Fairy names
We made fairy name badges for everyone coming (including adults) using a badge machine. We made up names that in some way suited the person and related to nature. I really enjoyed this activity. Some of the names were Little Petal, Vine Concord, Dame Wren, Juniper Lark, Sprightly Ash, Maple Grace, Amber Star, Blossom Shine, Brook Birch, Basil Sage, Nimble Stem and Moon Bramble. If you want to know what your fairy name is click here.
Things to do
I thought a craft activity would be a good thing to keep the kids and their parents occupied for a while so I found and prepared a fairy craft, adapting one for a Christmas tree angel. While this was tricky sticking for some of the younger children it did get their Mums occupied and chatting together around our dining room table.
Having your face painted was also another activity for the kids. My sister did this for me and even though she felt a little rusty (her children are now adults) the children happily became flowers, butterflies and tigers.
We also set up the house and garden so that little people exploring could find safe activities to do. There was chalk in the driveway for pavement art, cars and roads set up in B's room (for boys only) and fairy dress ups in Little Miss's room. All of these activities were played with by different children at one point or another.
Games to play
Party games were a must, but I have really gone off pass the parcel. It's easy to prepare, but I find the kids get bored waiting for their turn and in my day there was only ever one major prize. At one of B's parties I heard a little boy say, "OK, I've got my chocolate frog lets go now." I was not brave enough to prepare a pass the parcel with no teaser prizes so I just avoided it altogether. Instead I went for a fairy garden treasure hunt. Because the children were aged between 2 to 7 I made it as easy as possible. I hid five bright blue flower pots around the garden, with the fairy treasure inside. I gave the children strict instructions to only take one item out of each flowerpot then move along. It worked a treat. I had little bottles of mini bubble mix, fairy wands for girls and spiral drinking straws for boys, chocolate frogs, bracelets for girls and toy rockets for boys, hair accessories for girls and action figures for boys. I also gave them a simple paper bag to collect their loot in. Blowing their bubbles then became a game outside as the treasure hunt finished.
We also played pin the wings on the fairy. I drew a fairy on a huge sheet of paper and coloured her in with Little Miss's help. I marked an x on her back to show where to aim for. We used doilies cut into a wing shape for her wings, using bluetac to make them stick. I also wrote each child's name the wings and I used a butterfly tea towel as a blind fold. We found we needed to spin around the older children otherwise it was too easy for them. The child with the wings closest to the X, won a puzzle.
Food to eat
The party was in the afternoon after lunch (2 - 4pm) so I kept the food to simple finger food. We had little pies, pasties and sausage rolls, fairy bread, which disappeared like magic, lots of cup cakes, a fruit platter, baby cinnos (see here) and a Teddies in bed (see here). The adults had different food, but to make it easy on myself I bought a sushi platter, did a cheese plate, offered a selection of dips and had chips, nuts and bread sticks. I kept drinks to water or fruit juice, except for the adults who had a full choice of alcoholic and non alcoholic bevies. (Hey, we need it.)
For the birthday cake Little Miss wanted a pink fairy cake with wings. Seeing as my husband did so well with a Pirate cake for B, this was deemed his area of responsibility. The fairy is carved out a store bought rectangular sponge. Instead of candles the fairy held three sparklers as her magic wand. She is not the prettiest fairy around but the husband did very well at meeting his little girls wish list. Pink Fairy cake with wings - check!
Decorations
We had big plans for decorating the house, but in the end just had helium balloons that we collected on the morning of the party. This was much to the delight of B and Little Miss as the car was filled to bursting with balloons. Helium balloons are really expensive, I was really shocked, but each child got to take a balloon home and they proved to be a fantastic toy that everyone played with (adults included). One little girl after several attempts managed to float a gift bag with several balloons tied to the handles.
Party Bags
No party is complete without a lolly bag. I made a simple cone shape with a doily stapling the bottom point up into a fold so no loot would fall out and filled it with stickers, badges that B made, chocolates and pink musk sticks.
Parties at home really are a lot of work preparing and cleaning up, but when Little Miss said to me, "I had a lovely party with zillions of people." It all seemed very worthwhile. Thank you to everyone who came and gave Little Miss a very Happy Birthday.
