Have Yourself An Angry (Bird) Little Birthday

Even though my son almost never gets to play the video game Angry Birds and you can read about why here he still absolutely loves them and requested it for the theme of his birthday party this year.

Here is how we celebrate an Angry Bird birthday over at Motherhood Is An Art.

First, I made an Angry Bird cake:

I screwed up while making the cake but it ended up turning out okay. I absentmindedly forgot to set aside white frosting to dye yellow and white for the beak and eyes. I had to cut a marshmallow in half for the eyes and I used cereal for the beak. For the head and tail feathers I broke graham crackers into little rectangles, frosted them and stuck them into the sides of the cake.

Next, I created a few games for the party.

I made a poster of the different piggies and we used this for two games. I painted these piggies on freehand but if you’re not into drawing you could cut these out of a coloring book and paste them on as well.

I drew and cut out three different birds from Angry Birds and we played Pin the Angry Bird on the Piggie:

We used this same poster and laid it on the ground for Toss the Angry Bird on the Piggie. We used three plastic Angry Birds that my son already had in his room:

Next I built a life-size Angry Bird game out of various cardboard boxes and piggies made out of balloons. You had to try to knock down the piggies with a Angry Bird stuffed toy we had. The stuff toy we used is heavier than a normal stuffed toy because it has a voice box in it. I don’t know if a regular stuffed toy would have worked as well.

For the piggies I just cut out snouts and eyes from construction paper and used scotch tape to adhere them:

The last game we played had nothing to do with Angry Birds but it was one that we played at my daughter’s party when she was in Kindergarten and I thought it was a good one so I thought we should do it again. I call it Puppies and Kittys. All it requires is long strips of fabric about a yard length long. One child is designated a puppy and the rest are kitties. The ones that are kitties get a piece of the fabric stuck to the back of their shirt with masking tape and this is their tail. The puppy has to chase the kitties around and try to step on their tail to remove it. Once there tail is gone the kitty becomes a puppy too and gets to help get the other children’s tails off.

I had a fun time with the kids and I think my son really enjoyed his party!

Here are some of my other posts related to birthday parties:

Dress Me Up Barbie

Birthday Cake Extravaganza

Birthday Decoration Head Shots

Tissue Paper Party Decorations

A Glimpse Into An 8 Year Olds Birthday Party

 

 

A Glimpse Into An 8 Year Olds Birthday Party

I once had a fleeting thought that I would like to start my own business doing children’s birthday parties. After I had planned and thrown a few I thought they were the cutest things in the world! Fast forward to present day; I still absolutely love planning them and hosting them but I am completely over the notion that I would love doing this as a career. With 3 children of my own, I will have plenty of parties to keep me fulfilled!

The thing I think other parents will appreciate about the parties I throw is the fact that I keep things simple and affordable. Last year, the party I threw my daughter cost a total of $18.00 and that included lunch for 13 children. I didn’t keep track this year but I am sure it was right around the same amount.

Today I present to you my daughter Iris’s 8th birthday party:

Iris all ready for the party to begin!

The Theme Requested: Rainbows

The Cake: Rainbow

Rainbow Birthday Cake

This is a 4 layer cake made out of 2 box mixes. One was lemon cake and the other was strawberry. I made lemon curd for in between the layers. This is not necessary. Frosting or jam works just as easy. I knew I would be eating the cake as well and I thought lemon curd would taste heavenly….it did!

Decorations: I save my decorations from year after year so we have quite an assortment. I also usually make one new decoration each year.

This is pictures of Iris birth to present day except I somehow managed to forget age 4!!!

Tableware:

I made new labels for the soda bottles that said “Freshly Squeezed Rainbow Juice.” I thought I was so clever. Unfortunately, 8 year olds are so sophisticated nowadays and didn’t believe it for a minute!

Loot Bags: This is always a great topic of conversation between my friends and I. To loot bag or not to loot bag? This can be very costly even if you are shopping at the Dollar Store. However, I have chosen to go non-traditional routes. I stockpile little things whenever I see them on clearance. Think after holiday super blowouts! This year after Valentine’s Day I found huge packs of little heart boxes that had cute sayings on them like “Forever Friends.”

Games:

Pictionary: I wrote different objects on pieces of paper and each girl had to pick one and let the other girls guess what they were drawing.

playing Pictionary

All About You Memory Game: Girls this age love to talk about themselves (okay, no matter the age, girls love to talk). I asked the girls 6 different questions and they each got to answer the question. After we were done each girl got a piece of paper and had to write down how much they remembered about each person.

The questions I asked were:

Favorite food, Favorite tv show, Favorite color, Favorite place to go, Favorite hobby, Favorite school subject

playing the All About You Memory Game

Telephone: I came up with sentences and would whisper them in one of the girl’s ears. They would then have to pass it down the line and would we see how different it ended up being compared to the original sentence!

playing Telephone

Snatch: I gathered several objects from around the house (spoon, box of jello, pencil, plastic ring etc.). I spilled the contents onto the floor. Each girl took turns taking one object away while the other girls closed their eyes. They then had to guess which item was missing.

playing Snatch

Ha! Ha!: Form a circle. One girl has to say, “Ha!” the next girl has to say, “Ha-Ha.” Repeat this around the circle. The catch is that no one can laugh. If someone laughs that have to get out of the circle and make silly faces or dance around trying to get the other girls still in the circle to laugh!

playing Ha-Ha

After all of the games we had cake:

Singing Happy Birthday!

eating cake

After cake we opened presents:

opening presents

It was a wonderful party and I think all of the girls had fun! Iris said she had an excellent time!

Iris and her brother Bency!

I look like I’m ready for a nap!

Iris trying to steal a Skittle off of her cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress Me Up Barbie

I spend about a month planning my kids’ birthday parties. It’s always quite an event at our house! I love having the parties but I get stressed out working out all the details between the cake, food, games and loot bags. I feel like we’ve played every game ever known in childhood history so coming up with something new is always a brainstorm marathon. This year when I was planning my daughter, Iris’s, 7th birthday party she requested, “Pin the Tiara on Barbie.” Her party theme was Barbie but the previous year was a Princess and Pirate theme and we had, “Pin the Crown on the Princess and Eye Patch on the Pirate.” I think every birthday we have had, we have pinned “something on to something” so I felt her suggestion was a bit redundant but it gave me an idea…I made “Dress-Up Barbie.”

For this, I simply bought a piece of poster board and drew a Barbie on it. I painted a Barbie with a swimsuit on and then drew some clothes and accessories for her. My daughter cut out and colored all the clothes for me. Each child at the party was blindfolded and assigned a different article of clothing or accessory to attach to Barbie. It was a fun game and the biggest bonus of all…Iris has been able to continue playing with it and making new clothes for her as well!

I can’t wait to find out what we’re going to be pinning to next year!

Dress Me Up Barbie

After the girls put the clothes on!

Princess and Pirate game from last year