Tween Slumber Parties

A slumber party is almost a rite of passage for a girl – it shows they are grown up enough to spend the night away from home, and it’s not about sleeping. Tweens love to spend the night with their friends. They play games, talk, listen to music and try to stay awake as long as possible. The party can be to celebrate a birthday, or just because…. and it doesn’t have to be complicated. 

Allow your daughter to choose whom to invite, but limit the guest list so it’s manageable for you. Plan on not getting much sleep yourself. a slumber party is usually a simple seat-of-the-pants party where no plans are made ahead of time. However, you will find it easier to keep them occupied if you have some suggestions and activities ready in case they get bored, just don’t over-plan. 

Allow the girls to make their own plans. Limit activities to your own yard for safety reasons, or one room in the house if possible. Don’t allow them to go off on their own without supervision.
Some ideas to have on hand: music, dress up clothing box, craft box, board games for more than two (twister, pictionary, etc.), Treasure or scavenger hunt, Let’s Make a Deal, (Avoid truth or dare games). You can even supply basic colored t-shirts and have them make their own designs with clothing paint, sparkles, buttons and glue. You can also have a lot of buttons and safety pins on hand for them to make their own bracelets. Kids are creative, so get suggestions from them.

If you have planned this far enough ahead of time you may want some favors for the guests, such as lip gloss in cupcake containers, or nail kits and compacts (tweens love to put on makeup and primp) that they can use that night. Perhaps even get some small nail polish samplers (can be found at dollar stores) so they can experiment with different colors.
Food is always important for a slumber party. Mostly snack food, but you may want to limit the sugar for your own sanity.  Kids love to make their own food, so here are a few suggestions:

• Pizza they make themselves using their own selection of ingredients. Have available ingredients such as: English muffins for crust, sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese, tomato sauce, green peppers, onions
• Sloppy Joes & Cheese Fries
• Root Beer Floats
• Seasoned popcorn, pop come popcorn and let them add their own flavorings (cheese, cayenne pepper, chocolate, caramel).
• Cupcake decorating – make plain cupcakes ahead of time and let them decorate their own
• Smores
• Breakfast – waffles with whipped cream an orange juice; bagles and cream cheese; fruit with cream dip.
• Snack foods – chips, dip, pretzels

If there are other siblings in the home, either make arrangements for them to sleep over somewhere else, or invite one friend for them to keep them busy – and not bugging the girls.

Tip: Although you want to let the girls come up with ideas on their own, you are still in control. Don't allow them to do things their own parents won't let them do. Pre-teens are always trying to push the envelope, so in choosing movies take into consideration parental limits to avoid conflicts with parents.

 

Traditional Summer Holiday Picnics

The weather is finally getting warmer and it's almost time for summer holidays and picnics. Here in America the beginning of the season is Memorial Day on May 30th, and extends through the summer - all the way to our final summer holiday fling on Labor Day,  this year on September 5th.

The holiday picnics usually  include the red, white and blue color theme - with fresh strawberries, cherries and blueberries used as toppings for cakes (with a flag theme) and colorful tablecloths and napkins. Small flags are used to decorate for the affair, and traditionally the 4th of July has the sparklers and fireworks, but it's not limited to just that one day.

The picnics (whether for holidays, family reunions, or simply a small romantic get-away) include baskets laden with a red/white checkered tablecloth, silverware and dishes (plastic dishes for larger parties and real china for the smaller intimate ones) and condiments. For the adult parties a bottle of wine is included in the package. For everyone a cooler filled with all sorts of drinks is necessary.

Most American picnic food includes baked beans as well as potato and a variety of other salads, hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, and potato chips and other munchables for the kids. For some, ribs and chicken are served instead of (or in addition to) the hot dogs and hamburgers. There are always lots of desserts, and plenty to eat for everyone.

For the more adventurous, a game of touch football, croquet and sack races keep the entertainment going. Use your imagination to keep the kids occupied, but include the adults (who are still kids at heart) to participate in the activities as well. The kids will love it, and it gives everyone a good afternoon laugh. Here is one game everyone can play:

Find the Bacon

• Divide everyone into teams (depending on how many participate, and the size of the yard you are using you can have more than two teams)
• Each team gets a strip of fabric (the bacon). 
• Teams get five minutes to hide the bacon in their section of the yard.

Spies and lookouts, to spot and capture the spies, are established for each team. The object of the game is to get the other team’s bacon (flag) without being captured by the other team. If tagged, the person caught is imprisoned but can be freed by a teammate.

Playing this game at night adds a whole new dimension! You can also vary the game by having Team 1 use the front yard and Team 2 uses the back yard.

“This Is Your Life” Party

Years ago there was a weekly show titled “This Is Your Life.” A celebrity was surprised with an hour of testimonials and revisited highlights, and sometimes lowlights, of their entire life – from birth to date. It was done in good taste, and was a lovely way to honor a person and their accomplishments.

A “This Is Your Life” party would be especially fun as a birthday celebration for older adults who don’t really want gifts, but like to see and hear from people in their past. Younger people, although not having as long a history to revisit, could enjoy this type of event in the form of a roast (as long as done in good natured taste and not to reveal scandalous secrets that could do some damage).

Decorate with large photos of this person through different times in their life (check with Kinkos or a local printer as to prices and ideas). Have friends who can not attend send audio or video recordings of memories they have of the guest of honor, and play music from the different types of music they grew up with.  Put together a scrapbook with written testimonials and present it to the guest of honor.

Select a personable character to serve as the guest of honor, and ask any guest present to stand up and recall memories they have of their experience with the guest of honor.

can hold this event as a simple cake and ice cream event – or part of a sit-down supper with champagne toasts. It is a lovely or afternoon of fun that can be added to the guestbook or scrapbook later as well. Best of all - keep it a secret from the guest of honor!

Let Them Eat Cake or Cupcakes?

Have you decided whether to use a traditional cake, or cupcakes for your next event or party?

Cupcakes used to be reserved for class parties or children's birthday parties - No More!  Big parties and small are using cupcakes.Now brides are opting to serve a variety of cupcake flavors and display them on a multi-tiered stand, and decorate with flowers and ribbons.

There are hundreds of different cupcake stands - from the unusual and decorative to the standard platforms. In addition, small individual pedestals are also a fun idea.  The cupcakes can be decorated in so many different colors and accessories, and the stands can also be adorned with jewels and crystals, ribbons and flowers.

For those who prefer the traditional cake, they are still popular,  and getting more unusual all the time!  There are some beautiful crystal and crazy novelty cake tops and cake jewelry to appeal to almost anyone. If you catch an episode of "The Cake Boss" you will see some fabulous cakes that depart from the traditional cakes.

Designer cupcake wrappers, also known as cupcake sleeves or wraps, are also becoming very popular. They come a large selection of colors and designs, such as classic damask, graduation, sports themes, polka dots and more - and are best-sellers worldwide! They provide a finished, refined look to your cupcakes by hiding wrinkly cupcake liners, and can be found at all types of special events, including wedding, bridal showers, baby showers, bar mitzvahs, Hollywood galas and more! These fashionable cupcake wrappers are the perfect final touch for your cupcakes, birthday cupcake cake or even your wedding cupcake cake! 

For those who are on a budget, or want to decorate their own cake, special cake pans are available to go with your theme. Novelty cake pans are coming in a variety of shapes and sizes.

No matter which way you decide to go, have fun with it and...let them eat cake!