Angels

Age of Birthday Girl: 5 years old
Age Range of Guests: 3-8 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 2-10 years, depending on specific focus & activities

An angel party seemed like a fun idea (and it was) except it's hard to find angel decorations in May! We eventually found a few things that would work but this party may be easier to put together in late fall or early winter once Christmas decorations are in the stores.

Invitations: On plain white card stock we taped silvery star paper on the front and added small wooden angels we found at Micheal's Craft store (we cleaned them out of their supply at the time). We stamped "You're Invited" on the front and then wrote the party details inside.

Cake: The cake was made in a 9x13 pan. After covering it with light blue frosting we added mini-marshmallows, cut in half, to make clouds. Small wooden stars and angels were taped to toothpicks and inserted into the top of the cake. Cupcakes were covered with blue or white frosting and then topped with star & moon sprinkles and/or a mini marshmallow. We decorated the table with a white tablecloth covered with silver star confetti. It was a very nice effect overall.

Games & Goodies: The birthday girl wore a white dress, angel wings, and a halo. Party guests made their own halos out of silver or gold pipe cleaners. We found an angel craft from Oriental Trading and decorated them with markers, stickers, gems, ribbon, etc. We played games with angel themes such as a halo version of musical chairs, an angel scavenger hunt (find something white, something that makes music, something that has wings, etc).

Goodie bags were made from white paper bags decorated with the silver star paper and another wooden angel. They had angel stickers inside, silver glittery pencils and paper, candy, and gum.

Dinosaurs & Volcanoes

Age of Birthday Boy: 5 years old
Age Range of Guests: 3-8 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 2-8 years, depending on specific focus & activities

The Cake: For this cake we used a pan that is designed for the skirt of a doll - you can purchase it at most craft stores and it can have a variety of uses. For us it became a mountain and we placed it beside another base cake. We then covered it with chocolate frosting and added orange frosting for lava.

 Malt balls & crushed chocolate cookies were rocks coming down the side of the mountain but any round or crumbly cookie-type food will work. Green & blue frosting made up the grass & a watering hole. Around this we placed plastic dinosaurs. We also had extra cupcakes with blue or green frosting and a plastic dinosaur on each one.

Games & Goodies: Games were dinosaur themed versions of classics such as pin the scale on the dinosaur. Goodie bags included candy treats, dinosaur stickers, and plastic dinosaurs.

Ladybugs, ladybugs!

Age of Birthday Girl: 3 years old

Age Range of Guests: 0-5 years old

Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 0-8 years, depending on specific focus & activities

Invitations: Ladybug invitations were made using black circles for the body with red circles cut in half for the wings. We used smaller half circles for the head and a hole punch to make the dots. A white circle had the party info which was attached to the back.

The cake: For the cake we used one 9x13 cake and some cupcakes. We cut the cake into a leaf shape using a stencil made on wax paper, covered it with green frosting, and then drew lines on it with darker green icing gel. The cupcakes turned into ladybugs with red, white, and black frosting. We could have used black licorice for antennae but didn't find any in the store the day we went. After much searching we have not found the original inspiration for our cake.

Games: We did a variety of games for party guests that ranged in age from infants through 5 years. We found some ladybug bean bags at Oriental Trading and used those for many of the activities. Kids got to toss them, build for them, stack them, match them by color, and play musical chairs with them.

Goodies: We had wanted to send guests home with real ladybugs but weren't organized enough to order them ahead of time - it can be done though! Goodie bags included stickers, candy treats, and bug-themed toys.