Stomp, chomp, growl, roar! It’s a dinosaur craft party!

May 12, 2017April 4, 20197 Comments

My little boy Austin turned 4 this year and had been begging me for a party with his friends. He decided he’d like a dinosaur party, which I was pleased about, as you can really go wild with this theme.

Austin loved his dinosaur cake and party by Made by Me Craft Parties

I normally run craft parties for children aged 5+ but even some 5-year-olds have quite a short attention span so I often need to have lots of activities and back up plans! Bearing this in mind I was a bit worried about keeping twenty 3 and 4-year-olds occupied! (Luckily I had a few big brothers and sisters who I enlisted as my helpers)

We started off decorating dinosaur explorer hats with lots of alphabet and dinosaur stickers. The kids loved this activity and all popped the hats on their heads ready for their first adventure!

You can’t have a dinosaur party without a dino dig, so we went off to a mini sandpit to excavate for dinosaur bones!

I had a pot of paintbrushes, plastic spoons and mini sieves on hand for the children to look for bones in the sand. I made the bones using a pack of dinosaur skeleton sand moulds and poured Plaster of Paris into the lightly greased moulds. I also hid some small plastic dinosaurs amongst the sand too.

Then it was time for some dinosaur themed games! We played musical footprints and a game with a spinner where the children had to roar/stomp/flap/dance like a dinosaur (very funny).

We calmed things down a bit with a story, I found an excellent book called Mad About Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae and it captivated the children and got them ready for food.

Finally, I enlisted my band of helpers and we did a big dinosaur egg hunt. Plastic green eggs were hidden all over the hall (it was raining otherwise we would have done it outside). Each child was given a paper bag and had to collect eggs and exchange them for their party bag items (a dino tail ruler, dino stamp, chocolate bar and a dino activity book).

For those children who were a bit younger or who didn’t want to take part in some of the activities, there was some dinosaur colouring and a themed play area with grass, dinosaurs, plants and boulders.

If you’d like me to organise a bespoke party like this for your child, please contact me (Lexy) at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk For older children there are options for dinosaur decopatch, a dinosaur spotters log book or decorating fabric cases to keep a set of mini-dinos in, as well as any of the activities in this blog post.

Dinosaur Decopatch

Keep an eye out for all the dinosaur party details in my next blog post!

Roar! for now,
Lexy 🙂

My Little Pony Party – All the fun and games!

November 26, 2015October 4, 2017Leave a comment

I recently hosted a My Little Pony Party for my daughter Izzy. You can read all about the party theme and décor over on my previous post. I’d now like to share with you the details of the fun and games.

As the My Little Pony Party had quite a few young guests I decided not to do a craft activity this time, but in the usual Made By Me style, I wanted to make the games a bit unusual!

We warmed up with a disco and some musical statues and bumps just to get the party started and swiftly moved onto Cloud Blowing.

The opening credits of My Little Pony show the ponies on a hot air balloon in the clouds and Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus (for those of you not in the know!) so a cloud blowing game fitted perfectly! I lined the children up on one side of the hall behind a pre-marked line and gave them each a straw and cotton wool ball (the cloud). The aim of the game is to blow the ‘cloud’ across the hall to the finish line using only the straw. It was very funny and a real hit.

Cloud Blowing game

We finished off the party with a quieter game of My Little Pony Bingo after the party tea as the children were getting quite lively. This meant the children went home slightly calmer (and I hear they were all shattered).

While the games were going on we also had Rarity’s Beauty Boutique where the party guests could get their faces painted with cutie marks and mini temporary tattoos.

Rarity’s beauty station

The photo booth was very popular (especially with the boys!). I provided a basket of fancy dress and created a gorgeous backdrop of a giant silver cloud with a rainbow of hearts dangling down. I was so pleased with how the photos turned out.

Photo booth fun!

You may have noticed that the birthday girl wasn’t wearing any old dress. I had planned on buying a new party dress but apparently that was too easy ;). My daughter wanted a more fancy dress feel to her outfit, so I got the tulle out and went for it! She was delighted with the end result.

