My Party File - blog

Posts Tagged ‘circus’

I’m always impressed when someone makes a birthday cake themself - especially when it looks as good as this!!   My friend, Beau, and her husband created this wonderful clown cake for a circus party.   It tasted pretty amazing, too!

Want to know how to make this clown cake?  Simply download our clown cake instructions.

I thought I’d try out a Martha Stewart project - and I’m pretty sure I picked out the easiest!  These sponge balls are good clean fun and are a great alternative to water balloons - easy to fill, no broken pieces to pick up, they are reusable, and softer and splashier than balloons!

Fill a few large buckets of water and let the kids splat each other, and afterwards they can take home a fun party favour!   These are also good for a pool party, and make a good bath toy (a great party favour for a rubber ducky theme - keep them in the theme colours of blue and yellow).

To make sponge balls you will need:

• Sponges (4 sponges will make 3 sponge balls)
• Scissors
• Dental Floss

Step 1: Cut each sponge into six equal strips.

Step 2: Grab eight strips and stack them into two layers of four sponge strips (as shown), into any pattern you like. Place a length of dental floss under the pile.

Step 3:  Tie dental floss around the middle of the sponges and pull tightly,  drawing strips together into a pom-pom shape. Knot the dental floss and trim.  Fluff and twist the sponges to get the desired shape.

Tips:

• You can use zip/cable ties instead of the dental floss.
• These are machine washable - just let them air dry.

This icecream is guaranteed not to melt, and the kids will find surprises hidden in the cone.    To make them, simply fill a cone with small lollies, trinkets and/or a message, place a little melted chocolate around the rim of the cone, then press a meringue (or large marshmallow) on top.  To make a double scoop, put one meringue upside down into the cone, spread a little melted chocolate onto the base of another meringue, then place that meringue on top.   Serve them up at your party, or send them home in a cellophane bag as a party favour.

Any little girl will be excited to find nail polish in their party bag.  You can add it to all sorts of themes, from princess and mermaid parties to circus and movie parties.  I found these small bottles in a pack of seven, which made them very affordable - about $1 each.  I also included a coloured nail file, which you can get in bulk from a variety store.

Alternatively, use these as prizes or even make an activity out of painting guests’ nails.

Sack races are an oldie but a goodie!  And don’t despair if you don’t have a pile of hessian sacks lying around - you can use the eco fabric shopping bags as an alternative.  The kids can climb into the bags and hold onto the handles, or you can cut the base off of a bag and sew it to the top of another.  Much cheaper than making them from scratch.

Hold sack races as a stand alone game, or use the sacks to tie in with other games.  For example, at the dinosaur party, I read a letter to the kids telling them we needed to go on a dinosaur hunt, but the only way to get there was with “dino” sacks.  The kids were only too keen to climb into the sacks and jump their way to the imaginary destination!  This is a good way to eliminate the winning/losing scenario that younger kids don’t always deal with too well!

Sacks can even become cocoons for a butterfly party or mermaid tails for a mermaid party!

I had almost forgotten how tasty gingerbread is - and how much fun gingerbread men are to decorate!  You can have the kids at the party decorate their own characters or simply serve them up as tasty treats.

Add them to your theme - circus clowns, pirates, fairies, etc. and decorate to suit.

Ingredients:

• 125g butter
• 100g brown sugar
• 125ml golden syrup
• 1 egg, separated
• 375g plain flour
• 1 tbs ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150g icing sugar
• food colouring
• mini m&ms

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease baking trays.

Cream butter and sugar. Add golden syrup and egg yolk and mix well. Stir in flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until peaks stiffen. Divide into bowls and add food colouring as required.

Roll out dough to approximately 4mm thick and cut out gingerbread men shapes. Place on trays and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until brown. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Place prepared icings in zip lock bags (this stops mess, especially if kids are icing!). Cut a small hole in a corner of each bag.

Have fun decorating with icing and mini m&ms!