Daily Party Dish

Olympics Theme Party Ideas

With the summer Olympics quickly approaching, I’ve been doing some brainstorming for summer Olympics theme party ideas (we are havign a watch party for the London games) and I was reminiscing about the great time I had planning this Olympics theme Bar Mitzvah. I think it's perfect for a child who likes sports, but wants a theme with a twist!  Here are some pictures from the event.

Guests walked into the lobby that was filled with balloons in the 5 Olympics colors (red, blue, black, yellow and green).  We also mounted posters from past Olympics games (which you can buy online) and put them up on easels throughout the cocktail area. 

They got their seating cards there, which (of course!) were attached to gold medals.

A caricature was drawn of the Bar Mitzvah boy running with the Olympic torch and holding the Olympic rings.  We used that art on a sign in board and on custom centerpieces (complete with an Olympic torch coming out of the middle and balloons).

The focal point in the room was a giant balloon display made to look like the Olympic arches.  It was great fun!

 If you are having a party for the Olympic games, or just an Olympic theme party check out our personalized Olympics theme party favors and invitations!

 

2012 Olympics Party Ideas: British Menu

Can you feel the excitement?  Yes, it’s almost time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.  What’s not to love about the Olympics?  People from around the world gathering in peace and celebration….

Oh, who am I kidding?  I love the competition.  I love the patriotism.  And, I love the chance to throw a good party! 

It’s great, of course, to throw an American theme patriotic Olympics party (we have lots of Summer Olympics Party Ideas on Party411.com), but why not switch it up a bit?  How about serving traditional British foods since these Olympic games will be held in London?  Here are some great options for your British Olympics buffet!  (Keep in mind I don’t know how to make ANY of this.  That might be my next project.)

• Fish and Chips – Battered and fried fish with a side of chips (French fries) – yum!
• Kippers – basically salted or picked herring.  I’m sure it’s delicious…
• Yorkshire pudding – I’m going to have to try this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/yorkshire-pudding-recipe/index.html - a great looking side dish
• Bangers and Mash – sausage and mashed potatoes – perfect for a dinner
• Cornish Pastry – a pie made of beef, potatoes and onions, amongst other delicious ingredients!

Don’t forget the dessert, or “pudding” as it’s often called in London! Here are some delicious options:

• Tea and Biscuits – offer an assortment of teas, biscuits and jams for a lovely tea theme with your dessert
• Spotted Dick – besides the wonderful name, this is a wonderful tasting pudding with dried fruit
• Trifles – a layered sponge cake with custards and fruit
• Bread and butter pudding – another recipe I’m going to try: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bread-and-butter-pudding-recipe/index.html

Also, you’ll want some authentic candy.  There are plenty of sweet options available online. (http://www.britishfood.com/confectionary.asp has great candy!)

And to drink?  Ale, British, of course. Newcastle and Bass are great choices! 

Man, I’m starving now…  

 

Graduation Cap Decoration Ideas

The summer after I graduated from college, I did an amazing internship working at Walt Disney World.  (Super amazing!)  So, the day of graduation, my graduation cap was decorated with Mickey Mouse ears.  (Clearly anyone who knows me will not be surprised by this…)  This isn’t me, but here’s a great Mickey ear cap I found:

Since graduation season is beginning, I thought it would be fun to gather some great ideas for graduation cap decorations. 

 

1. Thanks to Mom and Dad – the most traditional decoration is a simple “I Love You Mom and Dad!” – you can’t ever go wrong with that message!

2. “Will work for…” – still looking for a job?  Add a simple resume statement

3. Bling! Add as much as you can – you’ll sparkle at graduation.

4. How about working in your major with a little hot glue?  If you’re a finance major, glue dollar bills to your cap.  If you’re an art major, paint a picture on the cap. The same goes for your favorite activities in school.  Add your sorority or fraternity letters if you were active in the Greek system.  Or, if you were on the chess team, glue chess pieces to the cap. The possibilities are endless. 

5. Then there’s always humor.  How about this one.  Very amusing.

Graduation is a great time. You’ve worked hard and you deserve the attention! I say decorate your graduation mortar board and stand out in the crowd!

• Graduation Party Ideas From Party411.com
• Graduation Gift Ideas: College Survival Kit
• Graduation Open House Ideas
• Personalized Graduation Party Ideas
• Graduation Planning Checklist (PDF)

Cute Graduation Cupcake Ideas from Etsy

Does anyone out there NOT love a good cupcake?  It’s like getting your own person cake that you never have to share.  Plus I can have vanilla with vanilla frosting (the best) and my kids can have chocolate with chocolate frosting (not the best). 

