BROOKLYN PARK CAROUSEL BIRTHDAY

The carousel is such an icon of our childhood--and I love that this birthday celebration commemorates that. With the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop, this was such a sweet birthday party for little Jackson. The table featured whimsical sweets and there were carousel horses painted on the balloons. Thank you to PhotoStory Collections for sharing this day with us.

Photographer:   PhotoStory Collections//Bakery: Chloe's Cupcakery//Invitation Designer: Pineapple Street Designs//Event Planner: S. O. Event Planning//Linens and Coverings: The Finishing Touch Ny//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

OUR HARRY POTTER PARTY: QUIDDITCH GAME

My husband gave me a hard time about getting this game set up for the party - he thought I was going a bit overboard - but it ended up literally costing less than $20 to make and took no longer than 30 minutes to set up. It ended up being a favorite activity at the party so it was totally worth it!

How we made our Quidditch game:

We compromised a bit. Instead of putting hoops at both ends of our field, we only put hoops in the middle of our backyard. We were afraid that if we put hoops near the fence, balls would constantly be going into our neighbors' yards, so we concentrated the game in the middle.

My husband purchased 3 long pieces of pine wood from Lowe's at $1 each. He shaved points at the end of each one to make it easier to get them into the ground. I purchased kid size (smaller than the usual size) hula hoops ($1 each) at Dollar Tree. My husband then drilled the hoops into each wood stake. We enforced it a bit with some clear packing tape. You can't really tell from this photo, but the middle one was higher/taller than the other two hoops.

Additionally, each girl got a broom to play with. I purchased $1 dowels from Hobby Lobby. I collected sticks from our neighborhood and hot glued them onto each dowel. I finished them off with a piece of ribbon I had.

We used a foam ball we found at Walmart as the "quaffle" and we happen to have a yellow golf ball that we used as the "snitch."

To play we used Flax & Twine's set of rules for the game here.

The girls really enjoyed it--even getting a bit competitive!

Make sure to check out the other posts about our Harry Potter party here, here and here.

OUR HARRY POTTER PARTY: POTIONS CLASS

It's been a while since my last post, so hopefully you're not sick of my Harry Potter party updates yet! Last time I showed you the Divination Class activities we did here, and in case you missed it, I talked about the decor here. Today, I'm going to tell you about the activities we did for Potions Class - and what I think were the biggest hit with the kids!

Welcome to Professor Snape's Potions Class!

I didn't need too many "ingredients" for the potions/experiments we did: white vinegar, dishwashing liquid, Mentos and baking soda. The sign was made with the Magic School font I downloaded free from dafont.com here.

Using the magic words "Twisterus Jarus" we started out with a "volcano in a jar" which only uses water and a squirt of dishwashing liquid.  The kids were in awe by how easy it was to create this wicked tornado.

After they ooh'd and aaah'd over that one, we mixed a potion that magically inflated a balloon. This is done by mixing baking soda and white vinegar. The mixture forms a gas that inflates the balloon. Since the girls were all around 10 years old, they figured out what ingredients we were using that made up the gas. I actually didn't mind, because I felt like they were learning something while having fun. For directions on this experiment check out this link here.

The final experiment and definitely the most fun was the classic exploding geyser using diet cola and Mentos.  We didn't even use the full roll of Mentos and look at high their geysers went!! Definitely plan this last so the kids aren't running over sticky soda and tracking it into your house for the remainder of the party. If you're not familiar with this experiment, check out this link for the directions we followed.

If you're planning a Harry Potter party, make sure to visit my Pinterest board. Stay tuned for our Quidditch game and more from our Harry Potter party!

OUR HARRY POTTER PARTY: DIVINATION CLASS

If you missed the first post on the decor for our Harry Potter party, check that out here.
The activities for the party were the most challenging part of the planning for me. I wanted them to be easy but still intriguing for a group of 10 year olds.  I'm happy to report that the kids seemed to really enjoy them.

First off, I need to mention that each guest received a "Book of Spells."

The spell book had different info they needed for each class, like potion ingredients and magic words. I also added the Butter Beer recipe and Quidditch game rules we used.

Divination was the first class we did. It was made up of three activities: Tea Leaf Reading, Crystal Ball Reading and "Pop" Divination.

TEA LEAF READING
Each of the girls chose a tea cup that had a small pile of loose tea leaves at the bottom. (I purchased random tea cups from Goodwill and thrift stores.)

