My Little Party: Some Pics and Ideas for a Kids Party Extravaganza!

Part of why I've been abscent on the blog scene is in addition to have a newborn muffin, we've had back-to-back parties and celebrations galore since March. Little Girl turned 5 years old on March 19th and to celebrate, we hosted a My Little Pony themed party at the house. Here are some pics of the dessert table I did, along with some super simple ideas to add some fun to your next kids party (or adult party!). Enjoy.

Various toppings for the ice cream bar included: gummy bears, M&Ms, sprinkles, cherries, nuts, and other rainbow-colored candies. Rainbow swirl lollipops were a HUGE hit at the party, as were the unicorn-shaped rainbow pops as well. I stuffed them in planter containers filled with blue jellybeans.

Fist, instead of a candy-centric table, Little Girl wanted ice cream. So I went with a rainbow theme for the pony Rainbow Dash as my color palate. This was super fun to work with, and as you could imagine, the options were endless. I did a turqouise table cloth because Rainbow Dash's body is a turquoise-blue color, and accented with rainbow colors. I did a rainbow of poms above to illustrate the theme brightly and add festivity to the area of the room. The cake was done by a local bakery that copied our invitation. And then the food!

She wanted chocolate covered strawberries which is a great tip for any party really. Everyone loves them. But just because they're red and green doesn't mean you're married to that color palate! I brought in the rainbow theme by using rainbow sprinkles on both white and milk chocolate, and placed the strawberries in brightly colored cupcake liners.

Not only did they present just beautifully, but they were easy to handle for guests as well. As soon as they were done eating they simply put the stem back into the cupcake paper and threw it away. Very easy, very no-mess, and very decorative! I'll definately be using this trick for future parties, matching my cupcake papers to the color or theme of the party. Super easy and cheap!

Then to present the strawberries I put them on a tiered platter. It added both height and color to the table, and made it super easy for people of all ages to help themselves.



If you don't have a tier platter, use two cake stands one on top of the other!

Rainbow Dash is also a unicorn pony, so I took ice cream cones and dipped the tops in white and milk chocolate, then again in rainbow sprinkles. I made them to match the strawberries on purpose, but you could use any color or sprinkle or even nuts you wish. These little "unicorns" were then added to the cup of ice cream the kids chose, and it stood out like a unicorn cup! Plus, no mess for eating ice cream cones for 5 year olds in my house.

If you're really ambitious you can coat the entire cone and drizzle patterns on top!

These were extremely easy to make, and in fact I made them 3 days in advance and stored them at room temperature in a ziploc bag. Easy. You can adapt this idea to an adult party or holiday party quite easily as well, simply swapping out the sprinkles for a color in your theme. Or, use candy melts instead of chocolate to add even more color!

Of course when I thought of rainbow I thought of fruit. I did a fruit platter in the colors of the rainbow. A simple white platter served perfectly to house the fruit. Since I had strawberries already I chose to use raspberries this time for the "red." And kiwi (Little Girl's second favorite fruit) was a great choice for green, especially since I already had the cantelope for the orange. I also used purple grapes but you could use blackberries as well, or even sliced plums turned skin-side up.

On the savory food table I had Little Girl's favorite sandwiches -- nutella sandwiches -- on display. Using a simple cookie cutter gave a gorgeous shape and instantly made an otherwise boring-looking sandwich fun to eat. 

A purple cake stand adds festive color to the sandwiches' presentation.

 You can use any cookie cutter really to accomplish this, but remember that the less complicated the shape and the larger the size, the better they will turn out. Nutella and peanut butter work perfectly for super fast and easy sandwiches the kids would love. You could also very easily do turkey-cheese-mustard, ham and mayo, smoked salmon and cream cheese, etc. as well. A fun St Patrick's Day for kids item could be a sandwich with smoked salmon and herbed cream cheese for example cut out with a clover cookie cutter. Easy! And you can assemble the sandwiches in advance, cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate until ready to cut and cut them right before the party.

The kids had a great time and it was fun to watch everyone make their sundaes with gusto, picking every topping carefully and arranging them just right. :)  I'd say the party was a success and everyone had fun. Happy Birthday Little Girl!