Name: Ellie, 5
Location: City, State
My daughter turned five this year and wanted a "friend" party for the first time. Somehow (still not sure how!), I was able to distract her from the purple/pink/princess theme that seems to surface in every area of her life. The idea for a gingerbread party slowly came about.
Making gingerbread houses from scratch for 10+ kids may seem like a crazy idea, but you don't know my Mom (aka Nana). She's a whiz at baking and happened to be in town last week. I designed a template, cut it out of a used cereal box, and she took it from there. Once the pieces were baked, we all chipped in to put the miniature houses together. Each child was given a house and a bowl full of icing. The kids had fun dipping the various candy into the icing and then sticking it to their houses. I love how (most of them) turned out!!
The decor was a bit more simple than my usual pile-it-on style of planning parties, but things seemed just about right. A few red paper fans, a stitched garland, and candy-cane striped paper to cover the table. Miniature bottle brush trees and jars of candy served as centerpieces. I also put a few of the trees into glass bowls with fake snow and glitter.
We also played "hot potato" with a Christmas ornament and music, pin the nose on the reindeer, and had a marshmallow toss. We ended everything with cake, of course!
Thanks Randi! Readers, visit Randi at Swoon Studio.
(Images: Swoon Studio)
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Great idea! My toddler son has a late December birthday, and separating it (theme-wise) every year from the holiday frenzy seems like a daunting task. I like how this idea embraces the season. I will definitely keep this in mind for when he is older!
Great idea. Yes, I'm trying very hard to resist the princess party that my daughter (turning 5 in March) says she wants. Princess isn't super welcome in my house. Last year we did garden fairy (more woodland than disney) - it was super fun. Need a theme for this year ... looking for ideas ...
What a good idea for a birthday party thats near the holidays! I love it and you know the kids will have a blast doing something like this
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