Make Your Own Ice Cream Party for Bubble's 10th Birthday Party

Well that's it. It's over. I blinked and this year Bubble was too old for a pretty ruffly party (#see disclaimer at bottom). It's ok I'm not bitter I did get 5 years worth of adorable parties out of her.

Party Evolution
6yr Fairy Party, 7yr Mermaid Party, 8yr Princess Party (photo's by Alyce Holzberger),  

9 yr pink and green ruffle party/cupcake decorating, 10 year ice-cream bar

Besides, we were never going to have a party this year. We have a big holiday planned so when I booked it in I told the kids firmly 'No parties this year!'

But we all know the parties are really for me, and so I didn't pay any attention to that firm voice. Sadly I also didn't pay enough attention to the passing days.

While I was having my inner debate, would we party or wouldn't we, was I going to cave and pay big bucks for one of those new trampoline-lazer tag superdooper fun places the decision was made. Procrastination was my enemy and my friend 'cause we all know leave it too late and the only time left to book in at one of those party places is early Sunday morning when none of the kids will be able to turn up anyway.

OK decision made do it at home on a budget but the problem was these kids are 10 years old boys and girls. It's a seriously hard crowd to please, I had no idea what to do.

Then while I was shopping I spied a couple of huge bottles of water balloons with 500 balloons in each for $8 and despite the fact it is the middle of winter here another decision was made. We live a few doors down from a park which is pretty quite mostly and it would be a perfect spot for the kids to have their crazy time * see cleaning up note below.

Then the real negotiations started. Bubble was adamant that as there were boys attending the party should not be pink, or pretty or ruffly.

I took a deep breath and decided to go all Disney on her.

Yup I let it go.

We decided to have a make your own ice-cream bar, which was a bit sad for me as no real baking or decorating but good for me too as no real baking and decorating. It was so relaxed in the lead up to the party.

Well pretty much super relaxed until I messaged my SIL about her daughter's birthday party which was about a week and a half away and found out that my niece's party was actually 3 days away and Bubble's party was 10 days away.

Anyhoo it all worked out in the end, Bubble was super happy surrounded by her friends, it was a lovely sunny day warm enough for the water play but cool enough the ice-cream did not melt and everyone seemed to have fun.

Party Food
As I said I was pretty relaxed and mostly everything was store bought with the exception of the macarons and chocolate chip cookies (for making ice-cream sandwiches). 

The most popular stuff was the popping candy and the cream filled wafers.

Menu:
Store bought Vanilla and Chocolate Ice-cream
Ice Cream Sundae Macarons (recipe/instructions to follow next week)
Sprinkles
Popping Candy
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream filled wafers
Caramel popcorn
Marshmallows
Waffle Cones
Lollipops (take home treat)
Whipped cream in a can
Maraschino Cherries
M and M's
Chocolate, Strawberry and Caramel sauce
Soft drink (Soda)

Party Table Details

Everything on the table was something I already had or borrowed with the exception of a few discount items as detailed below:

Center table/riser - that's my mint green stand covered in red polka dot wrapping paper.
Red and white polkadot buckets for ice-cream from Choice discount/dollar store $2.50 for a set of 3.
Mason jars with straws - from K-mart discount department store for $2 each. I decorated them with washi tape and chalkboard stickers I picked up from another discount/dollar store. I let the kids take these home if they wanted as part of their loot/treat bag.
Glitter Straws - I alternated straws - see how I made the glitter washi tape straws (See post HERE)

Lollipops - $1 each from Kmart. I stuck them in that pink stand I borrowed from my SIL's party and tied with a bit of red ribbon I had sitting around. They were part of the kids take home treats.
 

White dispenser - this is actually a cutlery holder I've had for a while - I picked it up at Mollegaarden HERE. Then I stuck on some of those chalkboard stickers.
Strawberry treat bags - Oh my how cute are these, they are from Paper Glitter CLICK HERE
White Cake Stands - the stands used were existing ones I have had for quite a few years
Chalkboard stands - $3 for a set of 3 from Shmick available at some discount stores or online
Red and white polkadot bowls - Greengate
Gold spoons - Christina Rae
Red baskets, hanging lanterns and gingham placemats borrowed from SIL similar available party or discount stores

