Monday, June 20, 2011

Angry Birds party

My son is a huge fan of the Angry Birds game. I have several versions of it on my Android based phone.
I have 3 kids and they alternate years that they have a "big" birthday party. This year was my son's turn. For his 5th birthday party, he chose an Angry Birds theme.
I couldn't find a lot of Angry Birds items to purchase, especially since I waited until the last minute and I didn't have time to order anything online.
I began by making quick invitations for him to hand out to his friends. I usually use evite, also because I procrastinate, but I didn't have emails for the parents of most of his little friends.

To make the invitations:
I used business-sized envelopes that I had on hand. I had various colors of cardstock lying around and cut it to fit the envelope. Using Word, I wrote the party details. "Join us for an Angry Birds bash! as we celebrate ____'s 5th Birthday!
When? ____
Where? _____'s birdhouse (address)"
I formatted the details to fit within the cardstock border I printed the invitation details, cut it out and then glued it to the cardstock backing. I printed a couple Angry birds images, glued them and tada, a quick, simple and cheap invitation.
A few of his friends continue to use the invitation as a bookmark.

Food:
Kid-friendly hot dogs and burgers. Since the Birds are Angry at Pigs, one could easily have BBQ pork sandwiches and deviled eggs. I wasn't that creative, mainly because the week prior to the party was extremely busy, and also because I had stocked up on hot dogs using coupons.
Pasta salad (also because I had stocked up on pasta using coupons) fruit salad, nacho chips, cheese, chili.
I tend to have similar menus for kid parties.
Hot dogs
hamburgers
condiments
salad of some type
fruit salad
Rotel/Velveeta cheese dip
Chili
Tortilla chips

The chili and cheese can be used on the chips, or on the hot dogs. Everyone's happy.

I have the chili and the dip in a 2-section crock pot and everything else on simple platters or bowls. I use a watermelon for the fruit salad bowl. It is so simple to use a watermelon for the fruit bowl, but it really adds to the look of the food display. Sometimes I make a fancy bowl out of the watermelon, usually I just carve a simple oval bowl. For this party, I left a space for the pig "face". I drew pig ears, ears and nose on cardstock with markers and glued them to the watermelon.
What you can't see in the photo, the back of the pig "head" is filled with fruit salad. You can buy the fruit already cut up, or save some money and buy a couple melons, grapes, berries whatever is on sale and cut it up yourself.

I saw Angry Birds cookies on my favorite cookie site and decided to make some myself.
If you don't want to attempt these, you could look on Etsy.com for any handmade ones for sale, or even just make regular sugar cookies using a egg-shaped cookie cutter and frost them white. An occasional egg cookie dusted with gold luster dust, or a cookie with yellow icing would be a nice touch too.

Cake:
I made a basic 9x13 two layer cake. I frosted with green icing and used chocolate covered wafer cookies (could also use KitKats) to make a structure. Very simple.
I used marshmallow fondant to make little figures of birds and pigs. Once again, look on Etsy.com for edible Angry Birds toppers if you don't want to make your own. You could also use non-edible figures. The kids each had a turn using the slingshot to shoot down the pigs and structures. A HUGE hit.
I did a more detailed version on Easter, using an Easter Angry Birds theme. I used 2 sizes of wafer cookies, regular and jumbo.

Games:

We had "Golden Eggs" hidden around the yard. I had plastic eggs left over from the Easter bunny and sprayed them with gold spray paint. One per child. When a child found an egg, they went to the "prize box" and chose a prize. We had a variety of inexpensive toys. Matchbox cars, squirt guns, beach balls, etc., nothing more than $1.
"Pin the Bird on the Slingshot" , just like the classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey game, but using poster board, drew a simple Angry Birds scene. Used red birds printed on cardstock, backed with tape, for the kids to aim at the slingshot.
My 10-yr-old daughter was a huge help with the party. She was the one that drew the "Pin the Bird on the Slingshot" poster board, and she also was in charge of running the game.

Goodie Bags:
A favorite of any kid attending a party. Once again, didn't see anything "Angry Birds" at the quick trip that I had to the store. I found the most inexpensive red bags that I could. One evening, while I watched Leno, I cut out circles , triangles and rectangles and glued them to the bag to resemble the red angry bird. I also made one white, egg bird.
I filled with a variety of things that I know kids would like. If it was closer to Easter, it would have been fun to fill it with egg-themed candy, but none of that was in stock this time of year, so I only have one egg-shaped item, Silly Putty.

In between, the kids played in the back yard sandbox, swings or pool.
The party was a hit, the kids and parents all had a blast.

Feel free to use any of these ideas on your next party, have fun and enjoy yourself!

I like to have parties that aren't too over the top or that cost a lot of money. I know there was a huge trend to go bigger and better with kids parties... to try to "keep up with the Joneses" as it were. I like to think of myself as "retro" and go with an old-fashioned party that focuses on the kids and not one that focuses on trying to impress the parents. I believe that if you open your home, make people feel comfortable and let the kids have fun, they will. And, as I have heard often it can be "The best party EVER!"

I am blessed to have a big back yard (big for Los Angeles that is, not for the midwest from where I am originally), so there, I have an advantage... but if you don't have space for kids to play, have your party at a local park. Most cities/counties have the ability to reserve a spot to host your party usually free or very inexpensive.