Theme party cakes

Swimming pool cake

Timmy time cake

Aren't they just adorable? The cakes are homemade with love by Little Bakery

Butterfly & garden party

I just love this theme, it's so sweet and girly :-)

Here are some ideas:

Butterfly thank you card with a lolli

 

Garden inspired cake with butterfly, ladybugs & bumblebees

 

Ideas for party favours

I love putting together party favours. It's always nice that kids get to bring home something from the party, but putting together a party pack can be mind boggling, especially if you have guests of varied age group. I often like to customise my party packs, catering for different age group and gender, but this is usually not necessary.

A few rules of thumb when putting together your party packs to keep both children and parents happy:

1. Candies and junk food: Know who your guests are and their parents' rule on candies and junk food. I know most parents of young children often dislike or forbid their children from consuming them, so keep those junk food at bay. For older kids, I think a few pieces of chocolates should be fine, but again think "will I allow my kids to eat 'em" before including them in your party packs.
2. Noise makers: They can either liven up your party or annoy the life out of you (and other parents), especially when the party is over. I would normally stay away from giving out noise makers. Perhaps you can substitute these with balloons.
3. Fun and practical: I'm sure you don't want to find your party favours in the bin as soon as the day is over, so make sure they're stuff the kids can appreciate and use. For younger kids, stickers, bubbles and crayons are popular items which kids adore. For older kids, stationery, activity books and craft kits make great party favours.

There's really no fixed rule on how much a party pack should cost. I've done party packs for as little as RM5 each to more elaborate ones costing more than RM20 per pack - all keeping to above rule of thumb of fun & practical. All you need is some creativity and a good eye for bargain!

Party Favours: Where to get them? The secret's out!

What's a party without party favours? For me, putting together the party packs is just as fun as throwing the party itself. I just love finding all those cute little knicks knacks and can't help thinking how happy the kids will be when they get them. Perhaps it's more to satisfy my love for shopping for little kiddy stuff, but who's complaining? :p

Party shops can be expensive so I normally stay clear of them unless there's something specific I really really want. There are many places in KL these days in which you can find cute little things that are just perfect for those party packs. My advice is not to wait till the last minute. Keep your eyes open whenever you're out shopping, you'll never know when you find that treasure box of a shop.

H's Carnival Party: mini prizes for redemption

 Here are some of my favourite joints. Please do share if you stumble upon any other places that is a must to visit!

1. Mr DIY. Don't be mistaken by the name of the shop, it's not your typical hardware store. Lots of toys, stationery and gift items - all at very affordable prices! There are many Mr DIYs around the Klang Valley but I've only been to the one in SS2 Mall, and know of another in Tesco Extra @ Mutiara Damansara.
2. Kaison @ Paradigm Mall. Stumbled upon this place when my friend wanted to go in to grab some artificial flowers. It's never crossed my mind to go into this shop cos I've always thought that it's a flower shop. Well I was pretty impressed with the stock of party, stationery and gift items they have. All at extrememly reasonable prices!
3. Fun N Cheer. All kinds of knick knacks from China. Depending on the items you're buying, some stuff may not be of such good quality, but mostly decent for the price you're paying. I've seen a few around KL/PJ, but I've really only been to the one in Kepong. If you intend to buy more (i.e. one dozen and up), do ask them to direct you to their wholesale outlet. You'll get a much much better price (as high as 50% off)!
4. Petaling Street. Lots of wholesale toys and gift stores in the area. I can't really remember their names but they're all along the same street (pretty much). If you buy a dozen or more of the same item, you can normally ask to buy at wholesale prices.

For ideas on what to include in kids' party packs, watch out for my next post!

Abracadabra... Magic Party!

H is very much into magic these days. I suppose it's a boy thing. Although it's only Feb (his birthday is not until July), H has already indicated that he wanted a Magic Party for his 5th birthday. We're not planning to throw him a party this year, perhaps his school will allow him to celebrate his birthday in the classroom / canteen with his friends. I'll just call in a magician, and get some cupcakes and ice-cream. That should be sufficient to keep the kids happy and entertained :-)

Here's a list of magicians I found in KL. Have yet to try them out so can't really comment on how good they are, but will be happy to hear your feedback before I engage one.

