Warning… this is a long post. I'm trying to add more details to posts like this. That way hopefully I cover more questions before they arise. I know when posts get too wordy people may get bored (sorry). I'm still more than happy to answer questions… but I thought a more detailed post may be more helpful.
Little miss Ride celebrated turning 6 in december!
She was determined to have an owl birthday party
(I think she had been influenced by the "Legend Of The Guardians" trailers that at the time were playing on the telly).
But what a fun theme! So we started planning. And when I say we, I mean that quite literally. She is my little creative prodigy. I recalled seeing this night owl party featured on hostess with the mostess (love that site). It was so darling, we decided to use it as a base for her party.
I printed out the papers I wanted and used a template I had created to cut the pieces out. I used a brown stamp pad around the edges of each piece, glued them together and added buttons to the eyes.
The invite reads…
You….hoooo!
It's Ride's Birthday
She's having a Night Owl Pajama Party to celebrate!
Where: The Snow Nest
When: (Date & time)
Wear your P.J.'s! Dinner will be served!
It will be a hoot!
Like the party I had come across, I wanted to make the table into a bed. I'm limited in both my woodworking skills and tools. But I can draw.
So armed with white cardboard, black markers and a exacto knife I came up with this….
I used the sheet right off my daughters bed for the table cloth.
The little felt owls attached to the drinks are from etsy. I added a clip onto the back and the little party owls had them in their hair the rest of the night.
As each girls each arrived we gave them a glow-in-the-dark necklace and bracelet to wear.
Then we started on the homemade mini pizza's. I came across this blog and used her directions for the pizza's. She uses Rhodes dough for the crust. They were honestly delish! I put the dough on a square of parchment paper. So it was easy to transfer their eatable creation to a cookie sheet. And also I was able to write their name on the parchment so we knew who the owner was when they came out of the oven.
While they were cooking we played a couple games.
Lucky for me the dollar store had a huge glow-in-the-dark section.
We played a version of hot potato… but instead of a potato we used a giant foam glow stick. The girls sat in a circle and passed it along in the dark. When I turned on the lights who ever was in possession of the glowing stick was "out."
Then we danced to music in the dark and when I turned on the lights they had to freeze… who ever was caught moving was "out." Watching a room full of glowing (literally) little girls giggling and dancing in the dark was hilarious.
Then we ate our personal pizza's!
These were the hit of the night!
After we ate our pizza I again turned out the lights.
Before the party started I had hidden glow-in-the-dark stars around the house. Each one had a number written on it. The littles were told to run around and find one star each. Again…hilarious, I couldn't believe how much they loved prancing around in the dark. After the girls each had retrieved a star we turned the lights back on and had them sit on and around the couch. I had each owl wrapped and placed under the tree (it was christmas time). Each package had a star tied to it with a number on it. We started with Ride. She had found the star labeled with the number 5, and so she then found package number five. She came up in front of everyone and opened her present.
Inside was her own special owl to be adopted.
I read the little note attached to it. She took a minute to decide upon a name for her owl. She had plenty of help… the girls were calling out ideas, one gal suggested "star shine" every time someone was picking a name...you'll never guess what she named hers hahahaha. We filled out the card to make it official.
She then got to pick the next number… at this point the girls deduced what was going on, there was giggling and squealing. After the second package was opened and that owl was adopted they now also caught on that each owl was unique. They were mesmerized. Each girl felt so special, we let her take her time opening the gift, admiring it and naming it. I can't believe what a smash they were. The kids were so polite and quiet watching and waiting patiently for their turn.
Each owl was dirt cheap to make. I even got the felt on sale.
However… they took some serious time. ( I'd keep a couple in the car with me, so when I was picking up from dance, tumbling, school etc… I could work on them). But honestly I really enjoyed making them. I could tackle them at night, after the kids were in bed, and stitch while watching a program with J that we had on the DVR or Netflix. They were oddly therapeutic too... I could just chill on the couch and blanket stitch away. (Oh, here is a fabulous tutorial I used to learn how to blanket stitch). Additionally we had to come up with 13 unique owls. Good night! My girls and my husband were a great help. I was stuck around eight…it helps to have several minds helping out. They also assisted me in writing a little spotlight for each owl. (I debated on writing these all out on the blog, but I've found that generally someone asks me for stuff like this, so I thought I'd add it now just incase someone wanted them). Here they are…
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Crafty Owl!
