Today I am excited to show you my son Declan's 5th Birthday Party photos. Declan had initially wanted a Horse party this year but a few months ago he changed his mind. He wasn't too sure what he wanted so we looked through some fun themed tableware and he chose Sharks as his theme, with a Beach feel though as opposed to Under the Sea. This party was so bright & fun to plan and is definitely one of my favourites so far.
Declan started kindy this year so we had a school party and he was very excited to have all his little friends over to play. The party was fantastic and everyone had a great time. It ended up being a very wet and stormy morning so we had to move the activities/play area inside but other than that all went off without a hitch.
I hope you enjoy the photos! All the vendor credits can be found below :)
Charlotte's Frozen Third Birthday by Elise Easdown, Managing Director of Whats on 4 Little Ones Australia.
My daughter Charlotte along with millions of other girls around the world has fallen in love with the Disney musical movie – Frozen.
I happily agreed to this theme choice for her 4th birthday as I knew it was going to be an easy one to plan for and naturally Pinterest became my place for inspiration.
As the girls attending were going to be 3-4 years, I wanted to be keep it simple yet hands on and allow a range of activities to keep them busy.
For entertainment, this is where the possibilities were endless!
After welcoming the children when they arrived they were directed to the colouring activity. I had Frozen colouring in sheets from here.
It was during this time our Face painter worked her magic and created Frozen inspired faces on the children.
Mandy from Face to Face Painting by Mandy.
We used a fabulous Face painter (from Brisbane). Details can be found here.
For the water, I purchased some bottled water from the supermarket and printed the labels myself.
Firstly the invitations… I left these way too late to organise but was really happy with my choice of Elsa themed designs. The invites came with a magnet to attach on the back and envelopes, which could be purchased as well which I did to make it easier. They were also super cheap at a dollar each from here.
The decorations I kept simple and grabbed some white pom poms and ice blue snowflake inspired designs from a local discount store. I also pulled a few Christmas decorations! A little warning – because of Frozen mania it can be hard to find decorations in stores so it’s wise to look online also. Don’t even think about trying to find a star shaped cookie cutter :)
Not a great photo, but they looked really pretty.
We made sausage rolls for the kids and camembert cheese and quince paste quiches for the adults. I then added a few sweet foods including strawberries (perfect this time of year in QLD) dipped in white chocolate (frozen hearts from the movie), blue jelly cups (ice), pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate (branches with snow) and pink wafer biscuits, plain chips and blue lollies.
Food wise – I cooked with the help of my mum in advance.
There was also pop corn in cupcake cases, white chocolate melted into mini heart shaped moulds, croissants, vanilla cake pops, marshmallows and LCM bars (I was planning on making these myself but ran out of time).
The Cake I went to reliable Cake 2 The Rescue (winners in our What’s On 4 Junior Awards for 2013 and 2014) and chose the Snow Flake Princess Cake Kit. You can’t really see it but the dressed was stamped with a snow flake cutter and glitter.
I made this the day before and iced it on the day because the party was in the afternoon but I should have done it the night before to save some stress.
Everyone loved ‘Pin the Carrot on Olaf’. I printed it in poster size at Office Works for $6 and this included 2 sheets of the noses.
Pass the parcel was really simple – I wrapped up a pack of miniature bubbles (from Coles) with wrapping paper and my daughter stuck a few stickers on top.
The bubble blowing then became an activity with Frozen music.
We had ice cube races (egg and spoon style), where I froze blue coloured water and glitter in ice cube trays.
We then went outside to play with ‘snow’ – shaving cream with a few drops of blue dye and a glitter shaker and made some gloop as well. This was a very popular activity.
This is obviously a messy activity so have some warm soapy water and a towel ready.
For the party thank you gifts, I doubled the recipes of Play dough (on the cream of tarter container), added some blue dye and glitter and rolled it into 15 balls with an extra sprinkle of glitter on top. These then went into plastic gift bags with a silver tie from a discount store for $2. I then printed the sign on my computer and added it into a frame I already had saying “Thank You Snow Much” – cute :)
For more Frozen inspiration follow our page on Pinterest here.
For kids parties I love to put on simple, colourful and fun party foods. Here are 12 awesome party food ideas that are easy to make, look great and are sure to be a hit with little party goers. Full tutorials available by following the links below.
1. Ham and Cheese Ribbons from Landolakes. Such a simple idea with basic kid friendly foods but a fun way to prepare and serve. 2. Hawaiian Pizza Pops from Taste.com.au. Mini pizza scrolls are always a hit with kids and adding them to a stick adds a little more fun. 3. Vegetable & Chicken Sausage Rolls from Kidspot.co.nz. Sausage rolls are always a great party snack. 4. Monster Party Sandwiches from My Own Road. I think its great to offer sandwiches at kids parties and themeing them is the perfect way to fancy up a simple food.
