I love organising kids parties and over the years we’ve thrown some pretty good ones. But in the last couple of years the process has become a little trickier. You see the kids are no longer kids. They are growing up, and gone are the days of pass the parcel, obstacle courses and musical chairs, all finishing happily with a take home goodie bag. No, now we have teenagers in the house, and parties, like many things, have become somewhat harder.
This has been a huge a week in our family clan. We started with my daughter’s 14th birthday party on the Saturday and followed it up with my father-in-law’s 80th birthday on the Sunday. Luckily for me, and the sanity of my family, I only organised one of these events – my lovely daughter. I love decorating and creating parties. I love coming up with themes. I love the whole process. I go Pinterest crazy. My daughter kind of missed her 13th birthday party last year because we had floods and sickness and a cyclone and our roof got damaged and started leaking, so there were many changes of dates. It sort of fizzled out and became not quite as big a “welcome to teenage-hood party” as we had planned. So I promised her we would go all out for her 14th. We chose a pastel pink and blue theme. And I think we did pretty well!
She invited 14 friends for her 14 years. Luckily (in retrospect) not everyone could come. I decided we’d hold it under our house. We live in a big old rambling (read: in much need of repair) house with an enormous garage area. We utilise this space as a band room and play area. The table tennis is permanently set up along with the drum kit, keyboard, mikes and amps, plus skateboards, roller skates, scooters and rip sticks. It’s our family fun space. It’s where we get together when friends come over. It’s daggy and very 1970’s and we love it! Anyway Molly looked at this space and the images we’d posted on Pinterest and had no idea how we could make this horrifyingly ugly space (in her eyes) Instagram worthy. But a few crepe streamers, bunting and accordion fans on the besser brick walls had it all sorted. Surprisingly, the biggest problem we faced on the day was the wind. Everything was sitting so perfectly and lovely until the wind picked up and everything went flying.
We set up a photo booth area, complete with props and instax camera and a couple of teenage games ready to go. We had drink and food station tables. We took the table tennis table out and set up a cinema area – large screen and projector complete with old movie theatre chairs we scored years ago from a friend. They came from the Alhambra Theatre at Stones Corner in Brisbane. One of those old cinemas that, like many, has since closed its doors and made way for a multiplex cinema. Very sad.
Of course the band area was ready to go. Molly is in an all girl band and most of them came to the party. They are a very musical lot – these girls, so it was great to listen to. Her birthday present from the family was an electronic drum kit. It will live upstairs and hopefully get used regularly. And the great news for us is that it comes with earphones, so she can plug in and we can’t hear a thing (other than a soft tapping). Not saying that she doesn’t play well, it’s just that a drum kit is very LOUD!
Anyway I’ll share with you some (okay lots) of the photos from the day. In later posts I will share in more detail some decorating ideas, recipes, games, etc. to make your teenagers’ party work for both you (the parents) and the teenager and her friends. Keep in mind this is for a girl teenager. I’ve yet to tackle a male teenage party. So far mine has not been the slightest bit interested. However he is making noises about doing something this year (being his last year of schooling, ever!!). I’m thinking a camping sleepover complete with campfire and sing-a-longs. Will run it by him and see how we go.
Welcome to Molly’s 14th birthday party!
Party signage to help guests find their way. This is often a problem where we live – many people think they’ve gone the wrong way, so a little helpful signage had that sorted.
Welcome to our rural, rustic home.
Grover managed to photo bomb just about every photo.
This is the photo booth table I set up with props, picture frame, mini chalkboards, a gold blow up number 14 balloon, games (truth or dare and the M&M straw game).
It was a bit tricky with the food as people were arriving at different times. So to start with I just set out the drinks and nibbles. The hot food came out later.
The gold Molly wording on the wall was made using the Brother Scan N Cut. So easy. Made it directly from the machine using the pre-built lettering and direct cut function. The happy birthday bunting was also made using the Scan N Cut. So quick to cut out triangles (again in built designs) onto kraft paper and then cut out the letters and used the negative space to stencil the letters onto the triangles. Easy!
The birthday girl!
The wind drove me crazy. Every time I set up a photo the streamers blew away. The cardboard garlands in this photo were made by just cutting out circles from the Scan N Cut machine and then sewn together. The tissue paper fans were bought from our local Gelagnite Jacks (cheap shop) as were the paper lanterns. The paper fans are very easy to hand make but I saw them and thought I’d save myself a job. The silver tissue paper tassels were super quick and easy to make. I will have an upcoming tutorial showing all the party decorations and how to make them.
The drink station area ready to go. I included water (with mint and lemon juice), a variety of juices, a variety of cordials (some homemade – will share the recipes in a later post) and a jug of pink lemonade.
Spare glasses at the ready and little place cards that I made for each drink. The plastic container (sitting upside down in this picture) was the best find. It has a centre tube that you pop in the freezer and then when you’re ready to fill your drink you pop it in and it keeps your drinks nice and cold all day.
