Fresh ideas for fabulous children's events
Dead Man Fingers – Carrot sticks!
Looking for something quick, easy and healthy to put on the Halloween Table? Why not try our Dead Man Fingers!
To ease my parental guilt at all the sugar-laden treats on the Halloween table, we often have a tub of Dead Man Fingers lurking at the back – and surprisingly, after all the sugary treats, the kids often happily munch on them.
Why not have a look at our Facebook page for more photos of our Halloween Party?
Halloween Party Food!
The weather’s turning spooky – the southwest is due to be hit by the ‘perfect storm’. Halloween is almost upon us so we thought we’d share some of our ghostly creations for your Halloween Parties. Continue reading
We’ve heard some great news – traditional children’s parties are making a comeback! As the economic downturn tightens its grip on family finances, and the wave of popularity for home crafts rides on, more families are shunning expensive soulless party venues in favour of parent-styled children’s parties at home, or in local community facilities.
A recent survey commissioned by Buttons Children’s Parties found that nearly seven out of ten parents said they were returning to creating their own, more traditional, style of parties. So we’ve put together some top tips for holding your child’s party at home, or in a community hall.
Those balmy summer days seem so long ago now don’t they? The fluffy slipper boots that have been lurking under the bed for the past few months have been dragged out and slapped on. The wardobe of floaty summer dresses has been replaced by snuggly jumpers and winter boots. The mornings fresh with the promise of a glorious day, have made way for mornings of grey murk and the hope for a glimpse of sunshine, so we thought we’d share a few photos of our Last Days of Summer party to inspire a warm glow as you contemplate switching the heating on.
Don’t throw your pizza backing boards away
– turn them into decorative flip-flops with the kids!
There are days, particularly when we’ve all been busy at school or work, when I just need something quick and easy for the kids to eat. On days such as these, I have been know to give them *whisper* shop-bought pizza.
Often these pizzas come with a polystyrene backing board, which my local council is unable to recycle. I find these perfect little white circles quite endearing and it seems such a shame to throw them in the bin. So over several years…ahem, months I’ve collected quite a few.
I’ve recently come up with the idea to use these polystyrene discs to create delightful decorative flip-flops, complete with tread on the bottom. They’re so easy and fun to make and make a great project to do with your children, or (if like me, you have quite a few of them) this would be a lovely activity for a party.
Here’s how we made Pizza Board Flip-Flops
There’s a definite chill to the mornings over the past few days and although we are still enjoying some fabulous weather, many of us are clinging desperately to the last of the English summer.
My attempt to squeeze the last few drops of sparkling summer effervescence from these late August days has been boosted by this heavenly recipe for Coconut Banana Bread from Jenn Quillen at the rebelchick.com
It’s quite a simple equation:
Coconut + Banana + cake mix = a great big slab of golden sunshine!
Okay, so it might be more accurate to describe it as Coconut Banana Bread, and you don’t have to have a great big slab of it, but I defy you to not have a very healthy slice, or two!
I’m not a huge fan of bananas in cakes, but the addition of coconut delivers a truly delightful cake that has converted me.
Bake this while the morning is still crisp and fresh and by the time you’re itching to get out in the sun it will be ready. Slip on your flip flops, cut a slice of Coconut and Banana Bread and enjoy in the sunshine with a nice cup of tea, or something more exotic if you like…
Here’s the recipe.
You know the days, you’ve heard ‘Mummy!’ (or ‘Daddy!’) for the gazillionth time, and you fear the next utterance from your dear little one will either result in you sliding uncontrollably into snivelling, weeping mess on the floor, or your face turning a very unflattering shade of puce as you struggle to contain the bubbling pot within that is cruelly spitting and spluttering at your ‘cool mum’ persona…. Why not take a time out with a low tech option?
When irritation niggles, and your kids are pestering you to be entertained, it’s all to easy to fall into the trap of over-thinking the problem – and if you’re watching the pennies this can often result in a visit or adventure that puts further strain on your purse.
I’ve learnt though that sometimes my children just want to spend some time with me. So, at these times you could sit down and watch a film or TV show with your children, although if you’re like me the socks – it’s nearly always socks – that come dancing out of the laundry pile while you’re sitting down, can be very distracting…
Reading a book or two with the kids is a nice idea, but I’ve recently discovered an activity with a miraculous (and somewhat unexpected) benefit – Colouring
!
We’ll put the branches in later..
Looking for something fun to do with the kids? – Why not try this? Bottle ‘blossom’ printing – quick, easy, fun and a great way to use those empty tonic water bottles…
This is a fantastically simple way for even small children to create lovely artworks, a great way to entertain the kids at a party, could be a great idea for children to take home as their party gift, or use this printing technique as a very fast way of creating a backdrop for a Hawaiian Luau, or Princess theme party.
Here’s how we did ours.
Today was the first day of the school summer holidays and I had big plans for my day with Mook and Lulu – sadly, the day didn’t go quite as planned…
An emergency visit to my dentist, on-the-spot extraction of a wisdom tooth (no one was more surprised than me!), and phantom banana-muncher, all put paid to our plans for some hawaiian-style holiday fun, well some of our plans.
I’d decided we would have a go at making watermelon sea turtles and try a great new recipe for banana and coconut bread.
Understandably, after suffering a mummy who was suffering all morning, then losing a couple of hours at the dentist, all Mook and Lulu really wanted to do this afternoon was play hide-and-seek in the park. After the park, and the inevitable trip to the supermarket (or two) we eventually returned home, just before teatime, to start our holiday fun.
So, Coconut and Banana bread – we had scoured the shelves in search of the most unusual ingredient on the list – coconut oil. To my amazement, and some cost, we found it at our second supermarket. Confident we had all the other ingredients, I sent the girls to wash their hands. Wait a minute! Where were my bananas?
A phone call to hubby at work and the mystery was solved (to add insult to injury he informs me he was eating one of the stolen bananas while talking to me on the phone!).
Okay, watermelon sea turtles it is then…
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