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 Grape Caterpillars! 

Jelly Fishing Penguin!

Fairy toadstools from apple and marshmallows! 

Why not head over to my Party Food Board  on Pinterest for more ideas!

Another home party idea is a messy party

– it doesn’t have to be as much as a nightmare as it sounds however (especially if you can have it outside!)  

The Cake

I always have grand ideas for my cakes that my baking skills don’t quite live up to! This time though the theme was ‘messy’ so I figured I would pretty much get away with it one way or another! I went with a messy rainbow theme and layered different coloured Victoria Sponge mix in the tin (the idea was red in the middle working through the rainbow to violet outsides – it was vaguely there but only if you knew what you were looking for!). I had no idea actually how it had come out until it was cut and amazingly it did seem to work! I have hit upon a great cake making solution actually for the less talented of us when it comes to the baking of birthday cakes – freezing the cakes! I made the layers a few days before then popped them in the freezer when cooled. This meant that the night before I only have to concentrate on the decorating rather than the whole process. Victoria sponge freezes really well and the reduction of the stress is certainly worth it!

The night before I sandwiched the pieces together with jam and cream, then iced it with a cream cheese and icing sugar mix. I made up another batch slightly more runny with different colours then splodged them on! The day of the party I decorated with smarties around the outside and of course 2 candles!

    

The Activities

Messy as possible was the key but I tried to keep some vague sense of system so it wasn’t complete carnage!

A sheet pinned to the ground with plastic pegs, and plenty of paint and brushes provided a blank canvas.

The foam pit was lots of fun – ‘Crazy Soap’ which is a bit like shaving foam without the smell. I used about 4 cans.

Next to the foam pit I put a track down covered in the foam and a little soap mix. This was great fun for slippy sliding!

 Another experiment was the soap flakes goo! I whisked up half a box with warm water and initially it was similar to the foam, however as it settled it became more mouldable.  I put some animals in there hoping mountains may be made and layed on however the children werre a little reluctant to touch it! Maybe one messy too far!! It did help the slip when put on the slippy track though.

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I filled another paddling pool (I found these in the end of summer sale for 25p each!!) with top soil and hid treasures inside. Lots of tools and also cars went with it and I combined it with a ‘car wash’ – a tray of water with a track linking the two.

It was a lovely day so the paddling pool was a must – the state of it afterwards wasn’t too pretty though!

Baby wash was as popular as ever – both for Mummies and kids!

And the clean up took really only just over an hour -not bad for a Messy Party!

This was a party for my own family – it may give you some theme ideas!

J is mad about Octonauts and wanted an Octonauts party for his 3rd Birthday!

First came the Octonauts – several evenings of playing with Fimo! After burning my first Kwazii and re-doing I was really pleased how they came out. ( I can never seem to get Fimo right the first time – I blame my oven… same as I do when I cook!)

Shellington, Peso, Kwazii, Dashi, Captain Barnacles, Professa Inkling and Tweak Bunny

I wanted to cake to have the Wow factor – only thing is my ideas do outdo my cooking skills! After 6 hours, tears and 3 cakes in the bin this was the result! I wasn’t sure how it would taste though as it didn’t rise the best so my lovely friend Rachel kindly made me a Victoria Sponge as a back up! It was delicious and we served it to the adults but the children all seemed to like the Octocake! My fimo figures helped to decorate it too.

Octonauts Cake

I spent a lot of time on ‘Sub nautical’ themed food and then forgot to photograph most of them!! Here are a few bits I did manage to capture …

Captain Barnacles Marshmallows

Homemade goldfish crackers

Blueberry bubbles with bread and veg fish

Crab cheese croissants with blueberry eyes.

J wanted to be Dashi Dog for his party. I made a belt out of blue foam and he wore brown leggings and a vest. We added Dashi style hair clips in his hair and blue wellies and he really looked the part! He wanted his green Bunny to be Shellington but I finally managed to convince him that Bunny would make a better Tweak! Mutzey (his monkey) ended up as Shellington.

Dashi Costume

With ‘Tweak’ and ‘Shellington’

We then decorated the garden. Fish went up on the rotary drier with streamer waves, and the trampoline became the Octopod with the help of 6 rolls of Orange Streamer!!

Octopod Trampoline

Looking slightly worse for wear later in the party but well enjoyed!

Octo alert