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

[stealthsquiggle]

Part 7 - link to previous one to follow!

I got my blue jelly from www.sanza.co.uk/ I think DW got hers from Amazon though. It comes as a powder but you make it up just like normal jelly. The shark infested ones I made went down well even with the usual jelly-refusers at DD's pirate party.

Yes i got mine on amazon. X

Got the keys to new house so busy cleaning(fumigating) and painting. Blathers good luck on the run xxxx

Good luck with house and run. I just have family day out to deal with .

I survived! Beat my PB by a measly 2 seconds but it's still a PB. Also got a bit sunburnt! Off to the pub now and then I am going to sleep!

Well done that woman. I survived the day out without anyone killing anyone else. I am content.

Well done blathers!!! So its a pppb - a post poorly personal best.

Hope you had a nice day stealth. I did all the cutting in in dd2's bedroom walls and now i think the paint is too lurid! Dd1 chose it. Lesson learned dont let 5yr olds choose shades of pink!

LOL, DW. Friend let her DD1 choose the (same) colour for her and DD2's rooms when DD2 was about 1. She chose pink, when was OK until it emerged that DD2 was a very determined tomboy and loathed all things pink and girly. They had to repaint it blue in the end.

My Sister did that when she was about 16! Then she went off to university and the room stayed lurid pink for years!

I was the tomboy with the blue room :)

I just went back and its deffo bubblegum rather than soft pastel pink. Dd1 has hot pink accessories, dd2 has mothercares daisy lane range which is really chintzy pastel pink. This is a major prob according to dh as i only have next weekend to fix it now. This is before i magnolia the TURQUOISE and pine kitchen

If DD2 has pastel pink I would be tempted to go for a pale yellow (says she, whose DC still have the white painted woodchip which was there when we moved in nearly 8 years ago...) - can you not get over during the week, even for short attacks on the bubblegum?

I went last night and obliterated the bubblegum with blossom white. Much nicer. Gotta laugh stealth it was originally pale yellow.

Ive never been one to do the pink and girly bit before but now dd1 is five shes turned into a pink princess and insists dd2 needs the same. But i'm making headway now, corrected the bubblegum and painted two walls in dd2's room. Hopefully finish hers tonight n start cutting in dd1's. But no way is she getting bubblegum either so i'll have to lie that its what she chose!

Right, DS's party is on Monday and I really need to get motivated!

Invites have been done and everyone is coming.

Lego sets for their welcoming activity have been bought. I need to find some suitable wrapping paper and get them wrapped up to save arguments when everyone arrives - although DS has seen them and has chosen one so it'll only be pot-luck for the guests.

Food - DS wants hot dogs which is at least easy. I don't want to go all out theme-ing food for 4 of them plus DD because the amounts will make it hard. I'm guessing food will just be a passing distraction before they get to the X-box anyway. What shall I make to serve with the hot dogs? I was thinking of ice cream for dessert. Aldi do little square pots which could work well in a Minecraft-y sort of way. I'm out of blue jelly and have no time to order any but I know at least one of the boys won't eat jelly so ice cream is probably safer anyway.

Cake - I went through Google images with Ds this afternoon and was showing him cube cake like these I was thinking I could either build the insides from cake blocks or just do some funky coloured frosting filling like this, I considered doing blocks of brownie/krispie cake and jelly a bit like this but I'd need the blue jelly I don't have. DS chose this monstrosity! Does he not realise I have standards to uphold!? I can't see how that could ever not look awful - especially given that this isn't going to be a huge cake. It only needs to feed 5 kids with maybe an extra slice or two to send home for parents.

Xbox game is set and ready to go. Will get DH to create a world for them to play in together off line. Going to either borrow a spare controller from nephew as we only have 3 or can get one of the boys to bring on with him.

Party bags - will get paper bags from the scrap store and either print off a label to stick to the front or maybe sponge stamp Creepers onto the fronts in green paints. To go inside, I'm going to give them the Lego set they make when they arrive, plus one of these which I got from the scrap store for 50p each, then there will be little minecraft TNT boxes like these and a bit of cake. What else could I put in or is the Lego enough do you think?

Then there are just decorations. I have a load of spare Lego cups from Macdonalds for the table, I do have a grass table cloth somewhere although I don't think I'll use it. I could get some green plates - wonder if I could find square ones? and napkins then I just need some banners.

I can't believe how little I've done! Feeling rather guilty and a bit panic-y now!

On haste, so will answer better on cakes later, but icecream - could you not buy one of those blocks of ice cream and cut it into cubes? You would need to refreeze the cubes to make sure they stayed nicely cubic.

Shame about the blue jelly . I am determined to work it into defence party plans somehow, even if I can't face petri dish jelly (I might sound DM out about that one and see how much of a fit she has....)

On haste? In haste. On plane.

Ooh good idea stealth. I'll have a look for some tomorrow.

I'm guessing 'defence party' is science party?

I've been out tonight and got green ballons and black crepe paper to give them Creeper faces and Hama beads from which I have just finished Creeper badges for them all - just got to dig my glue gun out tomorrow and the brooch findings I bought to the back and they'll be done. I have green plates and napkins, green bubble wands and Lego stickers to go in the party bags, I know Hobbycraft do paper gift bags if I can't find any in the Scrap Store.

