Great Fun etc

18 April 2012

First Class Titanic Theme Night

In the midst of all our party prep, we took time out on Friday Night to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking. There was really no planning involved, I had no energy left to put much effort in, so it was very last minute.

But guess what? It was the best theme night we've had in ages.

We threw on silly hats and cobbled together outfits from the dressup box.

We set the table with Nan's handed-down china and tablecloths.

We pulled out the silver goblets and filled them with grape juice. Mr G served up the fish'n'chips with knives and forks. We talked posh and stuck our pinky fingers out. We rang the bell for service (that never came)...

...and decided that Miss fab was definitely First Class, but Scrag and Dash might be more like... Third? Hehehe.

We watched half the movie that night, and the following half the next night, cutting out the steamy chunk in the middle (You know, the bit where Jack draws Rose wearing only the Diamond...? and That Car Scene? All Edited Out!)

Hard to believe how a ship which made only half of one voyage still lives on in our imaginations a century later.

Is it because of the boast "This ship is unsinkable!" and the irony that it sunk on its very first crossing?

Is it because of all the small errors and poor judgement calls which added up to a huge disaster? The missing binoculars, the lack of lifeboats, the avoidable huge loss of life?

Did you know that there was a ship called the California close enough to the Titanic that it saw her distress flares... but did not answer her call?

They didn't put that in the movie, but it's a fact. The California could have been alongside the Titanic in time to save everyone... but did nothing, for fear she would hit an iceberg herself. Whereas the brave Carpathia threw caution to the wind and raced to Titanic's aid in spite of the danger, sadly arriving too late to save any but those in the too-few lifeboats.

These and more are the things we talked about with our kids, stories of bravery, stupidity, meanness and courage. So much we can learn from the Titanic.

"Those who don't learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat them," someone wise once said.

Me, I want to learn the lessons.

♥

Other Theme Nights...

17 April 2012

Perfect Peter Pan Party

Really we all know there's no such thing as Perfect. But when a plan comes together and all your hard work pays off and the sun is shining... it's pretty darn close. (Plus perfect is the only word starting with "P" that I could think of, so we'll go with it.)

The day started out with showers and I was in a tizz. We came so close to postponing it to the rain date (Sunday) but in the end Mr G made the call and said, let's just do it and get it over with...

Then the showers cleared, the sun shone and I went around hanging vines and erecting Teepees singing, "thankyou thankyou thankyou!"
This party just would not have worked on a rainy day. Even a cloudy day would have been a disappointment. Sunshine was indeed, perfect.

The Cast...

I am proud to say that I made all the costumes myself, with my trusty glue gun, a needle, scissors and paintbrush. Mr G was perfect as Captain Hook (the pirate hat with wig was $10 from Geoffs); Miss Fab was sweet as Tink, Dash was Smee (Hook's sidekick) and I cobbled together an Indian outfit in five minutes the night before the party. Not a stitch of sewing required (and somebody thought I'd hired the costume!)

The Setting
We created Neverland in our backyard...

The Lost Boys Hideout under the grapevine, where we ate and the grownups could sit and chat while the kids went mad. The signs were made from bits of broken fence... vines and ivy hanging down around the edges, the table trimmed with sacking and bamboo mats.

Crocodile Creek... created from tarpaulins and sheets, occupied by "Phillip" the awesome giant stuffed croc I found on TradeMe for $10. (Hangman's Tree is the one with the tyre swing)

The Fairy Tree was my favourite piece of magic. I hung strands of mirror tiles from the branches and when the sun shone and the breeze blew, hundreds of lights danced all over the ground and through the leaves. I could sit and watch the fairies dance for hours...

The Red Injun camp, complete with TeePee and fake fire. My teepee is not perfect but what I love about it is that it (a) cost me hardly anything to make (b) was really quick and easy (c) can be easily put away and brought out whenever we feel the need for a pow-wow (made with bamboo chopped from a friend's bush section and fabric from Geoff's Emporium for $2 a metre).

