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Our subject in March is all to do with Children's Birthdays. To send in your tips about birthdays - it could be anything from ideas for cheap birthday cards, to party games to a fab birthday cake recipe - email tips@mumandworking.co.uk.
I always keep the birthday cards the girls are given and cut out the numbers and 'Happy Birthday' printed writing. When we need a birthday card for a children's party the girls home-make one using the numbers and Happy Birthday messages - adding their own drawing and glitter! The cards have the personal touch, are cheap and environmentally friendly!
We make birthdays special with the 'Birthday Breakfast' - I decorate and colour in a paper plate with the my children's new age in the middle and tie balloons on to their chair and put their presents on the table in front of them. Its only a little thing, but the children love their 'magic breakfast plate' and its become a family tradition!
A great idea for a special treat at parties.
Take an ice cream cone and fill it with some melted chocolate. Firmly push a
fairy cake onto the top of the cone. (you may need to put a bit of the
melted chocolate around the rim to help it stick) Then cover it with either
some chocolate or butter icing (you can colour the butter icing to make it
look like different colour ice cream). You can then put different
decorations and sprinkles on. Put an ice cream wafer in and there you go.
Ice cream cakes without the ice cream. They are fun, make a change from the
usual party treats and the kids love them.
They are a bit difficult to store though. I use a cardboard box and pierce a
load of holes in the up-turned box and slot them all in.
I tend to make my own party invitations on my home pc, and I include a fun photo of my daughter on the invitation....So many mums have commented how useful this is, because as parents dropping off at a private nursery, we don't always know which child is which - and besides there are 3 children named "Alex" in my daughters class!!
I made "Jelly boats" at my daughters party and they just disappeared!
You need 12 oranges and 1 pack of jelly, Half the oranges and either scoop
out the insides or juice them, till you just have the skin, place these in a
muffin tin to hold them steady, then make up the jelly and pour into each
half skin. Leave them over night in the fridge to set and when your ready
half them into a boat shape, you can decorate them by cutting out small
triangles of coloured paper and making sales out of them, using small straws
for the masts.
The trick with birthdays is to plan in advance, even 2-3 months before, so you can save money, get the best deal and plan an excellent day. I never hold the party on the actual day, as that day is usually spent rushing getting everything ready and the birthday child often feels ignored.
If you choose a theme, everything usually falls into place from decorations to food. My son's recent party was a transport theme. We made hot air balloons with string and a coloured paper cup stuck to the ceiling, and printed out aeroplanes on coloured paper to hang from the ceiling. We made black and white flags for a racing car decoration and each child had an individualised license plate (printed from our computer). Among other dishes, we made traffic light biscuits with red, yellow and green icing, a race track home-made cake and pinwheel sandwiches.
Butter Gumballs: (Makes approx. 24 sweets)
Ingredients:
Method:
1) Put all the ingredients in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir over a low heat until it turns a beautiful toffee colour. (This is why you need the time) This will take about 25-30 mins and it's important to stir for the whole time, otherwise the bottom of the mixture will burn!
2) Cover a couple of baking trays (or 1 large normal tray) with non-stick baking parchment and, using 2 teaspoons, put teaspoon-sized blobs of the mixture onto the parchment, spaced well apart.
NOW THE KIDS CAN HELP
3) When the blobs are completely cold, shape them into balls with your hands...... (if the shape doesn't hold, you need to cook it some more, so it's back into the pan for more heating and stirring! Then repeat step 2).......and decorate with whatever you like, or leave them plain.
4) To use at parties, or in pinatas or party bags, wrap the sweets in foil like a Christmas cracker!
Yum yum !!!! (This recipe was from Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes - Butter Gumballs are mentioned in The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me)
I hope you enjoy making - and scoffing - these fabulous tasty treats....they're well worth the time taken, I promise!
To read January's top tips about Potty Training Click here
To read February's top tips about Food & Feeding Click here
For step-by-step face painting designs visit - www.facepaintingdesigns.co.uk