Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

Kids are notorious for using a cup once. When it comes to parties it's even more of an issue.  They fill up their cups, get excited and forget to take even one sip. In the mean time the abandoned cup is spilled over, stuffed on a shelf or in the garden only to have the whole process repeated when the thirsty child comes looking for their next drink.

This is where I love individually labelled water bottles. The kids love them too. Kids love to seek out things that are specially made for them. Bottles decorated with labels also look great if they match a theme. The best things, you're giving them good old plain water in a container they are more likely to hang on to. If they do leave them about, they are easy to find and bottles have lids which help reduce spills.

For more party ideas visit the My Little Party Planner website: www.mylittlepartyplanner.com

Christmas comes but once a year...or does it?

I love Christmas. I particularly love the lights. I have a ball every year playing spotto as I roam around the streets hunting out the best displays. I also think it's a shame to have something that is only used for a brief time each year and packed away again. So, here are a few excuses to make those lights stay out of their boxes a little longer and an opportunity to add that extra wow factor to your events with great atmosphere!

Christmas in July

In places where Christmas is held in warmer temperaters, ex-pats from places that usually have snow and cold during their Christmas started a tradition of holding a winter Christmas dinner in the middle of the year. This was to make them feel like they were back home. So you can get those lights out for Christmas in July as a start.

Fashion Parade Runway lights

We recently held a Paris Fashion Party.  It was a huge success with the party goers designing their own t-shirts and giving a fashion parade for the parents at the end.  Of course, to have a fashion parade, you need a runway and christmas lights were perfect!

Disco lights

What's a disco without lights?  Pull down the blinds and dim the lights.  Get those Christmas lights out, turn them on flash and you have yourself a disco party!

Fairy garden lights

Lots of Christmas lights these days are solar powered.  This is perfect for creating a year-round fairy garden.  I'm sure nestling lights in bushes and gardens helps to attract little fairies.

If you've got a great idea to use your Christmas lights, we'd love you to share it with us.

For more party ideas visit the My Little Party Planner website: www.mylittlepartyplanner.com

Sounds like a plan

Having a party plan is an important step to ensuring your party runs smoothly. Even a rough plan is better than nothing.

Think about  what guests will do on arrival, will someone great them at the door, are there arrows, signage or balloons directing them where you want to go?

How long will it take to play each game or to do each activity?  Work out if you have enough entertainment/games. Note: it's always good to have a few extra things ready in cases you need something extra. What's the fall back plan if the weather or some other issue means you need to alter your plans?

What do you do if people bring gifts? Do you have a place to out them, will you open them during the party or after?

If you are serving food you need to know when you need to start heating things up or when to clear a place for people to sit. Make sure you have someone to help you need it too.

Are there speeches, or happy birthday messages to give?  Work out when and who will give these? Do they have any necessary equipment? Who's in charge?

What happens at the end of the party, are there party bags to give out, who will see guests leave and thank them for coming?

Thinking through some of these things before the event will help you plan, prepare and enjoy!

Pop corn box cake

The cake is often one of the key party items.  Kids love it when you make a special cake for them.  Here's the latest tutorial from www.mylittlepartyplanner.com - it's perfect for a movie party or Hollywood party this is a fun and easy cake to make.

This tutorial also provides various options you can use to decorate this cake depending on what you have available and a free templete.

Step by step instructions here...

A tasty treat for hungry little ones

He's cute.  He's tasty, easy to make and very very healthy!

Great as a snack for a kids party with a hungry caterpillar theme.

Step by step instructions

Fun and easy party food ideas

Sometimes party food is just about the presentation.  You don't have to be a genius in the kitchen to create a great party.  Select from these simple party food ideas to suit your party theme and have some fun!

Cake chips

This fun snack is great as an afternoon treat, perfect for a circus, disco or rock'n'roll party.

Tasty, crunchy and .... sweet?  Yes, these are made from cake not potato.  You won't be able to stop at one.

Find out how with these easy steps...

The humble rope

Would you believe me if I told you this long, skinny piece of rope was one of the biggest sources of kids fun at a recent party?  Well, it was.  One rope became a tug of war game (we tripled it over, tied a few end knots in it and marked the middle and it was good to go).

Next it was on to limbo dancing where all the kids (big and small) had fun seeing how low they could go before getting out.

A simple game of jump rope came next as kids ran in and out displaying their fitness and timing skills.

Not wanting to be out-done (apparently jump rope was a bit girly - although I noticed it didn't stop the boys joining in), the boys started playing helicopter where the person in the middle swings the rope around on the ground like a helicopter blade as those around the edge jump over it.

One rope and four games. Who would have thought? And to think, I was going to string it up and hang the shade cloth on it!  So useful!

For more party games visit the 'games' section at: www.mylittlepartyplanner.com

Mrs Confinement - Confinement meals to you

I really love this idea. When a good friend of mine recently went on maternity leave, she did this.  Now she's offering her own service for mums-to-be.  I wanted to share it with you as I thought it would make a unique and great gift idea.  It's practical and helpful.

