{Guest Post} Camping Party Ideas from Spaceships and Laserbeams

The idea of a camping party offers a lot of appeal for a range of ages. Perhaps it’s because the entire theme conjures up wholesome images of nature, fresh air, sunshine, open sky…and no electronic games! If the call of the wild appeals to you for your next kid-friendly party, plan for needed supplies. On my blog, Spaceships and Laser Beams, we specialize in boy birthday party ideas, so I have tons of suggestions! From invitations to decorations to cakes and take-home favors, we have lots of considerations to help you.

One of the first decisions you need to make is where you’ll host this party; do you have room on your own property? A backyard campout is very convenient! I’ve also seen moms successfully plan for the entire campout to be inside. One mom had kids roasting marshmallows in sterno pots on her dining room table—and the guests had a great time!

Outside, a tent is not a have-to, but it does add to the kid excitement. One large tent or even the A-frame DIY tents, can work wonders for party atmosphere. If weather permits, just sleeping under the stars in a sleeping bag is fun or have your guests bring their own pup tents! Don’t forget to provide anti-bug bracelets or bug spray to make sure the party stays enjoyable.

Camping Party Invites

Once you know your party venue, get the invitations ready. An invite that reflects some aspect of your party is a good way to jumpstart anticipation. An invitation in the shape of a tent with an envelope embellished with trees, for example, is more exciting than a plain square of white. If your campout is a sleep over, be sure to let guests know if they should bring sleeping bags or tents.

Camping Party Games

Here are just a few activities that work well with a camp out theme: a nature scavenger hunt; classic games like tug-of-war and sack races or flashlight tag; star gazing; tall tales storytelling or retell true stories of wilderness explorers; catch lightning bugs; nature crafts such as leaf identification and crayon rubbings; give a lesson in knot-tying or some other wilderness survival skill; sing around the campfire; go fishing (for the younger set, this can be a game with magnetic poles and fish-no water necessary).

Camping Party Food Ideas

Food is a major consideration at any party! At a campout, preparing the food can be part of your activity. Of course most people expect hot dogs and s’mores at a campout and that’s fine, but there is other camp friendly food.  Pre-made stews can heat in a kettle over the campfire (or on the stove). Look up some camp recipes.  There are a lot of foil packet meals that can be nestled in fire embers. A couple of cast-iron pans can produce some delicious culinary treats, too. Have you ever cooked bacon over a campfire?  Um…mmm!  Add potato chunks, onion, eggs and cheese and you have a feast.

Camping Themed Desserts

Don’t forget the birthday cake! It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Top it with (edible!) miniature trees and a tent or hire your favorite bakery to produce a woodland scene. Cupcakes, brownies, cookies in theme shapes and hand-held pies are welcomed at any birthday celebration, too.

Decorating Ideas

Whether you are hosting a camp-out or a camp-in, remember to decorate the food and dessert tables. Think texture and rustic. For example, table coverings can be a plaid blanket or burlap or even painter’s canvas. Old tin ware, wood platters and baskets make excellent serving pieces.  Lanterns, vintage thermos jugs, even deer antlers, can add to the out-of-doors ambiance. Don’t forget the possibility of using rocks, leaves, twigs and moss in your arrangements.

Favors for Happy Campers

Send the happy campers home with favor bags. You can include something as simple as a theme-shaped cookie. If you want to be more elaborate, you might add a compass, binoculars, a canteen, a flashlight or trail mix.

As with any theme, you can be as ambitious as you want in planning your party, but a camping idea gives you the opportunity to simplify and still pull off a great bash. Happy trails!

What's your favorite idea for a camping themed birthday party?

You can find Stephanie on the Spaceships and Laser Beams Facebook page to keep up with even more great boy birthday party ideas!

{Party Trends} 2014 Top Ten Fave Party Picks - Part One

I came up with a list of my favorite party trends that I saw featured on various sites at the close of 2013 and into the beginning of 2014.  Instead of trying to compile them into one post, I decided to make this a 2 part-er!  You can read the rest of my top picks same bat day and channel - next week!

Here are my first five choices!

Dipped Sweets
You'd never notice by looking at these iPod Touch treats but they're actually DIPPED Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies from this fun 1D Movie Night party by Anders Ruff !  I also love how Jessica Beekman Roe of Everyday Party Magazine dipped delicious homemade marshmallows in colorful sprinkles!

Photo Courtesy Anders Ruff

Photo courtesy Everyday Party Magazine

Glittered Sweets

I am telling you - a disco dusted sweet treat is EVERYTHING a sparkle-loving girl could ever want!  These adorable cake pops and candy apples by Autumn Gadbois of Autumn Lynn's Chocolate Sins are crazy popular right now.

