Paw Patrol Party

Hello again... It's been a while since my last party post...I have decided to do an update on the parties that I have organised for the children of our family by starting from my nephew's third birthday party!

The list of children that were invited was long (we were of course in a post-coronavirus era) and that is why my sister decided to book a playground. In effect, the "canvas' for my party decoration was not what one would call a "blank" one!!! There were colours everywhere, inflatable toys, popcorn machines... everything that a proper playground consists of. So, I had to keep the theme clear and minimal.  But since my nephew asked for a Paw Patrol party... I found myself in a rather difficult situation!!! 

And that is because the Paw Patrol members make a pretty colourful team! In order to soothe the rainbow effect of the theme I had to stick with the two basic colours of the Paw Patrol logo -red and blue- and ensure that no other colour would pop out!

I had a budget of 200 euros. The space was huge and I would have to go way above budget in order to make it theme-related... So, I decided to concentrate in three main areas -that of the buffet, the photo-booth and the party gift tables. The rest of the venue would be filled with red and blue balloons.

Another limitation was that of time. I had only a couple of hours to prepare and that is why I had to pick only a few, easily transferable and placable items hoping that they would make a big statement. 

Taking into account all these parameters I think the end-result was quite decent! My nephew was so so very happy and all the children had a great time! At the end of the day colours and decorations are nothing if they do not produce the joy that they are designed to produce! And vice versa, if a moderate decoration is capable of generating such a happy, smiling face then it is a totally successful one!

Pastel Jungle Party: My baby boy's 2nd birthday

Well, Gregory is 4 years old by now! I am not going to apologise (again) for the huge gap between the actual event and the posting time! I have to accept that this is how it is going to be, from now on! This is how my life's priorities are and this is the only way in which my blog can be at this period of time!

So now, Gregory's second birthday party was custom made according to his wishes! He wanted a rhino-hippo-elephant party with a bit of tiger-zebra-girraffe flavour! He also specified the colours of the decoration! These were green, orange, yellow and a colour that he described as "watermelon". 

I substituted green with mint, orange with peach, yellow with gold and the resulting palette was very fresh and sweet.  Since I couldn't find all six animals in an animated form cute enough to be used for a toddler's party, I decided to draw them myself and hand-paint them with watercolour pencils.

This sweet animal gang was used as the basic graphic element for the invitation, the birthday poster, the table signs and the gifts!

Having a strong colour palette helps you eliminate the total budget spent on party disposables. There is no need to buy those theme-based, expensive luxury plates that cost almost 0.5 euros per plate! You just stick on the colours of your palette and buy monochrome or simple pattern items! I ordered most of my party disposables from amazon so the assosiated cost was rather low! This enabled me to spent more on food, flowers and entertainment!

In the same way having a beautiful graphic element makes it easier to resolve to cheaper printing solutions! Also simple toys or craft items can turn into elegant gifts for the kids if you just cover them with some nice graphics. I spent approximately 2.5 euros for every kid and offered a rather satisfying set of gifts: a case filled with pencils, watercolours and oil paints, a sketchbook and a set of plastic miniature jungle animals.

   I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a rare and expensive item: an x-large rhino, able to carry on his back more than one toddlers! It served as the perfect photo prop for our Instax camera photos! No need to add that it was also the kids favourite attraction!

Unfortunately I'm not the cooking-kind of mum...I do cook a little but I wouldn't take on the responsibility of preparing healthy homemade party food  for a bunch of toddlers by myself!

The good thing was that my girlfriend Eleni Hiotaki who volunteered to entertain the kids has her own workshop where she organises creative seminars and party events (check it out here: http://www.toergastirimas.gr).  She cooperates with a wonderful lady (Anastasia) who cooks party meals at her home with healthy ingredients and according to the demands of the parents. Finally we ended up eating some tasty (non-sugar with minimum salt and wholemeal flour) pizza bites, cheese and spinach pies and other delicacies that were as good as homemade!!!

On the other hand, when it comes to sweets and cakes I really give my best! I have a talented and willing mother-in-law who will grace me with her knowledge and let me work my magic with the decorative part of process... So, yes! I do accept the credit for the sweet part of the buffet!

Gregory was waiting for his friends so anxiously...It was kind of funny to watch him prepare for their arrival...

And then they arrived! And the party started!

Thanks to Eleni and Stelios, her guitarist, the kids had the time of their lives! They sang, they played music, they danced...they even wrote a song! There was also some face-painting that adults enjoyed as much as their children!

And at last there was the cake! With some live birthday music and all of his friends around him, Gregory blew his two candles!

 It was such a happy birthday for my dear, sweet child!!! In the end, there is no other true reward for a parent's efforts than seeing joy in her child's eyes!

photo credits to Dimitris Tsiapas https://www.tsiapas.com
Thank you for capturing with a unique sensitivity the most precious memories of our family!

Bright, wild and colourful: the best party hats for the best type of girls -the unicorn ones!

A friend of mine was preparing her daughter's party the other day. So, I wanted to offer a little something to please this beautiful, wild creature that was now turning six. It's always nice to have a handmade item that is made especially for the birthday girl and her friends! 

I had little time and limited resources but fortunately enough for me the theme of the party was UNICORNS! And as anyone who is familiar with my crafts knows, colours and sparkles are my thing!  

I went directly to a big toy chain who carries a lot of crafting supplies and bought one pack of sheets of glitter foam and one of felt. I also bought some fabric flowers in shades of pink. Overall the total amount I spent was less than 10 euros. I didn't spend any money on ribbons and pearls since I have a big collection of those items at home. But even if I had to buy some of those as well the sum would not be much different.

Indeed it is a rather cheap and easy way to make a little party girl happy!

The making process is also very simple: 

-twirl the sheets of foam to create hat shapes (actually you may want to make it a little thiner so as to look like a horn) 

-turn the ribbon around the horn and paste it with the glue gun along its length to stabilise it.

-cut the white or off-white sheets of felt into ears (could be rounded or triangular)

-cut the pink sheets of felt in the same shape but a bit smaller and paste them on the centre of the white ones

-put a drop of glue in the centre of each ear and hold it folded to give it a 3D form

-paste the flowers and pearls in the way that you like on the horn

-paste the ears on each side of the horn

-add either a elastic string or a ribbon to secure it around the child's face (I bypassed this step since the mother told me she could measure the exact length of the string needed and add it herself)

So, that was it! Easy and so very girly, bright and colourful! Enjoy!