Throw a Themed Party!

As promised when I gave you a peek at the sweets shop and the witch hat cookies, here is a run down of the party of the year for lil' Gal. No ends were left loose, and all friends and family members were utilized.

With Halloween just around the corner I thought that this would be a fun post for those of you that love a good costume party.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

PARTY

Originally lil' Gal asked for a Wizard party, as in Wizard's of Waverly Place because she wants to be Selena Gomez when she grows up. I had no CLUE how to throw a wizard party. After seeing WICKED I thought that a Wizard of Oz themed party would be fun, and lil' Gal agreed.

One stipulation, she wanted to be Dorothy.

So we threw an Oz themed costume party in July!

We put ruby red shoes under our garage door like our house had landed on the wicked witch of the east. And we had a yellow brick road that led up to our front door into Munchkin land!

The kids also had to walk under a rainbow

and enter Munchkin land.

The party started with a few different activities for the kids when they arrived!

My sister was painting faces, Glinda the Good witch was here to take pictures with the kids, and there were supplies for rainbow witch bead necklaces for the kids to create! There was also a jar of m&ms for the kids to guess how many. Closest got to take the large jar home, all kids took a smaller jar.

We ended up with a witch, 2 Dorothy's, a Lion, a Munchkin, a member of the Lollipop Guild and even a Glinda!

Lil' Gal dressed like Dorothy, with a fancy crown that said "There's no place like home".

She had sparkly red shoes, and even a tiny Dorothy figurine necklace.

I think that she felt just as cute as she looked!

I got the amazing tree from a garage sale! The tree is an actual Wizard of Oz decoration, one of the creepy trees from the movie. It was probably the best garage sale I have ever been to. I should have snatched every Wizard of Oz item that they were selling, but I had no idea months before that I would be throwing an OZ themed birthday party.

Outdoor Fun!

We made our own potions using sand art potion bottle necklaces.

Layering the different sand in the bottles made unique designs for all of the kids.

They even creatively named their potions things like..."stinky feet potion", "witch cackle potion", and "turn-you-into-whatever-you-want potion".

Broomstick Races!

This was originally a "filler" game, which we ended up using while waiting for our wicked witch to arrive. It actually ended up being one of the best games. The kids loved running around cones while acting like they were flying on a broom.

Melt the Witch!

My brother agreed to dress like a wicked witch and allow the kids to throw countless green water balloons at him. I don't think he knew he would be also be asked to wear a dress, wig, green paint on his face, and have children pulling and tugging at him for 15 minutes.

I would dare say it was the scariest 15 minutes of his life.

Munchkin Food

When it was time to eat cake and pizza the kids were surprised with Munchkin size pizza and treats as well as rainbow cupcakes that a friend of mine told me about on Family Fun. I topped the cupcakes with ruby slipper paper clips. The food was so cute and yummy looking even you wouldn't have been able to pass it up.

The Sweets Shop!

This was definitely the highlight of the day.

The moment the kids arrived they could see the Sweets Shop set up and immediately were all asking when they could "shop" for their treats. After all games, activities and presents were done, it was the turn of the party-goers. There was SO MUCH candy set up before anyone got there. I don't think there were more than maybe 30 pieces of candy left over by the time everyone went home. I am sure the parents were thankful for all that candy.

Here is "Glinda" the good witch, waiting for her candy. :)

All of the preparation paid off, and I think I had as much fun as my not so lil' Gal.

I hope she remembers it when she gets older. It was so much fun to make it her special day!

How to throw a themed party:

Try to start 1 month in advance to give you enough time to gather all ideas and supplies, especially if you need to order anything off of the internet

Utilize family and friends for help

Come up with a main theme: princesses, pirates, fairies, Oz. :)

Gather ideas from friends and websites

Make sure that your invitations indicate the theme you have chosen

Choose foods and drinks that go with your theme

Decorate according to your theme

Make a schedule!

This really is important so you aren't disappointed later when something was forgotten.

This was our schedule...

1. Arrival activities all set up for children to do as they arrive:

- Take your picture with Glinda the good witch cardboard stand-up

- Make a rainbow witch necklace

- Get your face painted

- Guess how many m&m's in the jar

2. Games/crafts plan extra activities just in case they go fast. I planned 5 and we used 3.

- Make your own sand art potion

- Witch broomstick races

- Melt the witch!

3. Happy Birthday! Singing, cake/treats, eat munchkin food

4. Open presents

5. Turn on Wizard of Oz while waiting for parents to arrive

Don't forget to take hundreds of pictures at the party!

What theme are you thinking of?

Cheers,