(Photography/styling - Tonya Coleman)

Photography/styling Tonya Coleman

Blingtastic Stemware

I immediately fell in love with these crazy cute blinged out wine glasses designed by Talia Foster of Vinyl Eloquence.  They're perfect for a girlfriend soiree or wine tasting party!

(Photo Credit - Talia Foster)

Mini Top Hats (I'm biased)
So, when I made these cutesy mini top hats for my daughter's Monster High Party, I had no idea they'd be so popular.  I've had the pleasure of working with some pretty talented stylists (like, Tonya Coleman of Soiree Events,  Kenna Leary O'Brien - Miss Party Mom and Christy Dempsey Skerski of Flaired Events  who were kind enough to include my tiny toppers as part of their party wear for their guests.  I think the min top hat is taking party wear up a notch!

Photo Courtesy Miss Party Mom & Moments Captured Photography

Gold Polka Dots
Okay....so, I noticed a lot of gold polka dotted things the later part of the year in '13.... I'm kinda hoping they stick around cause they're crazy cute!  I love this gold polka dot backdrop idea created by Chris Nease  of Celebrations at Home.  Chris used gold adhesive dots that she purchased from Target to create an eye catching back drop to a pretty swanky champagne bubbly bar! I can see this being a huge trend this year.....I mean, there's like a whole Pinterest board dedicated to gold polka dots!

That's all for now....be sure to come back next Thursday and see my other fun and fab party faves for this year!

{Featured} Under the Sea Party in Polka Dot Balloon Magazine

I am so excited to have another one of my parties and printables featured in another AMAZING magazine.  My Mermaid themed Under the Sea Party printables have been in my shop for some time....unfortunately, I never had a chance to do anything amazing to showcase how adorable they were.  LUCKILY, I have some amazing friends in the party world.  So, I was elated when I was given an opportunity to showcase this collection in Polka Dot Balloon Magazine.

You can see my Under the Sea Party (p.38) and a host of festive parties shared by other talented designers in the Spring issue here!

{Etsy Shop} Radiant Orchid Heart Pom Pom Garland

On my blog-cation, last month, I spent a lil' time making a few things.  One of them was a heart shaped pom pom garland.  I shared the photo on Instagram and was so excited when my party pal, Heather Snyder of Hello My Sweet wanted to use the garland in a photo shoot she was planning for Valentine's Day.  She was kind enough to share these gorgeous photos with me.

Heather shared that since Pantone's Color of the Year is Radiant Orchid, she wanted to do something for Valentine's day that featured those colors - and my garland matched her theme perfectly.

I love how it all came together, the macarons are so festive and the color is so vivid (God, I could use one of those right now).

Thanks to Heather for sharing these amazing photos with me!  I renamed the garland after Heather - it can be found in my Etsy shop!

{Recap} Superbowl - Team Colors Party Table

Before it's way past it's 'prime', I really wanted to quickly share with you the photos from a little impromptu Super Bowl 'party' I set up for my little family.  It wasn't much, but since neither of the teams we cheer for in my home (Patriots & Eagles) were playing, I chose to do a Team Colors theme for the set up.  Here's a quick run down of how I got everything together in a 'snap'!

I found some scrapbook paper in my stash and created a pennant banner to swag across my backdrop.  I made a few printable party dots with general catch phrases....my favorite is the 'Omaha!' dot - the call played by Manning...tee-hee.  Our grocery store had cupcakes topped with orange, blue and green frosting....so I picked those up for our desserts.  I made naked hot wings (spicy, no sauce) and  hoagies.  We also got potato salad from the deli and I put them in orange striped nut cups that were sent to me by Jenny Raulli over at Bloom Designs.  I served Orange Hawaiin punch in old Starbucks Frappucino bottles that I keep on hand for my party stylings.  The bottles were wrapped with the scrapbook paper, ribbon and topped with a party dot.  My FAVORITE part of this table were the 'Flag on the Field' Popcorn  packs I made just using yellow napkins, twine and a tag.  I placed them in mini tote buckets that matched the color scheme.  It wasn't much, but this party came together very well and in a little bit of time - and boy did my kids enjoy the Super Bowl!

{Featured} English Garden Inspired Spring Celebration in Everyday Party Mag!

You may have wondered where I've been why I've not been blogging.....I decided, I needed a blogcation....and I'll tell you why in a post next month....but I had to interrupt my little 'vaycay' to share with you that I'm featured, again, in Everyday Party Magazine!  Ooh - so excited.  You can preview and read all about the English Garden Inspired Celebration here. (P.S. - I'm on p. 108!)