I think cupcakes for a graduation party are fantastic.  But don’t serve just any ordinary cupcake.  These days decorating your cupcakes is HOT!  Here are some great products I’ve found to jazz up your graduation cupcakes:

Graduation cupcake wrappers and toppers from cakeadoodledoo

Or choose a patterned cupcake wrapper from outside the box dessert

Jumping for Joy cake toppers (for him or her!) are fun from queen bee inspirations

Three dimensional graduation cupcake toppers from two paper pals

Delicious fondant shape cupcake toppers from top my cupcake

Or choose chocolate graduation caps to top your cupcakes – from custom edibles

Themed cupcake towers from the rizOHcollection – these are wonderful to display all your cupcakes!

I hope you have a great graduation party with plenty of cupcakes!  Feel free to send some to Party411 :)

• Graduation Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Graduation Open House
• 2012 Graduation Announcements
• 2012 Personalized Graduation Invitations

Graduation Gift Ideas: College Survival Kit

Looking for a fun and totally useful gift for your graduate?  How about a graduation survival guide or a college survival guide?  Gather together any number of items your grad will need once they get to college or out in the “real world” and package them up as their very own survival guide. 

Here are some ideas that work for either a college grad or a high school grad:

1. Cookbooks – away from home or college, it’s time to learn how to cook.  We especially love the 101 More Things To Do With Ramen Noodles books.

 
2. And, since they can’t cook, how about snacks? Granola bars, granola bars, granola bars! 

3. Quarters – time for laundry!  Quarters become precious items once you have to pay for laundry. Along with this, laundry detergent and fabric softener are great to add to the package.

4.  Ear plugs – Isn’t it fun to have a roommate who snores?

5. Small tool kits – you know, things break…

6. Sewing kits – you know, things rip…

 
7. Poster putty – this stuff is essential for decorating a dorm room or new apartment.

8. Bed and Bath essentials – of course, your grad will need sheets, towels, toiletry caddies, hangers, lamps, etc.  Any of these items work perfectly in a survival guide.

9. School logo items – a high school graduate would love to get a shirt with their new school logo.  (This is a gift a college grad will love too.)

10. Gift cards – stores like Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond are musts when you graduate, so a gift card to one of these stores is great.

Gather everything up and display it in a nice storage bin (which they can use at school). We know any grad is going to love getting their own survival guide gift. 

• Graduation Party Ideas From Party411.com
• Graduation Open House Ideas
• Personalized Graduation Party Ideas
• Graduation Planning Checklist (PDF)

Angry Birds Theme Party Ideas and Pictures

Turns out planning an Angry Birds party is almost as fun as throwing an Angry Birds party! My son’s party this past weekend was a big success. I had a great time planning the details for his Angry Birds theme.

I have to say, I love the way the favors turned out for this party.  I created Angry Birds favor bags using the bird faces on solid color bags.  Everyone got to choose their favorite bird (or pig).  Inside was:

• A custom Angry Birds coloring book –  I found great coloring pages online. 
• Crayons and Angry Birds stickers to go with the coloring books
• Golden Eggs (lucky me it is Easter time) filled with candy
• Angry Bird band aids – you can get really hurt chasing pigs!
• Gummy worms – a bird’s favorite food!

At the party, we used Angry Birds paper goods on the tables.  (Of course!)  Then I added a few touches to the tables. 

• Balloons on the tables were red, lime green, light blue and yellow, to match our favorite birds and pigs. 
• We also added homemade Angry Birds confetti.  (Super easy to make – just print out pictures of the birds and punch them out using a circle punch.)
• Everyone got an Angry Bird or Pig on a stick to play with at the party and take home.
• Angry Bird gummies were a “yummy” touch on each plate.

And the best part?  The cake, of course.  Once again, my mother outdid herself.  This time she created 3 cakes for the Angry Birds party.  It was great. 

• Kid's Birthday Party Ideas from Party411
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Go to the Birthday Party
• Kid's Birthday Party Invitations
• Kid's Birthday Party Games

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St. Patrick’s Day Kids Craft: Perler Bead Bowls

My kids and I discovered this fun craft the other day and decided it would be great for St. Patrick’s Day, or any holiday.  We created these great bowls out of Perler beads.  You can find them at any craft store.

All we needed was an oven proof bowl, the beads and cooking spray.  The project is simple.