Given by an individual, a group of friends or work colleagues, this would make any new mum smile!

Confinement (Pui yuet) care practices amongst Asian communities have been passed down for generations and focuses on providing mothers with special care to recover after childbirth.

For a smooth and complete recovery from childbirth, "Mrs Confinement" can help by delivering hassle free, convenient and most importantly nutritious home-style meals, soups and teas (using fresh ingredients and no MSG)  during the confinement period.

Everyday is a different menu consisting of lunch, dinner (2 dishes), herbal soup and healthy tea with the option on a 5 day or 7 day plan. They can also cater for your partner too (lunch and dinner).

This lets new mums or new parents to focus on getting ample rest and taking care of their newborn whilst consuming prepared quality confinement food to replenish, strengthen the body and assist in lactation demands for breast-feeding.

For more information, call Mrs Confinement on 0403 107 940.

A fabulous party venue right on our door step

Passmore Reserve

A great place to hold an outdoor party. The facilities are great, well maintained and the place is just ...more information & photos

Celebration streamer decorations for your cake

Decorate your cake with pretty celebration streamers that are easy to make and look great.

Perfect for any cellebration - New Years, welcome party or anything that takes your fancy!

Step by step: Follow these simple steps to make your own

A little note for Vallentines Day

A heart shaped love note.  As it's opened, it becomes a heart.  What better way to open your heart to love?

Step by step: How to make a love note

Celebrate Chinese New Year: Felt fortune cookies!

A fun way to celebrate Chinese New Year, these fun fortune cookies won't put on any callories!

Made of felt, they are so easy to make.  You can put your own little messages inside to suit the occasion or even a little treat like a Hershey kiss chocolate.

Step by step: How to make felt fortune cookies

Vallentines cup cake that's all heart

This little cup cake is perfect for your sweet vallentine!

Hidden shape cakes are all the rage right now and what better time to have fun than vallentines day to have a go.

Follow these steps to make your own hidden shape cup cakes.

What shapes will you hide?

Thongs, flips flops and chocolate fun!

G'day mate!

It's almost time to fire up the barbie, slip on some thongs and do the Great Australian Salute!

Yes, it's Australia Day again on 26 January.  Here's a fun little treat to celebrate the day.  Make them in the Aussie green and the kids (big & small) will love them!

How to make Chocolate Aussie thong pops!

A place where cow boys fight indians and little ballerina's dance

If you're looking for a place where cowboys can fight off wild indians, or budding ballarina's can dance then Allambie Heights Public Hall on Sydney's Northern Beaches is a great venue.

For more information and pictures visit the My Little Party Planner website

Music - Creating the party atmosphere

I was at a BBQ yesterday with friends.  I always enjoy being at these peoples house.  There's always a good vibe.  I was thinking about it afterwards and realised there's always music.  When I'm coming down the stairs to the party it feels like entering a party.  I noticed that during the BBQ the music kept tempo with the mood of the party...or was it the other way around?

I think well chosen music goes a long way to set the right atmosphere for any event. When I was studying video editing we used to grab 'atmos' to fill in background noise.  'Atmos' was the seemingly dead, soundless gaps between spoken sections of video.  You would drop these little sound bites into the background of something recorded in a studio and it suddenly came to life.  No longer was the studio voice that dull, stale voice that sounds fake and staged.  Instead dropping this little bit of 'atmos' in gave it depth, a sort of invisible richness.  It's the same with music at events and due thought should go into what is played and how loud.  Sometimes the best music is just a quiet suggestion in the background, other times you need boost up the volume and 'get the party going'.

Here are a few tips to help you plan your music:

Chosing the music:

• Is there a theme to your event that you should match the music to
• What is the age of the people attending event the party -  what music tastes do they have
• Do people need to talk at different times during the event where the music needs to be quieter
• Will people be dancing - if so, do you want fast, active music or slow dancing music
• Consider the appropriateness of the words in songs.  I was shocked listening to a bunch of young kids singing the most inappropriate words only to realise these were songs we played all the time.  It was only when they sang the words that I actually realised what I was playing! Ooops!
• Ensure you have enough music and some back up so you don't end up playing repeats

Once you've chosen your music, you need to prepare your playlists:

• However you are taking your music to your event, ensure you have the right equipment at the venue to play it and that you know how to use it.
• Creating several play lists for the different 'vides' of your event saves you having to put someone on DJ duty as there is less switching around.
• If you are burning your music to a CD you may want to burn different playlists to different CD's so you can switch easily.  The sames goes for loading music to USB sticks, you may want different styles of music on different USB sticks
• iPods, iPads and smart phones are all really handy these days to transport music on
• iTunes allow you to create playlists and organise your songs really easily.  If you don't know how to do this, check out the tutorial on the apple website.  There are also lots of video tutorials on YouTube if you prefer

For more party planning tips visit the My Little Party Planner website