Birthday Blast 2013 - An unbirthday mad party: Alice in Wonderland Post2

Following the earlier post on the prep work that went into Dumpling's birthday bash, here's the second post on the actual celebration day! Now, initially, when we first started planning this, Dumpling did not have any specific ideas on the activities and the grand-dad went ahead to book a SAFRA chalet. Though we later managed to book the chalet unit, Dumpling decided that she wanted sports / games activities on the actual day.

Thankfully I work in the Early Childhood Education industry and so, I approached the bosses if we can use one of the schools for the party so that we can use a gym for the games as well as the dining room for another activity (shared below).

:: Decor
Decor wise, we centered it around a pink and blue theme where I bought an editable file on buntings on ETSY so that I could edit the letters and print out the message which we want. ETSY is a fantastic site which sells a lot of home made and party stuff too! This is how our bunting turned out :)

Now, riding on the colour theme, we decided on having blue and pink balloons too which we tied to the back of the chairs.

To tie back to the 'Alice in Wonderland' theme, the same file that I bought had signages (shown below) and they were perfect for our activities!

As much as we can, we'd always include balloons in our parties because they do fill up the 'space' and add to the festive mood. Instead of plain balloons, we chose polka dotted ones to add to the whimsical theme but that's not all! We stuck some signages which read "Which Way", "This Way", "That Way" to them too! 

And here's how the activity room look :)

:: Activity 1 - Croquet

While the setting up of activity room was taking place, the kids were in the Croquet Court (gym) having their first activity of the day. We also pasted Flamingos to the Floor Ball sticks to be in-line with the theme! 

The coaches were really good with kids and conducted a few different games with them to warm them up. As you can see, the kids had a great time! 

True to the invite, the kids played an improvised version of the croquet game.

With the last 'obstacle' having to hit the ball down a slide and through a 'hole'.

After burning off their beans, it was time for Activity 2!

:: Activity 2: Planting a Red Garden for the (Red) Queen!
We stumbled upon The Blue Pocket a few months ago while we were out. The team at Blue Pocket was displaying their terrariums and Dumpling crept closer for a look. When she read (on their signages) that they conduct workshops too, she was thrilled and asked to make one too.

After some days of discussion with her and several calls with The Blue Pocket, we were able to include these terrariums as part of the activity for the kiddos at her party too! :)

So, what's in a terrarium?

(Source: The Blue Pocket)

The workshop started with Uncle Vincent explaining what a terrarium is and essentially, what goes on in the glass bottle - how water is recycled, etc. The presentation/intro talk had cute animation and the kids were fully engaged.

They then proceeded to demonstrate how the terrarium should be built and off the kids went! Planting a garden fit for the Red Queen!

 And tada!

:: THE CAKES, THE CAKES!
Now, what about the birthday cake? As what we have done regularly for the past years, we ordered them from Whips Cupcakes which Dumpling's gramps and Uncle helped to pick up that morning too. Ordering from Whips Cupcakes has always been a breeze and I love that they are able to do customization. We had a main cake shaped like a table with tablecloth and a cup plus saucer (from Hatter's tea party scene). The cake was wonderfully yummy as the base was red velvet so that complemented the fondant.

But the star of the day was the dessert stand filled with 2D and 3D mini cupcakes, macarons and more cupcakes (without the fondant for those who prefer them as they are). We had a mix of vanilla and red velvet base mixed with rose and buttercream cream on top.

Check out Cheshire Cat, the cute mushrooms and the tea pots! Taste wise - how good were they? Let's just say that I did not get to sample any because they were TOTALLY GONE before the end of the party!!!!

All in all, it was a blast and the kids have great fun! As for Dumpling, she found it too short and asked if we can "play the whole day next year!" Well, my mummy friends, are you ladies up for an even bigger bash next year? :p 

 Note: None of these items were sponsored in any way; I am sharing the contacts on my own accord so that it gives you mums an additional avenue to hunt for more party contacts! 

Here's part 1 of the Unbirthday Mad Party Post where I shared on the prep work leading into the party. 

This is a continuation of the Birthday Blast! series which I hosted last year! 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram! 

Birthday Blast 2013 - An unbirthday mad party: Alice in Wonderland

The good thing about Dumpling is that she is decisive. The bad thing about her is that she is too decisive. LOL. Every year, she has very fixed ideas on the birthday themes she'd like and she'll start as early as Feb / March. Last year she was all over Harry Potter while this year, she opted for something a bit more whimsical - Alice in Wonderland.

Perhaps it was because she did a tweaked version of Alice in a Chinese Speech and Drama session then but she decided that she liked the characters (especially after watching the movie where Hatter was played by Johnny Depp) and thereafter, the theme was set in stone!

I will be splitting up the birthday sharing into 2 posts and for this post, I will be sharing more on the pre-prep for the event day.

Alice in Wonderland is a fabulous theme as it is fun and whimsical. We toyed with many ideas for the activities on the party day (sharing in the next post) as well as what do to for the favors + decor. After showing her printouts of the various illustration types (do we use the "cartoon" figures or do we use the original illustrations or even the movie images?) we finally decided on sticking to the original classic illustrations.

This is what went out for the final invitation card, we used a bit of a 'bad English', the 'hatter' way... (Note: we decided to be literal and use the term 'plant' the town red because that's exactly what the kids did on the actual day).

This was then followed by the reminder that went out 3 days before where the party agenda was included so the guests can plan their time better.