The fort in the corner of our garden became the pirate ship, complete with a plank to walk. Mr G nailed on a mast and hoisted the sail (made from a torn-up old sheet painted with skull and cross bones)... I borrowed the padded mats from kindy for the kids to land on when they jumped. Perfect.

The Food and Drink
Basic party food, tailored to the theme. My favourite cupcake recipe, doubled, and then decorated three ways...

Little pirate faces, crocodiles and blue-swirl with pearls. Then there were my jelly crocs. They were a huge hit too (lemonade jelly set in clear blue cups, with a green lolly crocodile poked in once the jelly set.)

There was popcorn and chippies and pikelets and cocktail sausies and chopped fruit to be eaten with little sword skewers... but the Piece de Resistance were the drinks...

I created the labels myself and stuck them on bottles of good ole Homebrand lemonade and gingerbeer at .90c apiece.

Pirate Punch: "just one sip and you'll be hooked" (gingerbeer)
Fairy Fizz: "Just add happy thoughts and you'll fly away" (lemonade)
Red Injun Juice: "Makes you Brave" (lemonade with a splash of blackcurrent syrup)
Printables will be coming soon...!

The Games
The old party games are always the best, adapted to fit the theme.
Hide'n'seek (when Hook finds you, you walk the plank)
Musical Statues... turned into dancing around the fire to a drumbeat, wearing injun headbands... if Hook sees you move you walk the plank...

And Swordfighting... with soft swords... push your opponent off the mat...

In the end Hook was defeated by a very proud little Mermaid. Hehe.

The Cake
A Map of Neverland, with "treasure" (sweets) buried under the "x"...

The birthday boy loved it...

Digging for treasure...

Take-Home Gifts

Finally after a treasure hunt, it was time to go home, accompanied by bags of sweeties and their own glow-jar....

Like I said, it was perfect.

........................

Peter Pan Party How To's

Planning a Peter Pan Party (includes Makes a Map of Neverland)
How to Make Glow-in-the-Dark Jar Lanterns
How to make an Indian Feather Headdress
How to Make a treasure Map Cake
Printable labels for soda bottles, gift bags and glow jars
Printable Peter Pan Party Invitation (four styles)
Get the invitation personalised on my Etsy Shop...

16 April 2012

Birthday Boy and Best in Blog

Today is not just any Monday. It's four years since the sweetest funniest happiest little Scrag entered the world. Four years of laughter (we just can't help ourselves, the kid is hilarious); four years of the sweetest kisses, the lovingest nuggles; four years of mischief and cheeky grins...

Today we celebrate our lovely Scrag.
We all dote on him, his big brother and sister included.
Ten times a day Miss Fab turns to me and says, "Oh he is just so darn cute!"
And he is, he really really is.
Scrag is so easy to love.

He's fun to be around. His natural default setting is "happy" with a side order of "fun".
So today would have to be one of the Best days of my life... celebrating when he came into it.

Some Favourite Scrag Stories...

Happy Birthday Darling Scrag
Born 16th April 2008, 2.15pm
Love you to the Moon and Back

We had a super-fun Peter Pan party... one of the Best.
Sorry folks but it is going to be parties all week long here.

You're gonna learn how to make a treasure map cake, crocodile jellies and teepees whether you want to or not. I'll show you how to make the light dance like fairies on your back lawn. There will be printables and how to's and most of all... lots and lots of photos. I sure do hope you like parties.

Best in Blog from Last Time...
We've had a bit of a break with last being Easter, but if I stretch my mind back to our last linky, there were a couple of posts that really stood out for me.

The first was Brigitte from Stay at Home Mamma's beautiful post capturing her new surroundings in Italy. Yes people, Brigitte is living the dream, and I am living it vicariously through her blog. You just have to go and check out her amazing adventure - uprooting three kids from a tiny London flat and landing in the middle of a picturesque Italian village. Sigh.

Secondly I absolutely loved Cass from Washing Line Revelations' post on car tripping with kids. This post is full of some absolute gems of ideas, and i will be referring back to it next time we hit the long and winding road....

