Love Locks

Love locks may have been the cause of controversy in Paris but for the sake of Grace's Paris themed birthday party they proved to the PERFECT decoration and party game.

My first mission, find at least 14 locks.  Locks, though, can be kind of expensive and my party planning motto is to try and be as frugal as possible.  The best option proved to be ordering a case, which included 24 locks, from the Dollar Store.  The locks were just what a wanted but I decided to dress each one up with some fun paper gem tags that I made.  The tags added a little color and style to the locks.

Originally, I was going to hide the locks around the party room we rented and send the girls off with keys on a hunt to find the match.  One day, though, I noticed my neighbor had an unused gate leaning against her fence and inspiration struck {and fortunately, I have a great neighbor who happily gave me her gate}. 

And, that is how my Love Locks Game came to be.  With my new gate acting as the pont des arts, I hung 24 locks with the keys attached.

Since we had a few extra locks, I couldn't help but decorate one for myself, before the party.

During the party, each girl was asked to take a set of keys out of the lock and stand in a circle.  I called out various things like, trade keys with the person to your right or trade keys with someone wearing something French themed.  When the keys were sufficiently switched around, they were free to try and locate where their matching lock was.

Once they succeeded in finding the match, they were able to decorate their love lock with permanent markers. It was interesting to see what a group of 9 year old girls love...

The decorated locks could be rehung on the gate or taken home to perhaps one day be placed on a love lock gate in Paris.

Pin The Flower In Grace's Hair

Besides for plying children with cake and party favor bags, keeping them entertained is vital to maintain one's sanity as the hostess of a party.

I always like to incorporate some version of 'pin the tail on the donkey' into a party.  This year, for our garden themed party, I thought it was only fitting to pin a flower to something.

Since my sweet little Grace typically wears a flower barrette in her hair, pin the tail on the donkey became, pin the flower in Grace's hair. 

This also gave me an opportunity to turn a pin to a reality.  I finally had an opportunity to order a Staples engineering print {for $4!}.    

I adhered the extra large print to white foam board using tacking spray.

Once in place, I trimmed the excess foam board away using an X-Acto knife. 

Pin the flower in Grace's hair.  A fun party game...

 and, a sweet keepsake to keep post party.

Who needs a donkey, when you can create your own custom version of this fun classic.

If you liked this, you might also enjoy these other DIY Pin the Tail games:

And this Circus Themed Pin the Tail game.

DIY Pin The Tail Party Games - Tutorial

When it comes to planning a party for kids...Party games are essential. And what better way to keep the kids entertained and occupied than the classic party game, "pin the tail on the donkey"?

Pin the tail on the donkey can be tailored to fit just about any party theme. And, believe it or not, it's easy and inexpensive to make!

For Grace's Bunny Themed Birthday Party, pin the tail on the donkey became pin the tail on the bunny.

You'll need between 1/2 a yard to a yard of felt, depending on the size of the shape you want to make.  I found an image I liked (Wazzyjump), imported it into Block Posters, blew it up to the size I liked and used it as a pattern.  Trace or draw your image onto the felt using chalk, which can be easily erased or wiped off.

Cut your image out and then pin to fabric.  I knew I would hang the pin the tail on the bunny in a door frame, so I needed fabric wide enough to span the door frame.  If you don't want to buy fabric, a frugal option would be using an old bed sheet.

Pin your image into place and sew around the perimeter.

The view from the back illustrates how the bunny was sewn into place.

To finish, sew a hem around the length and width of your fabric background.  *If hanging from a door frame, create a pocket to slide a curtain rod into by folding the top over approximately an inch and a half and sewing the edge down.

I used a similar technique to create the doorway puppet theater.

Decide on a tail.

I used a large white pom pom and double sided tape. 

Hang, give your party goers a spin and watch as they try and pin the tail on the bunny.

Want a no-sew version?  I've got you covered there as well.

For Grace's circus themed birthday party, I made a no-sew pin the fez hat on the elephant.

Cut your details out of felt and glue them into place.

*Ok, so I did sew the curtain rod pocket on the top but you could just pin it up and omit sewing altogether.

For the fez hat, I cut out fez hat shapes out of brightly colored felt, made a slit in the top of the hat and knotted the end of some yard through the hat.  To make them stick, I applied some no sew velcro, the hook side or scratchy side, to the back of the fez hats.  The hook or scratchy side should stick to the felt when your party goers attempt to pin it into place.

You can customize the traditional pin the tail game to just about any party theme.  Pin the head lights on to the car.  Pin the tiara on the princess.  Pin the superhero mask onto the superhero.  Pin the bow onto Hello Kitty.

What version of pin the tail would you make?

Originally shared at One Artsy Mama.

Party Punch Box

What is a punch box you might be asking yourself.  Don't worry, I had no idea until I saw it being pinned and featured everywhere I turned.

 
The woman that made this latest trend go viral, Elena from 'a Casarella, has pinatas all over the world crying, 'don't forget about me'.

A punch box holds all sorts of prizes inside and the only way to get them out, punch through the holes.  How much fun is that?

  

Can you guess what I used to make my own version of this punch box? 

TURANO boxes from Aldi.  They were sturdy, easy to cut and FREE!  

'A Casarella has an amazing tutorial on how to make one.  There is no use to reinvent the wheel, so go and check her post out for all the details.  And, make one for your next party!

This punch box fun was 100% inspired by:



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