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According to Jamie Hobbs, the author of Planning a Twilight Birthday Party Alice threw a great birthday party for Bella and you can use that for inspiration when panning your teen’s birthday party with a Twilight theme.
Twilight Themed Party
The genius behind the Jamie’s Twilight birthday party planning method is that it involves the cooperation of your daughter’s friends. Recruit her best friends to do the dirty work, so that you can be sure not to do anything dorky.
Twilight Party Favors
Online party supply vendors have jumped on the bandwagon offering several Twilight themed posters, tablecloths, napkins, plates and other birthday party supplies. They should be easy to find online and at your local party supply store.
Twilight Invitations
You can use the book covers for inspiration, PhotoShop your daughter into screenshots from the movie or check Jamie’s article for additional suggestions.
Twilight Party Games
In Twilight, the presence of any birthday party games were overshadowed by the overwhelming distraction, first of a paper-cut and then a gushing bloody broken-vase injury. Be sure to plan safe games and offer up good prizes. Teens like Starbucks gift cards, art supplies and of course, Twilight items. You can probably find key chains, bookmarks and other accessories fairly easily. Order in bulk online and save money.
And, if I haven’t mentioned it, check out Planning a Twilight Birthday Party by Jamie Hobbs and Twilight Birthday Cakes.
We buy party supplies and other birthday party stuff on clearance all year long, but if I don’t watch it, we’ll end up using it before the next birthday. We had some Cinderella napkins that I got for ten cents, with the intention of using them for birthdays. I should have saved them, but the kids were so excited to see them that I ended up using them just to use.
That was nice and all, I don’t regret it, we just ended up getting more and it wasn’t a big deal, but if I let that happen all the time, then having the printed napkins at the party wouldn’t be very exciting. They’d be jaded.
Where to put the Birthday Party Stuff?
So I have a box in my laundry room, a rubbermaid storage box where I toss birthday party stuff. Halloween was about 2 weeks ago and I just got a a TON of candy that we can use in pinatas, for a very very low price. I also got a bunch of colored frosting tubes. They’re in a 4 pack of green, orange, purple and black so I doubt all 4 of them would be used at once, but every little bit counts, especially when you consider that the original price was 5.99 and I paid 32 cents.
Be sure to check out some of my sponsors for discount birthday party stuff for every party theme you can imagine.
If you’re planning a kids Xmas Party, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got Xmas party invitations, decorations, foods and beverages as well as xmas party games and even music. Here are a few ideas for planning a xmas party
Xmas Party Invitations
- Use green construction paper to make an xmas tree invitation that opens in the center. Just fold a piece of construction paper in half, then open it up and fold each half inward. Lay a Christmas tree stencil on top of the paper or draw your own
- Make a snowman invitation by cutting a snowman from card stock and writing the pertinent party information on the backside.
- Make a Christmas stocking with a real pocket that opens. Write the party info on a cut-out candy cane and stick it in the pocket for a 3d xmas party invitation
Xmas Party Decorations
- Soak horse chestnuts in water and string them up for an old-fashioned nut garland.
- collect fresh scented pine branches and needles from the Xmas tree lot and use them in potpourri blends or sprinkle them on the tables for decoration
- Re-purpose tree decorations to make an Xmas centerpiece
- Remove all the pictures from your walls and wrap them in gift wrap, with a ribbon.
- use twinkling white lights as interior decor, not just on the tree, for a magical feel.
For more artsy Xmas activities, check ArtsyFartsyFamily.com
Xmas Party Foods
- Christmas sugar cookies make excellent party decor
- Star fruit looks pretty and Christmas-y, if you have access to it.
- Divinity or Russian Tea Cakes look like snowballs
- A sprig of rosemary on top of savory dishes looks Christmas-y, especially when paired with fresh cranberries
- Traditional holiday foods like Turkey and stuffing are favorites during the holidays. Serve them at your Xmas party to share the seasonw ith everyone
Xmas Party Games
- A marshmallow snowball fight is fun for kids and grown-ups.
- Have a build-an-igloo contest with toothpicks and marshmallows. Kids can work in teams or individually
- A pin-the-star-on-the-tree poster makes a fun game for smaller kids
Xmas Party Good Deeds
- Consider asking each guest to bring a gift for a family you’re sponsoring
- A white-elephant gift exchange is also fun. Make sure each guest brings something they already have at home, or something that costs less than $5
  
I am so proud of myself- I made the coolest balloon archway for the entrance to the bubble party. I had a lot of clear balloons floating around everywhere, and I made giant play bubble wands with cardboard (it was so easy) the kids had a great time. I thought it was going to be easy to figure out, i had some nylon ribbon and I was just tying the balloons to it, but they were awkward and didn’t sit right and it was taking forever because I was using directions I’d found on like wikiHow or something. So then I downloaded the Balloon Decor Secrets ebook and it was so much easier. Plus, she has so many ideas for different balloon things you can make. The book is intended to help you make a business of balloon things. i imagine if you already had a catering company or a florist company, adding balloon stuff would be a good way to make more money with catering or with flower arrangements- wedding planning, party planning, etc. But the eBook is priced low enough that even I (the lady with 6 kids) could afford it.
