Naturally the best part of planning and creating a fun Kids Olympic Party is all about the games.  We have plenty of tiny kids in our family so we didn’t want to make too advanced games, but we still wanted it to be fun for the few older kids we did have.  So Kari, Danielle, and I put our heads together and came up with these amazing

 Backyard Olympic Games

As to how to make the Olympic Games, these are really self explanatory so I included just a sentence or two on how I made them and how we played them.

Balance Beam

Supply List & Instructions:

2 Cinder Blocks

1 2×4 plank of wood

Just put the blocks down and place the wood on top.

Kids younger than 5 years walked across and back…adding an optional trick if they wanted.

The older bunch had to walk to the middle turn around on one foot and walk back again.  This was hysterical to watch.

Noodle Throw

Supply List & Instructions:

Hula Hoop Rings made previously

4 pool noodles purchased at the dollar store

Secure the Giant Olympic Rings so they stand in the grass…we used bamboo shoots.

Two players each have 2 noodles.  They throw the noodles like javelins and try to make it throw the hoop.  Having two players at once is pretty fun because their noodles knock against each other and it’s unpredictable.

Designate a spot for older players father back the game more challenging.

You can give the hoops point values too, but since our littles are younger we were just hoping they would make it in a hoop.

Monster Ball Toss

Supply List & Instructions:

Foam Board

Super sharp x-acto knife

Markers

Draw your funky monster.  Cut out the mouth, the nose, the eye…whatever you’d like. Just make a hole for the kidlets to throw a ball or bean bag through.

This was our 3 and younger game so we made the hole pretty big.

Water Bucket Relay

Supply List & Instructions:

6 buckets from the dollar store; 3 of one color and 3 of another.

2 big car wash sponges

water…lots of water

Place three buckets in a line about 3 feet apart.  Do this with the other set of buckets, lining them up next to the other teams buckets.  Fill the buckets with water.

A child stands behind each bucket.  The first one has the huge sponge soaked with water and hands it over their head to the player behind them.  The next player is not directly behind them so this requires the kids to kind of toss the sponge over their head.

The next player dips the sponge in the bucket and throws it to the next person, etc.  Then we had the kids turn around and through it back, but this time like a quarterback…through their legs.  It was super fun!!

We even made the adults play this one. Needless to say, everyone ended up wet.

As you can see we had a great time!  This games were a HUGE hit for both young and old. We had a great time!

The post DIY Backyard Olympic Games appeared first on U Create.

The presents will eventually break, your child will grow out of playing with the toys or cute outfits, and really who is going to remember the details of this special day without photos?!

Today with the help of Evite we are learning how to take amazing birthday party pictures with these great tips to ensure memorable photos on your child’s special day. Watch this beautiful video for great ideas such as…

• taking a picture of each guest

• designating a photographer
• get up close

• taking a picture of the cake and more!

With these fabulous tips you and your child will remember the details and special guests who came to celebrate on that special day!

Need tips on How to Throw a Kid’s Birthday Party? You won’t want to miss this!

POST BY:

This post was sponsored by Evite and Real Times. All opinions are mine.

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The sunburst tablecloth tutorial is an easy way to dress up a dessert table. It comes together really fast and makes a big impact. You can use this same gathering concept for any party tablecloth, too!

SUPPLIES:

• 1 Yellow and 1 White plastic tablecloths
• 2-4 Sunbursts using this tutorial
• White or Yellow DMC floss
• Sewing Needle

Step 1

Place both tablecloths on the table and using 3 strands of DMC floss start sewing a  1” running stitch where you would like to gather the tablecloth.

Step 2

When you have sewn to the height you like, pull both ends of the floss and tie a knot. This will give the tablecloth the “gathered” look.  Repeat everywhere on the tablecloth that you want that look.

Step 3

Simply tape on the sunbursts, at the gathered points.

Step 4

Stand back and admire the gorgeous tablecloth!

 POST BY:

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Our newest episode of “Craft it Forward” is all about BIRTHDAYS! Send a plain boxes with fun surprises inside and brighten up somebody’s day with a birthday package!