Party Games

Photo booth - We started the party off with a homemade photo booth using an instant/Polaroid camera and dress ups we already had. Although it was fun it was a bit less successful than I thought it would be.  Maybe it's more of an end of the party thing, it took everyone forever to pick what they wanted to wear. It was good however to keep the kids occupied while everyone else was turning up.
Make your own Ice-cream bar - I'm calling this an activity as they kids got to make their own sundae or ice-cream soda or ice-cream sandwich or pretty much whatever.The kids enjoyed this, apparently whipped cream in a tin is big with 10 year olds.
Water Balloon tag at the park. Mr Sweet spent about 4 hours filling water balloons. The kids spent about 10 minutes using them all up. But then they kept playing at the park so it was all good.
*Water Balloon clean up. We gave everyone a bag and told them the one with the most used water balloons would win a prize. Yes we really did that, the kids knew it was clean up but they were super good natured about it and we cleaned the park up in no time.
Lunch -  we headed back home and the kids had lunch of sushi and sandwiches.

#disclaimer I make no promises that it is really, really over I am an eternal optimist.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original photography by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.  Note some of the previous party photographs in this post were taken by other photographers, please do not reuse those photos.

All that glitters party straws - DIY budget party craft

Bubble's birthday party was last weekend. It was a fun budget birthday organised in under 2 weeks which I will be sharing as soon as I sort out the photo's.

In the meantime here is a quick bit of diy decorating that I did for her party. It's so pretty you could even use it for a grown up party.

I made up a bunch of gold glitter straw flags for the party which looked pretty fabulous considering they cost a few dollars for the whole lot.

Yup $2 for a pack of those cute chevron straws and $1* for a roll of gold glitter tape. Plus next to no time.
 
*I had a quick check online and the gold glitter tape I found was more expensive that the one I picked up at the discount store, so shop around or happily pay a little more and support local businesses your choice :)

Gold Glitter flag instructions

So pretty much all you do is cut a short length of tape, fold it in half to make a crease, take off the plastic backing, place it around the straw so that the fold you have made aligns along the straw to make sure it is even and then press the sticky sides together. You can leave the flag with a flat even edge, or if you like take a sharp pair of scissors and cut a little V away as shown in the picture. So easy peasy I know I didn't even need to put the written how to but it makes me feel like I'm doing something ;)

I'm not the first person to do this, my SIL did this glitter tape at my niece's birthday party plus last year I did pretty much the same thing but used floral tape instead of glitter. But it is soooo pretty I had to share the pictures.

Shopping notes:

Gold Glitter tape in pack of 4 from Big W discount department store Australia (pack of 4 glitter tape $4)
Pink Chevron Girl straws Shmick CLICK HERE
Pink polkadot and floral fabic tape from Choice discount stores Australia
Pink twine Greengate
Scissors - similar available on Ebay

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original photography by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.  

Black Bottom Cupcakes

 I love school holidays and spending more time with the kids.

Well up to a point. Yup, that point when everyone is BORED and HUNGRY and it seems like I'm the one who has to come up with a solution.

That's when having a few packets of Betty Crocker mix ready in the cupboard has been coming in handy these holidays.

Ah-huh, see what I did there. Oh yeah I solved the bored and hungry problem in one smooth move.

What I like about the Betty Crocker mixes is they are really simple enough the kids can mix them up with minimal help from me.

I love the proud looks on their faces when they serve up the finished cupcakes.

Plus I like to think that they learn a bit, like how to follow instructions in order and measure out ingredients.

We've put our own twist on the Betty Crocker super moist vanilla cupcake mix and come up with yummy black bottom cupcakes. 

Betty Crocker Black Bottom Cupcakes

1 packet Betty Crocker super moist vanilla cupcake
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup milk
60g unsalted butter
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
Extra chocolate chips for serving

Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced) and line a 12 hole muffin tin with regular sized muffin paper cases.

Beat cupcake mix eggs milk and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, then reduce speed to medium and mix for a further 2 minutes, remove half the batter and set aside.

Mix the 2 Tbsp of cocoa into the remaining batter and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds until combined. Fold in 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips and divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases.

Fold the remaining 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips into the reserved batter and spoon onto the top of the chocolate cupcake mix filled cases.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

Swirl frosting (included in box) onto top of each cupcake and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go! Published in the US, the book is available at most online book-stores.

Disclosure: The ideas, words and opinions in this post are my own however this post was sponsored by General Mills.

Gingerbread people dress up cookie party

This year instead of slaving over a gingerbread house we made gingerbread people dress up cookies. It was fun, easy and I could let the kids eat one (or two) straight away without the stress of breaking up the whole house.

I baked up a big batch of gingerbread men and women (Cookie recipe here).

Then I quickly cut out some fondant clothes using the cookie cutter and the kids got to stick them onto the cookies with royal icing like a dress up toy.

