Spring Break Fun! An Indoor Camp "Out"

Looking for something different to do during Spring Break? Check out our ideas for an Indoor Camp"Out" in this month's edition of Michiana Family Magazine! Camping out indoors, how PERFECT is that?

A Mean Green Party Machine!

Check out this month's article in Michiana Family Magazine and get some tips on how make your child's next birthday party a "Mean Green Party Machine"

Party of the Week -Throw a "green" party for St. Patrick's Day

Of course, we all know that green is the color of St. Patrick’s Day......green beer, getting pinched if you don’t wear green, shamrocks & leprechauns, but have you heard of a "green" party? It is an eco-friendly “be kind to the earth” party.

Throwing a party often causes a bit more waste than usual. Paper plates and cups, disposable decorations, extra electricity and water, not to mention the extra gasoline used to get there! It all adds up, and can sometimes have a large impact on the environment.

Here are some tips for hosting a “Green” St. Patrick’s Day Party. Of course you can also apply these tips to any type of party.

Invitations

Save paper by sending invitations via email or use an online service like evite.com You can use invitations made of recycled paper (try Spark Design Studio in South Bend or The Crockery in Granger) or make your own invitations out of throwaway items like junk mail, old craft projects, scraps, etc. Another fun invitation is to slip the invitation into a seed packet and mail the packet.

Getting There
Think about asking guests to carpool to the party or providing a pick up & drop off service for your guests (especially if green beer is on the menu).

Decor

Be resourceful and use centerpieces and décor that can be used after the party is over. Look around your house for green colored items and group them as centerpieces. Instead of cut flowers, use potted plants or herbs (which can also be used as party favors). Use bowls filled with artichokes, green apples, pears and other green fruits and vegetables. Cut shamrocks and other St. Patrick’s designs from scrap green craft paper or felt and attach them to your décor.
Try to use real plates and silverware if possible. If you don’t have enough, you can borrow from friends and family to create an eclectic look.

Use washable colorful fabric scraps from a fabric store to make fun, re-useable napkins. Always check fabric stores after a holiday to find themed fabrics at a discount. Use a cloth tablecloth or buy inexpensive sheets in your color scheme to use as table cloths.

Recycling Station
Since lots of us have used ink cartridges, batteries, magazines and papers lying around, set up a “recycling station” at your party and encourage guests to bring their items for recycling. You can use baskets or bins you already have and label each one “batteries”, “ink cartridges”, “magazines”, etc. After the party, you can take everything to the recycling center.

Eat Locally

As the old saying goes, “think globally, act locally”. Buying locally really does make a global impact. Be sure to support local farmers when getting the ingredients for your menu. Buying from farmers’ markets cuts down on the energy needed to ship the food as well as the waste that comes from packaging. As an added bonus, these markets usually have much fresher produce than what you’ll find at your supermarket. Finger foods are great and reduce the amount of dishes you need to use. Think beyond chips and dips and venture into bite-size hors d’oeuvres, savory mini-tarts and elegant canapés. Use lots of spinach, pesto and other green items in your menu planning.

Send leftovers home! Don't throw out the extra food from your party. Send it home with the guests. Provide recycleable or reuseable containers. Consider a caterer and/or party planner. A caterer can bring the linens, the food, the plates. You won't have piles of dishes to do or disposable plates and cups to recycle. And a party planner can provide rented props and decorations, so you won't be adding to the landfill!

St. Patrick’s Day is a great time to help educate your guests about some easy ways they can make a difference by being “green” in a different way. By introducing these ideas in the context of a party, you’re sending a message that being environmentally aware doesn’t need to be difficult or boring.

Going GREEN for St. Patrick's Day......How PERFECT is that?

Party of the week - Mardi Gras for Kids

Mardi Gras may not sound like a traditional kids' party, but there is no reason you can't have a G-rated version of this fun celebration. What kid wouldn't like having a party with a “Fat Tuesday” theme?

Traditional Mardi Gras colors are gold, green and purple, so use them liberally in your décor.

Invitations for a Mardi Gras Party include can be made in the shape of a party mask, or if you are short on time, you can buy pre-made masks at a party supply store on online at orientaltrading.com. Print party details on a plain card and attach it to the back of the mask with double stick tape. Another fun (albeit a tad messy) idea is to include confetti in the envelope, or if you don’t want the mess, add a string of beads to the envelope.

Mardi Gras is famous for its parades, masks and beads. A great party game is to make masks and beads and then hold a parade either through the house, the neighborhood or even visit a nursing or retirement home (be sure to call first to make arrangements). You can buy bulk beads at party supply stores and have the parade participants pass them out to those viewing the parade.

Craft stores have all kinds of beads for every age group. Really young kids can string foam beads while older children can work with glass or plastic beads. Buy or make plain masks and provide glitter, feathers and sequins in the Mardi Gras colors, then let everyone use their imagination to make a mask. You can even award prizes (beads) for the most colorful, most creative, etc. mask.
Instead of the traditional birthday cake, serve a King Cake. King Cakes are a Mardi Gras tradition, baked in the shape of a twisted oval in honor of the three kings who visited the baby Jesus. The cakes are decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors and a token, symbolizing the baby Jesus, is baked into each cake. Tradition says that the person who finds the token in their slice will have good luck all year. You can bake your own King Cake (there are many recipes online) or order one from Kingcake.com.