Rainbow Dash tulle dress and headband

Izzy’s actual birthday was on a Monday and she had mentioned that she would like to wear a 6 badge to school. Sadly she reminded me at 5pm on the Sunday and I had totally forgotten (oops). So I had to raid the craft room, where I used a few of my glitter and ribbon scraps to put together this beautiful badge. I was so pleased with the final result I plan to offer these up for sale. Isn’t it funny how new ideas and products can sometimes come along by accident?

When my daughter asked for a My Little Pony party, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the theme choice. But over the last few months I’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for these brightly coloured crazy ponies!

** UPDATE **
You can read all about Eliza’s My Little Pony themed craft party over at the Chelsea Mamma blog.

My Little Pony Party – The Little Details

November 12, 2015October 4, 20175 Comments

I recently styled and hosted a My Little Pony Party for my daughter’s 6th birthday and it was so much fun!

The decorations were all themed around Rainbow Dash and her rainbow mane, so lots of bright bunting, tissue paper pom-pom clouds, and table confetti were the order of the day. I was particularly pleased with the rainbow we created with the simple use of crepe streamers (although it did put my brother through slight trauma trying to get it all even to fit the gap).

Rainbow table confetti and party ware, pom pom clouds and crepe rainbow.

I decorated the party table with a plain white table cloth and sprinkled large tissue paper circle confetti down the middle. I used rainbow and My Little Pony napkins and found these awesome plastic bottles with straws. They were so good as there were no drinks spillages and I can use them again. I then finished the look with a few foil balloons.

For the party tea I used cardboard lunchboxes from Party Delights and they were so effective! They saved a lot of time and there was a lot less wastage. Inside I put 2 finger sandwiches, a yoghurt tube, small packet of rasins, and I found some cute cardboard muffin pots to put a few cocktail sausages and sausage rolls.

Easy party tea!

Dessert was a selection of small cakes, some great rainbow cupcakes and these brilliant rice crispie cakes lollies that I found on the Capture By Lucy blog. My daughter absolutely loved making them for her friends.

Beautiful rainbow cup cakes, easy cake pops and a Rainbow Dash masterpiece!

The birthday cake was made by a good friend and inside there were layers of rainbow sponge (sadly I didn’t get a photo of that).

As you might already know, I like to make party favours a bit different (without spending fortune). Befitting of the rainbow theme we gave each party goer a small tin of rainbow paints and a strip of rainbow laces wrapped in a belly band of pretty paper and a thank you tag.

Paint pallet party favours

I had a ball planning and designing this party and the birthday girl had such fun! I’ll be back soon with another blog about the party activities and the dress.

Friendship is magic … (as the My Little Pony motto goes!).

If you would like me to run a party similar to this one or something totally different, please get in touch at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk

Want to learn more? see what Chelsea Mamma thought about our MLP craft party making manes, tails and decorating pencil cases.

Made By Me: making craft parties special

February 9, 2015October 4, 2017Leave a comment

Planning a party can be a stressful and expensive business and the choice of themes and activites out there is mind boggling! A craft party gives people a chance to bond, relax and create something a little bit different to take home.

So, who am I? My name is Lexy and I’m a crafty (not like a fox!), mother of 2, a born planner, organiser and fun loving too. I’ve made my own greetings cards since I was a child and have tried my hand at loads of different crafts; I’ve sewn, beaded, painted, stuck, cut and glittered my way through life and have loved every minute!

A Made by Me craft party is all about having fun and creating something fabulous! I can teach a new skill or create craft activities to fit a theme of a party, for example decorating a castle for a princess party or making hot air balloons for a balloon party.

So who are the parties for?
My aim is to spread the love of crafting and my parties can be tailored to fit any age and ability. Children’s birthday parties are an obvious choice, but lets be honest, adults love to get creative too, so I offer activities for team building events, hen parties and baby showers. Or how about keeping the kids entertained at a wedding or as part of the entertainment at a summer festival?