1. Chase Magic: Chase Lew 012-2090190 / 012-6796953; chase@chasemagic.com
2. Magicians: Siti or Mr Don Kasanova 016-689 3891; support@magicians.com.my

If you fancy a clown magician, here's the list of providers I contacted last year for H's Carnival Party.

1. Stanley Foo (Big Baby Clown - 012-2106729): RM400 for 1hr 30 mins of clown mingling, magic show and ballon sculpting
2. JPE Events (Inderjeet - 012-3111928): RM500 for clown show; RM400 for mingling/balloon sculpting clown (3 hrs)
3. Mike (Cha Cha the Clown - 019-2623557): RM500 for 1.5 hrs of entertainment, consisting of comedy magic show, 3-4 games, balloon sculpting and dancing; RM350 for junior clown with magic show, games and balloons for 1 hour
4. Allan & Friends Studio (Allan - 03-42515188):  RM450 for comedy magic & puppet show with few games & balloons (1.5 hours)
5. MKKG (Mark - 012-6979205): RM550 for comedy magic show & balloon sculpting (45 mins to 1 hr)

Teachers appreciation gift ideas

School's almost out and I thought it'd be nice for H to give something to his teachers as a token of appreciation. I found these really great and creative ideas while googling for inspiration. Simple enough for a weekend DIY, H can definitely help too!

Tea-rrific Teacher. Fill a reusable cup with thank you notes and individual instant tea packets and top with a cute flag topper. Download straw flag printables here.



You Were Mint to Teach. Wrap up a container of Mints with printed or scrapbook paper, twine and a small note of thanks. Simple and inexpensive, but effectively says “thank you” for being a wonderful teacher.


Thanks for making me wiser.  Owl theme for "wrapping" the teacher gift.  Simply cut angles from the top corners of a small treat bag and fold down, staple once filled with goodies to secure.  Add eyes made up of circle punches and a rounded chest freehand cut with scissors.
 

Owl miss you. Made to fit around Hershey Miniatures Chocolate Bars. Great for handing out to  classmates on the last day of school. Download PDF printables here.

For a Popular Teacher. Who doesn't like popcorn? Pop some in your kitchen, bag them and add a tag and you have an excellent treat for a popular teacher. Download PDF printables here.

One Smart Cookie. Fill up a box or bag with homemade chocolate chip cookies and attach a mini notecard that says, "Thanks for making me one smart cookie". Download PDF printables here.

Party venues in KL

I was asked recently by a friend for suitable party venues to celebrate her son's birthday. If you don't want the hassle of throwing a party at home, here are some options.

Kids gym

1. Jungle Gym @ BSC. I blogged about this earlier. The good thing about Jungle Gym is that they don't charge for guests under 2 years old. They are also flexible about you bringing your own food (they only provide food for the kids). Basic package starts at RM38 per child (includes simple finger food, minimum 15 guests).
2. Kizsport. This is my other favourite. I've only been to the one in Bangsar Village II. What I like about Kizsport is the toddler friendly zone so your little toddler guests won't feel left out. Their packages do not include food so you have to bring your own or organise separate catering. Basic package starts at RM36.90 per child (no food but includes party pack, minimum 15 guests).
3. Kids E-World @ Gardens. Can't really comment on the play area as I've never been there. The basic party package starts at RM20 per child for the use of the party area and playland. You then need to choose the meal plan from them (cannot bring your own food). Meal plan starts from RM25 per child and RM32 per adult.
4. Others: Yu Kids Island @ Curve and One Utama, and J Kids @ Tropicana City Mall. Don't have the party details but personally I don't quite fancy the moving play systems. I much prefer those play structures you can climb like the ones in Jungle Gym and Kizsport. But that's just me.

Kids friendly cafes / restaurants

1. Marmalade. Food is good, ambience is good (make your photos look great even if you're a not so good photographer). There's a small play area for kids. If you don't have a big contingent, you can just make a reservation and ask for tables near the play area and do à la carte style. Otherwise you can book up the party area (i.e. a section of the restaurant) and do a buffet style. Minimum spend for booking up a section of the restaurant is RM2,000.
2. FitFor2. We've eaten there a few times, food is so-so but the place is extremely kids friendly. There's a small play area as well as a changing area for kids. There's also a studio you can use if you need an open space for party games. Catering for kids start from RM10+/child (minimum 15 children).
3. Chili's. Kids eat for free so what's there not to like... hehehe. Good for small parties but can be tricky if you have a big crowd since you can't make reservations and they won't seat incomplete party.

