Amelie recently turned 6. SIX. How quickly they grow up, sob sob sob. We have a rule here that big parties are only every other year, so this year I offered her a home party which she was fine with. I spent hours pinning really cute stuff on pinterest (if so inclined you can check out my parties board here) and as per usual the night before was sat drinking wine, surrounded by half completed projects wondering what the hell I was thinking trying to be that mum. So the following photos are far from Pinterest worthy, but a real and genuine look into how Amelie’s little party turned out which are much easier to recreate for your average ‘shit not together -sleep deprived -wants to look good in-front of people’ type mum (shout out to you mamas, we rock!). Party supplies listed at the end of the post, spoiler alert – its all cheap and can be thrown together super quickly. winning.
Our quiet little Bammabelle only wanted girls to her party so we had 6 in total, ALL the girls in her class. Yay for country schools. As much as Im a bit sad that she only wanted the girls this year (next year she’ll have an activity party out of the house so her whole class will be invited) I did quite relish the idea of pink – pink – pink and girlie stuff everywhere. The remit from Amelie was that she wanted painting, a disco and actual cups of tea.
The craft section was painting a little wooden box to be filled with sweets later. This was a Pinterest idea which I half pulled off as the girls did paint the boxes, I didn’t think about drying them and how long it would take though! Top tip = dry painted stuff in your oven on fan setting and the lowest heat. I always think best under pressure and theres nothing more pressured than a six year old covered in paint handing you a goopy handful of pompoms + glittery creation! I set up the table with paints and sticky bits and pieces in the hallway and the tea party table in the kitchen so there was minimal clear up between activities. Second top tip = plastic table cloths everywhere, literally sweep everything into a bin bag + move on quickly.
We provided art aprons for everyone so as to save school uniforms as we had the party right after school pick up. Again, per pinterest I was going to fabric paint these with each child’s name so that they could take them home as a party bag gift but you know I have an actual business to run and 5 people to keep fed & clean so that never happened. Win some lose some.
I had planned about an hour for painting but these girls tore through this activity in under 45 minutes. Then it was a full hour of improvising with party games like pass the parcel, musical statues, musical bumps and musical posing (basically putting on Little Mix on Youtube and copying their dance moves – I enjoyed this game way more than any of the kids who were pretty morto, so much for trying to be “not just any mom but a cool mom”). We had a photo wall which the girlies loved posing against (again only lasted about 5 minutes) then Mr Clev volunteered himself for a game of ‘chase Amelies daddy and lock him in the jail’. Thank God for daddies who are fit and healthy especially when mummy is less than fit & healthy and only suggested ‘sleeping lions’ as a party game (I got actual ‘boo’s’ from six year olds. life low.)
Photo wall backdrop = plastic table cloths, gold washi tape + mocked up A3 posters with cheesetastic girlie statements. The props we’ve amassed over time and the girls loved dressing up and posing more than actually getting their photos taken. I reckon its only 10 years before that will change and the duck face selfie’s will be out in full force.
At 3.15 sharp we moved on to the ‘tea’ section of the party. Little finger sandwiches, cupcakes, fruit cups and a Supermacs party box. Outsourcing party catering to Supermacs was always going to be a winner with everyone and we had a tonne left over for siblings and basically half the street! Totally over estimated just how much food is in a party box so can thoroughly recommend getting one for any party where you are either feeding lots of kids or lots of drunk people.
Surprisingly the run away hit of the tea party was not the punch, tea or cakes but the fruit cups. The girlie gaggle went nuts over them and I felt like a top mama serving such a healthy snack. I used ice cream tubs and filled with Strawberries, blueberries and grapes with a little strawberry on the rim. Faaaaaancy. Party bags were from Tiger – a DIY sewing kit (age appropriate of course), sweets and Disney frozen lip gloss.
The long candles and flame thrower thing looked great but nearly singed a little ones eyebrows off, not one of my children either so I don’t think I’ll be buying these again any time soon, or if we do I’ll set up some sort of cake seclusion zone!
All in all a great home party. It lasted just under 3 hours and by 5pm I was enjoying a class of chilled Sauv Blanc in a relatively tidy house while my children lay zonked out on the sofa watching a film, exhausted from the afternoons activities. Can’t be sniffy at that!
We all had a great afternoon, especially Amelie our little birthday girl. We really are so lucky to have moved into such a wonderful community and be making such lovely friendships – so heres to many more parties in the future like the massive bender i’m planning for New Year watch this space 😉
Party Supplies ;
Paperware, cups, ice cream tubs, ‘Celebrate’ banner, cupcake toppers, candles = Sostrene Grene
Cutlery, White Cake stand, flame thrower, kilner bottle = Tiger
All painting materials, plastic table cloths, paint brushes, art apons & wooden boxes = Mr Price
Chalk signs = Chipboard painted with blackboard paint. Told ya everything was cheap + cheerful
