My daughter's birthday is today, just slightly more than a week before Halloween. The timing opens up some fun possibilities for party themes. And indeed she chose to go with a Halloween theme this year, asking her friends to come to her party in costume.
We held the party on a Friday evening and I pretty much spent the entire day shopping and decorating. The kids and their dad helped out after school too. Here's the birthday girl adding washi tape flags to party straws, above.
The kids prepared the loot bags (or, in this case, loot buckets) assembly-line style.
I ordered the birthday banner, "drinks" and "treats" cards, straws and washi tape from Minted.
A Halloween theme calls for candy, of course.
I also put out some healthier snacks, like this fruit platter with banana chocolate chip ghosts and mandarin celery pumpkins. The girls loved these. I found the idea here.
It was a lot of fun to see these cute 8- and 9-year-old girls (and one brave boy) dressed up and ready to party. We started off with some Halloween crafts.
The kids made easy bloodshot eyeballs from paper plates. See the inspiration here. A small note if you buy your construction paper at the dollar store like I did - although they showed lots of colours on the exterior packaging, there were only a few colours inside. Hence, the brown and pink eyes.
They also made lollipop ghosts.
I cut up an old white sheet into squares. Then all you have to do is wrap a piece of the cloth around a Tootsie Pop, tie off the "neck" with an orange or black ribbon and draw on a face with a permanent marker. Simple and fun! Except the girls kept asking me when they could eat the lollipops. I recommended at least taking them home to show their parents first.
My girl opted for ghost-shaped cupcakes instead of cake. We overfilled the cupcake pans a bit, so they overflowed and didn't look much like ghosts. But the kids didn't seem to care. They piled on icing, gummy worms and candy topping and went to town on them.
How do you celebrate your birthday?
You go all out!! Fantastic photos and such fun decorations and refreshments. I really love this...a far cry from the birthday parties my sister had on Oct 26 back in the 50's when we played pin the stem on the pumpkin year after year!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Jeannie! The good news is we are all ready for Halloween. I think next year we are going to rent a party place for her birthday instead of staying home though. Pin the stem on the pumpkin could be fun too. Maybe not every year... ;)
DeleteJo
haaa, I'm afraid
DeleteThanks erno! :)
DeleteLove the decorations, so festive and fun!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kym! :)
DeleteWow I really love the decor! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you Natalie! I appreciate that. :)
DeleteGreat job with the decorations Joann, and so thrifty buying them after last Halloween. The birthday girl said she chose the Thai food restaurant for her birthday meal. Good choice. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI get my thriftiness from my mom. ;)
DeleteYes, we had Thai food. :)
This looks super fun. I love the idea of dressing the oranges up as pumpkins. Neat!
ReplyDeleteI think they had a good time. :) Yes, there is a wealth of ideas on the 'net for just about anything. :)
DeleteSo cute! The decorations looked great!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Laurie. :)
DeleteLove the setup! Those mandarine pumpkins are such a great idea and when you think about it, completely obvious (though I keep missing stuff like that)... I don't often celebrate my birthday, these days I just prefer to sit down with a cup of tea uninterrupted and actually get to finish it, ho ho...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I totally wouldn't think of these ideas on my own either.
DeleteOh yes, the best birthday gift is a moment of silence. ;)
You are so creative!! Bet the girls thought it was a great party!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jill. You are sweet. I hope they liked it!
DeleteWhat a fantastic party!! Love the crafts & goodies-- such cute ideas, as always!
ReplyDeleteThank you Taby!
DeleteAh yes! The good times of hosting a child's birthday party. You & the kids did a great job on the whole deal ... decorations / crafts / food ... amazing!! And now you can leave it this way till Halloween?! These days I celebrate a birthday with a dinner that someone else prepared (in a restaurant) and homemade cake & pressies back at our place. No more kid parties for me ;] Wendy
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendy! Yes, my Halloween decorating is done. Just the pumpkins to be carved, and the husband usually does that...on Halloween day. I like the birthday dinner at a restaurant (no cooking!) best too. :)
DeleteWhat a great way of making is special for your daughter. My husbands birthday was yesterday so I don't put up any Halloween stuff until we get through that so we can concentrate on his birthday... but your idea is WAY better! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margarita! I let her decide and she wanted to make it about Halloween. Convenient for us. But I imagine that it would be harder to sell that idea to a grown man. ;) Happy B-day to your husband btw!
DeleteI love it! You did an amazing job decorating :) Happy birthday to your gal!
ReplyDeletelooks like a fun halloween party!
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So memorable! Way to go, mama!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelli. If she forgets, I'll have the photos to remind her. ;)
DeleteHow fun! You guys went all out, and I'm sure it was a fantastic day for your girl! Happy birthday to her!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruthie! She loved it, but mind you she keeps thinking of more things we should do for her for her birthday. ;)
DeleteHappy Birthday to your beautiful girl, Jo!!! Please come decorate for my party! :) This couldn't be more perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Wendy! I wish I was in Florida helping you decorate for a party. ;)
DeleteThis is so creative, Joan! Happy Belated Birthday to your beautiful daughter - she's blessed to have such an amazing mother♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteThank you Maria. You are so sweet! :)
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