Party Time - Part Two: The Poms

These are my Poms. Everybody loves a Pom it seems. I made fifteen of them to decorate our living room with for Lily's party this weekend. After the party each child took one home with them. A few children on receipt of their Poms squashed them on top of their heads to make them look like hats and did several laps around the living room - it was a full energy party you know! Other's carried them out the door like they were the most delicate petal flower they'd ever held and took them home to hang from their bedroom ceiling - it has to be said, that reaction warmed my heart deeply. 

I first made Poms for Lily's party last year and they went down really well. This year was going to be all about my fabric party hats - these were to be the new Poms. But as the party drew nearer parents of children who came last year began to ask if I might be doing the Poms again this year as their son or daughter loved theirs and still had theirs up from last year. One mother even told of her daughter's recent Pom trauma that was bought on by the delicate Pom not surviving their recent house move. I felt a huge responsibility to go down the Pom road again and I ordered my batches of tissue papers.

Poms are actually great for many reasons. Firstly they create quite an impact decoration wise and they are cheaper to make than alternative similar garlands. They're also a good eco option as the children won't want to throw them away and the Poms can continue their existence quite happily hanging from a bedroom ceiling. The original reason we opted for Poms was that unlike a balloon they won't go bang. With Lily not keen on balloons it seemed the best option. Who would have thought they would have gained such a fan base. I'll probably be making them for her wedding reception in years to come!

Party Time - Part One

This weekend was the 'big' weekend of Lily's 6th Birthday party. An event that I had been preparing for for many weeks and a day referred to on a regular basis by Lily for about the last 6 weeks .... no pressure then for me to pull it off! I have a reputation for going the extra mile when putting on a party. Some people really do think I'm a sandwich short of a picnic. I relish in the creative freedom you can choose to have with a party, particularly that of a six-year-old girl's.

Lily likes to have a certain amount of involvement, but also likes a balance of surprise. So she was involved with some details such as the making of the party hats (which almost became a part-time job!), yet the cake was made after dark in topmost secret.

I set out to document the party and all the bits that I made for it, but some things weren't photographed due to the last minute chaos that always happens when putting on a party no matter how in control you think you might be. So I will share with you what I did manage to record over the next few posts.

I started off with a simple theme of pattern and colour. Naturally it gave a nod-and-a-wink to the nostalgia of the nineteen-seventies. It was to be a simple party at home like we had in the good old days.

We had fifteen children in all. We were certainly pushing the limit in our living room, so we were thankful that the sun came out and we were able to let the children spill out into our courtyard. On arrival each child selected a party hat (which they later took home). We played lots of fun games from pass-the-parcel (with forfeits) to musical statues. I made individual lunch bags for the children each with some mini danish pizza's, cheesy biscuits, breadsticks, carrot sticks, grapes and a little pot of cream cheese. There was orange or apple juice to wash it all down with and then came out my homemade strawberry and rainbow sprinkle cupcakes and No. 6 shaped chocolate-chip cookies. The lunch concluded with the birthday cake and a song of 'happy birthday'. After a pretty crazy two hours it was home-time and everyone left with their hats, a party bag, a tissue paper pom and a piece of birthday cake. Lily throughly enjoyed herself and I dare say that the children probably all slept rather well that night. 

I however, have decided that next year we shall either take the party out of the home or do something on a smaller scale. Six year-old's parties are, shall we say, quite a few steps up the scale from a five year-old's party. A large glass of wine was much needed once I had got my house back. Now I can get back to normality with a much reduced to-do list. Lovely!