So initially I started making these little personalised milk bottles for each girl. I created the black chalkboard stickers in Adobe Illustrator and then used my Brother Scan N Cut to cut each of the circles out and then stuck the chalkboard circle onto a paper doily and covered with contact. Cute right … until I discovered ……
How adorable are these pink and blue mini milk bottles. I couldn’t resist, because after all the theme for the party was pink and blue, right! So this time I created the sticker including the doily background in Adobe Illustrator and printed off on my inkjet printer on a sticker sheet, cut out on the Scan N Cut and then covered with contact. It worked really well and they stayed in place for the whole day. As a matter of fact, most girls took their bottle home with them.
Finally it was time for the food to come out. We started with chipolata sausages and mini hot dog rolls with a variety of sauces. And savoury puff pastry pinwheels.
Super yummy ham, mac and cheese bites. Great recipe that I will share in a later post. I made the little place cards for each food item using Adobe Illustrator and printed onto cardboard and cut out using my good old Brother Scan N Cut.
Home made vegetable spring rolls.
Present opening time.
Then they discovered the microphone and instruments. And it was time for the games to begin. Truth or dare to start – will do another post with the details of the party games.
This game is hilarious and the girls had a ball playing it. It is the M&M straw challenge. So basically each girl has 10 M&M’s on a plate at one end. And then using a straw they have to suck up a M&M and hold it (suck it) through their straw while running to the other chair and placing it on the plate. Obviously they get dropped on the ground, so they have to get down and suck them up. The winner is the first person to have all 10 M&M’s on their plate. Really fun game for this age group.
Grover did get yelled at a lot during this game.
I was so pleased that they included Ava (my littlest) in this game. She did really well too.
Photo booth time. Such a lovely group of girls.
I think the sugar had really kicked in by this stage.
And again they included Ava in one of the shots. After all this madness they all went for a walk to our local creek. They were gone for about an hour. I have to say the hour they were gone was up there with one of the nicest hours of my life. I sat with my feet up, had a cuppa and it was just lovely.
Some delicious and healthy fruit salad with a selection of vanilla bean greek or berry yoghurt upon their return. Yum! So refreshing after all the craziness.
By this stage they were worn out and ready to sit and watch a movie. “High School Musical” was the choice. After all these years it is still a fave for teenage girls, along with the oohing and swooning over Zac Efron.
Birthday cake time! There is a bit of a story about this cake. If you are a perfectionist like me you will notice why I was so disappointed with the cake. It’s the only time in all the years my mum has made birthday cakes for my kids that I’ve been unhappy with it. And it’s my fault. I didn’t give her the colours to match the bunting I made for the top. I just told her blue and pink. So the blue came out as aqua and the pink is kind of salmon. And because of the heat, the butter icing started to melt and the top layer started to slide off. The whole thing was on an angle and starting to melt. I put a bit of hessian ribbon around the two layers to try to hold it together. Mum nearly cried. But you know what? – the girls didn’t notice and couldn’t have cared less! And it was absolutely delicious, which I guess is the main thing when it comes to cake.
All was made up for with the arrival of the cream puffs. Whenever we have a gathering it is always requested that Mum make her cream puffs. They are always a favourite!
Happy birthday time!
The cutting of the cake. There were no boys in sight for Molly to kiss. Ned (my 16 year old) had mysteriously disappeared for the entire day. I don’t know why?!
We finished the day with a photo booth session and everyone got an individual photo with Molly on the Instax camera to take home with them. I love these cameras so much. The girls loved it!
So did Molly enjoy her birthday party? After everyone had left – this pretty much sums up how Molly felt about her day! Jumping for joy with her dog in the back yard. What a lucky life we have!
Happy 14th birthday beautiful Molly. I think that might be the last birthday party I do for quite some time. Our lucky three kids have had a party every year of their lives for their birthdays. They love it but secretly (actually not so secretly) so do I. I love throwing a party. How about you? Are you into putting on the big party for your kids?
This looks amazing Deb, the whole thing. But you know what really got me in the feels? Your Mum’s cream puffs. I dunno, I’m a sook, but those family traditions and the idea of a bunch of teenage girls going mad for your mums cream puffs, the cream puffs that she brings to every family function – it’s just so beautiful. I hope I am in possession of a recipe one day that everyone demands I bring anywhere I’m invited. I think it’s just gorgeous and I bet your Mum loves it too. xx
Firstly Kate. Thanks for taking the time to read this mega long post. You know it’s not something that even occurred to me about mum’s cream puffs. She’s just always asked to bring them along and we always expect it. Funny how you take these things so much for granted. But we love her for them and everything else she does for our family. She’s at her happiest when she is doing things for her family. I’m very blessed.
So gorgeous Deb and lovely to know that kids still appreciate mum’s hand in a party into their teen years. The girls all look like they are having a ball!
It’s nice to know I’m still needed Robyna. As they get older they become so much more independent and you have to step back. Luckily my lovely girl wanted me to do this with her.
Set aside a soft end time and a firm end time. The soft end time is when your child or the chaperone is expected to start shooing people away. The firm end time is when the party must be completely over by.
That looks like an amazing birthday. My daughter is turning 5 at the end of the year and she is already planning her party! Might need to come to you for some tips!
How wonderful! It seems like a minute ago that I was planning my daughters’ fifth birthday. Parties are so much fun when they are that little. So many options. Enjoy!