The Pirate Party - Fun Craft Ideas!

If you are hosting a Pirate Party for your little ones big day, a great activity to keep the guests entertained is crafts!  Not only does it let everyone get involved, children of all ages, boys and girls, get to take home something they are proud of, and add a competition for the 'most sparkling treasure chest', or for the 'ugliest pirate mask' are fun and light hearted.  Read on for some fab ideas:

Homemade Treasure Chest

• You will need: paint, craft glue, egg cartons, beads, sequins, coloured feathers, novelty jewellery,  gold chocolate coins
• Give each child an egg carton and tell them to paint their pirate treasure chest! You could try doing this at the beginning of the party while guests are still arriving as an ice breaker, and to allow time for the cartons to dry while you run other activities.
• After the egg cartons are dry, tell the children to decorate and fill up their treasure chest! Stick gold coins, novelty necklaces and rings, feathers, sequins and sparkles to make it as tantalising as possible!
• Put the finished treasure chests on display for the children to proudly show off their creativity!

Pirate Mask 

• You will need: paper plates, craft paint, stick on goggley eyes, felt tip pens, material for a bandana, craft glue, stick on eyebrows, glitter pens, sequins, thick cardboard cut into rectangles (to make into handles)
• Give each child a paper plate and tell them they are going to make a pirate face! They can opt for ugly, scary, funny, silly or even a pretty pirate and they can use the items supplied.  This will keep them well amused but parents will have to be on stand by to help with the tricky bits such as sticking on material bandanas and cutting things out.
• Once all the children have finished their masks, award the best (or worst!) ones with a prize!
• Get the children all together to take some hilarious snaps of them holding their masks in front of their faces.

** If you are planning a Pirate Party for your child's next Birthday Party and live in London, Hampshire or Surrey, contact www.onceuponatimeparties-london.co.uk and we will do are best to get one of our Pirate friends to sail to your venue and teach some new Pirates how to have fun!!

info@onceuponatimeparties-london.co.uk

Or call Emma on 07969 841770

The Pirate Party - Decoration Ideas!

One of the most fun parts of a Kid's Birthday Party is decorating the venue to match the theme! Now is not the time for subtlety and a Pirate theme is one of the best for decorating! Think underwater, think pirate flags and of course, pirate ship!

A simple way to transform the venue to a Pirate wonderland is to hang blue and silver steamers from the ceiling of the room and to drape blue ribbon or crepe paper along the ceiling to make the waves of the sea.  Try hanging blue balloons from the ceiling and even some cut out and painted fish, octopus and other underwater creatures! Getting the children involved will make the party even more special to them and they will be sure to enjoy painting fish and hanging them up!

Next, hang skull and cross bone flags on the walls - you can pick these up from any good fancy dress or party store - to bring the theme to life!

At the main table, cover it in a green table cloth and a fun idea is to fill a treasure chest with sweets and other goodies and make this the centrepiece.  Place chocolate coins on the table and around the table, think about adding some cut out palm trees to make this area into 'land'.

Try adding nets to the table and make sure to use pirate bunting and lots of stripes to decorate in a pirate style!!

I hope that this gives you a few ideas to get started with the Pirate theme! Keep on reading for lots more ideas on decorations, cakes, food, games, crafts and take home gifts in the Pirate theme!!

Don't forget - if you are planning a child's party please contact us at Once Upon A Time Parties for entertainers and party planning services...

www.onceuponatimeparties-london.co.uk

Thanks for reading :)

The Fairy Party- Makeover

Every little girl wants to grow up fast, start wearing make up and girly clothes.. so why not give them a taste of this with a fairy makeover during the party? 

The party girl would go first of course and get her hair and make up done whilst the other children are occupied with food, music and games. To reduce costs you could always ask the children to come in fancy dress (Fairy outfits) and highlight that whichever child has the prettiest fairy costume will win a small prize. 

            The Fairy Makeover could consist of a catwalk, where at the end of the party all of the children walk down the 'magical catwalk' wearing the outfits that they came in but with their hair and make up styled. The winner again will win a small prize! The children would be sure to love this fun and friendly competition with their friends. 

Now to the important part- the Makeover itself

*Pop down to your local Claire's accessories and buy some  sparkly eyeshadows, glitter, glittery mascaras and some lipgloss- Maybe even some face paint too!

             * As shown in the picture to the right you could use your face paint to create patterns such as this butterfly with bright, girly colours such as pinks and whites. This will sure to make the girls feel more fairy- like and pretty! 

            *You can ask the girls what colours they would like when doing their make up such as pink eyeshadow or blue glittery mascara! After all they will want to look the best fairy there!

Finally, when applying hairstyles on the little ones, make sure you have a relatively quick and easy style, but also one that is comfortable for the children.  Whether they want a plait, left down or up in a bun you can always make them look even more fabulous with decorative headbands such as the ones in the pictures below! 

 I hope that you find the tips on this blog helpful and will apply them to your own littles one's party! Or if you want OnceUponATimeParties to do it, we are sure to include them in our hour long parties! Book now for our special deal of £99

My Top 5 Fairy Cakes

On a horrible rainy day, what is better than looking at some very impressive Fairy Cakes in which you can take a lot of inspiration from when planning your little one's party? A Fairy party isn't all about the savoury snacks, the sausage rolls and crisps, so why not have a go at making a cake to make your child's day even more special. My top 5 cakes might look extremely complicated, but why not have a go at something more simple, you don't need advanced culinary skills- all you need is some creativity and a little spare time. 