Here are the three different balloon printables to choose from:

Click below for the free printables:

PINK BALLOON

YELLOW BALLOON

GREEN BALLOON

Wondering where I bought my crazy straws? Walmart has jumbo ones for $1 each. If you can’t find them there you can find some bright ones on Amazon.

The post Birthday Care Package Ideas appeared first on U Create.

 

 

 

Ashlee! Your cakes are always incredible and it’s an honor to have you here today!
Make sure to hop on over to Ashlee Marie Cakes to see Ashlee’s many party and cake ideas. If you like to crochet you’ll also be in for a fun surprise!

The post Lego Head Cake appeared first on U Create.

Supply List:

• Gift Bow Stencil
• DUCT TAPE
• scissors and pen/sharpie
• Kraft wrapping paper

Instructions:

#1: Print out the stencil.

#2: Cut out the “bow” part of the stencil and the tiny rectangle piece.

#3: Cut two 8 inch pieces of duct tape and tape them to each other.

#4: Trace the “bow” stencil with a pen or marker onto the 8 inch piece.

#5: Cut out the “bow”

#6: Cut the tiny rectangle out of duct tape using the stencil and tape it to the edge of your table for now. #7: Fold the ends of your “bow” into the middle.

#8: Wrap the tiny rectangle around the middle of the bow.

I wrapped little presents in kraft paper. The I cut a long piece of duct tape and wrap it around the box and adhered the bow to the box with a glue dot.

It would also be great to create a variety of boxes and bows and decorate a mantle or table with them!

Post by:

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When my little girl wanted a “Sunny” birthday party I was all over it with help from my sister-in-law Danielle! All of my other children have winter birthdays and it was so much fun to throw this bright, happy party for her…

The sunshine cake pops turned out darling and they are so easy to make.

I used a lemon cake box to make these yummy cupcakes. Usually the young party guests only want the frosting anyways…I was right!!!! Grab our free cupcake topper printables here!

  Push pops are so popular in the party world right now. I tried frozen lemonade. I thought that it would be a cool treat on a hot day!

Lemonade is a must for a sunshine party!

The ice cream was served in these yummy cookie bowls. I cooked the cookie dough in a mini muffin pan.  Then after the cookies cooled, I scooped a tablespoon of ice cream into each bowl and put them back into the freezer until it was time to serve!

My daughter and her friends had the best time! We also had some water games and a slip-n-slide for the games and it was a hit!

The post Sunshine Birthday Party appeared first on U Create.

I’m thrilled to show you this Sunshine Party Danielle and I created for my 6 yr old daughter!

Perfect theme for a summer birthday party.

I created this bright, colorful free printable set including: cupcake toppers, bag toppers, water bottle labels, and more!

Sunshine Bag Topper Download

Sunshine Cupcake Toppers Download

Sunshine Water Bottle Download

 Sunshine Party Invitation

Have a fun summer party with these printables and make sure to check out the other sunshine party details this week!

The post Sunshine Birthday Party Free Printables appeared first on U Create.

Here is the Rapunzel cake I made last week for a birthday party. The techniques I’m going to show you can work for any of the princesses or other women doll cakes you’d like to make yourself.

I used these same techniques to make this Princess Tiana Barbie Doll cake too!

The main supplies are the princess doll you want to make, and Wilton Wonder Mold cake pan. This cake takes a while to cook because it’s so thick. Make sure you use the metal tube down the center for even cooking. If you leave it out the cake will fall. Not pretty. I’ve had this pan for years, But somehow in the last few month I lost a key piece, the screw on the bottom. I emailed Wilton and they immediately sent on to me! It was terrific service!

First we need to do the prep work. We need to cover some cake boards. We need one cake board the same size as the the cake itself. Then we also need 2 or 3 cake boards stacked together for the decorative board. Don’t use just one, it will be too thin and too weak. I’d make these 2-4 inches larger than the base of the cake, depending on how much of the cake base you want showing. You don’t want to put the cake directly on cardboard, it will get soaked. So I cover it with foil! Wrap it around the back, trim and then tape it down.

Let’s start with the decorative cake base. You want to start by covering it with fondant. In order to get it to stick and STAY on the foil covered board I use corn syrup. I rub in all over the board before I cover it! You can leave it like that OR you can make it decorative like I did. I used an Imprint mat, put it on the board and rolled the rolling pin over it! Peel it off and you have a detailed bake base!