Finally, I am inspired by Miriam from Make It Give It, who has linked up her post explaining her new project Unfolding Hope to help free Slaves. Miriam is using her blog and the networks she has formed to draw attention to the plight of enslaved people, working with the charity Free The Slaves. Miriam has created a donation page and for every $10 donated between now and the end of April, you will go in the draw to win some beautiful donated prizes (including a painting by me). I really hope lots of us will get behind Miriam's project - this a powerful way we can make a real difference, and good on you Miriam for stepping out of the boat. (I'll be blogging about this more later)

How to join in with my "Best in Blog" linky.

The "Best in Blog" Linky opens at 7am every Monday (NZ time*) and closes midnight Friday.
You don't have to write a special post, or take a photo on a theme or anything that requires extra work...
All you have to do is pick your favourite post from the past week (the one you are most proud of) and share it with us. I will feature my favourites on next week's Best in Blog.

Just one thing you need to do before you link up... Can you please dress your post with this pretty button I've made so your readers can find our linky too?

Thankyou kindly!

(Oh, and please leave us a comment telling us why you picked this one... even if it was because it was your only one, hahaha!)

*For some of you US readers, that will be sometime on Sunday!

13 April 2012

Briefly Lovin'

I'm in a rush, on a schedule.
I have a list of things to do as long as my arm.
Tomorrow is P-Day (like D-Day only it's a Party not a War).
There's no time to blog, really there's not.

It's 9.11am and already I have baked a double batch of cupcakes.
A giant chocolate cake is sitting on the bench waiting to be turned into a map of Neverland.
Miss Fab must be picked up from her friends in Epsom where she spent the night and taxi'ed to another friend in Te Atatu to help make sushi/play with her baby.
Last night I constructed a teepee... and realised that I need more fabric. It's a BIG teepee.

So on the way to pick up Miss Fab I'll swoop by Geoffs Emporium and hopefully find the roll of that awesome $2 a metre suedey stuff.
Scrag is refusing to get dressed... again. He spent all day in his PJ's yesterday.
The sun is shining. And the forecast is for more sun.
This is a good thing. Our party is completely reliant on good weather.

The Titanic DVD arrived in the post yesterday. Phew.
Hard to have a 100 Year Anniversary Titanic Night without the movie.
Did you know you can't buy it in NZ at the moment?
I found a copy on TradeMe, but you can't get it in the shops.
So I am totally grateful it arrived on time.
I think we'll watch it tonight, dressed in our First Class finery. I need to take a breather from party prep.

My Titanic-obsessed son said to me the other day, Mum if we were on the Titanic, we would be second class aye?
Second class citizens? Us?
No way, I said, We would totally be First Class.
He smiled at that. (There's no way I want him thinking of himself as Second Class. Even if we actually would have been)

So today I am loving the sunshine, things crossed off my to-do list, friends who make sushi, and other friends who send sweet treats in the Post all the way from London. (Nikki, you are the coolest).

I'm also loving the Edmonds book and its easy never-fail recipes, buttercream icing, birthday parties and birthday boys. Big boys who love history and little girls who love babies.

Now I've really got to run, cos I am so out of time it's not funny. See you on the other side of tomorrow...

11 April 2012

Dinnertime in 30AD

MARINADE for LAMB KEBABS:
Mix a splash of Port or red wine with olive oil and soy sauce, coriander paste, cumin powder, five spice and garam masala. Brush over lamb skewers and bake in a rosting dish lined with baking paper for 20-30 minutes.

The HERBED GREENS were simply salad greens with fresh coriander and a splash of olive oil tossed through. Absolutely divine wrapped up in the garlic flatbread (supermarket naan bread brushed with garlic butter), spiced lamb balls and olives.

SPICED LAMB BALLS: To lamb mince add a generous helping of cumin powder, coriander paste, five spice and garam masala. Squelch through with your hands until well mixed. Shape into balls and place in an overn dish lined with baking paper. bake on 180oC for approx 20 minutes or until cooked through.