How to Host a Soccer Party

My gorgeous youngest son turned eight this year.

Unlike his brother, he LOVES a good party. Especially his. He's just like me really. In his time he has had a Diego inspired Mexican party, an animal party, garden party, a superhero party and a reptile party.

This year he wanted a soccer party. And when my son asks me for a themed party I swing into gear quick smart. Because themed parties keep my motor ticking.

I did some searching and found these online printables on ETSY. SIMONEmadeit had a full kit which I could buy and the edit/print at my own leisure.

So I started with the invitations which I sent in co-ordinating black envelopes and the theme was set!

insert pic of invitation

When everyone arrived they all received their own VIP guest pass which they loved! The printable was part of the pack I bought and then I went to OfficeWorks and bought the lanyards from there. 

I always get my printing done at Office Works. They're quick, convenient and the quality is always spot on.

Having just hosted an AFL Party in April, I already knew how I was going to cater for a group of boys.

Stadium Food!

The party was from 2pm-4.30pm so it was after lunch and before dinner but 8 year old boys use up a lot of energy and get starving every twenty minutes. So I served up hotdogs, hot chips, pies and sausage rolls. They all had their own water bottles and there were lollies, chips and popcorn to snack on during the afternoon.

Having a winter holiday is always touch and go and the weather in the lead up to the party was shitful so at the last minute we decided to hire an air-hockey table which we set up under the carport. Together with the soccer table and the front yard there was plenty for the kids to do. I also had FIFA ready to go on the PS4 but it didn't even enter their minds. LOVE IT!

The special request for the cake was an actual soccer ball. Like a round ball. That was never going to happen. So I hired a cake mould from Complete Cake Decorating Supplies and bought some white buttercream and some black colouring. 

I also picked up some sugared, edible soccer decoration for the cupcakes. I've mentioned before that I don't let the kids eat the cake I make. It's because I always have two parties for my kids and I need the proper cake to last for both of them! So they all sing around the cake and then I serve them cupcakes. They all think it's a bit weird. I think it's genius. The cake mould took two Betty Crocker vanilla cake mixes and I made the cupcakes from one Betty Crocker Devil's Food mix which I decorated with green coloured coconut grass and a soccer ball topper. One discerning party guest declared them "the yummiest cupcakes EVER!" 

When they left they all took home a little lolly bag and their VIP lanyard.

And then the whole catastrophe family came over for dinner and we ate the soccer cake.

How to Host an AFL Birthday Party

My ten year old son Nathan is not a party kinda kid. He’s very low-key and for the past 4 years has chosen to forgo his birthday party entirely and travel to Melbourne to watch his beloved Blues play instead.

With his first milestone birthday approaching, I asked if he would consider actually having a party this year. One that he could invite his friends to and really celebrate. “And so you can get some presents!” his younger brother, who LOVES PARTIES, encouraged.

“Well, ok. I guess that’s a good idea. But don’t do anything weird Mum”

I beg your pardon?

“I don’t want any games and I just want my friends to be able to wear normal clothes. Don’t make them dress up or anything stupid like that please”

Woah. Whose kid are you?? Definitely his father’s.

Now anyone who knows me is very well aware that I cannot throw a party without, at the very least, a theme and, wherever possible, a lot of fanfare. So I asked him… “What about a footy party?”

Crickets….

Is that a tumbleweed?

And then, finally “Yeah, that’d be alright. I guess.”

VICTORY!

And so I began.

Now that I had a theme I had to work out the invitations. I found THE MOST fabulous ones online here at Jo Studio and the service was brilliant. Super quick turnaround and excellent communication. I had them printed and cut at Officeworks. There is a whole corresponding range of party gear to go with it but I just got the welcome sign too.

Next was the cake. I like to make my own cake for the kids. I’m not sure why that is. I haven’t analysed it but it’s just how I roll. The thing is, I’m not really THAT GOOD at making cakes so it has to be something reasonably simple and it can’t involve fondant. I haven’t given that a go yet and it scares me. So, I had this idea to make a football on a footy field. I found a local cake supplier Complete Cake Decorating Supplies who hire out cake tins for $5 as opposed to buying one new for $40 and I also grabbed some pre-coloured butter cream [GENIUS!], an icing spatula and some cool footy goal candles. Then I picked up two Betty Crocker chocolate cake mixes for the ground and two Betty Crocker vanilla cake mixes for the football and a dozen eggs [THAT’S HOW MANY IT TOOK!]

I am RAPT with the result. The cake tin was actually for an American Rugby football so I had to round off the ends but it turned out pretty well. I baked the chocolate cakes in large lamington tins and then coloured the icing with green food colouring and sprinkled green dessicated coconut on top to make it look like grass. The edges were pretty messy so I picked out all the brown Smarties in a family pack and stuck them around to clean it up a bit.

It looked so good that I made a last minute decision to bake cupcakes as well so that the kids didn’t eat it after we sang Happy Birthday! Also because the entire extended family was coming for dinner immediately after the footy party and I wanted them to see my cake too.

I picked up some fabulous AFL bunting online here from Lombard in Melbourne and also a packet of football balloons which I had filled with helium locally.

I dressed the table with fake turf and carried the red of the football throughout the whole party.

The winning purchase though was the fluke-find of the AFL Footy Water! I literally stumbled upon them a few weeks ago when I was paying for my petrol and they were just there… beside the counter. The kids LOVED them.

For food I decided to go full footy fare and served up mini hotdogs, meat pies and cups of hot chips [sorry no photos!] and some popcorn. The party was from 2-5pm though so it was only snacks  - no lunch. I also had some softdrink which they drank from gorgeous plastic milk bottles with themed straws.

