Ice Cream Party

And finally, the big reveal! You saw the cake and the balloons, now here are the pictures of the small ice cream party we had at home to celebrate the end of the school year.  

Naturally we had to have an ice cream stand.  This is a cardboard market stand that we bought at IKEA a while ago.  We covered up the red and green stripes that are on the bottom and the top of the stand with paper and added some cut out ice cream cones to decorate our stand. My younger daughter loved this and enjoyed giving out the ice cream from her "store".

This ice cream van is available in our real store and it is so cute! I used it along with some baking/treat cups to hold the toppings and the ice cream cones.

And that's the end of our ice cream week.  Have a good weekend everyone!

DIY Ice Cream Balloons

As I said on Monday, it's ice cream week here on the blog. Here is a fun DIY that you can use to decorate for any themed party.

For our ice cream party, we decorated balloons with ice cream stickers to match the theme. I made these stickers by drawing the cones in Illustrator and then printing them on adhesive paper. Then I used my Silhouette to cut them out. I made a couple of them bigger and also used them to decorate our ice cream stand (more pictures of that on Friday!). 

I love how these turned out! You can do this for all of your themed parties. Find (or make) some stickers in your theme and simply stick them on plain balloons. It's fun for the kids to do too and they can feel like they helped to set up for the party. Plain balloons are still great, but decorated ones are so much more fun!

Sweet Mondays: Ice Cream Scoop Cake

This week is going to be all about ice cream.  School is finally out for summer and my daughters and I decided to have an ice cream party.  They helped to decorate and got out all of the toppings for the ice cream. It was a fun way to celebrate the end of the school year. More pictures from the party will come this week.

In the meantime, here is the "cake" we made for our little party.  All we did was scoop ice cream into a tower and put some toothpick flags on them to make it more festive.  And if you wanted to use that idea for a birthday, you can just put a candle on top. But make sure you work quickly...it melts fast!

To serve this, you can just pass out spoons and share the ice cream.  You can also take the scoops off the "cake" and serve it in bowls or cute ice cream cups. Don't forget the toppings!

DIY Rainy Day Party Games

I was going to save this post for the fall when there are more rainy days, but here we are in July in Switzerland and it's cold and rainy! So I thought I would publish it now in case anybody is having a party soon and needs some ideas of what to do with the kids inside. For those of you in the warm sunshine (so jealous) you can pin this for later!

I've put together a few of my favorite games that we've played at family parties. You can quickly put these together using items that you probably already have around the house.  They are "minute-to-win-it" games that are fun for kids and adults alike.  Each person only has one minute to complete the challenge, so it ensures that no one gets bored watching the others play!

PS: Please excuse the picture quality. They were taken at last year's New Years Eve party at night!

Game #1 - Make it stick

Items needed:

• Peanut butter
• Slice of bread
• Ping pong balls (as many as you can find)
• Plate (optional)

The object of the game is to throw a ping pong ball and make it stick to the bread. To set it up, spread peanut butter on a piece of bread and put it on a paper plate.  It doesn't have to be on a plate, but it makes for easier clean up afterward.  Place the plate on one edge of a table. Have the player stand on the opposite edge to begin playing. Have one player at a time throw ping pong balls at the piece of bread. Each time a ball sticks to the bread, the player gets a point. Only one ball should be thrown at a time but they can throw as many balls as time allows (within a minute). The player that gets the most balls to stick to the bread wins. Tip: Have a rag close by to clean the ping pong palls…it will get messy.

Game #2 - Stack it up

Item needed: 

• Plastic or paper cups (as many as possible, but I recommend at least 25)

This is a fun game you can play alone or in teams. Everyone gets the same amount of cups. The team that is able to stack their cups the highest (and have it stay up until it is measured) in one minute wins. When we played this game, the kids wanted to play it over and over. They tried many different ways of stacking to see how they could make the highest stack. Of course, the parents wanted in too! Definitely lots of fun. If you only have one set of cups, have the players take turns. It's best to use a lot of cups so that you can get it really high. Tip: A good way to see who has the highest stack is to having a measuring tape handy.

Game #3 - Drop, Sink, Clink

Items needed:

• Some coins
• 2 - 3 Vases
• 2 - 3 Shot glasses (or small bowls)

This was super easy for the kids and most were able to get many coins in! Find a few vases and fill them about halfway with water. Drop in a shot glass until it is fully submerged. Add more water if needed. Give the kids some coins and have them try to drop them into the shot glasses. The smaller the opening of the shot glass, the harder it will be to get the coin in. The one who gets the most coins in the shot glasses within a minute wins. Tip: I recommend placing the vases on the floor and not on the table as a longer drop for the coins is more challenging.

Game #4 - Sock Grab

Items needed:

• Socks (as many as you can find).  If you're like me, you have a whole drawer full of socks that are missing their pair…these are the perfect socks to use.