Since the parties I plan are all for kids, I like to do finger foods. You just can’t make a room full of 6-year-olds wash their hands every 2 seconds, especially with only one bathroom. Here’s a list of our favorite finger foods to serve at parties
Deviled Eggs
– These go really quickly. for our recent Princess Party, i added green food coloring to the yolks and called them “Deviled Dragon Eggs” If I had thought about it ahead of time, I would have soaked the egg whites in purple food coloring, but it’s too late now. A sprinkle of paprika over the top of the whites makes them spotted.
Finger Sandwiches
– I usually use a slice of wheat and a slice of white because I absolutely hate the texture of white bread. Our most common filling is a blend of cream cheese and strawberry jelly. We also blend peanut butter & apple butter. Hummus and cucumber works well, as does cream cheese with dill and cucumbers. Ham and swiss is popular, too. I cut off the crust and cut each sandwich into thirds
Teeny Piggies
- Cut a crescent roll into thirds and wrap each wedge around a vienna sausage, then bake until the bread is cooked. I use hot sausages and have no idea what oven temp, I just check them every few minutes until they’re done. Sometimes I place a diced piece of cheese on top and press the toothpick through both. The cheese melts a little, it’s tasty.
I found these sites helpful, Finger Food Recipes and Finger Foods from Good Housekeeping
Your party favors will generally be something that matches your party theme and that your guests take home to enjoy. They don’t need to be expensive, they just need to extend the theme of the party, and give the kids something to do later.
Food favors are fun, you can place a packet of hot cocoa into a coffee mug and fill the rest with mini marshmallows. I don’t know about you but my kids just LOVE having their own mugs.
An old-fashioned backyard party is good because you don’t have to focus on any specific theme, you can just get party favors that are FUN- so any little puzzles, a jumprope, a ball or a badminton set make fine party favors.
Can I confess. I’m not really the party planner, it’s my second daughter. When she was 8 she planned the most adorable birthday party all by herself. I was working way too many hours and simply didn’t have the time, energy or temperament to help her out. It wasn’t a great time in my mommy-life, I missed the kids so much.
That’s another story.
Anyway, she planned a party called “Camp Basement.”
She reconstructed our basement to look like a campground. She used several blue blankets to make a river. She borrowed several fake Christmas trees to make a forest (and hide the “basement stuff) and placed stuffed animals all over the place. There were beavers building a dam of blocks, birds in the trees, raccoons hiding under the bbq (yep- she brought the BBQ downstairs) they had beverages in the cooler and even clouds in the sky. She pitched a tent and placed a room heater into a circle of stones for a firepit.
As if all of this wasn’t cool enough, she made each of her friends a “Camp Basement” Tshirt to wear for the party. She pulled a few solid colored shirts from her own collection and wrote on them with permanent Sharpie markers.
They ate hot dogs & chips, then s’mores, they told ghost stories around the campfire and sang camp songs.
It was an amazing party, and she was so proud. So was I 
You can make Hello Kitty Invitations, or buy them. Amazon has 8 packs of Hello Kitty Invitations , as well as the Hello Kitty Notecard Portfolio Invitations and finally the Easy Invitation Design Program .
Making a scavenger hunt is a systematic process. Even if you don’t want to use a software program to design a scavenger hunt, you can still make a fantastic hunt activity. Nikki from Scavenger Hunt Party Games has developed a system for planning scavenger hunts that makes it foolproof, and workable for all age groups. She’s had a great amount of success with her system and it’s really easy to follow. I like that she understands what a challenge it can be to plan a party and makes the scavenger hunt program so easy to use. I also like that when we plan scavenger hunts the kids aren’t being shuffled from one activity to another, and it holds the interest of even the teenagers.
I’ll never forget the year we sent out invitations without the actual time of the party. Truthfully, we hadn’t thought about it. We chose a theme, then picked a day. For us, the party would last all day long. We’d be setting up, preparing food, entertaining guests and then cleaning up. The guests, however, would only be there for a portion of our busy day and everyone wanted to know “when?”
It was a silly oversight, but a lesson was learned.
Never forget the Five W’s of Birthday Party Invitations
Who – whose party is this?
What – what are we celebrating? A fifth birthday? A sweet sixteen?
When- When is the party, include the date as well as the start and end-time.
Where – If all your guests will understand “our house” that’s fine, but for other locations, or for guests who haven’t been to your house, you might want to print a little google map
Why- give them a little sampling of the activities you’ve planned, by mentioning the pinata, the clown you’ve hired or the messy fun you’ll be having. This helps guests know what to wear and what to expect, and builds excitement.
I strongly feel that the effor thtat goes into makign homemade birthday party invitations is worth it, because people are more likely to come to a party when they can see the love and attention you put into the invitations. If the invitations are this good, imagine what the rest of the party will be like.
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For less than the cost of a bakery cake…  Frosted Dreams is cool enough on its own, but even better with my fondant recipe
FREE RECIPE:
My Amazing Birthday Cake Fondant Recipe seriously, it's so yummy and sometimes I make it JUST to eat. |