 

{Holiday Party} Christmas Wishes with Oriental Trading

I was so happy when I opened up a big old box of happy from Oriental Trading Company a few weeks ago. As part of their Blogger Community, I'm lucky enough to get some products to showcase and feature in my parties.  I was planning a Christmas Wishes Theme this year and found the perfect items right on the Oriental Trading site.    

As you know, I also am the party planner over at MG Party Impressions and I styled this party just for their site.  Here are the details that I shared with their reader, at the end of this post, you can find a link to the printables used in this party and another link to the post on MG Party Impressions which includes even more photos and ideas for creating your own fun filled Christmas Wishes celebration!

I created festive holiday tags, signs and ornaments using the Santa's Here Background papers and Stamps from Santa by Jessica Weible for this party set up.  I had an idea to do a Christmas Wishes theme for a holiday party and wanted the feel of the party to be Santa's Workshop, meets gift packaging meets a happy child on Christmas morning - I know that's a lot, but in my head, it makes a ton of sense.



The color scheme I chose to work with was silver, red and the neutral brown that is found in burlap and kraft paper.  I loved mixing the glitter and sparkle of a festive occasion with a basic material like kraft paper, natural twine and burlap.  With a little help from the good folks at Oriental Trading, I was able to score some pretty sweet items that went perfectly with my Christmas Wishes theme.





For the sweets table, I knew I wanted lots of sugary peppermint incorporated into it.  The pattern I used for the printables was my inspiration.  I filled a few apothecary glass jars with nostalgic candy like rock candy, peppermint sticks and gumballs.   I added a printable party dot onto some of the jars for decoration.  On the table where some of the sweets were displayed I added a 'Christmas Wishes' banner.



My dear sweet party friend, Kylie Jenkins of Made by A Princess sent me her lovely sparkle sticks and I used them to make these star shaped candy lollipops.  I displayed them on a white platter and used red Sixlets as a base to lay place them on.



Delicious Christmas cookies are a must at a holiday party.  I purchased store bought cookies, and placed them on a two-tiered stand.  If you're not in the mood for cookies, any treat will do, I think Old Fashioned Ribbon candy would be a perfect substitute!



For the tree, I purchased inexpensive ornaments and bows from the dollar store.  Then, I created a few rosette ornaments using the same candy striped patterned paper as the other printables.  For fun, I added mini silver gift boxes filled with candy and tied up with one of Oriental Trading's new products red and white baker's twine to the tree.  Guests can find an extra special surprise when they open the box!

To keep the whole gift packing theme going, I placed vintage packing tags and cards onto the tree, as well.  I love a bow as a tree topper and made a huge one from burlap ribbon.  At the base of the tree, I used burlap I had on hand and created a makeshift tree skirt.  I also added faux presents - wrapped boxes and cake forms with printable tags that I designed using the clip art and background paper.  You could of course add real presents under the tree and I'm sure NO ONE would complain.





I utilized and old corner bookcase to display other sweets and favors. I added gift wrap to the back of the bookcase because there's a huge ugly post that  holds the unit to the wall.  For the top of the case I added a bouquet of candy swirled lollipops into a Blumebox.  The lollipops were held into place with a cube of Styrofoam and topped with shredded sizzle paper - a little natural twine pulls it altogether with the overall design.  I placed store bought cupcakes onto a glass cake plate and topped each one with a pillow peppermint.  Then I cut Peppermint bark into chunks and placed them in red polka dot nut cups and displayed those on a domed cheese platter.  A few presents and hanging red stars served as my backdrop.

















Also on my shelf were red and white candy stripe paper bags that I tied with natural twine and added a tag that was adhered to the bag with silver washi tape.  I placed all the treat bags into a basket and put it on the first shelf.  My second and third shelves just served as decoration.

I once heard from a well-established event designer that your party space should have one eye catching decorative focal piece that wows everyone.  In my opinion, this adorable vintage pedal car Fire Engine is the creme de la creme!  I got it on loan from my neighbors and filled it with faux presents.  Can you imagine a little boy waking up to this on Christmas morning - that would certainly be a wish fulfilled.



To see more photos from this Christmas Wishes party head over to MG Party Impressions to view the full gallery

You can find the Christmas Wishes printables in my Etsy Shop!


Items from Oriental Trading were provided free of charge by the company. Any opinions about the products are my own.  Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product(s) listed above.  No other type of compensation was received.