Outdoors

1. TTDI park. Have a picnic party by the stream. Just bring your mat and picnic basket. We did a party here for Little C's 5th birthday. The kids loved it - well how often do you get to play by the stream right? Only problem is that you need the weather to be on your side.
2. Lake Gardens. I guess this is another FOC option. I've been wanting to take the kids there but have been procrastinating. There's a nice big playground and a lake, and of course large empty  fields for the kids to run about. Not sure if they still have those gazebos and picnic tables.

One thing I learn from doing kids parties for young kids, they're just happy to play, play and play! And they don't even need organised games. Venue, decor, food etc. are secondary, really. So don't stress yourself out too much :-)

October Halloween Holiday Fun

Halloween is again around the corner. I'm so tempted to throw a Halloween party. Imagine having little kids over, all dressed up in their spooky costumes, and the spooky games and food we can have. How fun!! Unfortunately Halloween is just not well celebrated in Malaysia, so we've never really gotten the chance to showcase our spooktacular ideas.

Thankfully, L's play-school is having a week-long Halloween themed holiday programme this October, with a Halloween party to end it all. Hooray! What a great opportunity to get our creative juice flowing...

More about Halloween party ideas later. Meantime if you're interested in the October Halloween Holiday Fun, please contact bluedaisies_kidsclub@hotmail.com

More DIY party cakes

I blogged earlier about alternatives to expensive celebration cakes. Here are a few more examples of what you can do to jazz up your cake. These are all done by Aunty Lynn (aka our creative director) with no formal training... just a dose of creativity and lots of fun!

Bride and groom (opps groom is missing shoes :p)

 

Angelina ballerina

 

As requested by her little girl "I want Baby Bob, BJ & me in a blue convertible Beetle"

This cake was for her celebration with family members

Great thing about sugarpaste, you can recycle them ;-)

After the cake was eaten, the figurines were re-used on a rainbow cake for her celebration in school

 

 

 

 Cuppies for charity sale - under the sea, garden bugs and flower / fairy

 

Inspired? Try it out and happy moulding!!

A Roar-ing Jungle Party

I'm not sure what's with kids and animals - both little boys and girls alike, they just love animals. Wanted to have a girly theme party for my little princess (more for me really cos i've already done a jungle party). Something like a garden party or a butterfly party would be nice. I can already imagine how to transform our garden into a flowery wonderland - pretty & sweet. But no, my little girl wouldn't hear of it. She wanted a LION party. So oh well, a jungle party it is.

Jungle Gym in BSC is a great venue if you want a hassle free party (and it suits the theme just well). In case you are considering, party packages start from RM38 per kid for the most basic package. The basic package will do, since the kids most likely wouldn't want to eat or play games as was the case with our little guests. All they wanted to do was to run free in the 'jungle' playland.

And what's a jungle party without a cake befitting the theme? For a cost effective alternative to expensive decorative cakes, just buy your favourite cake from your local cake shop (we got ours from secret recipe) and decorate it yourself. These days you can buy ready made rolled fondant. All you need is a little bit of creativity and lots of googling for inspiration. And just like how you would do with playdough, just go ahead and do some modelling :-)

I'm making it sound really simple eh? If you're not up for it yourself, give us a buzz and we'll see if our in-house creative director is up for some freelance project at a reasonable fee. This is what she did... amazing isn't it? Except of course the cake turned out to be smaller than expected so we couldn't fit all the jungle buddies on the cake. Oh well... next time we have to coordinate better :-)

Party goody bags

It's been a while... a loooooong while since I last posted. Another birthday party is coming up and I'm scrambling to find the perfect goody bag to hold all the goodies I've purchased for my little guests. Problem is the ones out there are either too small, too big or too expensive. Wouldn't you rather spend the money on more goodies insetad of on the bag itself?