I don't have a picture for this one, but it's very easy to set up. Place a pile of socks in the middle of the room. The object of the game is to see who can put the most socks on one foot.  The game ends after one minute or when there are no more socks to put on, whichever comes first. Tip: Try to provide socks in different sizes…we laughed every time someone tried to put a baby sock over an adult sock.

You can have a winner for each game or, if you play the games at different times throughout the party, you can keep score for each child and the one who has the most points at the end wins a prize. Either way, I'm sure they will have a blast playing these games! 

The ideas from most of these games came from Pinterest and Google searches. You can even find some videos of these types of games on YouTube. Enjoy!

Strawberry, Lemon & Mint Infused Water

In keeping with our strawberry theme this week, I thought I would share with you a yummy alternative to soda for your summer parties.  It's very easy to make and looks pretty too!  It's great to serve at a get-together with your friends or to keep in the fridge to sip on throughout the day.

Ingredients:

The following worked well for me.  Feel free to adjust amounts depending on your pitcher size and personal preferences.

• 6 Medium Sized Strawberries, Sliced
• 1/2 of a Lemon, Sliced
• 4 Mint Leaves, Torn
• Water (you can also use sparkling water if you prefer)
• Ice (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place strawberries, lemon and mint in a pitcher.

2. Add water (and ice if you are using it) to fill up your pitcher.

3. Serve and enjoy!

That's the end of our strawberry-themed week. I hope you enjoyed it! In case you missed them, take a look at our Hello Summer Strawberry Cake and our refreshing Strawberry Popsicle and Prosecco Drink. Enjoy the weekend!

Circus Party Pictures

I love it when my customers send me pictures of their parties. This one is from a lovely customer here in Switzerland who had a circus themed party for her daughter's 8th birthday.

Above, she made a photo booth using red and white polka dot fabric as a backdrop and used party hats from our store as part of the props.  She even personalized them. So cute!

The thank you cards matched the invitation and they looked great on the giveaway bags.

I love how she set up the table with the hats and the popcorn boxes. It looks so festive and ready for the kids to get their food and eat! 

Thanks to Julie for sending her pictures and letting me share! It looks like it was a fun party.

Fiesta Party Theme Ideas

I love Mexican food and margaritas, so it goes without saying that Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite times to have a party! We had a great party last year, but we won't be home this year so we can't have one. We got some new fiesta-style items in our shop, so I put together some items that I would use if I were to have a Cinco de Mayo party this year. I hope it helps to show you how simple and easy it is to have a fiesta.  Just add chips and salsa! 

Fiesta Printable Invitation | Drink Umbrellas | Margaritas | Pom Picks | Mini Canapé Plates
Fiesta Printable Banner | Floral Fiesta Straws | Sorbet Fan Decorations

Great Piñatas

Piñatas are so much fun at parties! I think they are great for kid and adult parties alike, so here are four great examples of piñatas to use or make for your next party.

Photo Source: Oh Happy Day

I love this alligator piñata.  I think it is so creative and different. It is almost a shame to break it open. But maybe you can make it a pull-string piñata instead. That way you can keep it around for decoration! Get the DIY instructions at Oh Happy Day.

Photo Source: Studio DIY

Next is this golden piñata.  It is a "makeover" of the traditional donkey piñata and I think it looks great! Learn how to make it at Studio DIY.

Photo Source: Girl.Inspired

These are such pretty piñatas.  They were made with coffee filters and silk flowers glued on to a round piñata base.  Get the DIY information on the Girl.Inspired blog.

Photo Source: A Subtle Revelry
Photography and styling by Athena Plichta under the creative direction of Victoria Hudgins.

This is not a piñata in the traditional sense, but it is a great idea and would be so much fun for a party. A cake and piñata in one! Learn how to make it on A Subtle Revelry.

Chocolate Bunny Cupcake Toppers

Here's an easy way to make an Easter dessert with cupcakes. Simply place a chocolate bunny on top of your cupcakes and you have an easy Easter treat that looks great.  Make a few of them and group them together to use as a table centerpiece!

Baking Party Apron Invitations

These are some invitations I made a while ago for a baking party for a sweet 6 year old. They are in the shape of an apron and the invitation details are inside the pocket of the apron. I like how the invitation details also remind me of a cookie.

The giveaway for this party was a white apron.  To make them a bit more colorful, I printed out the same design as the invitation onto iron-on transfer paper and transferred it to the apron. I also made some party circles and glued them onto cupcake liners to make a small "flower" that could be pinned to the aprons. That way, once the party was over, the kids could just take off the pin and have a cute apron that they could use all the time.

I think this is a really sweet idea for a party.  And it is relatively easy to organize if you wanted to have it at home.  The party activities will involve baking and decorating cakes and cookies, so you don't have to do much baking yourself beforehand.  Once you have all of your sprinkles and chocolate out on the table for the kids to use, it will already look festive, so you don't need to have much in terms of decorations.  I think all you would need to have is a birthday banner and some cute tableware to match. This would also be a great idea for an Easter party, a playdate or an afternoon activity with your own kids. If you have a child that loves baking, this would be so much fun for them!