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I made these picnic baskets as goodie bags for Charlize’s Teddy Bears’ Picnic.  I loved how they turned out, but making them sure isn’t for the faint hearted!  My intention was to buy some small baskets and to top them with a piece of checked fabric - but I could not find small, reasonably priced baskets anywhere!  Once I had the idea in my head, I couldn’t give it up, so I stubbornly decided to make the baskets.  They were time consuming to make, but they were cheap!!!  I made them from weaving together “reeds” I had made from brown packing paper.  To make a “reed” I cut a piece of brown paper, then starting with a long edge, tightly rolled the sheet into a tube. I flattened the tube and used a glue stick to secure the open edge.  If weaving these together sounds a bit daunting, you could always make baskets from small boxes or cartons - or even plastic containers.  Or maybe you’ll have better luck than me at locating some real baskets (you might have luck around Easter time!).

During Tilly’s princess party, the guests undertook lessons in princess etiquette, learnt to curtsy and dance like a princess, and took the princess and the pea test.  After all of this necesssary training, guests were “officially” appointed as royal princesses at a coronation - each guest was awarded their princess diploma, told their official princess name (eg Princess Tilly Twinkle Toes), handed the princess sceptre, and Tilly placed a tiara on their head.  Each guest then sat on the princess throne, so that the royal photographer could take a photo.  This was so thrilling for the little princesses!!  They then celebrated with a princess pinata.

The guests at Tilly’s princess party all had a chance to hold this sceptre at their “coronation”, and posed with it for the “royal photographer”.  I made it by wrapping aluminum foil around a chopstick, then pushing the chopstick into a  christmas ornament.  If you can’t find a suitable ornament, you can glue glitter and fake jewels to a styrofoam ball (or any shape you like).

Making a prince/princess sceptre could also be an activity for your prince/princess party - supply some pieces of dowel, styrofoam balls or christmas ornaments, ribbons, paint, glue, glitter and stick on jewels, and let the guests create their royal masterpiece.

My sister-in-law made these cute and tasty pumpkin heads for her daughter’s spooky party.  She simply melted some white chocolate, dunked in one side of the marshmallow and then dunked it in some orange sprinkles before drawing on faces with a black gel pen.

They were a great hit at the party.  You could even use them as party favours and wrap them up in cellophane bags.

These are sweet party favours for a princess party, and can be really cheap if you make them yourself.  Make the bows from some pretty ribbon and simply use a hot glue gun to attach to a bobby pin.  Print our princess clip holder onto card (I used glossy photo paper) and make two vertical slits (each 1.5cm high and 1.5 cm apart) with a stanley knife in the middle of the card.  Slide the clip through the slits, and  there you go - fit for a princess!

I was amazed when I saw this ramp that Jo’s husband had made for Costa’s Lego party.  Pretty impressive, isn’t it?  But don’t despair if you  aren’t as handy - the kids will be happy with a large piece of cardboard resting on a chair!  And you can always provide the kids with some building materials (cardboard, tubes, boxes etc) and let them build their own ramp or obstacle course.

The kids used this ramp to race the Lego cars they had build earlier in the party.  There was a blackboard to record the race results, but the kids were really happy just sending their creations down the ramp, and laughing at the occassional crash!

Making jelly bean bracelets is such a fun (and tasty) activity, and can easily be incorporated into a variety of party themes - just use jelly beans that match your colour scheme.  My kids and I made these bracelets at Christmas time.

To make jelly bean bracelets you will need:

• jelly beans (the number you need depends on the size of the beans and wrist size  - I used 15 large beans)
• stretchy string (bead/jewellery elastic)
• large blunt sewing needle

Cut a piece of string long enough to fit around the wrist, allowing extra room to tie knots.  Thread the needle and tie a knot at the end of the string.  Thread the jelly beans with the needle - it is usually easier to put the needle on the table and push the jelly bean against it, using the table for leverage.  When you’ve finished threading, tie the ends of the string together.

Tips

• Help younger kids by making the holes through the jellybeans prior to giving them the beans.
• Have guests make jelly bean bracelets as an arrival activity, or make the bracelets yourself and pop each one into a cellophane bag before adding to the goodie bags.

Add this playdough to your Australia Day celebration or Australian party for the kids to have some fun.  Not only does it look Australian, but it smells like the Australian bush!

You will need:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup salt
• eucalyptus and lemon myrtle oils
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 cups boiling water
• yellow and green food colouring

Make the yellow and green batches separately.  Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.  (Use enough oil to make the dough smell Australian!  Add eucalyptus oil to the green batch and lemon myrtle to the yellow dough).  Turn out onto the bench and knead well.

Alternatively, send it home with the kids as a party favour - just make sure you label it so that they don’t try to eat it!

There are lots of great ideas to include in a mermaid party bag.  Here are just some:

• mermaid sweets
• chocolate coins
• nail polish and emery boards
• lip gloss
• necklaces
• stickers
• bath fizzers / bath colour
• erasers

You could even make our gorgeous clam biscuits to package individually in small cellophane bags.  (Toast some coconut and spoon a teaspoon in the bottom of the cellophane bag to look like sand, add your clam and tie closed with ribbon).  So sweet!

Have fun collecting your treasures for the children to enjoy!

Why not serve up these eggstra special treats at your Australia Day breakfast?  The kids will love them (after they’ve had their real breakfast, of course!).  They are also a fun party food at a sleepover or farm party.

Ingredients

• Red sour straps, fruit leather or licorice straps
• White chocolate
• Yellow chocolate buttons

Instructions
Use scissors to cut a piece of sour strap into strips.  Lay two strips of the sour strap side by side on  baking paper. Drop a blob (about a teaspoon) of melted white chocolate on the centre of the sour straps to form the “egg white”. Place a yellow chocolate button in the centre of the chocolate for the  yolk. Let cool completely before removing from the baking paper. You can store them in an airtight container for several weeks.