I made sure there were stacks of clothes with different colors and accessories for the kids to choose from. Kids are amazing and see the world differently. I think it might be lovely to see the world with flower eyes :)

Oh my goodness my kids truly love this type of cookie decorating, just love it!

The Destroyer (being a creator), Bubble and I, Sweet and Bubble

Plus perfect for Christmas, well actually my kids want me to say it's perfect for any time ;)

The hardest part of all of this was coming up with a ginger cookie recipe that didn't spread too much (otherwise the fondant clothes would be too small for the cookies). But I spent 2 weeks testing my own recipe so y'all don't have to worry about that, just click on the link in the instructions below.

I made some little mini lollipops and candy canes as well, the kids thought they were super cool.

Note - I have in the past made similar dress up cookies for my daughter's birthday party - but these gingerbread ones are way, way, way easier - trust me. You can check out the original 'paper doll dress up cookie' inspiration HERE:

These are the original dress up doll cookies I made CLICK HERE to see details

Gingerbread people dress up cookies
Make the fondant/sugar clothes as per the instructions below. Once the clothes have set and become hard enough to pick up you can let the kids decorate the cookies by squeezing royal icing onto the cookie and sticking the clothes in place. They can also add gingerbread faces and other decorations as they like.

EDIT update: I've recorded an easy to follow youtube video tutorial here as well:


Gingerbread men and women cookies (Click here for Gingerbread cookie recipe)
Gingerbread men and women cookie cutters
Fondant various colours
Cornflour (cornstarch)
small rolling pin
sharp knife
frilling tool (can use toothpick instead)
Royal Icing (for final assembly)

Line a tray with parchment/ baking paper.

Gingerbread men fondant/sugar clothes
Roll out the fondant onto a workbench dusted with cornflour (cornstarch). Use the gingerbread man cutter to cut out shape and then the sharp knife to cut out the top and shorts (see picture below). If you like you can adhere shapes like a star onto the fondant cut outs. Place cut outs onto the tray lined with paper to dry overnight.

For striped shirt, cut out thin strips of fondant and press onto a contrasting color fondant with the rolling pin, then cut out shapes with cutter as described above. I added a thin strip of vertical fondant on the sleeve edge.

Gingerbread women fondant/ sugar clothes

Roll out the fondant onto a workbench dusted with cornflour (cornstarch). Use the gingerbread woman cutter to cut out shape and then the sharp knife to cut out the top and skirts (see picture below). Place clothes on paper lined tray to dry.

If you like you can make the skirts and edge of the top ruffled by using the frilling tool, press down on the fondant and gently roll back and forth. I also added a thin strip of contrasting color fondant to the sleeve edge of some tops before pressing down with the fondant tool.

You can also cut a second strip to make a 'pettiskirt' underneath, just use the frilling tool to roll back and forth and then stick it underneath the top skirt, you might need to add a small amount of water to adhere the 2 skirts together.

 To make a lace pattern on the edge use the sharp edge of the frilling tool (or a toothpick) to dot holes (see picture below for example).

Accessories

To make a lollipop you will need fondant in 4 different colours and a small length of spaghetti. Roll each colour of fondant into a long thin strip and the twist the fondant together. Starting in the middle wrap the twisted fondant around in a spiral to look like a lollipop. Push the spaghetti into the fondant lollipop disk.

 

The example in this picture only uses 2 colours and is bigger but same concept

 Small flowers pressed out of fondant make great accessories, I used a small ejector cutter.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

Sophie's 7th Birthday Unicorn Party - I believe in magic

Sophie's 7th birthday party was 'I believe in magic' inspired by magic, wishes, dreams and beautiful imaginations.

We had a fabulous entertainer and magician, a pony dressed as a unicorn, pretty fairyland decorated backyard and a dessert table with a wall mounted cake. Yup we kinda went big, you only turn 7 once :)

Dessert Table and party food

The party was on a weekday after school so I didn't go overboard on the dessert table. Ok maybe I should reword that 'cause y'know wall mounted cake.

What I should say is there were only a few things on the table and errr.. wall. I knew with all the activities there would only be a short window for eating so I didn't overload the table like I usually do.

