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Emma had a fantastic crafts-themed birthday party last month! This birthday party was simple to set up, and all of the kids – both girls and boys – enjoyed it!
We started off decorating canvas bags with these fabric markers. The kids actually had a couple brands to pick from, and the ALEX ones were the clear favorite. They have a nice sharp point and the colors are very vibrant.
Once the kids were done decorating bags, they moved on to shrinky dinks – they had a wide selection to choose from since we set out the Shrinky Dinks Fantasy Forest Jewelry set, the Shrinky Dinks Cool Stuff set (my personal favorite), and the Shrinky Dinks – Robots set.
The shrinky dinks were a huge hit – the girls especially liked the big butterflies and owls from the fantasy forest set. All the kids took turns watching them shrink down in the oven:
Can you spot Lily’s butterfly on her bag?
Some kids decorated a LOT of shrinky dinks, while others were done after a few minutes. The less crafty kids spent their extra time playing with our light table.
Eventually, we cleaned up the crafts in exchange for cupcake decorating. One of our guests had an egg allergy, so I made this recipe:
Egg free chocolate cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa (dutch processed always tastes better, I think)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup of water
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup oil
Mix dry ingredients together, and then add wet ingredients. Mix together, and fill tins. Should make a dozen cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
The cupcakes were delicious – and all the kids enjoyed decorating them! It was fun to see the kids (mine included, of course!) try to fit ALL of their sprinkles and ALL of their mini M&Ms on a single cupcake. One kid cleverly covered their cupcake in sprinkles first, added a second layer of icing, and then covered THAT in M&Ms!
We finished up with a candy hunt in lieu of a piñata. The kids LOVED that – and hopefully their parents forgave me for sending them home with so much sugar! Candy was the on ingredient Emma knew she just had to have at her party!
I received the ALEX toys products featured in this post as part of my blogger agreement with them. All opinions are my own.
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My kids would love a crafting party too! We decorated cupcakes at Princess’ last party and it amused the heck out of me to see how much sugar they piled onto those things.
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 12th, 2013 at 6:26 pm
I’ve done a few crafting parties, and this was probably the simplest to put together – and run, although the latter probably has more to do with the party attendees getting older! Most of the girls would have gone on crafting forever!
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Love the idea! Though we always have too many kids and have to think of creative ways of having the party outdoors. I am already looking for the ideas for miss T’s next birthday party and miss A’s 1st one is coming up in June!
Btw, love your variation of no-egg cupcakes! I use a slightly different recipe and it is always a hit with my 4 year old who otherwise doesn’t enjoy cupcakes so much (cocoa does the trick ha ha).
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:42 pm
I really love this recipe – but I’d be curious to give yours a try as well!
Outdoor parties are the best, but between two winter babies and living in Massachusetts I have to get creative and find ways to do everything inside!
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Varya @ littleartists Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:58 pm
I adapted – http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2010/12/basic-no-egg-muffin-recipe.html however, I use less baking powder and I add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder like in your recipe, a bit over a cup of water. I’ve tried sneaking lots of stuff in it (zucchini per se, other fruit) and it worked! I also use whole wheat flour most of the time and they come out somewhat nicer :-)
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:05 pm
Thanks! I’ll give that recipe a go! I’ve also swapped the oil out for a 1/2 cup of applesauce in my recipe before, with good results – just sticks to the cupcake liners a bit more :)
I love the idea of a craft party for kids’ birthdays. And having stations with a lot of crafts is so perfect since I’m sure you noticed that some kids finish decorating their bags in minutes while other kids took more time. I also love the idea of a candy scavenger hunt. The pinata always stresses me out. It’s utter madness when the candy finally breaks free and someone ALWAYS ends up crying!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
That’s why I switched over to stations – and it’s so much more fun, for everyone!
I’ve never had the nerve to try a pinata, but I was very happy with this alternative.
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Fun! We are having Reagan’s party this weekend and I may use your ideas!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 12th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
I would love that! I hope she has a great party!
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What a lovely idea for a birthday party! I bet Emma had a great time!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
She really enjoyed her party :)
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Oh what fun! I really need to make shrinky dinks with my girls and I love the decorate your own cupcake – and the story of the very smart child that figured out how to double layer the sweets with icing!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:39 pm
I think your girls would love shrinky dinks!
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Great theme! My daughter would love a party like this! Decorate you own cupcake is a great idea too! I am curious if the cupcakes without the egg held up.
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:38 pm
I’ve made those cupcakes several times, and they always work beautifully!
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This post totally took me back in time — this is exactly the type of party my mom always did for us when we were kids.
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
They are fun parties to host!
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I am so impressed with Johnny’s illustration on his bag!!! He could start a cool kids etsy shop. :)
Fun party and happy birthday to Emma!!!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 15th, 2013 at 3:41 pm
And he was just saying he wanted to earn money. Hmmm…
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Super cute ideas! Last year we decorated baseball caps with fabric markers for J’s baseball bday. It was a big hit.
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 15th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
I’ll have to try that for Johnny’s next birthday party – thanks for the idea!
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This is totally my kind of kids’ birthday party- very creative but not totally over-the-top unattainable perfection!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 15th, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Thanks! Perfection and I don’t know one another very well :)
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[...] This post explains how to host a simple, craft-themed child's birthday party – with activities that will interest a wide age range and both boys and girls. [...]
[...] This post explains how to host a simple, craft-themed child's birthday party – with activities that will interest a wide age range and both boys and girls. [...]
Absolutely perfect…in every way!
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We did decorate your own cupcakes at my daughter’s 5th birthday and it was a HUGE hit! I used to love Shrinky Dinks when I was little! I think I’ll have to look into getting some for my kids now. I know my daughter would love them!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 17th, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Yay! We’ve done the cupcakes at several parties, now, an it’s always well received!
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What a perfect party for Emma! Love it!
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I can see that the craft-themed party was a perfect choice for Emma. Love Lily’s picture in this post!
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MaryAnne Reply:
March 28th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Yes, it was the perfect fit for her!
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