I love to draw, paint and create!
What project could we make?
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Dancing Owl!
I LOVE to leap, twirl and prance!
I'm an owl who loves to dance!!!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Garden Owl!
They say I have a green wing.
Because when it coms to flowers...
I know just about everything!
Do you have a favorite flower?
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
*****
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Dream Owl!
Quiet down, don't make a peep.
It's time to fall fast asleep.
We'll dream of far off places
or soar into the sky.
Let's start our adventure
with my favorite lullaby.
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Giggle Owl!
I love to tell jokes!
Want to hear my favorite?
"Knock knock"
"Who's there"?
"Owls".
"Owls who"?
"That's right, Owls Hooo"!
Hee hee hee!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Musical Owl!
I love the piano
the guitar,
and the flute.
But most of all
I love to sing
and hoot!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
*****
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Dress-up Owl!
Once I was a pirate
Sailing the seven seas.
And then I was a monkey
swinging from the trees.
Today I am a queen,
but tomorrow what shall I be?
Oh I hope you want to play
dress-ups with me!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Princess Owl!
On my head sits a pretty gold crown.
Let's go to a ball,
I'll wear my favorite pink gown!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Snowy Owl!
We'll build a snow fort
and have a snowball fight!
And after we'll share
hot cocoa
by the moonlight!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Snuggle Owl!
Smooches, kisses and
great big hugs.
Cozy in my blanket
is one of my loves!
Will you snuggle with me?
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Sunshine Owl!
I love swinging from the trees,
and enjoying a sweet warm breeze.
I love a sunny day...
I just can't wait to go out and play!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Sweet Tooth Owl!
I LOVE...
lollypops, gumdrops & sugary sweets!
What are some of your favorite treats?
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
Yooo-Hooo!
I'm a Wise Owl!
I love to read books and learn!
Some of my favorite books are...
Legend of the Guardians
Harry Potter
and Winnie the Pooh.
How about you, do you have a favorite book?
I can't wait to read with you!
I'm so excited to be your new friend!
"Hooo"-Ray!
So each girl adopted their own unique owl!
Then they cuddled on the couch with their owls and I turned on a movie. You can't have a p.j. party without a movie.
As I thought about it, I realized a lot of movies were too long for the time we had. Also I've noticed that 6 year olds have itty bitty attention spans.
So we showed Pixar short films collection.
It has 13 of those spectacular and brilliant shorts. That way we could wrap it up when it was time or when the girls started to get restless. The girls LOVED it! It was inevitable every time a new short came on someone would yell... "Oh I love this one"! Seriously, kindergarteners are the best!
While they were watching, I was able to start cleaning up a bit and get everything ready for cake and ice cream.
I made the fondant owl on top the same way as the hanging owls.
I think he turned out adorable.
I love that I get to make every part of the party. A lot of times I look at these amazing beautiful birthday parties in blog land. Most of them are so inspiring. They have hired party planners, gourmet goodies from fancy places, professional photographers and enormous budgets. I have none of these. From the decorations, to the cake… I'm a one gal show. I really think anyone can throw a fabulously creative party. So I guess I'm just giving you all a big pep talk... kinda cheesy, but true.
OK… so in my opinion the felt owl and hair clips were more than enough. But I did toss together a little bag. It's beyond me why I didn't take photo's… sorry. They were filled with a tooth brush (dollar store) an individual mix of hot cocoa, several more glow-in-the-dark sticks and such and I made owl shaped crayons using a owl chocolate mold and melted crayons (crayons were also from the dollar store).
And that's it! It was a blast! I had one mom tell me their little girl came home and couldn't sleep… she had to tell them over and over the details of the party. Several moms have told me their daughter has to sleep with her owl. It's also been a riot to see a little girl out and about sporting her hair clip with her owl in hand. It's so wonderful to know that all the work was worth it... the kids adored their felt owls!!! Everything flowed so smoothly I couldn't have been more pleased! And the birthday girl still professes it was "the best birthday ever"!
P.S.
Hi all... I've gotten so many requests for the owl pattern I thought I'd add a link
at the end of this post for my etsy shop. I've also got adoption cards, cupcake toppers, invitations & my bed drawings available too.
If you'd like to take a looky-loo here is the link...
SnowyBliss Etsy
Have a spectacular day!
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