Parties2Plan: October 2012

October 29, 2012

Knight Party: How to make "Armor" tunics

For the Knight Party, I wanted to make little tunics for the kids to wear as their Knightly Garb.

Since I still don't really know how to operate the sewing machine I received for my last birthday, sewing 12 of these was too daunting of a task to take on! So I cheated, and used iron on hemming tape.

Once I got going, it was really easy! Each one took approx. 15-20 minutes to make.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial...

Purchase:

gray material for tunics
contrasting color for decoration (I got red satin)
iron-on hemming tape
heat bond (easier than the tape for adhearing the decoration)
Ribbon

You'll also need scissors and your iron.

-Cut gray material to size (roughly 2 ft x 1 ft)

-Iron crease for "hem" (approx. 1 inch all the way around)

-Place iron-on tape inside folded material
-With iron set to high heat, with NO STEAM, secure hem (hold iron in place for about 8 seconds)

Sorry- A little hard to see,
because my ironing board cover is gray too!

-Trim excess material at corners, if needed

-Fold tunic in half and cut rectangle for neck hole

-Cut small diagonal slit at each of the four corners of the neck hole

-Fold edges of neck hole to the inner side of the tunic and iron crease

-Apply iron-on tape inside fold, and secure "hem" with iron

When laid flat, with "inside" facing up,
it will now look like this

-Get red decoration material and apply Heat & Bond to BACK SIDE of satin, with iron

-One side will now be satin, the other is the Heat & Bond paper

-On paper side, trace desired shape & cut (I chose a crown)

-Decide which side of your gray tunic will be the front

-Peel paper from back of crown, and position with glue down on front of tunic

After, peeling the paper- the glue will be exposed.
You want to make sure the glue is facing the gray tunic
when you apply your iron.

-Iron into place (approx. 10 seconds of heat, since satin is thick)

-Cut ribbon to lengths that can be tied (approx. 8 inches)

-Position ribbon with the glossy side facing out, on the sides of the tunic, making sure the ribbons will line up for tying later

Use as small piece of the hem tape to secure the ribbon to the tunic.

Done!

Tunics set up on back of each child's chair:

Related Posts:
Knight Party- Invitations & Decorations
Knight Party- Games & Activities
Knight Party- Food & Goodies (Coming Soon!)

October 26, 2012

Knight Party Invitations & Decorations

DETAILS

This party was for a 4 year old boy.

INVITATIONS

We printed the invitations on 5x7 card stock paper, & placed them in envelopes.

For the kids at school, names were written calligraphy-style on the front of the envelope, & we used a dragon wax seal on the back.

Note: we also put a seal on each of the mailed invitations, but unfortunately it fell off before it got delivered.

Seal on back of envelope

DECORATIONS

Foyer walls covered with "stone"

Foyer/Entry

-Personalized Knight Banner

-Banners from printed dragon, knight & shield images

-Created castle walls with gray tablecloths purchased by the roll. Drew stones with sharpie marker.

-Placecards around mini knight statue

Place cards put out on table

Dining Room

-Red & Blue streamers and balloons

-Silver tablecloth on "Feast Table"

-Silver & gold-toned serving trays
-Table set with "goblets" and "gold" plates
-Hang knight cut-outs to chandelier

-Replace photos in all frames with print outs of knight portraits-"Armor" tunics on backs of chairs, and party hat helmets set on plates

Decorations hanging from chandelier

These party hats were the best!
The kids LOVED them!

Replaced photos in frames with images of knights

Living Room

-Toy castles, dragons & knight figures, books & castle puzzle (toys we already had)

-Place shields, swords & helmets on mantle and shelves (toys we already had)

-Dragon pinata hanging in fireplace until ready for use

-Hang dragon gliders from chandelier

-Change chandelier candles to fake ones that light up on a timer (safer than open flames)

-"Armory" sign above the balloon swords

-"Royal Privy" sign pointing way to bathroom
-Green & yellow balloons

Outside

-Use cut out cardboard to make play set into a castle

-Store games supplies in red IKEA "trunk"

-Gray tablecloths on outside tables

-Balloons

October 12, 2012

Wild West Party- Food & Goodies

FOOD

-Western shaped ice cream sandwiches (see below for "how to")

-Hot dogs

-Beans

-Corn on the cob

-Mac & Cheese

-Potato Chips

-Cornbread & Biscuits

-Cactus Juice (green Hawaiian Punch)

-Rootbeer

-Salsa & Chips

-Watermelon

-Cole slaw

-Serve food using baskets & cast iron cookware

GOODY BAGS

-Paper bags gathered at top with "Happy Trails to You" tag.

-Bag was tied with wild west cowboy ribbon (found at Michael's, but could use twine)

-Coloring/Activity book attached to front with birthday boy's name.

-Sheriff Badges

-Cowtail Candy

-Clip on Mustache

-Horse toy

How To: Ice Cream Sandwiches

These were really easy... but a little messy!

I had a kit to make them, but you could use cookie cutters (the deeper the sides, the better).

For Chocolate: Bake a batch of Brownies in a large baking pan

For Vanilla: Bake a sheet of Sugar Cookie Batter in a large baking pan

-Take a cookie cutter and cut the desired shape.

-Gently push the "cookie" in, so it's now at the top of the cookie cutter.

-Pack ice cream into the bottom of the cookie cutter, leaving about a half inch of the cutter exposed.

-Cut the bottom "cookie" with this same cutter, creating the sandwich inside the cutter.

-While still in the cutter, firmly press the cookies & ice cream together.

-Once you know it's compressed nice & tight, gently push the entire sandwich out of the holder.

-Store on a baking sheet in the freezer (cover with plastic wrap)

-Repeat for as many sandwiches as you need!

OTHER IDEAS

Things I've found after-the-fact, that I would have liked to use!
(isn't that always the way?)

Barb wire cord

My Pet Cow Balloons

Cow patterned Balloons

Cupcake decorators
Cactus Party Picks

Haystack Hunt- hide little toys in a bale of hay for kids to pick through & find

Stick Pony Races

Potato Sack Races

Related Posts:
-Wild West Games & Activities

-Wild West Invitations & Decorations

October 11, 2012

Wild West Party- Games & Activities

GAMES & ACTIVITIES

Dress Up- Children each get cowboy hat & bandanna upon arrival.

"Wanted"- each child has photo taken in front of poster. We provided them with hats and plastic, stick-on mustaches.

Milking the Cow- create cardboard cow, attaching pink rubber kitchen glove with holes poked in finger tips as udders. Fill glove with watered down milk (just enough milk so it is white). We found it best to have two gloves and a helper to refill the second so kids didn't have to wait long.

Boot shaped Pinata

Bean bag toss (throw beanbags into cowboy hat)

Pin the badge on the cowboy

Sheriff Says (instead of "Simon Says")

Campfire story-time- read "How I Spent my Summer Vacation" by Mark Teague

Round 'em Up -two hula hoops are on the ground, a dozen balloons of two different colors are in between the hula hoops. Kids are split into two teams and have to try to herd their color balloon into their team's hula hoop.

Rattlesnake Tag- Kids line up & put hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them. The child in the front of the line needs to catch the last child in line. When the "head" catches the "tail" the child that was the head, becomes the new tail. The second child in line becomes the new head.

Lasso Practice -Rope is tied to hula hoop. Kids take turns trying to lasso rocking horses & pull them in. Prize- Licorice Ropes

Knock out at OK Corral- Paint plastic bottles white, line them up to be knocked down with beanbags.

Prize- Gold coins

Gold Rush!- Panning for silver & gold (spray painted gravel rocks)

Prize- Kids get to keep the "gold" they find.