Daily Party Dish

Boo Mitzvah! A Halloween Theme Bar Mitzvah

Happy Halloween from everyone here at Party411.com!  We love a great Halloween party and were thrilled to see our friends over at Mitzvah Market featuring a Halloween theme Bar Mitzvah today.  What a fun and unusual theme!  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did -

See all the pictures from the Boo Mitzvah!

Sesame Street Birthday Party Favor Bag Ideas

I have an almost-four year old for whom the sun rises and sets with Sesame Street!  There is no other TV show worth watching (my apologies to Dora and Arthur).  So when it came time to plan his birthday party, it was a no brainer – a Sesame Street party was the only choice!  The party itself was easy to plan, craft, games, cake an Elmo piñata, but the party bags took a little more thought.  I am not a fan of party bags filled with junk.  I don’t think that every bag needs to be educational, but it doesn’t have to be “sugar shock” waiting to happen either.  After bit of thought, and consultation with my son, here is a list of fun favors bearing the birthday child’s seal of approval – an honor not easily earned!

Young children love alliteration and mine is no different.  Therefore, we tried very hard to assign a Sesame Street character’s name to each item and then placed a small label on it.  This took a few extra minutes but was such a big hit that it was well worth it.

• Big Bird Bubbles
• Bert’s Bouncing Balls
• Curly Bear Crayons and Coloring Books
• Snuffy’s Stickers
• Ernie’s Rubber Ducky
• The Count’s Cards – simple card games like Old Maid or Go Fish are great and often come as 4 decks packaged together making them an economical purchase too.
• Cookie Monster’s Cookies – buy or bake a Cookie Monster shaped cookie, or include a cookie cutter and small jar of Play Dough to go with it.
• Oscar’s Trash Can Candy – novelty candy stores sell tiny trash cans filled with candy.  They’re very cute and certainly stick with the theme.
• Grover’s Groovy Games – small, handheld games that imitate pinball machines, race tracks or mazes are always great.

As an extra special treat, add a Sesame Street character finger puppet to the bag!    The children will think they’re tons of fun and play with them long after the party is over.

You have plenty of cute options for what to put your favors in. Here are a few fun ones I came across while gathering my ideas:

I spotted these cute diy bags on Be Festive.

I am not artisitc enough to pull these off, but the pails are really fun! Seen on babylifestyles.

Party411.com also has fun custom favors that will match any Sesame Street birthday party! You can check out more fun ideas in our Sesame Street Theme Inspired Birthday Party!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe: A Halloween Treat

My best friend in the world, who is also the head room parent of my 6^th grader’s class, said to me recently, “this year since the kids are too old for the Halloween parade, the teacher wants to do something different.”  Immediately the uh oh, hang up now bell went off in my head, but since she is my best friend, I didn’t.  I slowly said “yeessss,” wondering where I would fit in to this project.  So she tells me ”the class is having a Halloween luncheon and all you have to do is make something tasty, Halloweeny and healthy!”  Oh, is that all, I think. No corn syrup, no candy, is this even possible?  But then I remember I have a fabulous recipe for pumpkin bread.  It’s delicious, everyone loves it and there’s nothing in it that’s not on the food pyramid in an acceptable category.   

Note: this pumpkin bread can be made in 2 traditional loaf pans (lined with wax paper) but for a more seasonal twist, use pumpkin-shaped molds or muffin tins.  Once cool, they can be decorated with cookie icing.  Halloween molds and icing are available at any discount or craft store.

Pumpkin Bread

• 3 ½ Cups Flour
• 3 Cups Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 ½ Teaspoons Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 4 Eggs
• 2/3 Cup Water
• 1 Cup Oil
• 2 Cups Pumpkin (this is one 16 oz. can)
• 1 Cup of Raisins or Dried Cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the oil, eggs, water and pumpkin.  Mix well.  Stir in raisins or cranberries. Turn into your pan of choice.  Depending on the type of pan, baking times will vary.  Traditional loaf pans take at least one hour.

Happy Halloween!

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Lollipop Pumpkin
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Halloween Decoration Inspiration from Halloweekends at Cedar Point

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend the day at Cedar Point's HalloWeekends. The park was decked out in Halloween decorations! Some of the displays were amazing, and I snapped a few shots to use as inspiration for my own Halloween decorations.

I love this "Dead Rock Star Cemetary" in the middle of the park:

There were a lot of funny displays with skeletons... like these painters who have had some horrible accident -

Or this unfortunate plumber -

Not all of the skeletons were working. Some were chilling out -

Some were just trying to get away -

Not that I blame them for trying to escape. This thing was just around the bend -

Even the diner where we had dinner was decked out. The theme was aliens/Little Shop of Horrors. Which was admittedly odd, but it worked :)

We had a great time, and now I have many ideas for my Halloween yard decoration! Thanks Halloweekends!