I was under strict instruction that there were to be NO organised games so instead we brought out the table tennis table, the foosball table and all the balls in the house. The kids swarmed from one activity to another and it was LOUD. Like crazy loud. But they had a ball. Pardon the pun. Half way through hubby took all of them for a walk down the street to the local oval to really run off some energy and then it was back to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and send them on their way.

I kept the loot/lolly bags really simple and just included some lollies, a whizz fizz and a pack of footy cards into brown paper craft bags.

And then it was over.

I got rave reviews...

“Did you love it Nathan?”

“Yeah. It was pretty cool actually. Thanks Mum.”

How to host a Grubby Garden Party

Last year my 4 year old son wanted a Garden Party. The only guidance he gave me was that it had to be 'awesome'.

This was what I came up with.

I made the invitations using craft paper fashioned into a caterpillar, loosely based on "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book.

I set up two trestle tables outside. One was the planting table which was to be the main activity of the party. On this I put together individual gardening sets for each guest which consisted of a green tin bucket [which would become their take home party 'bag'], terracotta plant pot, spade and gardening gloves. In the centre of the table I put tubs of garden soil [not potting mix because of the dangers] and some planting stakes with their names on them.

The other table was set in green and yellow with a strip of fake lawn down the middle. I used disposable bamboo bowls to put in a selection of treats inspired by "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book. I also found a whole lot of bug lollies and plastic toy bugs to decorate the table with.

I bought two gorgeous watering cans and washed them and filled one with water and one with cordial. The kids LOVED these [so did the parents!]

I had a whole lot of gorgeous garden type stickers that the kids decorated their pots with. Then each guest was asked to choose a plant from the selection of flowers and trees I had bought on sale at Bunnings. With the help of their parents, they potted their own plants into their decorated pots and topped them with some little pebbles I picked up from Cheap as Chips.

Then we played "Pin the Bee on the Flower". Each contestant had to wear the bee hat to play!

Making these bugcakes was the most time consuming part of the party for me! I scoured books to find ideas for ladybugs, bumble bees, spiders, butterflies, snails and worms with wings. They had serious WOW factor enjoyed by kids and grown ups alike.

I matched the birthday cake to the invitation and it was a dozen oversized cupcakes with the tops cut off and iced in two shades of green. I covered a plastic platter with fake grass and used black jelly beans as the feet.

The kids had such a great time and it was a good party for girls and boys. They each took home their plants, spade, gloves and I filled their green tin buckets with lollies at the end too.

The best part? I got the 'tick of awesome' from BOTH my boys at the end.

How to Host a Superhero Party

My youngest turned 5 last week and asked for a superhero party. It was his first party that he invited his own friends to and we ended up with about 15 kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon at home. I purposely made it from 2-4pm so I didn't have to serve lunch or dinner and started planning.

I don't like to spend a lot of money on kids shows so I look for things I can do/make myself to save some cash. I always turn to the internet when planning something to flesh out ideas or get some tips. I find fantastic images on google and blogs and party sites and wanted to repay the favour.

This whole party cost me under $20 per kid.

I chose classic superhero colours red, blue and yellow to theme the day. This party table was easy and relatively inexpensive to put together. I went to Officeworks to print out the comic 'bams', 'pows' etc, cut them out and then pasted them on co-ordinating poster board.

For party bags I used plain, white kraft bags with simple themed thank-you tags tied on with a co-ordinating ribbon. I put simple treats in these including a Spiderman Pez dispenser, Freddo Frogs and bubbles. Guests then used these to put the spoils of the pinata game and 'find the bad guys in the garden' game. I also poured a selection of each of the coloured lollies into each bag at the end of the party. The kids loved it. The parents not so much.

I bought a couple of slabs of water bottles and exchanged their labels for my own, superhero ones [plain A4 paper cut to size with an image pasted on] and then popped gorgeous retro striped straws in each of them. I've never seen kids so excited about drinking water before. I also SORTED THROUGH tubs of peanut and plain m&ms to get the right colour combo. We're STILL eating all the remaining orange, green and brown ones! There's a platter of chocolate brownies too [for just a bit more sugar] which I decorated with little star topped toothpicks.

Masked and caped Chupa Chups. I found this idea online and LOVED it. So did the kids. They went into the party bags at the end of the day too.

 

I like to serve cupcakes as the main birthday cake for kids. Saves cutting, plates, decorating bla bla. I DID have a mishap with these ones and underfilled the cases but decided to go with it anyway. The kids were far more interested in the frosting than the cake.

Individual superhero jelly cups made a couple of days before, jars of red/yellow/blue jelly beans in the background and individual hommus and vegetable cups. I also served popcorn, bowls of chips and honey/soy chicken drumettes. The grown ups shared a cheese platter and some super wine.

1st game for superheroes *Protect Hero Headquarters*. I hid toy army soldiers in the garden [some with lollies strapped to them] and told the heroes to 'find the bad guys'

The kids loved searching for bad guys in the garden and the superhero who found the least amount won the prize [superhero colouring book]

2nd game for superheroes *Super Target Practice*. I set up two spiderman plaques [$1 from Cheap as Chips] on the cubby house and filled a basket with water balloons. I got all the kids to line up and try to knock down the plaques with the balloons. This was the FAVOURITE game of the day. The first girl to knock the plaque down won the prize for this game

3rd game for superheroes *Save our City*. I HANDMADE a papier mache, TNT bomb pinata and am sooooo annoyed that I didn't get a photo! My one tip if you're making your own? Do THREE layers. I did two and that bomb exploded half way through the game! The pinata cost me about $2.50 to make.

The party was a huge success. The kids loved it. The parents loved it. The birthday boy was rapt.

SuperMum SAVES THE DAY!!!!!!