When the girls dumped out the tea leaves a shape remained at the bottom. (I hot glued tea leaves to heavy paper shapes. A glue dot kept them adhered to the bottom of the cup.) The girls had to refer to their spell book to find out what the shape meant, thus discovering their fortune. For instance, the light bulb meant "a reason or mystery will soon reveal itself."

CRYSTAL BALL READING: I used a Magic 8 Ball as the mysterious crystal ball.  (I covered the '8' on the ball.) We passed around the ball so each girl could ask their pining questions.  Some of the questions were really funny. 

POP DIVINATION: This kind of "pop culture" method of fortune telling is done with random items like fortune cookies. The fun comes from the randomness of it all. So for our last activity in Divination Class the girls had to obtain their fortune by popping a balloon. I thought this would be really fun for them, but some girls were actually afraid of popping the balloon! Here we had some fun with the fortunes, like "You will soon eat cake."

If you plan a Harry Potter and have some help, you can consider Tarot Card Reading or Palmistry, too.

Next up: Professor Snape's Potions Class. Stay tuned!

OUR CAMPING PARTY

My girls turned 9 in early June and in true Coloradan fashion, we had a camping themed sleepover (with a little pink and bling!). For the first time I didn't go crazy with a detailed dessert table. Maybe because I knew it was going to be a long night, but I wanted to keep everything pretty simple.

Here are a few photos from the day–and night!

We have an 8-person tent that luckily fit in our living room. Of course I needed to dress it up with a pretty pink paper chandelier.

I saw this small smores station in another party--but I have to tell you--it kind of sucked. Everyone's marshmallows burned, I think, because of the concentrated heat. Funny enough, this group of girls aren't too into sweets and didn't really care! I, on the other hand, was pretty disappointed.

The girls got to create their own dream catcher and painting on a wood slab. We had a ball with questions taped to it, to have fun with, around the "campfire".

Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies were used as logs on the cookie pie.

Battery-operated candles in tissue paper made up our campfire.

I found these little lanterns 3 for $10 at Big 5 Sporting Goods.  Kids (and parents) loved them!

It was great fun! And honestly, the easier the better folks!

Shopping List:

Michaels: Pink paper chandelier by Martha Stewart, wood slabs
JoAnn Fabrics: Crochet doilies, feathers
Hobby Lobby: Mini embroidery hoops
Oriental Trading: Camp Glam centerpiece
Big 5 Sporting Goods: Mini Lanterns
Jessica Sawyer Designs Etsy Shop: Camping Clipart for front door sign and favor tags

DIY DREAM CATCHER

I'm in the midst of planning my girls' camping themed sleepover party that will happen in a couple of weeks. One of the crafts we're doing is a dreamcatcher. I was originally going to do the craft using hole punched paper plates but my girls seemed to think it would be too cumbersome to thread the holes, etc. So, when I was walking through JoAnn's I spotted these cute crocheted doilies and the light bulb went off! It makes the craft so much easier and prettier!

Here's all you need:
- embroidery hoop
- crocheted doily
- yarn
- feathers
- glue

Start by unscrewing the hoop and lay in your doily. When you replace the outer hoop, realize that you will not be able to screw it back together because of the doily's thickness. So, all we did was tie it together to keep it closed. This also becomes a handy loop to hang the dreamcatcher.

Tie three pieces of yarn into three holes at the bottom. Multiple strands of ribbon would be really pretty to use as well.

Finally, glue on the feathers. I'm a big fan of glue dots so that's what we used here.
Voila! A pretty dreamcatcher that will look great in any girl's room and a fun party craft!

CIRCUS THEMED FARM BIRTHDAY PARTY

Sharing their 5-year birthday proved to be double the fun for these two five year olds. This colorful circus themed party took place on a local family farm and provided fun for all! Pony rides, face painting by a clown and photo booth were just a few of the activities. I think just their adorable outfits stole the show! A "big top" thanks to Nevada's Jeramie Lu Photography for capturing and sharing all the fun!

FANTASTICAL SUESSICAL BIRTHDAY PARTY!

New Jersey's EH Social Events transported guests into the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss for this special birthday party! As many of the Dr. Seuss characters were incorporated to create games, food and decor. The signs were handmade and there was something for everyone to enjoy, including face painting, sweets, carnival games, and more! And of course a special appearance from the Cat in the Hat! Enjoy all the amazing details as beautifully captured and submitted by TL Green Photography.