I've googled and googled, even comtemplating making my own paper bag (I need one that is of A4 size - yup i have some large items for the goody bag). Finally I stumbled upon Musings of a Mom who blogged about where to get brown paper bags in KL (refer to this link http://www.mom2ashley.com/blog/?p=3762). You cannot imagine how glad I was. Thank you so much mom2ashleyaidan for sharing. I hope the brown paper bags are still available :-)

All Aboard

Toddlers typically have short attention span, and don't participate well in structured activities. Normally they'd be happy just running around in the yard. But if you're having kids of varied age groups, it pays to plan ahead to keep the kids occupied and happy.

Some basic pointers:

1. Keep the party short (2-3 hours work best for a kids party)
2. Stay away from competitive games
3. Involve mummy and daddy

Here's a sample itinerary for a transportation themed party. But don't worry too much about keeping to the plan. In H's party, the kids were more interested in free play, and they were having just as much fun :-)
 

Craft for transportation party

As an ice-breaker activity, we made these cute little paper clay luggage tags for the kids to colour and decorate while waiting for their little friends to arrive.

These were the plain luggage tags. We painted in the outlines to make them easier for the kids. What's so great about using paper clay is that you can use colour pencils, crayons, magic markers or paint to colour on it. We gave the kids magic markers and colour pencils to avoid the mess :-)

These were some we painted using acrylic paint for the babies.

For customised party craft kits / activities, please contact funparties_kl@yahoo.com

Ticket to Fun

I made this boarding pass invitation card for H's birthday party. It's got everything he wanted - airplane, train and car :-)

Not sure if H really knows what an invitation card is but he's staring to grasp the concept of having a birthday party. Kinda weird huh how toddlers pick concepts up. I showed him his invitation cards and told him these were for his little friends, so that they can come to his party. And everytime he sees the cards, he wants them. He will hold the cards and name everyone he knows to come to his party - "poh poh come to my party, cheh cheh come to my party, .... ". How cute!

For customised invitation cards, please contact funparties_kl@yahoo.com

How to make a train cake

H's birthday is around the corner and we're doing a transportation theme party :-) Was trying to get him to decide what cake he wanted. First he said he wanted a car, an airplane and a boat, then after much coaxing, he agreed to having only one cake. For the longest time, he insisted he wanted an airplane cake, then he changed his mind. He wanted a car instead. And most recently, he's decided - "I want a train cake". Since train cake isn't that hard to execute, we'll attempt to do it ourselves. I think it'll be fun cos you can decorate the train carts with lots of different and colourful candies. H will definitely have fun helping out! Check out this cool video on how to make a train cake.

Halloween dressup

Halloween is just around the corner and we're now scratching our heads on what costumes to make for the kids. I'm not sure baby H would appreciate us putting anything over his head - he was never a big fan of hats or caps - so that would rule out dressing him up as a pirate or cowboy (these were my initial ideas cos i could improvise with what we already have). Daddy wants to dress him up in a skeleton suit, but i'm not about to dish out good money on something he will only wear once. So if no bright idea comes to mind, I'll tie a cape on him and make him Superbaby :-)

Girls are much easier - little C can dress up as a fairy, a princess, or a little gypsy girl!

C's Princess Party

C's princess party was a blast. Although there were only 2 princesses among the many princes, everyone had fun. We started the party by having the kids colour their loot bags and design their very own crowns.

Then we had the kids scrambled about the garden to search for the king's missing jewels (we used glass marbles and scattered them among the garden pebbles, flower pots, etc). It was then lunch time. Everyone washed their hands and sat down for lunch. It was also rest time for the adults to catch up and mingle :-)

After lunch, it was games time again! We played 'Princess Walk' in which teams had to balance a bean bag on their head and walk the length of the garden without dropping the bean bag. The little ones were busy playing with home-made glitter playdough. The kids also made wands - we used the same wands for both boys and girls, and were initially worried that the boys may not want to participate. But kids have such great imagination. The boys happily made the wands and played 'wizards' with them.

 

Then it was cake cutting time. Poh-Poh made this really cool pink castle cake for C. After chomping down the cake, we gathered the kids around our hand-made castle pinata. The kids were so excited and we had to keep them from pulling the ribbons before everyone was in position. Upon the word 'Go!', it was raining candies, chocolates and lollies, and the kids were happily stuffing them into their goodie bags :-)

When it was time to say goodbye, C got rather upset that her friends were leaving, but we managed to distract her by getting her to open her presents. And we finally got to sit back and relax, and gave ourselves a pat on the back for yet another great party!

