Good morning! So we had Addy’s 6th birthday party on Saturday…..I swear, I am STILL tired. God bless Kate Gosselin (and her nannies)…I can’t imagine having multiple 6 or 7 year olds. Especially that many girls! But it went off without a hitch, and the girls had a great time. Her actual birthday was November 19th, but we bumped the party into December so we could make it Christmas themed! We sent out cute little invitations that had elves on them…..they were adorable. At the party, the girls decorated cookies, made a Christmas ornament and played outside. And ate lots of yummy treats!! I will show you what we did and give you some tips, so you can have your own Christmas party, cookie exchange, or if for some reason you are stuck with too many 6 year old girls. This is a long post…..so hang in there;)
I will start with the food spread. I did all desserts. The party was at 2pm. I did that on purpose so I wouldn’t be expected to feed the kids actual food. I just wanted to give them the good stuff!
I made 2 different types of cookies (pre-made, I just baked ‘em), Rice Krispy treats (but out of Christmas Captain Crunch), cupcakes and the best part……donut hole trees! I also had apple cider and vanilla ice cream. Addy chose to have cupcakes instead of an actual cake, and I chose to bake mini-cupcakes. That way the girls wouldn’t fill up on just one cupcake. And I can power down 10 of them and tell myself it’s ok because they are mini.
The donut trees were super easy to make. I used foam trees from the craft store, white frosting, toothpicks and donut holes. This takes A LOT of donut holes, so consider yourself warned.
I started by spreading the trees with frosting. I used a lot so that I could completely cover the Styrofoam……nobody wants to eat that.
I inserted one end of a toothpick into the donut hole and the other end into the tree. I kept going until I filled up the tree.
Once the whole tree was filled, I dusted the tree with powdered sugar. It gives the tree that snowy look that my trees are missing now that most of my snow has melted. Isn’t it the cutest thing ever? The girls all loved it, and they all wanted to eat it!
Here is another view…..
Quick pic of the cupcakes….I used a basic chocolate cake recipe, but you can totally use a boxed mix. I used my basic cream cheese frosting recipe, (which you can find in my “football food” post) and I tossed in a teaspoon of peppermint extract. I crushed candy canes for the tops. So cute and so “Christmassy”.
I put my apple cider in a glass container that I had in my pantry. One great tip for a party is to use things that you already have lying around, just re-purpose them. Use things in new ways. This container wouldn’t usually hold liquids, but it was perfect for the cider. I just used a ladle to scoop the juice out.
Like I said, the girls decorated cookies. I baked a whole bunch of sugar cookies……seriously, all I did was bake them. I didn’t make ‘em! I bought the pre-made and pre-shaped cookies they have this time of year at the grocery store. When dealing with 6 year olds, it isn’t necessary to use your best recipes;)
I covered the table in butcher paper and lined the middle of the table with bowls of frosting, sprinkles and mini M&M’s. I also had bags so the girls could take home their handy-work. This would be a great idea for a Christmas Cookie Party!
The next activity we did was make a Christmas ornament. I wanted to do something new and fun that the girls had never seen. I didn’t want to make the typical candy cane reindeer or noodle angel. We made picture frame ornaments out of jar lids and discs…..the kind you use for home canning (available at grocery and hardware stores). I took a picture of every girl when they came in, and I had Chris print them out while the girls decorated cookies.
I gave each girl her picture, a jar disc, and a jar ring. If you are having a hard time picturing this, here you go……
I also laid out a bowl of different kinds of ribbon, a bowl of rhinestone type gems, and glue and kid scissors (not pictured)
The first step is to lay your disc over the picture and trace around it. Then, cut the picture out and glue it onto the disc. Glue the picture to the non-metallic side of the disc so that they pretty metallic side shows from the back when the ornament is done.
First off…..yes…my hot glue gun is gross. I know this and I have made my peace with it. Everything sticks to it, obviously, and I haven’t cleaned it. Now that’s out of the way….I want you to know that I didn’t give the girls a hot glue gun. Can you imagine them reporting that back to their moms?? I gave them white glue, but for the sake of demonstrative purposes, I am using the gun.
I chose ric-rac to glue around the outside. Some girls chose to use the jewels, some chose ribbon, and they all fought over the poof-ball trim……
Once the outside trim has dried, you can glue the disc in. Before I glued it in, I tied a green ribbon on it that will be its hanger.
Our finished products….are they not the cutest thing ever?? The rings and discs come in sets of 12, so these are super easy to make at a party….
The last thing I want to show you is a cute little hair clip that I put in the goodie bags. Now I realize that this is a hair clip that you couldn’t wear much after the age of 7 or 8, but once you see the technique, you can use it to decorate gifts, etc.
See what I mean? This would be adorable on top of a Christmas gift.
I started by wrapping red and green yarn around 3 fingers about 20 times. 3 fingers should be the right size, unless you have freakishly small Hobbit hands or huge giant hands….
I slipped it off my fingers and tied another piece of yarn around the middle.
Them, I cut though the loops and fluffed each side out. It might be necessary to trim some of the pieces to make it more uniform.
I finished it up by gluing on a hair clip. Make sure to hold the clip open until the glue dries!
These clips look adorable in my girl’s hair, but again, they are little……a 13 year old probably couldn’t rock one of these;)
Phew! Are you still with me? I know, that was a long one, but you hung in there, and I am proud of you…..
See you Wednesday.
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