more space party- food

Food is an important part of any party, and as our was over lunch time, I wanted to make sure they didn't eat a load of junk. There are also some kids with alergies (to egg and dairy) and some fussy ones, so I didn't want anyone to feel left out. Finally, I wanted it to fit within the space theme. So with this in mind I set my menu.
The first was a moon pizza. This was an activity as well. Each child was given a silver tray (shown below) with half and english muffin in it and I put out pizza toppings for each child to make their own pizza - tomato sauce, cheese, pineapple and ham. They enjoyed doing this and usually will eat something they've made. Each was named and put in the over. Once they were sitting at the table, the other food was brought out -
- fairy bread made with dairy free spread and cut into space shapes with cookie cutter
- chips which were dairy free (although the cheese balls were an exception)
- the space melon. I had covered a watermelon with tinfoil and scooped out the inside melon. The lid was also covered in silver. Inside I had used mum's all balling tool to make little balls of honeydew and watermelon as well as cantaloupe.
- Rocket ship dogs - were simply little skinless franks in bake at home rolls.
- for drinks the kids had the choice of pop-tops in apple or apple blackcurrent juice and we refilled them with water - these are great because they save on spills.

The cake was the same as the invitations. Half of this was a basic slab cake that I bought from the supermarket. ( I was sewing there was no time for baking!) The fire is an egg free, dairy free recipe that I found on the internet. This was a great recipe, easy and actually tasty - and a great standby for any time you don't have either eggs or milk and need to do a cake - I'm sure you could also alter it from chocolate.

Dairy Free Egg Free Chocolate cake Recipe
Ingredient
185 g flour
3 tblespoons cocoa
250g sugar
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
15 ml white vinegar
90 ml oil
250 ml water
1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine liquid ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and stir quickly. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before turning out of the pan.

BLAST OFF!!

This is the space ship (with cushions inside) and zero gravity on the trampoline behind.The mighty crew of Alexander 5 in their outfits.
The birthday boy... A bit of a game- tunnel ball with a globe printed ball.

On the trampoline with helium balloons

A great day was had by all - I will do some more posts detailing some of the games and food.

The night before...

As you can imagine, it has been a bit hectic around here- getting everything organised for not only the party tomorrow, but also Alexanders actual birthday. The space suits are finally finished, and each is packed in its own named draw string bag. This was a good idea at the start, but I was seriously regretting it today. The idea is they can either pack their clothes in them, or wear them as backpacks at the party - we'll see what happens. Also, another great $2 shop find was plain white caps. I had intended to make astronaut helmets out of paper maiche but even I realise I have already gone over the top as it is. I printed out an additional nasa badge and stuck it to the caps - they are actually really nice caps. I also had to sort out the backyard. We are planning to use the trampoline again, last year it was transformed to a pirate ship, this time zero gravity. I wanted helium balloons inside so we needed to put a roof on top. As we cant predict the weather, I bought some shadecloth from bunnings and Paul attached it with cable ties. As an aside I can recommend this to anyone who has a trampoline with sides- it reduces the heat inside the trampoline but keeps birds and leaves etc out of it - I don't know why we didn't do it earlier. Then my ever crafty brother got to work with the lights from ikea. These are christmas stars that I bought on special in their sale. As the party is during the day, he has wrapped the back of the trampoline in navy lycra that I just had lying around. (dont ask!) This is it at night - how great does it look - shame the party is lunchtime!

The other challenge was the rocket to get into space. With much reluctance, mum brought her tent over, and this was just the right size - and saved us a lot of mucking around trying to build one. Now lets just hope for a fine, not too hot day.

Only a little bit of space..

Im still busy with the space suits for Saturdays party but I thought I would share this great little idea I found. I was looking on google for reference pictures of costumes for the suits and I found the spacestore. That was where I got the idea for the embroidered badges. I was going to buy them but I dont have time for delivery nor do I really want to spend any more money. So what I did was made transfers. I downloaded the image (only for personal use) flipped the image in Powerpoint and printed it onto t-shirt transfer paper (avail at office supply shops) They worked really well and I will either applique or stick (probably the latter!) them on like these great suits. A great little site for reference too!

Boy oh Boys

I don't know if it is just boys being boys or they are future rockstars but today these boys took it upon themselves to do a bit of couch diving. All the cushions came off and they were throwing themselves off. While Spencer and Alexander were fairly sedate, little Benji was literally throwing himself off. There was no jumping, no line up, no nothing. He would put his hands behind his head and literally fall forward. Even when he fell flat onto the carpet between two cushions, there were no tears and he would get up to have another go. We did have to step in and end the game before 'someone got hurt' but their were tears - mine from laughing.

On a different subject - here is more work in progress for our space party. I have been on the internet searching reference etc and found this great site http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/astronaut-costume.html which has a great array of party ideas.

Cut it out

As you know we are having a space themed party for Alexander's 5th birthday and we are getting the preparations underway. Rather than pressure everyone to find appropriate costumes, I am pressuring myself and making one for everyone! I know it sounds stupid, but I got some poplin on special and am making white overalls for 10 kids. So today while the exhausted little boys slept, mum and I cut out 10 space suits with a pattern from an old burda. I also found that i had 10 matching zips that I got dirt cheap from theos. While it takes a bit of time and organisation, it is cheaper than buying the white coveralls and I get to have a bit of fun too.

Speaking of fun, I HAD to go to spotlight to get some silver fabric for backpacks and found their clearance rack. In addition to the silver fabric (yes I did manage to get what I went for) I came home with three additional rolls- one track and field, one of terry towelling and one interlock/lycra of a very alien colour in our house - a pink print. I thought maybe something for me (PJ's) or put it in the stash for future presents.

First steps to space

For Alexander's fifth birthday, we are planning a space party. As he has a January birthday, he doesn't get to spend it at school - so we had to get the invites out to his kinder friends before term finishes- another pre-christmas job!

Cardboard cut outs and glitter - but then we needed a photo....a bit of crayon on the window...

And the final product. We decided to laminate them to stop the glitter going everywhere. I kept seeing little bits on my face.