Take the cake sized cake board and cover it with some frosting so that the cake will stick to the board. And put the cake on the board! And frost the cake! I totally forgot to take a picture of that part! I always forget one picture in every tutorial it seems!

For any of the Barbie cakes what we need to start with is start at the inside/bottom and work your way out/up! So the underskirt is where we’re starting.

Rapunzel’s underskirt has a lot of detailing in it so I decided to roll the fondant out onto an impression mat and then used that to cover the cake! As you cover a cake the fondant tends to stretch a bit so to keep the details I just focused on keeping one section pretty, the rest I didn’t mind if the impression got stretched and warped.

I covered the pretty section with some luster dust and then to bring out the detail I painted the lines with a paint brush and clear vanilla! (notice I rolled up her 16 inch long hair and using a twist tie kept it out of her face, and out of the way while I worked on the dress!)

Now we need to add the doll and start working our way up! Usually I rip the legs off. But this was a higher quality doll and the legs couldn’t be pulled off without ruining them for the future. SO I decided to leave the legs on. I wrapped them with plastic wrap. The bad part about leaving the legs on is that when you push the legs in it kind of disrupts the cake a bit. Do it when the fondant is fresh so it has a bit of a stretch to it. I waited too long and it cracked the fondant. I had to do some repair work…

Back to the design, next on the out/up is the outer skirt. It’s the same purple, but it’s more simple. So I rolled it out and wrapped it around the base. Before I started wrapping I made sure to add clear vanilla to the base fondant so that the outer skirt would stick! Cutting it at the bottom and straight edges in the front. Don’t worry about the rough edges, we’ll cover them later.

Next up? The sleeves. Her dress has sheer sleeves. Since I can’t get completely sheer I did roll it out as thin as I could, see… You can see the writing through the fondant. Cut it down to strips, about the width of the arm. Paint it with clear vanilla and carefully wrap it around her arms. Trim the edges under the arm!

Now for the bodice. Paint her body with clear vanilla. I should mention why we’re using clear vanilla, or vanilla at all! Vanilla is mostly alchol and so it dampens the fondant and makes it sticky, but it also evaporates quickly so it dries quickly too! If you use regular vanilla the brown could dye or show up if you get it on any of the fondant that shows!. The clear vanilla won’t leave any marks!

Now using a sharp knife trim the bodice into shape! Remember you can do any princess you want, so use the colors and bodice shape of the princess your trying to make.

Her puffy sleeves. I started with 2 fondant balls to make sure they are equal and match. Then I started shaping them! Add the vanilla and add it to our princess! Now we have the base design complete. You could leave it here for a decent cake, but to take it over the top it’s time to start working on the details. That’s what really makes the cake.

Stripes for her puffy sleeves

The pink trip details around the bodice neckline an cover the seam line in the back.

Cover the seam where the bodice and skirt meet… And now time to add the criss crossing of the ribbon onto the bodice. I rolled out the pink really thin, and then using a pizza cutter cut it really narrow. This way I didn’t have to try to roll it evenly into such a small snake! I painted the bodice with clear vanilla (see, you can’t even see it!). Now one strip at a time start cutting and building the criss crossing!

And for the final details: I added a bit of white around the neckline, added some purple between the puffy sleeves and “sheer” sleeves, some detail at the ends of the sleeves, the edges of the outer skirt, the base of the dress AND the bow at the top of the criss cross lace up front!

Her skirt is all shiny, so using a brush (not one you EVER use with paint or make up or anything, JUST for food!!! Anyway, use the brush and edible glitter, or luster dust! I brushed it all over the skirt, bodice, etc… It adds that final shine/glow to the dress.

Undo her hair, add her tiny gecko and paint brush and Presto! She’s done and gorgeous!

And she’s done!

I’m Ashlee, from Ashlee Marie Cakes AND (because I’m totally insane) Topsy Turvy Shop!. I love to sew, crochet, knit, tile, paint, build things and I collect tools (power tools- LOVE THEM!). I love to craft, cook, bake and decorate cakes.

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