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Dead Rock Star Halloween Party Theme
• Halloween Party Games
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

 

Crazy Spider House Outdoor Halloween Decorations

I wanted to share some pictures of these great spider Halloween yard decorations I saw near my Grandma's house the other day. I am arachnophobic and I am still impressed!

If you wanted to do something similar here are a few products you could use to create this look:

• Black 50" Posable Spider
• 50" Brown Spider
• Light Up Gigantic Tarantula
• Full Size Skeleton
• 36" Shaking Cocoon Corpse
• Hanging Spider Cocoon Victim

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Ghost Cookies
• Halloween Office Party for Less Than $100
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Cupcake Cakes: A Sam's Mom Favorite

Here’s a fun new idea for birthday parties – a cupcake cake! I’ve seen a ton at birthday parties in the last year and I think they’re a great alternative to a traditional cake. You get all the fun and excitement of a big cake, but it’s easy to serve and has LOTS of frosting. What could be better? Here are a few:

This cake had over 100 cupcakes for a huge crowd!

And a smaller crocodile cupcake cake for a Neverland theme party

And a cute snake and turtle for a jungle theme party.

Maddie, with a traditional “cake” made of cupcakes

These cupcakes were made to look like a big bowl of popcorn!

Why stop at traditional cupcakes? These cupcakes are angel food cupcakes with fruit. Yum!

The possibilities are endless and the cupcakes delicious! If you’re going to have a cupcake cake, please send me one. Thanks! Sam’s Mom

DIY Halloween Window Silhouettes

1. Grim Reaper Window Scene
2. Scary Silhouette Gargoyle Window Decoration
3. Mummy Window
4. Ghoulies Silhouettes
5. Shady Spiders Window Scene

I love Halloween window silhouettes! A few years ago I made a few witches for my front window. They were very easy to make (no sewing).

First I searched for 2 witch silhouettes and enlarged them on a copier. Then I traced them on to inexpensive black fabric and cut out my beautiful ladies.

I used stitch witchery fusible bonding web (inexpensive at any craft or fabric store) and an iron to attach them to flat white sheets I bought from the thrift store. Hang and backlight for a fun decoration!

Here are a few more pics from a few creative people who made their own.

 
Here is a display from Kellie that she made with an inexpensive plastic black tablecloth!

Wes and Tracy did several very fun silhouettes with black paint on white fabric.

Even though window silhouettes are hung on the inside of the house, I think that they really add to the overall creepiness of your outdoor decorations.

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Ghost Cookies
• Halloween Office Party for Less Than $100
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Mitzvah Market - The Mitzvah Song

Our friends over at Mitzvah Market created this great video about Bar and Bat Mitzvah planning.  We think it’s just great!  Well done!

 

Fun DIY Couples Costume Ideas

As Halloween approaches every year, I’m always reminded of trips to the sewing store as a child to pick out our costume patterns.  My Mom then got to work and made our costumes for me and my brother.  I’m still impressed.  Today there seem to be so many fantastic costumes available that it’s not necessary to make a costume at home.  There are, however, many fun costumes you can make at home!  Here are a few handmade couples costumes that I love:

  
Hersheys: Plain…and with nuts.  This great costume was a hand me down from a friend’s parents.  A joke that never gets old

 
Twister: Super cute and super easy to make. 

 
The baker and the Bun in the oven.  That’s me pregnant with Sam many years ago.

 
Here is a creative rollar coaster costume (photo from krossbow) that I love. Easy and creative!

Have you made or seen any creative homemade costumes or DIY couples costumes?  Post your pics over on the Party411 Facebook wall – we’d love to see them!

Now back to working on costumes for my kids…without sewing.

-Sam’s Mom

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Halloween House Party
• Group Halloween Costumes
  
• Punny Costumes
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Mercer Olympics - Custom Fundraiser Progress Board

 

Party411.com had a wonderful time creating a custom scoreboard for an Olympic theme fundraiser!

The Mercer Olympics is a fundraiser held to benefit a local elementary school. The custom board tracks the donations that are made to each teacher. Hopefully they all cross the finish line!

All proceeds benefit the school and the event builds school spirit while promoting teamwork, exercise and wellness. The kids have a fun week with opening and closing ceremonies and Olympic competitions in their gym classes all week!

It looks like the kids had a great time! Thanks for letting Party411 be part of the fun!