Hello again readers...

Hello my lovely readers of all things sparkly, lovely and celebratory!

It has been a while since I last posted on here as I have been a very busy fairy indeed bringing entertainment to kid's parties in London, Hertfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire but I promise that I will be making regular blogs about how to make the most of your child's birthday party.

As a gift to my readers, I am also offering a 15% discount on all parties!

If you are planning a magical party for your little ones big day with interactive games, themed entertainers, singing, dancing, and lots of fun is what you are looking for then look no further than Once Upon A Time Parties! 

Very experienced entertainers will take over the party and entertain the children for up to two hours and will include the following:

- An entertainer in full costume
- Theme (princess, fairy, pirate and more!)
- Dancing
- Themed games
- Music and music player
- Prizes for every child
- GIft for the birthday child
- Sweets
- Glitter Makeover

Other Information

Once Upon A Time Parties is available on weekends and some weekdays through the entire year. Please contact us for particular dates you are interested in. As we get very busy, it is advisable that you book an entertainer at least two weeks in advance although we do sometimes have an entertainer available at short notice.

We cater for children from 3 - 10 years old. It is advised that the maximum number of children per party is 25, but please do contact us for more information.

To make the day as stress free as possible for you, we come to the location of your choice either before the party or we are also able to make a surprise entrance! If you need any advice on local venues to you please ask although a party at home is ideal or even in the garden!

For more information please check out www.onceuponatimeparties-london.co.uk or contact Emma on 07969 841770.

The Fairy Party - Cupcake Competition

After all the initial excitement of arriving to the party, why not let the children have some calm time (and some time for the parents to sit back and relax) by allowing them to bring out their creative sides! Decorating already baked cupcakes is not only fun for the children but they also get the pleasure of tucking into their masterpieces after making them! 

Furthermore, you can make this little party activity a fun and friendly competition by offering a prize to the best cake decorator! 

Getting prepared...

*Pop down to a nearby shop (Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys) and find your way to the cake and bakery aisle! 

*Buy decorative icing that the children can easily squirt onto the firm cupcakes

*To keep in with the Fairy theme, look for all things sparkly, such as edible glitter, hundreds and thousands, and of course, everyones favourite, silver balls! 

Allow the children to get messy and have some fun with this activity- it is a chance for them to explore their creative side!

Give the children some ideas when decorating such as making pictures such as the letter of their first name (E for Emma) or a love heart, flower and any other simple patterns. 

Maybe even provide them with little aprons so they don't ruin their fairy outfits. You never know this may inspire them to become little chefs when they grow up! 

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

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

www.onceuponatimeparties-london.co.uk

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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.