What crafts can we do?
The craft parties include crafts such as pencil case decorating, tote bag decorating, decopatch (decorating paper mache shapes), tutu making, castle decorating, card making, paper bunting and bird boxes, notebook decorating, crown and mask making, ceramic money box painting and the list is always growing! I can match the activities to any theme and colours.

What’s included in a Made By Me Craft party?
I want your experience to be as stress free and enjoyable as possible, I will run a craft party to suit your interests, needs and theme and make it age appropriate.
I can also do a mixture of party games, face painting and crafts for younger children.
I’ll bring all the craft materials, aprons for the younger children and a table cloth.
I’ll clean up afterwards and make sure everyone goes home with something to be proud of!
You can even use many of the craft items your guests produce as part of the party bag/favour. How about filling the decorated pencil cases or tote bags with a few sweets or a small notebook and pen?

What makes Made By Me special?
The reviews and testimonials I’ve received speak for themselves, but you can count on me to listen to your needs and requirements and create a bespoke service just for you. If you can’t see what you want on my website, just ask me if I can help.
I think attention to detail makes all the difference, so I’ll make sure the art materials are laid out beautifully and the party will have a bespoke welcome sign too.

How can I book a party or a service offered by Made By Me?
Simply call me on 07779 870183 or email me at Lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk with your party date, requirements and theme (if you have one) and we can take it from there!

Thanks for reading and I hope I can create a crafty party for you soon 🙂

Minnie Mouse is in the House!

January 19, 2015May 18, 2017Leave a comment

I really thought my daughter would like a princess party for her 4th birthday last year, but she surprised me by choosing a Minnie Mouse party.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m not a big fan of using branded character party accessories, I’d much rather use the essence of the character and the colours for my themeing. With this in mind I used lots of Minnie silhouettes, dots, bows and of course pink and black! I was particularly pleased with how the black paper plates with Minnie ears and bow came out (all hand made of course!).

As it was a party for 4 year olds, the activities were kept simple and traditional, including pin the bow on Minnie (sorry – there are no photos as I was busy making sure they all had fun!) and we also did some Minnie cookie decorating in the garden.

I made this tutu for the birthday girl and it looked utterly gorgeous! One of my craft party options for older children is a tutu making party – how much fun would this be? Get in touch for more details at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk

The party favours were these super cute mini popcorn boxes filled with themed hair accessories, sweets, the cookies from the craft activity and hand made Minnie ears (Mickey ears for the boys). We gave these out at the start of the party and they’re still being used in dressing up boxes a year later. I personally think it’s better to put together useful and long lasting party favours and bags. I can create bespoke and special party bags for your party, contact me to discuss your requirements at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Minnie Mouse party, thanks for reading. Meeska, mouska … Mickey mouse!

Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

November 5, 2014July 11, 2017Leave a comment

Well my daughter (Izzy) certainly did! So for her 5th birthday party we put on a Frozen extravaganza for 14 of her friends!

The party kicked off with a ‘Decorate Elsa’s castle’ activity. We did a spot of reusing and recycling to make the castle and Mr Made By Me (hubby Martin) did a grand job! I’ve found a great supplier for super glamorous cardboard castles for any future Made By Me parties. This activity was more popular than I had imagined and the girls kept going back to add a few more jewels and embellishments throughout the party.

Next up was ‘Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?’ and we split the girls into teams and asked 4 unsuspecting parents to be our victims (er … I mean, Olafs). Each team had a roll of toilet paper, 3 buttons, a carrot nose and a scarf and they had to dress up their adult as Olaf. Cue lots of laughter and fun!

I thought it would be amazing if we could make it snow for the party and I took an idea I’d seen on Pintrest and changed it up to suit our Frozen needs. We filled balloons with some Christmas chocolate snowballs, silver sequins, some tiny cotton balls and also a party guest’s name on a piece of paper (so we knew whose turn it was next to pop). We hung the balloons from our conservatory roof and each girl got to pop a balloon. It was a bit like pass the parcel with a bang!

The party was in September on one of those unexpectedly hot days and my cunning plan went a bit melty, as I hadn’t factored in the hot conservatory and the chocolate … there were a few chocolate smears as a result. Oops!