*Possibly not the Ultimate but I'd like to think it'd come pretty damn close!
Firstly I must say that much of this party has been inspired via various posts on Pinterest and of course, my daughter's obsession with The Octonauts.
Last year I gave Matilda an Alice in Wonderland party and it was great fun, she loved it and I loved doing it. This year, she *loves* The Octonauts, we have all the toys and watch at least one episode every day so that had to be the theme.
The invitation
The Invitation set the scene, it was the Octoalert and invited all trainee Octonauts to report for duty and told them where the Octopod would be docked.
THE PARTY
Full pictures are to follow, but here is a video that my husband took just before the children arrived for the party.
Last year I gave Matilda an Alice in Wonderland party and it was great fun, she loved it and I loved doing it. This year, she *loves* The Octonauts, we have all the toys and watch at least one episode every day so that had to be the theme.
The invitation
The Invitation set the scene, it was the Octoalert and invited all trainee Octonauts to report for duty and told them where the Octopod would be docked.
THE PARTY
Full pictures are to follow, but here is a video that my husband took just before the children arrived for the party.
Decoration: Giant Octonaut heads.
It started because I'd seen a Gup A pinata on Pinterest and I thought I'd do one too. Using free papers, a mixture of flour and water I set to over a base of those giant punch balloons. I made the pinata base and it was quick and simple, I had another balloon so I thought I'd make one of the characters just for fun, then another and then. . .well there *are* 8 Octonauts and the giant punch balloons came in a pack of 10, so you can guess what happened!
Sort of a tutorial here, funny what I said in January too ;-)
Here is a picture of them all in front of a full set of patio doors to get a sense of scale!
LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED
Following on from the invitation, I explained that I'd received a phone call from Captain Barnacles and he said he did need some spare Octonauts and they had to complete a couple of tasks before they could make it.
I'd tried to plan a series of games based around each of the Octonauts.
Tweaks Pinata
Tweak said there had been a problem with the Gup A and she'd done everything she could to fix it, but it was no good . . so we ended up hitting it with a stick!
Here it is after I'd finished it but before it got trashed *sniff*
Professor Inkling's Pass the Parcel
Pass the Parcel is Professor Inkling's favourite game because he can even play it on his own with all his arms.
Peso's Craft Clinic
I'd tissue papered over a plastic bottle (with a string for hanging) for every child. I'd explained that as Peso was the nurse it was his job to help any animals better and these fish didn't have eyes or fins yet. There were googly eyes, sequins and other craft materials for them to have a go with.
Pin the Patch on Kwazii
Had seen and stolen this idea from Pinterest again.
Shellington's statues
Musical statues
Captain Barnacles then phoned to say that he was so impressed and that they've all passed . . . Tunip has made some food for you, go and get your hats and eat.
* not all of this went to plan at the party. . I'd kind of underestimated 5 year olds and the length of time it takes to do anything, so we missed out on Shellington's statues and the patch was done after food.
Tunip's Treats
It started because I'd seen a Gup A pinata on Pinterest and I thought I'd do one too. Using free papers, a mixture of flour and water I set to over a base of those giant punch balloons. I made the pinata base and it was quick and simple, I had another balloon so I thought I'd make one of the characters just for fun, then another and then. . .well there *are* 8 Octonauts and the giant punch balloons came in a pack of 10, so you can guess what happened!
Sort of a tutorial here, funny what I said in January too ;-)
Here is a picture of them all in front of a full set of patio doors to get a sense of scale!
LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED
Following on from the invitation, I explained that I'd received a phone call from Captain Barnacles and he said he did need some spare Octonauts and they had to complete a couple of tasks before they could make it.
I'd tried to plan a series of games based around each of the Octonauts.
Tweaks Pinata
Tweak said there had been a problem with the Gup A and she'd done everything she could to fix it, but it was no good . . so we ended up hitting it with a stick!
Here it is after I'd finished it but before it got trashed *sniff*
Professor Inkling's Pass the Parcel
Pass the Parcel is Professor Inkling's favourite game because he can even play it on his own with all his arms.
Peso's Craft Clinic
I'd tissue papered over a plastic bottle (with a string for hanging) for every child. I'd explained that as Peso was the nurse it was his job to help any animals better and these fish didn't have eyes or fins yet. There were googly eyes, sequins and other craft materials for them to have a go with.
Pin the Patch on Kwazii
Had seen and stolen this idea from Pinterest again.
Shellington's statues
Musical statues
Captain Barnacles then phoned to say that he was so impressed and that they've all passed . . . Tunip has made some food for you, go and get your hats and eat.
* not all of this went to plan at the party. . I'd kind of underestimated 5 year olds and the length of time it takes to do anything, so we missed out on Shellington's statues and the patch was done after food.
Tunip's Treats
The spread was great fun to do. We had dolphin sandwiches (I was very lucky I had a dolphin sandwich cutter already), Octopus pepper hummus dip, mini Octopus made from Frankfurters alongside the more obvious choice of party food for 5 year old birthday parties; breadsticks, mini sausages, grapes, blueberries, mini cheeses etc.
Sea scene jelly
Another idea stolen from Pinterest.
Served in plastic win glasses (so you could see the jelly scene), I put a small layer of yellow jelly in first and allowed to set, added in the blue coloured jelly (from gelatine leaves) afterwards. I added a Swedish Fish to the jelly a few hours before. I was given a great tip via Twitter for that too, to ensure you make a clear incision and don't rip the jelly, you have to dip your knife in lemonade before you insert into the jelly.
Sadly the Swedish Fish did go very soggy (like wet sponge cake texture) even though I left until quite late.
Drink
We served apple juice in jugs but I'd labelled it Whale Wee. . .5 year olds do love toilet humour!
The cake
I love to have a go at Tilly's cakes and I think I was a little too ambitious with this one, again, damn Pinterest. I stayed up to the small hours trying to salvage and make it look half decent, I think in the end I got away with it but I need to be more sensible next year.
Full blog post about cake here
Full blog post about cake here
The party bag
The problem with doing your own parties is that you don't get some free merchandise for your goody bags.
Inside:
- Octonaut bubbles - a bulk buy from Poundland with an Octonaut character stuck on each
- A temporary fish tattoo
- Fish fortune teller
- Marshmallow fish - really easy to make. Marshmallow on a stick, dipped in blue Candy Melts then dipped in yellow sprinkles and a fondant fish stuck to the side.
- A chocolate bar with an Octonaut character stuck onto it.
- Some print outs from Pinterest with Octonaut characters
- A crafty fish (was one of the activities)
- A slice of cake
I don't have a hobby as I find it quite difficult to motivate myself to create something without a purpose, without knowing who it is for. This party turned into a short term hobby for me and I loved it, being able to be inspired by so many things and bring them to life to give Matilda a great birthday party was sooo much fun.
Matilda loved her birthday party and so did I, although I must admit, I was fast asleep on the sofa by 8pm that night.
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