Start by spraying the inside of your bowl with cooking spray.  This will keep the beads from sticking to the bowl.  Then put in a handful of beads in at a time.  We chose a mixture of greens for St. Patrick’s Day.  As you push the beads down, they will naturally rise up the sides of the bowl.

When you’ve filled your bowl with one layer of beads, put the bowl in the oven or toaster oven for 10-15 minutes at 400°.  We only did 10 minutes each but you can bake longer for a more melted look on your bowl.

After “cooking”, take the bowl out and let the beads cool in the bowl for a few minutes.  Don’t forget oven mitts when you take it out of the oven!  When it’s cooled, put the bowl in the sink and run cold water over the beads.  Then your bowl can easily be pulled out of the baking bowl.  They are great fun to make and a fun party decoration.  And, of course, they look great in any colors you can imagine!

Happy melting!

Angry Birds Theme Party Ideas

My five year old came home one from school about 6 months ago and said, “Mom, there’s this game called Angry Birds.  Can we get it?”  It seemed like an innocent request at the time.  Little did I know that our family was about to become Angry Birds Obsessed. (The kids even got their grandmothers hooked.)  So what do I do when we become hooked on something at our house?  Well, I plan a party!

My 3 year old was thrilled with the idea of having an Angry Birds theme party for his upcoming birthday party.  We’ve been planning for a while (picture an invitation with him in the middle of an Angry Birds scene, flying across the page) and trying to come up with creative ideas for the party.

Then one day I hopped onto our site and saw it… Angry Birds party supplies.  Stop the presses.  These are fantastic! 

 

I almost ran home from work to show my kids.  Then a few days later, these fantastic balloons appeared online:

 
I’m sold.  We’ll mix the fantastic Angry Birds Mylar balloons with bright primary latex balloons and the bright paper goods and the party is practically all planned.  On to favors...  There are tons of great Angry Birds toys available.  These Angry Birds backpack keychains are super fun as are these Angry Birds stickers.  I have a feeling more will be online soon now that the paper goods and balloons are available.  I’ll keep you posted.

We’re also thinking Angry Bird (and pig) masks for the kids.  We did something similar for my older son’s Star Wars party and it was a hit.  This site has a great free Angry Birds eps that can be used to create masks or favor tags. 

Grandma has of course been recruited to make an Angry Birds cake. (You remember her great cakes are, right?)  We’ve found some great ones online!  Check out this cake topper set from Etsy.  

 

 I think our Angry Birds party is going to be great.  I’ll be sure to post pictures when we’re done!

 

Sam’s Mom

Don’t Let the Pigeon Go to the Birthday Party

This year for my son’s 6^th birthday, we decided to go with a totally different theme for his party.  He loves the author Mo Willems and his pigeon theme books.  (We love “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!)  So, we decided to have a “Don’t Let the Pigeon go to the Birthday Party” Mo Willems birthday party. 

We started with a book for an invitation!  I scanned pictures from the book and changed the wording to work for a party.  The kids and parents loved the invitation!  Here are a few sample pages:

For décor at the party, we went with a blue and orange theme to coordinate with the book.  Here’s what I created:

• Mo Willems theme confetti with small punched out pictures of the characters from all his books
• Pigeon’s on a stick cutouts for the kids to play with – a big hit!
• A small cutout (thank you Party411.com!) of the pigeon wishing Sam a happy birthday

My Mom, of course, made one of her fantastic cakes.  It was great!  You can see the tabletop cutout in the back.

For favors, I found art kits (on super sale before Christmas) and created themed work books.  Mo Willems offers great free pdfs for parents and teachers planning Mo Willems teaching events, so I was able to use his art and puzzles for the books.

 

I have to say, this was my favorite birthday party yet.  The kids have read so much Mo Willems in school that they were all thrilled to see the décor and loved the favors.  I love planning a birthday party my kids will love and that will make them feel special.  This one certainly fit the bill.

My younger son’s birthday is next month.  Another bird theme – this time Angry Birds.  Stay tuned.

• Kid's Birthday Party Ideas from Party411
• Kid's Birthday Party Invitations
• Kid's Birthday Party Games

Leap Day Printable

Leap Day is quickly approaching!  Are you ready to celebrate your extra day?  I love the idea of a special day that only takes place once every 4 years.  I’m going to use these fun Leap Day theme resolution cards at our party.  I’ll let my friends fill out where they hope to be in 4 years and I’ll save them to mail out to them before Leap Day 2016.  I hope you’ll print out a batch for your friends this Leap Year.

Leap Day Printable PDF

Leap Day Theme Party