Time to be completely honest

taxi73

They look lovely...why are you worrying the kids and parents will love them...they are really good....have a good day xx

hypno06

don't worry! The kids will love them. If in doubt, open another bottle of wine.....(for you of course, not the kids.....things ain't *that* bad!)

Sea78

I intend to provide the parents with plenty of wine to avert their gaze from the carpet tracks, with killer looking nails sticking up, the bare plaster and no curtains. OH freaking about others coming here. I was ok before he started!!

Seaxx

taxi73

There houses will be the same...I worried about that as my 19 year old daughter was bringing friends in here!!!!...3 of them from very posh houses but their houses were in the middle of having work done and weren't any better than mine....one of them knows I'm waiting for the plasterer as it's my daughters friends dad..so i just say excuse the mess I'm waiting for the builder coming back etc...

Seaxwyn

Sea, those little boxes are lovely! Did you use special printed paper? Can you send me instructions.

My DD is inviting 30 people to her party in January so I need some cheap party bag ideas. She will be 10 so past the princess phase but I'm sure her friends will still like little boxes with Tesco's rings in!

How wonderful about your mum's honorary degree! What does she do to be so popular? You don't have to answer that of course, I am just being nosy!

Sea78

Hi Seaxwyn - went to home bargains - no yes/no dolls but I am going to keep trying - but will you now need 30? I'm happy to oblige!

I will find the link - it's the best instructions for a craft item I think i've ever seen!
Here it is!

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/howTos/article/how-to-make-a-box-out-of-paper-scraps/243/


So good!

Seeing as though they are 10 yr olds, perhaps you could get them to actually make them themselves? I got the card from ELC - animal printed card - cheap - got it a few years ago Making bead bracelets etc is good for that age too?

Also I printed the invitations from this site - free and also thre are older kids ideas too - I've printed everything from here to save money (and at work so no printer costs )
http://www.dltk-cards.com/

I almost had a fit when I first found this site - LOVE IT!! Will be using it for as long as possible!

Another nice party thing - I know you didn't ask for it but anyway - get all the kids to draw round their hands, put their names on, and then they pass them round and everyone writes something nice about them in their hand shapes. A lovely thing to take home.

Seaxwyn

Thanks for those links - I've bookmarked them and will come back to them.

We're having DD's party at a local hall where they have bouncy castles and a trampoline, so they might be too hyper but a craft table where they can make boxes, beads or whatever is a good idea for the ones that want to sit quietly for a while.

There will be 30 kids total but that includes my other kids with a friend each, plus four Yr 1 kids (DD does 'play superviser' duties with the Yr 1s, which she takes very seriously, and these are four of her charges - I have no idea whether they will actually come). So about 20 Yr 5 girls I reckon. It's on Jan 13 so I won't start worrying about it til the new year. And any number of yes/no dolls that you can get will be very gratefully received, but if it's only a small number I'll use them as prizes rather than party bags.

Sorry, long highjack, back to Sophia's party. The kids will LOVE the homemade bags and boxes. I have used mushroom bags from the supermarket as party bags before and got no complaints.

One game I've found goes down well is a sort of jigsaw hunt. I cut out pictures from magazines, old birthday cards etc and cut each one into three pieces. Then keep back one piece from each picture and distribute the rest around the house. As the children arrive, give them a piece and set them off hunting for the other two pictures of their picture. Even very young children can get the hang of it and it keeps them occupied for a while.

When is the party? Good luck with it! I find children's parties REALLY stressful but you have done brilliantly in getting prepared.

Sea78

It's on the 18th after school - eeek!!

Will try my best with the dolls...

Sea xx

chocaholic110

Your boxes look super; bet the kids will love them. I remember DD having a Barbie cake just like the one you described when she was about 4 before she relinquished everything girlie!

We had a crisis over a cake last night in Asda. I'm half sure the football man said he provided a cake but DD picked one out last night that OH will have to dash to buy if I just dreamed that (It's a football one obviously!!). I'm quite lucky in that my Mum does catering so she's doing the food at cost price for 22 nine year olds. All I have to do is turn up and be questioned about why I've been off school by all the mums (DD's class was my class for two years until July so I know most of the parents fairly well)

Good on your Mum - I bet she's chuffed!

In_Search_Of_Me

thanks for the links - both fab!! The party sounds lovely - what a lovely mummy you are! I'm sure they wont notice the decor but know its nerve racking having people in!! Like hypno says wine can hide alot of imperfections!! I alwys feel sorry for kids having birthdays s close to Christmas as they can get a bit ost in the rish so lovely that you are going the wholehog! Make sure you photog the cake! Boxes are lovely and folds just make it look handmade & say that you've made a real effort & taken time...just my take but I think they're lovely!