There was a herd of unicorn cookies at the front of the table (Click here for DIY Unicorn Cookie Instructions). I popped them upright on some tiny glasses which wasn't the best solution on slippery sequins- in future I would probably make a cookie base and turn them into standing cookies. Alternately you could lay them down on plates :)

In the center under the cake were a couple of glass jars filled with pink and white marshmallows and pink raspberry Macarons (Click here for macaron recipe);

The actual birthday cake was a unicorn head that was wall mounted (I know I keep saying wall mounted, but I've never got to say it before and come on - it's kinda super cool). Um does that seem weird and slightly creepy. I've been seeing a lot of cute wall mounted animals for home decorating and it seemed kinda fabulous. That was until we were going to cut into it in front of the real live pony that it looked like. Anyhoo it was a great feat in cake construction and I'm in the process of doing up a you tube video on how I made it.

Sweet pink drinks that were decorated with pretty lace and 'wish' charms. Click here for a delicious Pink Lemonade recipe with no food colour). I do love these little bottles but seriously they are kinda small for 7 year olds. Make sure you have backup drinks on hand.

There were also cheese and fruit platters, lollies, fruit pop up drinks and chocolate and raspberry macarons for snacks and adults.

Party Entertainment

I'm not sure where she gets the energy but Super Steph manages to keeps the hoards of kids completely enthralled with her fabulous show. She is go, go, go which is great as all the parents can sit back have a rest and enjoy watching the kids delighted faces.

One of the mums remarked she had seen Super Steph 3 times in a year and each time her show was new and different. Steph is fun, vibrant and glowingly sparkly with just enough cheeky mixed in to keep the adults entertained as well, kinda like a Pixar movie ;)

We had a magic show that incorporated the new puppet show (which was kinda a ventriloquist for kids), a disco and a fun balloon hat making workshop.

If your looking for a Brisbane kids party entertainer I could honestly recommend Super Steph very highly.

hehe this picture reminds me of Jane and Lizzy from Pride and Prejudice for some reason, 

probably the formal looks and the fact we all just watched the BBC version together, 

except probably the personalities/ hair colours are swapped

Unicorn Rides

Unicorn rides, what else do you have at an 'I Believe in Magic' Party. Dragons are far too dangerous.

Our beautiful pony Misty was from Brisbane Pony Rides.

Backyard Decorations

These pictures don't really capture the feeling evoked by the decorations 

it felt pretty magical :)

My backyard is a bit tired and I was so lucky to have Carol from Creatively Bespoke Weddings come and decorate it. She (with the assistance of Daneve from Ah-Tissue) managed to transform it into a magical fairyland by covering the metal pegola poles with swarths of fabric and flowers, even adding an entrance surrounded by flowers and dripping with crystals and butterflies and generally glamming up everything.

Oh my goodness the large silk flowers she brought along were so amazingly pretty, I was a bit sad to pack everything up and see it all go.


Table Styling

The table had a pink tiered tablecloth (once again from Creatively Bespoke Weddings) topped with a fabulous gold sequin layer. The backdrop was pretty much the wall mounted cake which had an Ikea frame spray painted gold surrounding it. Not much extra was needed, but we did add a few wall mounted pink pom poms from Ah-Tissue with some pearls hanging down and some flowers in the center.
 

The light pink risers on the table that the flowers are sitting on were from Lilli's recent birthday party on a budget (CLICK HERE).

 
Our local florist has closed down so the flowers are actually a few bunches from the supermarket that I rearranged myself.

Loot Bags

We had a selection of lollies and candy in the party favour bags. The pretty pink stripe bags were provided by Creatively Bespoke Weddings and they were decorated with a pretty pom by Ah-Tissue. My favourite candy in the bag was the sour grape liquorice from Sweet and Sour I actually don't normally eat stuff like this but I am in love with quite a few of the flavours and may be a tad addicted.

Party Vendor details


Cake, cookies, macarons and party table - Linda Vandermeer (Bubble and Sweet)
Magic Show, Disco and Balloon Hat Workshop - Super Steph
Decorations provided by Creatively Bespoke Weddings
Paper Pom poms - Australian Hand Made by Ah Tissue
Photography - Terri Vandermeer
Cake stand construction Andrew McCubbin
Pony dressed as unicorn - Brisbane Pony Parties
Sophie's outfit (previous seasons)
           top - Stevie and Me
           skirt - Heavenly Creatures
 Lilli's outfit (previous seasons)
           top - Forever New
           skirt - Tea Princess

 Party loot bags - Paper Eskimo
Pink tiered tablecloth - Creatively Bespoke Weddings
Gold sequin material for tablecloth - Spotlight
Pink stripe Party Loot Bags - Paper Eskimo

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

Disclosure: Super Steph provided this party free of charge in exchange for the ability to record and take photo's of her new puppet show, balloon hat workshop and disco. However the opinions stated in this post are my own and if fact I have previously engaged and paid Super Steph to provide entertainment for my children's party.