ideas on how I make it feel a bit more like a celebration? I thought I'd do it on his actual birthday to try and make up for the fact that it's a Monday and a school day so it's likely to be 4 until 6/6.30. Or should I do it on the Friday before so it's not a "school night"?

Oh and the biggest panic....what cake do I make?

Lynx i'd do treasure chests as their generic and fill them with gold coins as the party bag. Home bargains usually have them in. My dd wanted a mermaid disco until she switched to a party party. Games, an apple bobbing/lucky dip game as diving for pearls...

I'll think of more for you but ive got this messy play party tomorrow so today i need to focus on setting up the last of the sensory stuff and get the party food. I cant do party boxes as 2yr old tend to arrive with parents that i'll have to feed!

Blathers - get to macdonalds they have loads of different lego masks and lego cups in the happy meal boxes. Just ask to buy four toys and have loads of masks and you've got a few more lego bits. Great idea on lego building party. Decorate the room as I know you can and it'll be fab.

Cake....come on you have to do that lego construction cake we saw!!! All you need is a silicone lego mould and sugarpaste. Easy! When is this party, march?

I missed baby group (different one blathers)yesterday as it was dd2's actual birthday and my friend said "we were talking about you" i said i dont wanna know

"No we were saying how fantastic and creative you are at doing parties"

Lynx

Good ideas to steal here

Decorations i'd do turquoise/blue streamers hanging down with similar colour balloons or if you can find them clear balloons like air bubbles. If you have a big hall to fill, try to make balloon arches with streamers hanging off their tails to fill your space visually cheaper. Buy helium and your balloons, thread the steamers/tails but then thread the balloons on a piece of fishing line/cotton using a needle through the surplus necks of the balloons. Weight it on each end and they'll pull upwards in an arch.

If the ceiling is low enough to reach, thread air filled balloons onto a string the same way but this time they'll hang downwards in a droplet and you can cover a bigger area easily by pinning the string like a washing line.

Games like walk the plank would still work, lucky dips for treasure, apple bobbing, passing balloon/air bubbles between legs etc. but if their small you may prefer games like musical statues, pin the tail style, pass the parcel etc as they tend to "get it" more. Stealth would say duck duck goose but fish fish dolphin or similiar.

Do you have pinterest because typing in under the sea party will give you tons of decoration ideas.

Oops - fell off my active convos list.

DW - I saw your cake text in the middle of the night and didn't think you would appreciate a reply at that particular moment, but it looks fab. When is party? Tomorrow?

Will catch up with everything else later..

Lego cake, Blathers. loads here. And lego bunting, etc to make it more "party-like".

Under the sea party - I think we need a mental image of the room to come up with ideas but it also depends on budget - ideally I would "tent" the whole room in green/blue.

GTG. Again. Life seems to come in 10 minute chunks ATM.

Party will be March yes. I was thinking of maybe doing a Minecraft cake with characters and maybe even a surprise inside??

I'd buy Minecraft Lego for the building but the sets are all quite expensive. I really wish the game was 4 player

Can I tempt you with a lego man mould?

...although I admit the minecraft cake is cool - The checkerboard effect is not hard in a round cake, I have done that - but the square cake looks cooler and that would be much harder.

I may divorce dh.

Its taken me over a month to sort this party. I made crayola style boxes of crayons as invites(stealth you'd have been so proud of me). This playdoh style cake. Painting stuff, ive MADE all the playdoh, buying all the craft stuff, making up party bags, preparing five different sensory tubs, making icing etc for cake decorating activity, shopping for the food and cooking it etc... He's done nothing NOTHING towards it and just started huffing that i asked him to wrap his own dads birthday present. THAT I BLOODY BOUGHT!!!!

Arghh. 22 under fives will be easier than him!

LOL. We will stand as witnesses for your defence when you please self defence . DH had a similar reaction to being asked to sort out music for DD's party. Fortunately my lovely friend told him he was being an arse sorted him out.

please? plead

Sounds like mine too!

I decided to ask DS what sort of cake he wants today. He said "Hmmm, that's a tough one" so I think I may have a challenge coming up :)

He loves getting post

So I could post him pictures of impossible challenging cakes with a note to say "ask Mummy to make this?" what a good idea .

.. Or wasn't that quite what you were thinking?

Thank you for your ideas - really great.

I think what I will do is make a few decisions (eg how many kids to invite / how many we can cope with organising and supervising) and then come up with a rough plan which I might run past you, if that would be ok?

I told my DD the idea and she was so excited, bless her. Started telling people immediately! (No going back now then!)

Good luck with the messy play party. It sounds fab.

Not offended at all TheDoctors

I'm going to have to make sure we have everything ready this weekend for our party next Sat.

What am I forgetting? I have sorted:

• Food - buffet. Ordered, deposit paid. Hoping pub haven't forgotten...
• Cake - four deep 10 inch cakes. Don't have any cake stands unfortunately so they'll just be on boards. Thinking about how to dress the table up. Maybe with some greenery or flowers
• first Drinks - vouchers/about £300. Still not sure what to put the vouchers in.
• Decorations - fairy lights & batteries, white bunting, assortment of about 60 glass vases, flowers (ordered, baby's breath, rosemary, soft ruscus, white thistles, and something else I think), paper flowers (MIL has made them from paper sheet music, tissue paper and book paper), white candles and glass holders, cable ties and string to fix things up. Also have scissors, Sellotape, blue tak all ready to go
• Guest book/black spiral bound sketch pad and white and silver pens. do I need to tie the pens to the book?
• Mini blackboards for cake, guest book and buffet tables
• I need to make mini blackboard food toppers for cakes
• photographer sorted

-jukebox sorted

• toys for only child we have coming. Some colouring in books etc
• MIL bringing hamper basket thing to put a load of pub games in

Erm.... Not sure what else! But I feel like I'm missing loads of stuff!

My DP would LOVE a Lego cake

Messyapron your party is sounding great.

You could dress up the cakes by putting ribbon around the edge of the boards, then stand them on something (jars, or upsidedown bowls) surrounded be gauze/flowers/whatever so that the cakes are 'floating'. I know what I mean by that but have done a lousy job of explaining. I will try and find a picture later.

I think I know what you mean Stealth, thank you

Messy - do you have a photographer? Or ate you banking on friends taking photos etc? Could you put some blank cd's out with notes for people to copy any photos and send them back to you?

I'd do as stealth suggested with jars or bases upturned or beg steal and borrow cake stands. You may be surprised who has a white china cake stand. Of my friends i know that at least four of us have one so you may be surprised if you ask around.

Your whole theme sounds wonderful and really up mine and stealths street in particular. We've been bursting to do bookish decorations. Please please put pics on your profile of the details afterwards.

Are you doing any speeches? Gifts to special people?

Messy play party was brilliant. It was going so well with kids just moving from section to section and getting so engrossed. Dh banged on the table and called out "i dont think its fair to pull the kids away to eat around a table, so grab your food and keep playing!" It worked so well i didnt worry about timings or cajouling dd's into staying seated etc. dd1 ended up stripping off and climbing into the washing up water sensory tub with dd2 crying "want mine bath too!"

My lovely friend got both my girls and showed them the bridesmaid dresses she had bought them. I hadnt told them and they were wide eyed at being asked to be princesses for a day to which my friend cried which set me off.

Then i got a text later from someone else saying "your parties are the best ive ever been to, the others are just crap! And you do the best party bags!"

Makes it all worth it!

I'm dying to see photos of all the decor as well, messy . I really want an excuse for a grown up party now .

DW - sounds fantastic - and no life - threatening injuries this time