Birthday Story

I remember hearing this in a little girl's birthday party and found it really special. Later I found out this is actually something practised in Waldorf Inspired Schools and copied down a version of this 'Rainbow Bridge' story. You can include a personalised version of this story in your kid's birthday celebration. It truly makes him/her feel special.

This is how the story goes:

Once upon a time there was a little child named _____ who was still with the angels in heaven and he/she was very happy there. He looked at the beautiful colors and listened to the lovely music, and that was where he belonged. But one day the clouds parted in heaven and _____ saw the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily playing and working and he suddenly longed to go there and see what it was like. He saw all the rainbow colors of the earth, He saw butterflies visiting flowers and birds flying in the air. They seemed to be beckoning him. He saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. He saw children climbing trees, running and jumping in the meadows and walking through sand and leaves. It was all so beautiful!

So he said to his angel, Please, may I go down to earth now? But his angel looked at him and said, No, it is too soon. You must wait a little while yet. So the child went and was happy and soon forgot about the earth. Then one day again he saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. He saw mothers and fathers doing their work. He saw bakers and engineers and writers and farmers. He saw mothers and fathers loving their children. Then he saw a beautiful mother with love and longing in her heart for a child and he asked his angel now, May I go to her?

The angel said, You must go through the land of dreams first.

The next night the little child had a dream. He dreamed that he met a man and a woman and they stretched out their arms to him and asked him to come be their child. The child told his angel the dream. The angel said, It is now time for you to go.

So the child asked, So may I go now?
You shall see. Said the angel.

That night the child went to sleep into dreamland and while ten moons waxed and waned he rocked in a little boat. And at the end of that time a beautiful rainbow bridge stretched from heaven to earth and on it came the child as a tiny baby and slid into his mother and father's waiting arms. His parents loved him the moment they saw him and they called him _____. And it was a cool, clear, morning when he was born and the sun smiled down its greeting warm and glowing upon him. And everything about him was beautiful.

[Light a candle]

And then _____ was one. He was a shining golden child with long blond hair and bright blue eyes. He rode snug in Mommy’s starry sling. And he ran around the yard shouting “Dig! Dig!” and eating strawberry tops. And he loved to sail high into the sky on his swing hung from the big tree in the back yard.

[Light a candle]

And then _____ was two. And he moved to Massachusetts and played in the creek and rang the chimes in the lilac. He helped plant all the flowers.

[Light a candle]

And then _____ was three. He narrated everything he was doing. He could walk all the way to the big rock and back. He could even climb it too! He sat up high on the pile of suitcases on the train to Pennsylvania and made all of the other passengers laugh.

[Light a candle]

At the end of the story, let the birthday child blow out the candle(s).

Count down to C's Princess Party

Little C is turning 4, and unlike previous years when we just had a few kids over to play in our yard, this time round she asked for a Princess Party. Somehow we kind of expected that. Every little girl dreams to be a princess, no wonder Princess Party has always remained in the top ten favourite theme parties for kids.


We have 3 weeks to the party day. Good thing is C's now old enough to help out, in fact she's so excited she insisted to check on the princess party supplies just to make sure we're not just saying we have them all ready already. Bad news is we're trying to find more little girls to make up her party guest list. So how do you throw a princess party with more than half your guests being boys? We are still thinking about this...

Fun Partners wanted!

Hey all you moms out there. We are now opening up our portal www.partyinabox.com.my to genuine home based businesses or entrepre-moms. If you'd like to turn your hobbies or talents into dollars and cents, do drop us an email. We can provide you with an online presence, free of charge! There is no catch, we can't do it all, and would like to work with like minded partners who share the same passion, that is to make kids happy by giving them a memorable birthday party :)

What are we looking for?

• Homemade cakes and cupcakes
• Homemade party food for catering
• Freelance entertainers, e.g. magicians, balloonists, etc
• Freelance photographers, videographers
• Handmade party accessories and gifts

Please note that we may not be able to accommodate every request, and will need to qualify all potential 'vendors' in order to protect our customers.