Still need banners and bags and stuff for the cake but I'm feeling a little less stressed

Right. Off plane now. On super efficient Norwegian train, regretting bringing super snuggy coat as it's actually not cold

Yes, defence =science (in my phone's mind at least)

Sounds as though you are pretty well set. Square plates would have been cool, though . Do you have a plan for banners?

Cake - what is it that appeals to DS about that one, do you think? I would imagine it is the figures. In spite of my normal "everything must be edible" stance, I think you should make figures from hama beads and put them on top of one of the cube-y ones that you like. And definitely do it as a checkerboard inside.

Is that impossible enough? Do you have a set of square cutters? Or a cutting mat and a scalpel?

Funnily enough, I bought one of these a few weeks ago to go on the top :) Not edible but he will be able to play with it afterwards. I made a Hama bead creeper last week too. I picked up a nice, green-ish number 7 candle tonight too.

I think - as much as I would like to do a chequerboard cake - the combined factors of family visiting on Sunday, me working at a marathon for most of Monday and his friends coming over that evening, might mean that he's going to have to have a plain chocolate cake inside unless I can do it all on Saturday. I was thinking chocolate Guinness cake would be fitting as it's St Patrick's day but can I give Guinness cake to children? The alcohol will have burnt off in cooking won't it?

Going to buy sugarpaste tomorrow so that the squares can be cut and drying. Shall I buy as many shades of green and brown as I can manage or do you think I'd do better with a large pack of white and brown and green gels to dye lumps into differing shades?

If you are doing Guinness cake (or inmates chocolate cake, which would be my default) then definitely make the cake tomorrow. I agree checkerboard-ing it would make it hugely more complicated and time consuming.

I would get green, brown, black and a bit of white, and combine them in random proportions to get lots of shades of green.

OK, so make a decision for me. There is a sports relief bake-off at one of our offices (in theory my "home" office, even though it is 2 hours away) next Thursday. Do I enter? I wasn't planning to be there, but I could be, and haven't been in for ages....but I probably couldn't stay for the results...and I could sort of have time to do something if I ignore 1,000,000 other jobs because DH is away a couple of nights next week - except that I promised DD I would make her new ballet bag before her "exam"......

[dither]

Will you have to forego the ballet bag to make the cake? If so, I'd do the bag I think.

I still haven't tried Inmates cake but I do know that we all like Guinness cake and it is St Patrick's day....

Just waiting for the cake shop to open to get the sugarpaste. I have a board and candles. Need to get to the supermarket for ingredients - or, I may just set up a grocery delivery to get here about the time I get back from parkrun and save myself a trip :) Need cake/s for Sunday too. I won't have time to make those as well so I might buy one - or do a plain Guinness cake. Need something Dairy free for Niece too. Anyone ever tried krispie cakes with Dairy free chocolate?

I sat and made Creeper badges last night and DS loves them. He especially liked the smiley Creeper I made :) The creeper usually has a very downcast face so I swapped some beads around to make one smiley. I bought far too many beads and pins so I'm considering making everyone a pair - including DD as DS was very miffed that I'd only made 4 this morning and there wasn't one for her! In my defence, I could only get 4 on the board at once and I didn't finish until 10pm. I'm making more today

Hoorah - 10 x 22cm x 18cm brown paper party bags perfect for the party from the Scrap Store. Guess how much

More than I need but they came in a pack so the rest can be kept for another day. I'm thinking I may try to print or paint some grass block type pattern to glue around the top leaving the brown as the soil and then add their name in a Minecraft sort of font. They're the perfect size for the Lego sets we've bought. I'm rather chuffed with myself :)

About 10p, knowing you and your scrap store (of which I am seriously )

Whether I have to choose between cake and bag depends on the real impact of the email I got from DS last night casually announcing that the "own clothes" day on Monday actually involves a costume - if I am expected to create something then there is no way I can get bag done over the weekend. If I can persuade DS to just wear his tiger onesie and be done with it do the bag over the weekend then it won't interfere with cake making (or vice versa). I agree DD's bag needs to take priority - she somewhat pathetically pointed out that "all" (=some) of her friends use the shoulder bags that I made them for their birthdays as ballet bags, whereas she has a drawstring bag which I made about 4 year ago. Fortunately I had just acquired some rather lovely Japanese fabric covered in ballet dancers, so we have a plan....

Not quite. They were 84p but I still count that as a major bargain :)

The ballet bag sounds gorgeous and I am reminded once again that I really need to look into dance lessons for DD. I am rubbish! If you can get the bag done and bodge the outfit then definitely go for the cake.

84p = definitely still a bargain.

Wish me luck with talking 11yo into a tiger onesie or something else equally easy and hopefully I will find some time between chauffeuring children around all weekend to get the bag sorted, although DH has ideas about fixing the chicken house and assorted other things which we have ignored all winter, and those plans no doubt involve me AIBU to half hope it rains?

TBH if it was down to me to organise it or to take DD to ballet, or if she had to be all ballet-neat every week DD wouldn't be doing it. As it is she does it at school (after school activity) and this "exam" (class test which they are guaranteed to pass) is the first time they have had to have all the RADA-approved get up, scraped back hair, etc, etc. I think it is supposed to encourage them to want to go on and do more exams. It's certainly not having that effect on the mothers so far

[duh] DS has just pointed out that he also owns a dragon onesie. Problem solved. Except that he has a drum exam. He can't really do that in a dragon onesie .