At number 5 we have this showstopper- 

What would please your little girl more than having a birthday cake themed like a fairy castle? This cake really caught my eye- the different sized layers and the detailed decorating is more than impressive- However, if you want to re- create this why not try a more simple version but keep the idea of a fairy castle! Some different coloured icing and some edible fairies will more than likely put a huge smile upon your little angel's face!

This next cake certainly made me hungry! At number 4, check this out...

This woodland style cake decorated with edible flowers and a detailed icing patterned around it would definitely impress the children and parents at the party!  Named the Flower Pot Fairy Cake, this cake is made up of red velvet layers with a cream cheese icing- sounds tasty doesn't it? Take some inspiration and try it out yourself!

At number 3 is this masterpiece..

This is the Garden Fairy Cake decorated with pink and green to reinforce the idea of fairies and the woodland! It's not only stunning looking, but also looks incredibly nice to eat. If you don't believe you could even attempt to re-do this, why not book one to be delivered for your little ones party? Or even use Once Upon A Time Parties to business to bring along one similar at a special request?

Number 2 really is an impressive Fairy Cake!

This is one impressive piece of work and whoever has made this certainly is a culinary genius! However, don't give up without even trying- why not invent a cake that is based on a Fairy book theme but a little easier? Your child would absolutely love this magical idea! I had to put this at number 2- it really is very eye catching, it doesn't even look like a cake, don't you agree?

My number 1 may surprise you a little, but it's something you party planners may find a little easier- but it still looks a treat!

An alternative to the large fairy cakes, these small cupcakes are easy to eat and take a little less time and effort. One for every child at the party- they will love to choose which fairy belongs to them! Make sure you include the magical fairy wands and maybe even add some edible glitter too! May not be the most healthiest treat, but who cares! Your little one will only have this Fairy Party once, make it special and one to remember.

The Fairy Party - Take Home Gift

After all the carefully worded invites, the tastefully decorated party venue, the (hopefully) tastier food and the entertainment itself there is just one more hurdle to cross - the take home gift!

Now it is very very easy to go to a local party or pound store and stock up on plastic yoyo's, toys and other 5 minute wonders, but why not finish off the party in style with some of my top fairy party take home gifts:

1) Pop to your local Claire's accessories and pick out some child friendly pretty pastel nail polishes for each of the children.  Add to this a homemade glitter dust vial and this is a fantastically fairy way to polish off the party!  (Tip: See my earlier blog post on how to make a glitter dust pouch!)

2) For a magical way to end the party, give each child some fairy wings and a wand to take home!

3) For a really personalised memory of the day, take a picture of each guest with the birthday child when they arrive at the party (or a big group one!) and get them developed whilst the party is taking place.  Put each one in a pink or sparkly photo frame and send them home with a lasting memory.

4) Another personalised present, as well as a great way to get the birthday child involved prior to the party, is to make homemade jewellery.

• You will need the following: ribbon or thread, beads with letters, colourful beads.
• Simply pierce the beads through the ribbon or thread to spell the name of each guest. Be sure to add pretty coloured and shaped beads and gems to the bracelet and tie a know at each end to secure the beads.  Ensure that there is enough ribbon / thread left over to tie the bracelet into a bow on the child's wrist.

5) Send home each child with a fairy book (Flower Fairies, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan etc). You can find many great deals on websites such as amazon, and the parents will be grateful that you are not sending them home with a bag of 'E' numbers but a good excuse for a lovely bed time story.

I hope you will find these take home gift ideas useful and I would love to hear some of your ideas to!

Please keep reading my blog as the next theme I am going to cover is Pirate and Mermaid Parties! 

Once Upon A Time Parties x

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The Fairy Party - Decorations

Hello Readers!

You have come to the right place for so more fantastically frivolous fancy fairy party ideas!  Today's blog is following on from the all important invitation to home-made decorations that are kid friendly so I hope it gives you some inspiration...

It doesn't have to cost a wing and a wand to create some beautiful decorations for the fairy party theme.  To make the venue look like a fairy kingdom, the first step is to choose a colour theme and stick with it.  Popular colours are pastel pink, lilac and cream and try these ideas:

- Buy ribbon in your chosen colour choice, cut the ribbon into streamers and hang around the venue.  To brighten up the outside area hang them on trees to create a magical effect when the wind blows them softly in the breeze.
- Recycle twinkly lights that you use at Christmas time and decorate your venue with a splash of sparkle
- Should the party fall in Autumn, get your child(ren) to collect leaves that have fallen off trees and spread these around the side of the main space.  Place gems, or other sparkly trinkets onto the leaves to make a magical fairy garden.
- Cut out cardboard shapes into toadstools, trees, castle shapes and stars and paint them to create a fantastic backdrop for the party.  The children will love this task!
- Spread glitter and artificial flowers across the main table
- Use household items such as chintzy cups and saucers and side plates to decorate the table. Add ribbon bows to create a party atmosphere.
- Invest in some bunting - perfect for a fairy party and reusable at lots of events and occasions.  Hang on the table, around a tree, pin to the wall... the choices are endless!
- Or make your own bunting! Follow my tips to create REALLY easy bunting perfect for a boho fairy party:

Easy Bunting

You will need:
 - Thin rope
 - Clothes pegs
 - Photos / flowers / postcards

To do this:

 - Cut a long piece of the thin rope
 - Let your child pick out some pretty postcards, artificial flowers or photos in a fairy theme or of the guests attending the party
 - Using the clothes pegs, attach the materials you choose to the thin rope
 - Use pins or knots to tie or hang the bunting

Top tip: The bunting will look best if the pictures are of a similar size and colour scheme with dashes of colour using flowers.