Are you looking for a few inspiring ideas for a kids birthday this year? Event planner and mom blogger Cathy Riva shows us how to turn a few trends onto super fun, affordable, and low stress birthday bashes (as featured on the Today Show).
Bringing celebrity trends and turning them into party ideas...
Iron Chef/Master Chef Party Mexican Theme Birthday
If you, and your little one, are a fan of cooking shows, then this idea is for you. This is our own version of "Iron Chef” that is birthday party and kid friendly.
*First, give your child choices of food options, that can be pre-cooked and just assembled at the party- such as tacos, burritos, burgers, cupcakes or cookies. Then provide one magic ingredient they have to use.
Here we have Master Chefs, and birthday boys, Michael and Eitan. They are making soft tacos. The goal is for the kids to have a fun with their food and use their imagination. The magic ingredient here is home made sauces, that they must use in their creation- sour cream and tomatoes, chipolte queso and a mole (or chocolate sauce).
* Each child has his own food station, where they have key ingredients to make the most creative dish possible. If you want to make it a competition, like iron chef, (And, we all know Kathie Lee and Hoda love competition) the food can also be judged by the grown ups. And, one chef be crowned the true “Iron Chef”.
Some tips on planning this party!
*save time on food shopping - order these ingredients and some prepared foods from a direct-to-home food delivery site, like Schwans.
*keep it simple and affordable, use disposable paper items from a party supply store, like these paper cupcake holders. This keeps clean up easy too!
*choose bright colors for this Mexican Fiesta, you can find colorful serving bowls at your dollar store, and Sur La Table has these cute colanders we re-purposed as bowls to hold our cheese.
*use everyday items such as cutting boards for place mats and as serving dishes.
*have the kids personalize their own aprons, like these from oriental trading company- and they can also make their own chef hat. These make great souvenirs from the party.
*Cinnamon and Sugar Churros are a popular dessert in Mexico, so our twist, instead of a birthday cake, serve a mini cinnamon and sugar doughnut cake, like this with a Mexican flair (they could also be chocolate too) yum.
Rachel’s Glam Princess Spa Party
If you love to pamper yourself, and find it fun to primp, then this party is for you. A spa party that is fit for a glamour queen, with nails, facials, and a braid bar.
This is Rachel and her friend Rachel. Each girl has her own station, with a personalized laminated place mat we made from felt letters and stickers, then laminated. They can take turns doing each other’s nails, and if they are a little older- their hair. A parent can accomplish these simple braids or girls 9 years old can master these fun styles with the help of Cozy’s braid book. The birthday girl, now, is working on the latest trend in Nail Polish the two tone color change polish from Disney’s princess collection.
*From celebrities to celebrity kids, braids were the rage this season. We have provide the basics to make your own braid bar like feathers, hair extensions, headbands and of course braids! The girls both have great hair-dos and accessories inspired by Cozy’s Braid Book.
*In addition, fingernail art is super popular now, and you can find fun nail accessories - such as these stickers from Disney, that take the nail salon to a whole new cool factor.
*use affordable items, and just present them in a fun way like mud masks, or scrubs you can make at home with ingredients from your pantry.
*keep the spa theme going with fresh infused juices for the kids. This is my favorite pink hued juice, called Ruby Red, made with pineapples, apples and beets.
*Use sale items as accessories! These holiday paper flowers are lapel pins from Michaels. And, the tablecloth is paper: we added a little fun with tulle as a side skirt. Tulle is less than $2.00, a yard. It’s affordable and reusable!
*as a ”goody“ in the goody bag hand out cookies baked in the shape of sleep masks as favors that read "calm” or “relax”.
ADD:
GOODY BAG TABLE
Birthday party favors are sometimes the most stressful party of planning. For these two ideas we have kept it simple and affordable. The kids go home with personalized aprons and homemade chef hats.
And, for the spa party we used the holiday clearance rack to stock up on a few colorful bags that work for any occasion. Inside we added the personalized place mat and a few accessories from the party (Claire’s Accessory store sells bows, headbands and hair extensions for $1 each) and everyone walks out with a sweet treat of home made themed cookies!
My resource list is:
Master Chef Birthday Mexican theme
www.Schwans.com
www.Surlatable.com
www.Orientaltrading.com
www.michaels.com
Resource list for Rachel’s Princess spa party is
www.Disney,com
www.CozyCutsforKids.com braid book
