The Barbie Party "How to" Guide

Sorry. I know I promised to post my step by step how to's earlier this week, but being 9+ months pregnant, I just had no energy the past few days.  Good news is, I'm feeling a little more energetic today.  Bad news is, the baby isn't here yet.  Oy.

I have also been trying to figure out how to post an attachment to my blogs.  If you know how to do this, please feel free to leave it in the comments for me.

Ok, so the how to's.  Where should I start.  I guess the easiest thing to execute was the invites and water bottle labels.  I'll be the 1st to admit that my knowledge in computers is probably a 5/10.  So everything I made was done on powerpoint.  (insert laughter here)  The barcode on both the ticket invitation and the water bottle label were found online.  I would love to include the template I made for the water bottles to this blog but again, I have no clue how to do it.  If you want the template, you can email me at csenderovich@gmail.com and I can forward it to you or you can make it yourself.  It just saves so much time to work off a template.  Here is a sample of the template I made.  You can add any background and image you like to it.  All you need to do is peel the old water bottle label and tape the new one on.  TIP**pick a line on the bottle as your guide.  This will ensure that all the labels are at the same level and makes them look more uniform when you set them up on the table.  I've used this for template for so may events.  This past summer we hosted a neighborhood bbq and made "Welcome to the Neighbourhood" labels.  It was perfect since we live in a new construction area.

While I was looking for party ideas on Pinterest, I saw a post for a life sized Barbie photo booth that looked just like a Barbie box.  I loved this idea right away and knew that the girls would have a blast with it, not to mention the parents.  I searched everywhere on the internet and youtube for a how to on how to execute this but came up empty handed.  I was on a tight budget and didn't want to spend money on items I didn't need or trying to make it and failing.  Let's face it, there are so many things you find on Pinterest and no matter how good you are at following the directions, it never ends up looking like the picture.

So I started off measuring the height of my daughter and decided I needed a box that was about 5 feet tall. This would allow an opening big enough for the girls to get in and enough space on top for a logo.  It also helps to find a box that is one piece rather than taping 2 boxes together.  2 boxes taped together are very flimsy and will not stand up to the girls climbing in and out and you will also be able to see the seams.  For $12 you can get a wardrobe box (used for packing) from Home Depot which measures 24x24x34.  By keeping the top and bottom open and taping the flaps up, you end up with a box that measures 24x24x58...almost 5 feet. Yeah!

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/wardrobe-box-24-inch-x-24-inch-x-34-inch/988986

Next I needed to find wrapping paper to cover the box.  I decided to cover the exterior in pink and the interior in a zebra print.  Party City has a great selection of wrapping paper in various colours and they are very affordable as well.  The rolls vary between $4-6.  I was lucky to find an online coupon that gave me 15% off and got 3 rolls of wrap for $12. (2 rolls of pink, 1 roll of zebra).

Before taping up your wardrobe box, draw and measure out the hole you want to cut out of the box. Flatten the box on the floor as it makes it much easier to cut the hole.  I used a 2 foot level and a very sharp utility knife to cut my hole.  **Tip, put a piece of scrap cardboard in the flattened box to avoid cutting through to the back side of the box.  Once the hole is cut, tape up the flaps of the box.

Ok so now for wrapping the box.  I learned the hard way that it is easier to cover the inside of the box first. I didn't do it this way so I am just passing on the advice.  **Tip, keep the wrapping paper loose.  Don't tape it too tight to the box.  This will allow the box to flatten if you need to transport it.  If you tape the paper too tight, it will rip when you flatten the box.  Also, don't worry too much about lining up the pattern as you won't even see it once the child is in the box.

To wrap the outside, you want to keep the seams to a minimum.  I only needed to go around the box twice. From the back of the box, run the paper around the full box, cut and tape (your hole will be covered for now), Cut out the paper that is covering the hole allowing about 2 inches to fold over into the box.  Tape the foldover in and repeat for the lower portion of the box.  The paper may not fit all the way around the box but not to worry.  No one will see the back of the box anyways.  Same tip applies for the exterior wrap.  Don't tape the wrap too tight so you can still flatten the box and avoid any ripping.  I printed the Barbie head and "Mattel" logo from images I found online and created the Barbie sign with Microsoft Word.  All the Barbie logo's I found online were very pixilated once it tried to print them.  I cut them out and taped them onto the box and VIOLA!!!

