Sewing Party

Age of Birthday Girl: 10 years

Age Range of Guests: 8-12 years

Gender of Guests: girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 6-13+ depending on the tasks presented.  If you keep the party a no-sew theme then the age range could run lower. If you have the tasks be more intricate or involved then you could extend it well into the teen range.

Invitations: For a sewing party we naturally had to sew the invitations!  Rectangles of fabric were cut out and tacked to card stock.  Cream card stock was printed with "You Are Invited..." and the placed on top of the fabric.  

This was all sewn together on the sewing machine using a simple programmed pattern.  On the back of the invitation we glued cream card stock to hide the thread.  Information about the party was printed on this piece of card stock ahead of time, along with some sewing clip art.

Cake: The cake was inspired by one of the projects for the party - a no-sew pillow made from felt and colorful strands of ribbon.  A round layer cake was covered in white frosting.  Strips of fondant were woven together and then trimmed to fit the top of the cake. Edible paper and markers were used to create a measuring tape that was wrapped around the bottom of the cake.

Activities: The party was planned in stations with a different craft project at each one.

Station One: This was the no-sew pillow which inspired the cake.  Here, the party guests chose a felt backing for their pillow and strips of pre-cut colored ribbon.  They wove the ribbon together into a square.  The felt backing was pre-cut around the edges to have the same number of strips of fringe as ribbon.  The woven ribbon was placed on top of the felt and the girls tied a ribbon to a felt strand all around the square.  Before it was closed off they filled it will pillow stuffing.

NOTE: This activity took longer than we expected so some of the guests finished them at home. Also, the cut ribbon started to fray fairly quickly so if we were to do this again we would take the time to sew the ribbon ends to ensure they would remain clean after the party. The resulting pillows though were colorful and fun!


Station Two: Using the sewing machine, (under direct adult supervision since many of the girls had never used one before), each guest made a simple drawstring bag which would serve as their goodie bag.

Each girl selected a pre-cut piece of fabric which was twice as long as the bag would be. The short ends were folded over (wrong side together) about a 1/2 inch and sewn to create a slot for the string.  Then the fabric was folded in half, right sides together, and the long edges were sewn being careful not to sew the opening closed where the string would be inserted.  The girls chose their string color, inserted it into the slot, pulled it through and then tied the two ends together.  So easy and they were all thrilled to have created their own personal bag.


Station Three: This was a jewelry making station which was led by two of the dads - they really got into it (and were seen still working on their creations long after the girls had finished)!

The girls were given a selection of beads & charms and used wire to create bracelets.  The dads were there to help cut the wire and crimp the beads at the end if the girls needed help, but most of them could do it on their own.


Station Four: This was the waiting area since the sewing machine could only be used one at a time and the jewelry station only had a certain number of tools. If someone had down time they could select something to color/create, or they could assemble their goodie bags.

Goodie Bags: As previously mentioned, the girls created their own goodie bags by sewing a simple drawstring bag.  These were filled with a variety of candies, as well as their hand-made jewelry, and some fun stickers.  They also took home their hand-made no-sew pillows.

Rapunzel

Age of Birthday Girl: 6 years old
Age Range of Guests: 4-9 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 3-10 years, depending on specific focus & activities

This was inspired by a wonderful twist on the Rapunzel story found in the book called "Falling For Rapunzel" by Leah Wilcox. If you have not yet read this book you really should. It continues to be a family favorite even though our kids have outgrown picture books.

Cake: We attached two cookie sheets and covered them with foil. Two 9x13 cakes (one chocolate, one vanilla) were placed end to end on the long cookie sheet and frosted to form the tower. One end had small sections cut out to form the top of the towers. For the turrets and balcony railing we used Lego castle pieces from our girls' collection. The long braid was designed using gummy peach rings (by Trolli), cut into thirds and then placed to look like interwoven hair. Frosting vines were graced with large flower candy sprinkles.

Games & Goodies: The kids were given long door handle foam pieces to decorate. We had a variety of stickers, markers, ribbon etc. for them to use. The original idea had been to make them look like Rapunzel's tower but really, they could do whatever they wanted with their craft. It was fun to see the various designs develop.

The main event was the acting out of the book for the party guests. Our three children played the roles of Rapunzel (played by the birthday girl), her maid (little sister), and the handsome prince (big brother) as it was narrated. It is a delightful story of Rapunzel misunderstanding the prince's request to let down her hair resulting in hilarious responses, much to the frustration of the prince.

Following the short skit the kids formed teams and had to unscramble and decode mixed up messages to figure out the target sentence which was "Are you ready for cake?". They were!

Goodie bags included princess and prince stickers, sparkly pencils and notepads, bracelets for the girls and bouncy balls for the boys, gummy candies, and various other candies and chocolates.

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.