Mardi gras for kids - how PERFECT is that?

Party of the Week - A Presidential Birthday

In light of President Obama's recent visit to our fair city and the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, a "President's Party” can be a really fun party for kids born in February. You can do it without spending a lot of cash: simply recycle your 4th of July, Memorial Day & Labor Day decor! Declaration of Invitation
We the people of the (your last name) House of (your town), in order to form a more perfect birthday, a birthday conceived in the notion that all kids should have fun and eat cake, would like to invite you to (child's name's) birthday and presidential gala!

Then include party info, calling your house the White House, and the name of your city followed by "D.C." Roll the invitation like a scroll, tie it with black ribbon and put it in a mailing tube.

Decorate the party area using cutouts profiles of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. You can buy them at teaching supply stores or make your own by downloading templates from the internet. Use lots of 4th of July-type things -- red, white and blue streamers, bunting and American flags.

When guests arrive, invite them to the “Oval Office”, which is the party room. Have Lincoln Logs available for the kids to play with as the kids arrived, and play "Hail to the Chief" and other patriotic songs in the background.

Fun games include a hula hoop toss over Abe Lincoln's stovepipe hat, “Jump Across the Potomac” (a long jump game where you have two pieces of rope or streamers laid out parallel to each other and keep spacing them farther and father apart for the kids to try to jump across). You can also play a variation of musical chairs called “Musical Stars”. Make large stars from construction paper or cardboard and place on the floor. Play “Hail to the Chief” (or other patriotic music). When the music stops, the kids must sit on a star.

There are lots of “presidential” crafts the kids can make. Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin can be constructed with craft sticks and glue or you can make stovepipe hats from toilet paper or paper towel rolls and black construction paper. Check out craft stores for foam project with a presidential theme, too. Older children might enjoy painting rocks with a patriotic theme. Provide medium-sized rocks with a fairly flat surface and red, white and blue paint. The rocks can be painted to resemble a flag, or the kids can use their imagination to create something patriotic.

Serve a “Presidential Luncheon” which can be the birthday child’s favorite foods – pizza, hot dogs, etc. Use red, white and blue table decorations. For the cake, you can make an American flag cake by using a rectangle cake with cool whip as frosting, then use strawberries for the stars and rows of blueberries for the stripes. Or, to honor George Washington, you can serve cherry pie, or a cake covered in cherries.

Goody bags can be filled with American flags, red, white and blue pencils, star and flag stickers, etc, Check out patriotic supplies at orientaltrading.com for lots of ideas.

A presidential birthday party - How PERFECT is that?

A Teddy Bear Tea Party for Valentine's Day

Read all about it in this month's issue of Michiana Family Magazine & please let me know if you try it. I'd love to post some pictures of your Teddy Bear Tea Party.



A Teddy Bear Tea Party for Valentine's Day. How PERFECT is that?

Party of the Week: A Loving Family Valentine

Although Valentine’s Day is usually thought of as a “lovers” holiday, you can easily make Valentine's Day a family party to show your kids how much you love them. Before the party (either that afternoon or the weekend before), let the kids help decorate heart-shaped sugar cookies which can later be served for dessert at your party. This can be a yearly tradition and as your kids grow, they can give their cookies to friends. Be sure to take pictures each year so your children can see how their decorating skills improve as they grow.

On Valentine’s morning, present each of your children with a formal invitation to a “(Your Name) Family Valentine’s Party” Print the invitations on red paper and attach them to white doilies, you might want to attach the invite to a small box of Conversation Hearts, a silk rose or other Valentine treat.

For dinner, turn off the TV, put some classical music on the stereo and set the table with your finest linen, china and crystal (depending on the age of your kids, of course). Use flowers and candles on the table and maybe some red, white and pink balloons to make the atmosphere even more festive.

The menu should be kid-friendly -- make pizza in the shape of hearts or cut sandwiches with heart-shaped cutters. Serve sparkling grape juice and have a toast to the “most loving family”. Depending on your kids’ ages, you may ask everyone to say why they love their family.

After dinner, play games as a family. You can play Bingo using candy or hearts as markers, or “pin the heart on the cupid” (using cutouts from the party store).

“Steal My Heart” is fun game for school age kids. Fill a bowl with candy hearts and place it in the middle of a table where everyone can reach it. Give each family member a pair of chopsticks (you can use a rubber band and folded paper to bind the top of the chopsticks together for pre-schoolers). Set a timer for 5 minutes and let everyone dig in. The person who is able to remove the most candies wins.

Another great game is “Catch the Smile” Everyone sits in a circle, making sure they can see everyone else. Start the game by having the oldest person smile very widely, while all the other players must keep a straight face. The smiling person uses his or her hand to wipe the smile off their face and throw it to another player who has to catch the smile with his hand and put it on. The new person does the same thing, smiling widely to everyone before wiping off the smile and tossing it to the next person. The object is for the smiler to get the non-smilers to grin or smirk, then they are out. The last person not to smile is the winner. Usually the youngest players are the least successful at winning this game (they simply can't stop themselves from laughing), but they also tend to enjoy it the most.

Showing your family some love on Valentine's Day. How PERFECT is that?