Bowling Birthday party: Best of the Web

The great thing about the bowling party is there is no mess to clean up. Bowling alley= leave the stress when you leave. But just because you are having a party the bowling alley doesn’t mean that you can’t add some original ideas and decorations to make it extra special! And if the bowling alley you choose is gross, then decorations can cover up the stains and make it like new :)


This cute inspiration board is a take on vintage bowling. This was planned for a guy's birthday party, not so much a kid, but I still think it has some great ideas for decorations and props! Just stop when you get to the big mug of beer. But maybe that is root beer :)

Now this party was planned for a child and has all the details a kid would love- treats, trophies, and cake!

Have you ever been to a bowling alley? If not, this is what one might look like*

 *I am making fun of myself right now.
Of course you know what a bowling alley looks like. Well, don't you? I am just saying I am not really sure why I included a photo of the pins other than it looks fun.

P is for party featured this adorable party and has lots more details, including where to buy some of these items, so be sure to check it out!

Another great reason to have a bowling party is because you can use really cute bowling wording. For instance, instead of an RSVP  you can put, "Hope you can spare the time!". And of course, you can incorporate having a "ball" in there somewhere.
"We are bowled over to invite you"

Here is an example of a bowling invitation I designed....

The next is an invitation with bowling details and harlequin background. These can be changed and personalized to match the party colors and details.

Now onto sweets...my favorite part....

Adorable Sugar Cookies from Bake at 350

 hello-naomi.blogspot.com via amyatlas



It would be really cute to do little bowling shirts for the kids....

When I searched I found  a ton of places you can buy matching bowling shirts online.  I am thinking of something retro kind of like this.....

However, Family Fun  has a free printable  you can use if you want to personalize a t-shirt!
 Here it is.

And how cute are the bowling cakes?!?



Bowling pins and bowling ball cake




http://crissyscrafts.blogspot.com/2011/02/bowling-birthday-party.html


All the girls received their personalized bowling t-shirt. Each girl had her initial on the front and a bowling ball with 3 rhinestone for the holes on the back of the t-shirts. The ball and the initial were made with black glitter felt.

They all looked so cute!

Each girl had her own Bowling nicknames. We choose an adjective that starts with the letter as their first name, than for the "middle name" a favorite animal or pet.

My daughter's bowling nickname was: Crazy Nibbles.

She had her favorite cake: Oreo ice cream cake

Award Winner Pins

We made silly award pins like Best Victory Dance, Most Strikes, Most Spares, Best Bowling Face, Most Competive Player(my husband won this one!) and best Warm Up. Once we arrived back home after bowling, each girl received her "award"!



http://catchmyparty.com/photos/party/1794






And one search on Amazon brings all the cool junk a bowler could want as a favor...





Thanks for "sparing" the time to read this post! I hope you have a "ball" at your bowling party!

har har har....

Diva Birthday Party: Best of the Web

The Diva Birthday Party has lots of variations. It could be a princess party, a zebra party, a pink party, a spa party, a makeover party…and we haven’t even scratched the surface of ideas! Basically, a diva incorporates all kinds of theme, so there are many directions you can take and make your own. We will look at a couple of ideas in this post- there are so many cute ones that we can't feature them all!

Lets start the inspiration with the Diva/Princess party of them all.

They are calling it a princess party, but because of the animal print I think it fits with what more people would call a Diva party. But then again, what do I know? I am just a girl writing this post, so we will go with my ideas.

Wow-wow-wow! That is pretty much an all out party! So beautiful! It was hard to narrow down the photos because all the details are so amazing, so be sure to check out more here! The party giver has a site too, so visit the mom here.
I am guessing a lot of those details are out of the realm of folks like you and me, but that doesn't mean we have to settle for hum-drum diva party!
There are adorable snacks and divalicious snacks to be consumed...

Pin the tail on the diva, I mean, Zebra

Zebra Favors....

And Zebra Diva Cookies!

1,2, 3-5, 6

If you have seen enough animal print to make you vomit, well, then, I have done my job. Um, I guess? Maybe its just that I have seen enough animal print that I can see it when I close my eyes. Either that or the zebra print tattoo I have on the back of my eyelids.

And speaking of eyelids (What a segue!), here is a great inspiration board for a Diva Sleepover.

 Diva Sleepover

What idea can you use for your little Diva/Princess?

Princess Birthday Party: Best of the Web

Oh, the wonderful potential of a princess party! So many beautiful ideas to make your pretty little princess feel special on her big day. Some may shy away from a princess party because some looks have been done over and over, but there are still some very original and creative ideas to celebrate a little princess.

 For instance...take a look at this sweet green and pink princess party!

I love that this favor is a horse carriage made of pink chocolate!!

Wow. That is one seriously cool party. Find out details here!

Party details here

The princess party theme can be somewhat along the same lines is a Diva party. You can mix and match some of these ideas and use your favorites. (There are several ideas that cross over, so be sure and check out next week's diva theme! There is a animal print princess party you won't want to miss!)

But as you have seen so far, we all know PINK is a staple at a princess party, right? Sorta like in Steel Magnolias when Shelby’s colors are “blush and bashful”. Pink is a princess color- don’t stop until it looks like it got hosed down in Pepto Bismol.