This idea isn't limited to Barbie or Princesses.  This can also be done as an action hero box for a boys party or Halloween party.  

Please feel free to post a comment and let me know if this "how to" was helpful.  My next post will be my "how to" bake a princess cake. 

My 6 year old's Barbie Party

I just had the best time planning my daughters 6th birthday party.  I kinda went all out with this one since this will probably the last year we can afford to be this extravagant.  I am due any day now with my 2nd baby and their birthdays will be so close that there is no way we could do big birthday's for both. :(

So it all started in late August when I decided the theme would be Barbie and the Popstar, her absolute favourite Barbie movie (don't tell but it's my favourite too).  So first things first, I had to set a budget.  $500 was the absolute most that I was willing to spend.  Yes, that sounds like a lot but please read on to see what I did for $500 then you can decide how you feel about it.

Ok, so now the venue.  I've had her parties in the past at indoor playgrounds, and although I love the fact that it's not in my home, kids have space to run around, blah blah blah, I hate that the packages are so structured that the parties seem somewhat impersonal.  So being that I had so many ideas for this party, I wanted to be able to put my personal touch on all aspects of this party.  So I started researching other venues and discovered that my local community centre had an indoor playground and party room that I could rent for $85.  No that is not a typo, it really was $85 for 1 hour in the playground and 1 hour in the party room.  I decided to rent the party room for 1.5 hours instead so that my guests wouldn't feel rushed which brought my venue total to $100.  I could not have been happier!!

Next I wanted to hire someone to come play the 2 main characters in the movie.  I searched high and low online and couldn't find any entertainers that had a website or facebook page with actual pictures and testimonials of their work.  Not for nothing but I want to see proof that you are as good as you say you are! By sheer luck I found an amazing company called Princess Parties by Simone (www.princesspartiesbysimone.com) who actually had pictures of a Barbie and the Popstar party with a glowing parent review!  Once again, I was doing my happy dance.  I splurged on this one knowing that my daughter would just go banana's over seeing these 2 at her party so I spent $290 to have the 2 characters for 1.5 hours.  Honestly it was so worth it.  I don't think it would've been the same if I only had 1 of them there.

Now the invites.  Just to put a personal touch to the party theme, I made concert tickets so the girls would feel like they were being invited to a popstar concert (sorry I covered the info part for my privacy).  It was so adorable when the parents came to drop off their kids and asked if they needed the ticket to get into the party.  I loved it!  Total cost, FREE.

So I searched high and low on Pinterest for a how to on how to make a Barbie photo booth.  I couldn't find anything that gave me step by step directions on how to make this and to make it well.  Also, I was trying to stay on a budget so at the very least I wanted to know what supplies I needed.  After an exhaustive search, there is really nothing out there shows you how to do this so I promise my next blog will be a "how to blog" on how to achieve the booth below for $25 :)  The girls had so much fun with this.

Now for the food.  I really didn't have to spend much on this.  $60 for 3 party sized pizzas with extra to spare.  $10 for chips and water with another personal touch.  Again, I will include a how to do this in my next blog.  And finally 2 personalized Barbie cakes for $30!  I couldn't believe it cost so little to do when I was quoted $90 per cake by some bakers.  Yes mine were not as professional looking but for a $150 savings I was more than ok with it and so was the birthday girl and her friends.  One little girl actually said my cake was the yummiest cake she ever had.

So we are now at a total of $490 which only left me with $10 for loot bags for 15 kids.  Needless to say I had to get creative on this one.  I don't have a picture of this one...sorry. Pinterest is always a good place to get ideas that are creative and budget friendly.  I ended up buying 2 boxes of microwave popcorn, wrapped them up in wrapping paper with a card that said "Thank you for POPPING by my POPstar party".  Adorable and affordable for a total of $7.

So there you have it.  An amazing, personalized Popstar party for my 6 year old for $497. Just seeing the look in her eyes when she saw her favourite characters and the amazement in her friends eyes at all aspects of the party made it worth every penny.  Now I am just nesting at home and blogging waiting for this baby to come.  Now that the party is over, he is welcome to come at any time :)