5. Strawberry Pancake Stacks from Party Ideas. These little stacks are adorable & look super yummy! Adding themed cupcake toppers is also a great way to bring in your party theme. 6. Meringue Mushrooms from Party Ideas. So simple & so adorable! Perfect for fairy or woodland parties. 7. Orange Jelly Wedges from Tablespoon. A fun and unique way to offer jelly at your parties. I always find jelly a huge hit at kids parties. 8. Teddy Race Cars from Piece of Cake Parties& Celebrations. These teddy race cars are easy to make & great for the kids to help prepare. A cute and fun party sweet.
9. Fruit Kebabs from Sippy Cup Mom. A fun way to display fruit at your party. Use mini cutters to cut out various shapes before putting on your skewers. 10. Chocolate Covered Oreos from Easy Baked. These look amazing and would be super yummy. 11. Home made marshmallows from Little Pink Cake. Easy to make and can be made in various colours to suit your party theme. Also could look great cut into different shapes using cutters. 12. Banana Split Mini Bites from Bakers Royale. These are adorable and would be perfect for Ice Cream or Circus parties. Whats your favourite kids party foods ? Feel free to tell us your party favourites in the comments below, we love to hear from you. Kate xx
Hands up who has ever shed a few tears over birthday cake decorating ? (I doubt I am alone haha) I think for a lot of parents (myself included), birthday cake decorating can be one of the most stressful parts of birthday party preparation. I think most of us have probably spent a late night or two frantically trying to finish a 'masterpiece' (and most likely cursing said master piece) wondering how on earth a task seemingly as simple as icing a sponge cake can be so difficult and why oh why did we leave the cake decorating until the night before! So I thought I would put together some cakes that are easy to create but still look fun & fantastic and are sure to please little party guests. There are recipes and tutorials included in the links making it nice and easy (and hopefully less stressful) for you to recreate these gorgeous cakes for your little ones! If you give any of these fun cakes a try, we would love to see your efforts. Please feel free to share with us, we love to hear from you :)
Farmyard Cake. I am a HUGE fan of the basic farm yard cake. I remember in our childhood Women's Weekly Cake Book there is a section at the back with different style Farm cakes. So easy but very fun and effective. This cute cake from Taste.com.au
The Kit Kat Cake. Cake and Chocolate, always a winner!
This Construction cake looks awesome and nice and easy to decorate. Milo, malteasers & honeycomb, can anyone say YUM! This cake from Petticoats & Peplums.
This is one of the best kids cake ideas I have come across. Cover your cake in white fondant and let the birthday child decorate with food pens. We planned on doing this for my sons Art party last year though he changed his mind on theme at the last minute. Definitely one year I will be doing this! This cake from Sweetapolita.
Pretty pink icing and sprinkles, so simple but so pretty! Another gorgeous cake from Sweetapolita.
The 'Naked' cake. Layer your cake and ice simply on top and add some fun toppers.
This cake from Delia Creates. (includes tutorial to make these sparkly toppers as well.)
The Rainbow layer cake. Make the inside of your cake the highlight and just frost with plain icing.
Hi There :) My lovely friend Tara from Gluten Free Hart made some amazing meringues not too long ago and she has been kind enough to let me share her recipe with you all today. Meringues are an absolute winner in my household and they are a yummy and fun party food. What I also love is that they can be made completely gluten free (with no comprimise in taste) which is great for all of us who need to cater for children with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance as it can often be tricky to find yummy sweets for parties that are gluten free.
Ingredients 4 egg whites (eggs must be at room temperature) Pinch of salt 1 cup caster sugar 2 teaspoons gluten free cornflour 1 teaspoon white vinegar Sprinkles/100's & 1000's if desired
Pre-heat your oven to 100°C
Method Make sure your mixing bowl is clean. Any trace of fat can bring your meringue merriment to a screeching halt. Using an electric mixer, beat your egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar. Beat until mixture becomes glossy and all of the sugar has dissolved. If you rub a little between your thumb and forefinger and the mix is no longer gritty, you're good to go. At this point, add cornflour, vinegar & any colour preference (mix until just combined).
Use a piping bag with a wide star tip to create your meringues. Aim for about 4-5 cm diameter and allow space between each on a lined baking tray. You can sprinkle 100 & 1000's on the tops if desired (remember if you are needing gluten free to check your sprinkles as some brands do contain gluten.)
Bake for 2 hours until meringues have a hardened shell and sound hollow when gently tapped on the bottom.
Now for the hard part. The waiting.. Turn your oven off and allow meringues to cool for a couple of hours. I stick a wooden spoon in the door so it remains ajar whilst meringues are cooling.
Well done! You made it. ENJOY! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can read Tara's full article here, it's full of laughs :) I also highly recommend Tara's Blog Gluten Free Hart for anyone who needs a gluten free lifestyle as there are lots of great recipes and other tips available. Thanks Tara for letting me share your yummy recipe! Enjoy. Kate xx
Hi, I'm Kate your Whats on 4 Kids Parties ~ blogger! I live in Perth ,WA with my husband & our 3 little ones. I also own & operate online party store 'Piece of Cake Parties & Celebrations'. Welcome to our 'Party Fun for Little Ones' blog, here is a place you will find lots of fun party planning ideas, tips & lots of inspiration :)