Have you seen Steel Magnolias? If you are a girl, its a must see.


This beautiful cake is for a Neapolitan party, but it also would be perfect for a princess party. I want to call this cake dainty, even though its enormous, but its also so graceful and ladylike. Did I just call a piece of cake graceful and ladylike? Yes, yes, I think I did. It looks like a cake I would like to friends with.

These cookies are from the same party, but I think we would be more like acquaintances. They look nice enough- actually, they are beautiful-  but I have already pledged my friendship to the Dainty Ladylike Pink Cake.

Neapolitan Cake

Here are some adorable ideas for other Princess sweets at the Party for Her Highness!

princess sweets 1
princess sweets 2

And of course, every princess needs her castle!



pinkcakebox.com  (obviously)

And her crown!!

 Princess Pillow Birthday Cake



Sigh. Such pretty pink details appeal to the little girl in me. The one that dresses my cat up every night in a princess ball gown. Okay, not really. I am not even sure where that came from. I don't even have a cat!
Hopefully these princess party ideas will help your little princess have a magical birthday. How will you celebrate your little princess?

As for me, I think I am going to grab a box of pink tissue and rent Steel Magnolias.

Picnic Birthday Party

I just fell in love with this Picnic Birthday Party theme.

I am usually not one for do-it-yourself crafty type invitations, (obviously I prefer adorable, classy printed invitations!) but I do love the creativity and detail that went into this picnic lunch bag.

Go to her blog to see more photos and get the free downloads for the sandwich, apple and milk clip art if you want to do this yourself!

Art birthday party: Best of the Web

Art parties were not really around when I was coming up, which might make me feel old. I know I would have really liked this sort of party. Having a creative bent, I think this is the kind of party I would have really gone crazy for. Now I have a child so I can just let him have the party I never had. That is what a kid is for-right? For me to live my childhood desires and push them on him?! Okay, just kidding.

Love these paint sample cookies!!

I have realized that the art party has 2 of my favorite details:  colors and cake. I love the rainbow palette that so many have used when planning this party. It turns out looking really cute and turning out really fun pictures. I even read where one mom asked all the kids attending to wear a solid color and they created a life size rainbow for a party photo!

 

One idea that is great for an art party is to ask kids to bring broken crayons to the party and create new ones.  You can use a muffin tin with shapes, or a regular mini muffin tin to create these new crayons. 

Directions: Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Using a mini-muffin pan, fill each mold with assorted colors of crayon pieces (paper removed) and bake until the crayons melt, about 10 to 15 minutes. (Tip: Place a sheet pan under the crayons to catch any drips). Once they’re cool, remove the crayons from the pan and smooth any rough edges by rubbing them on a knife.

This Crayon recipe is from the thepartydress.net

There are some cute variations on using a painters  palette- from putting cupcakes in a faux palette to creating your own from sugar cookies.

Picasso cake stand

Sugar cookies

 The next entry in the adorable contest is a Watercolor Cake.

Here is what she said about how she made it.

Watercolor cake

"I used airheads candy, rolled flat and cut in ovals, for the watercolors. The paintbrush is a brown tootsie roll, white tootsie roll, and airheads. I should have used one of those long brown cookie type things for the brush handle, but I didn't have one, so I did what I could. I made a "box" out of white chocolate I had melted, spread out on parchment paper, and let harden. I'm not a professional, and I'm sure someone else could make it better, but I really enjoy crafting cakes, and eating them too. 

 

rainbow layer cake

Or, if you prefer layer cake, make your own with each layer showcasing a different color of the rainbow. I am not sure I could get mine to stand up straight enough to tell what each color is, but these look beautiful! Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Finally, some great ideas for activities.

Mix your own drink. This smart mom did it in the garage and put them in their own personalized water bottles. She said all the drinks ended up brown but nobody cared!

The water bottles used for mixing...

Another cute activity for an art party-
Picasso Imitation. The painting “Starry Night’ was enlarged and divided into 15 squares. Each child had their own square to paint and try to recreate on their paper. They then were put together to recreate the painting together. 

The original to copy

If you want to pull a “mom”, you could teach a great lesson how we are all just part of the painting, and when we work together with others, things become great works of art. Expect your child to roll their eyes and probably kick you out of the party if you decide to do this.

The finished recreation

I have seen several parties where each child decorated their own cake, sugar cookie, t-shirt, etc. These seem to be a huge hit for the kids and I am sure they love having something of their own they have created.

These images are from a Rainbows and Unicorns

party, so because of the Rainbow element, I thought this would be a great one to include for an art birthday party as well.  I like the rainbow cake, of course, and also the use of jelly beans all combined together.

 

 

This Come Together Cards invitation has been a popular one for art parties.
The shirt is personalized with the birthday boy/girl’s age and name, if wanted.
It is shown with and without a graphic...

There are so many adorable ideas to make an art party unforgettable! Which is your favorite? Will you use any for your next art party?

*In my Best of the Web kids Birthday Party Series, I have complied some of my favorite ideas from around the Internet. I have done my best to link back correctly to every idea so proper credit may be given. If I have missed anything or if you see something that should have your name on it instead of someone else's, please let me know so I may refer people to the correct place. Thanks!