It started almost a year ago when I went to the Mattel Staff and Friends warehouse sale...
... one of the big bargains was the collection of 75th Anniversary Wizard of Oz character Barbie Dolls. In a moment of rash consumerism I bought the 3 dolls that were available. As my daughter already had far too many things in her allocation of Christmas prezzies, I decided to hold them over for her birthday.
If you've read other articles on my blog, you may recall that last year I had been planning to have a totally over-the-top birthday extravaganza for her, but that was cancelled a month out due to some poor behaviour. Well, I still wanted to throw that extravaganza so figured that it would have to be this year, given that it was her first year at school and all (we must celebrate these things, you know!).
So I started thinking (some time around January or February) and decided that seeing I had the dolls, Wizard of Oz might be a great way to go in terms of a theme. All I needed to do now was let my lovely, independent-thinking, headstrong daughter come up with that idea. I didn't realise that a certain Disney movie that deals with some rather icy matters might put my plans in jeopardy. We will not discuss my underhand manoeuvrings here, but suffice it to say that after some protracted negotiations (which may have included some movie viewing), the daughter decided it was the best idea ever to have said Wizard of Oz themed party.
What I forgot to factor in to all of this is that DD is notorious for coming up with her own ideas on the execution of things. No sooner did we have the theme nailed (somewhere around about May or June) than she says, quite matter-of-factly "we can make sock monkeys to be the flying monkeys". Given my guilt over my not-very-maternal manipulations to get the theme that I wanted, I said "yes, I guess we can" - I'm not sure whether my husband will ever forgive me for that one.
That was the start of some really crazy brainstorming on ideas for props, decorations and food (not to mention trying to figure out how to make convincing flying sock monkeys as a kiddie craft activity). Google and Pinterest became my close friends. The problem with using the Wizard of Oz as a theme is that there are so many different sub-themes to choose from. Having a good (digital) look around at various party ideas, I decided that gingham themes and rainbows were not what I was after. Also, grandiose ideas aside, we really didn't have sufficient spare cash to go completely nuts so there was a bit of a challenge to do whatever I could myself ("myself" being a loose term that includes my very capable husband as well).
In the end I simply couldn't bring myself to eliminate too many aspects of the movie (yes, I know there was a book first, but most people haven't read that). Consequently, I ended up with a little bit of a lot. It was an interesting process figuring out some of the props and food, not to mention the whole sock monkey thing, so I am actually going to write about those things in separate posts to give you and idea of what worked, what didn't and things you might like to watch out for if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
In the meantime, I hope you like having a little look at my photo collection and don't forget to check out the supplier credits at the end.
Decoration/Props
Giant poppies, giant lollipops, yellow brick roads, witches legs and more....
Food
Yellow brick road, tornadoes, witches fingers, lollipops, rainbow fruit kebabs and ruby red raspberry cordial were on the menu along with some of the other standard party fare.
Party Bags
Included a Ruby Slipper cookie, Scarecrow Brain sweets, Tinman's Heart lollipop, Lion's Courage chocolate bar, Rainbow sour strap, a sticker sheet and a DIY themed Chatterbox (Cootie Catcher) template.
Cake
We actually had two separate parties so I wanted to make a cake that could be used for both. My friend made the figurines and topper for me because she is fabulous at that sort of thing (I owe you big time, D) and I just concentrated on the cake. Who doesn't like a rainbow surprise in the middle (apart from people with food colouring intolerances).
Supplier Credits:
Wizard of Oz clipart - Jazzy Patterns
Cake Figurines & Topper - Bite Me Cakes
Backdrop Printing - Little Dance Invitations
Monkey Wing Embroidery Design - Urban Threads
And Most Important of All:
To my right hand man, super-duper helper and husband extraordinaire -I simply couldn't have done it without you.
... one of the big bargains was the collection of 75th Anniversary Wizard of Oz character Barbie Dolls. In a moment of rash consumerism I bought the 3 dolls that were available. As my daughter already had far too many things in her allocation of Christmas prezzies, I decided to hold them over for her birthday.
If you've read other articles on my blog, you may recall that last year I had been planning to have a totally over-the-top birthday extravaganza for her, but that was cancelled a month out due to some poor behaviour. Well, I still wanted to throw that extravaganza so figured that it would have to be this year, given that it was her first year at school and all (we must celebrate these things, you know!).
So I started thinking (some time around January or February) and decided that seeing I had the dolls, Wizard of Oz might be a great way to go in terms of a theme. All I needed to do now was let my lovely, independent-thinking, headstrong daughter come up with that idea. I didn't realise that a certain Disney movie that deals with some rather icy matters might put my plans in jeopardy. We will not discuss my underhand manoeuvrings here, but suffice it to say that after some protracted negotiations (which may have included some movie viewing), the daughter decided it was the best idea ever to have said Wizard of Oz themed party.
What I forgot to factor in to all of this is that DD is notorious for coming up with her own ideas on the execution of things. No sooner did we have the theme nailed (somewhere around about May or June) than she says, quite matter-of-factly "we can make sock monkeys to be the flying monkeys". Given my guilt over my not-very-maternal manipulations to get the theme that I wanted, I said "yes, I guess we can" - I'm not sure whether my husband will ever forgive me for that one.
That was the start of some really crazy brainstorming on ideas for props, decorations and food (not to mention trying to figure out how to make convincing flying sock monkeys as a kiddie craft activity). Google and Pinterest became my close friends. The problem with using the Wizard of Oz as a theme is that there are so many different sub-themes to choose from. Having a good (digital) look around at various party ideas, I decided that gingham themes and rainbows were not what I was after. Also, grandiose ideas aside, we really didn't have sufficient spare cash to go completely nuts so there was a bit of a challenge to do whatever I could myself ("myself" being a loose term that includes my very capable husband as well).
In the end I simply couldn't bring myself to eliminate too many aspects of the movie (yes, I know there was a book first, but most people haven't read that). Consequently, I ended up with a little bit of a lot. It was an interesting process figuring out some of the props and food, not to mention the whole sock monkey thing, so I am actually going to write about those things in separate posts to give you and idea of what worked, what didn't and things you might like to watch out for if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
In the meantime, I hope you like having a little look at my photo collection and don't forget to check out the supplier credits at the end.
Decoration/Props
Giant poppies, giant lollipops, yellow brick roads, witches legs and more....
Food
Yellow brick road, tornadoes, witches fingers, lollipops, rainbow fruit kebabs and ruby red raspberry cordial were on the menu along with some of the other standard party fare.
Party Bags
Included a Ruby Slipper cookie, Scarecrow Brain sweets, Tinman's Heart lollipop, Lion's Courage chocolate bar, Rainbow sour strap, a sticker sheet and a DIY themed Chatterbox (Cootie Catcher) template.
Cake
We actually had two separate parties so I wanted to make a cake that could be used for both. My friend made the figurines and topper for me because she is fabulous at that sort of thing (I owe you big time, D) and I just concentrated on the cake. Who doesn't like a rainbow surprise in the middle (apart from people with food colouring intolerances).
Supplier Credits:
Wizard of Oz clipart - Jazzy Patterns
Cake Figurines & Topper - Bite Me Cakes
Backdrop Printing - Little Dance Invitations
Monkey Wing Embroidery Design - Urban Threads
And Most Important of All:
To my right hand man, super-duper helper and husband extraordinaire -I simply couldn't have done it without you.
