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 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- Food

The food at the party is always looked forward to by the children! The time in which they can stuff their faces with their favourite treats and snacks. However to make your little one's party even more special and memorable, be creative and change the food to make it fit in with the pirate theme! Even if its something simple such as putting little flag skewers into the party sausages, everyone is sure to love it- these are pictured to the right..

The Hot Seadogs!

Secondly, similarly to the sausages and the flag picks, why not re-create a pirate ship from a hot dog and the same sort of idea. Simply use straws to poke through the sausages and cut out 10-15 black cards and stick a pirate sign onto it. As you can see from the picture to the left, it resembles a pirate ship- the kids will certainly be drawn to this tasty treat during the party food! 

The Treasure Chest 
Another idea, to not only add a easy treat to the party, but also a relatively healthy one is this little creative masterpiece! The wooden chest really does fit in with the theme of pirates, and simply fill it with either sweets to resemble treasure or fruit such as strawberries and raspberries! Furthermore decorate marshmallows by drawing pirate faces onto them and decorate with sugar icing to make them look even more spectacular!


If your not feeling too creative, why not buy some salty snacks- Ahoy!

• ‘Pizzas’ of Eight: let the rascals have fun making or decorating their own pizzas
• Fish fingers/chicken ‘gold’ nuggets with little buckets of dip
• Hula hoop gold rings
• Cherry tomato cannonballs (warning: these may be launched at passing enemy ships…)
• Sandwiches cut into shark fins, palm trees
• Crossbones: bake a batch of sticky-glazed ribs in the oven (and provide PLENTY of kitchen paper)

And for the sweet snacks

• Orange segment ‘boats’ with pirate flags in. Or set jelly in hollow orange halves and slice into segments when set.
• Skewers of fruit and veg
• Chocolate coins
• Chocolate wafer scrolls
• A hollowed-out watermelon galleon filled with a fruit salad
• Buried treasure jellies: set little pirate tubs of jelly with fruit goodies or a chocolate coin at the bottom for kids to find

I hope this has given you some inspiration on foods to have at your little'uns pirate party! Be sure to check out more blogs giving you tips about this particular theme

Thankyou

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 :)

Theme 2: The Pirate Party - Invitations

Carrying on from my recent blogs, I want to introduce my 
second theme which is distinctively different to the Fairy Party. This party theme is perfect for your child's party (mainly the boys!) , of course it can only be the Pirate Party.
From walking the plank, (not literally) to pinning the patch on the pirate, the children are sure to have a fun packed and unforgettable time- so get planning!

I am going to start from the beginning and my upcoming blogs will help you plan the perfect pirate party, but today I am going to talk you through the all important invitations. 


Pirate Invitation

1) My idea fits very well with the theme but also contains a rather fun element to it too- when I think of Pirates I often think of treasure and treasure maps which is I believe can be fitted in to the invitation.

2)To make the map, just use a blank marker to draw some white copy paper. Have some fun and keep it loose and graphic. Make a big island with jagged shores. 

3) Put a giant 'X' to mark the spot of the party whilst adding to it the address of where the party is going to be held. 

4) Make a bold, curving, dashed line for a path around the island and put several obstacles or landmarks along the way, each one giving a clue to the party ( time, date, whether its fancy dress or not, etc)

What to include in the invitation

• The Date
• The Venue
• The times of the party 
• Dress Code
• Theme ( You could introduce the party as  Pirates of the Carribean themed)
• RSVP

Similarly to my tips posted in the Fairy Invitations Post, I always think that adding a sentence that will go along with the theme adds a little fun to the invite! Some examples are below...

- You could use Pirate language such as 'Ahoy Mates' 

- 'aarrrrggghh you ready to have a good time mateys?'

- Call your guest lists 'ship mates'

To be more creative, how about some rhymes...

-'You are invited to an afternoon of fun, for this little pirate is turning one!'

-'Aidan is turning five years old!  And in his backyard there is a treasure I’m told, so on (June 14^th,) he wants you to come round…and no one can leave until the treasure is found.' 

I hope this has inspired you to start planning a Pirate party for your little'un- Check out my upcoming blogs that will give you some more tips on how to create a party for your child to remember. 

You can of course contact us, (Once Upon A Time Parties) if your feeling a little lazy- we are more than happy to come entertain your child bringing along this theme! 

Thank you