Favours wise was a hard thing for us. Primarily because I am not really a candy / chocolate person but after stumbling on some customised favours from Divinefavorz, I went ahead with having a candy snack bag. I have to say that being Type A, it was not easy for me to let go of the entire design process to someone else so lol, I actually put together the design concept and the text I wanted and emailed them in a powerpoint to the vendor :p

This particular vendor has back-to-back orders so if you are anal like me where you need to go through a few versions of design checks, etc., please let her know early. The almost final versions were shown to us about 1+ to 2 weeks prior. You can then PM / email her your comments on any changes.

Here's a look at our customised drawstring loot bag (below pic, background). We also basically customised everything for the "top wraps" - from Kit Kat (check out the "Ingredients" and "Nutrition Facts"!)

To mini Mentos...

And a packet of mini marshmallows! 

It was also around this time that Dumpling and I, while surfing the net, chanced upon some hair clips and I decided to have some made for the girls at the party! Incidentally, at a flea market earlier this year, I met a bow maker and decided to reach out to her to order these bows. Here's what LittleCuty Hairbows made for me - Alice bottle cap bows for the girls at the party!  

Notice how the invitation ecard mentioned a dress code? Well, in true "Mad Hatter" lovers style, we requested for our guests to turn up in unbirthday maddest hats! 

If you have seen my post on my wedding dress, you would have known that I love feathers and tulle. So, I decided to commission LittleCuty Hairbows on making a matching mummy-daughter hair piece with feathers, ribbons and best of all, tulle covering half of our forehead in a "veil-like" manner. I emailed her some links of how I like them and she got them right! 

Do you like it as much as we do? :)

(Photo Credit: DinoMama)

As always, on a yearly basis, books were part of the loot and because we had varied age groups, I hunted for various suitable editions. (I must have gone through at least 30 different versions of this storybook!) With a buddy's help, I had these "read me" tags made to tie back to the theme. :) Thanks Lennie! 

And tada, the prep work for the favours was all done! 

Now, what's the glass jar for and why are there plants in the photo? Stay tuned for the next post! :)

Note: None of these items were sponsored in any way; I am sharing the contacts on my own accord so that it gives you mums an additional avenue to hunt for more party contacts! 

This is a continuation of the Birthday Blast! series which I hosted last year! Next up on the Birthday Blast series is where I will be sharing on Dumpling's party day so stay tuned!

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram! 

Birthday Blast 2013 - Hello Kitty Party

I admire crafty mamas, I truly do. Ironically, I do not have the patience for scrapbooking but I love notebooking and journaling with Dumpling. We attended one of Dumpling's good friend's party recently and I love what the mama did for decor - it was a Hello Kitty Pink theme without being over-the-top. The party was cozy and intimate and the highlight was the dessert table and a balloon sculptist for the kids.

Here's sharing some ideas on what the crafty mum did for the decoration! :)

Mini signages were placed at the table and they were all done up in a 'frame-like' manner. From 'dessert table' to...

'Programme' notice, they were done up prettily in pink. Check out the popcorn boxes! Crafty mama die cut and made them on her own! Aren't they cool?!?! :D

And of course, not forgetting the 'birthday girl'!

Something which was a HOT favorite with the mums and kids alike were the mason jars which had the coolest cap covers! The jars were served as 'cups' and were part of the party favors. And check out the cute paper straws!

And of course, it is not called a dessert table without them - it was paradise for the kids!

Now, what about decor? A simple bunting with Hello Kitty at each end was pasted on a glass panel above the dessert table.

But that's not all, Crafty Mama even made these huge rosettes! 

Activity wise, the kids basically had their own agenda - most ran around while some, like Dumpling, was very focused on having a balloon sculpture! LOL

A cool idea was that Crafty Mama also left small pails of necklaces, 'bottlecaps' and epoxy stickers around on the small cocktail rounds, for the children to DIY their own bottlecap neckalces! Here's Dumpling with her Minion necklace :) 

A parting shot of the kiddos looking mightily pleased with their balloons and necklaces! :)

A simple party with really neat DIY decor; hope that it inspires you for your kiddos' do! 

This is a continuation of the Birthday Blast! series which I hosted last year! Next up on the Birthday Blast series is where I will be sharing on Dumpling's do! :)

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram! 

Birthday Blast 2013 - It's McDonald's Party!

October is a party month for us with quite a few of Dumpling's friends celebrating her party. Last year, I did a Birthday Blast series featuring the various birthday themes from crafty mummy bloggers. For this series, I will be sharing based on the parties that Dumpling attended as well as her Harry Potter party last year which I have not gotten around to blogging! (I promise you that this will be coming up soon!)

:: McDonald's Party
For parents who are looking at a fuss free party, perhaps this can be a consideration. Dumpling and I attended a party at the East Coast branch (near Jumbo Seafood) where there is an area cordoned off on level 2 for the party.

The venue comes with a party room while the adults are seated right outside. Bonus? The doors are made of glass so it is easy for the parents to peek in and likewise, for the kiddos to look for their parents too. :)

Bunting and decor adorned a blank wall

All the kiddos have a goodie bag with activities (mazes, puzzles, etc.) to bring back too

The birthday girl has a loot bag too!

And if you are wondering about the invitation cards, it is provided by the company :)

A game host is provided for the games session - here's the kids having fun during a marble scooping game!

Prior to the party, mummy of the birthday girl, reached out to ask us for our food orders and I was happy to see that the children's set includes fruit slices too. We were also able to put in special request - less / no salt for the kiddos' fries. For a mummy who's fussy like me when it comes to food, that was certainly a relief. 

The birthday girl clearly had a blast! 

So there you have it ~ a fuss-free McDonald's party! 

This is a continuation of a Birthday Blast! series which I hosted last year! 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!