Bowling Party Favours... with free printable tags

My oldest boy is turning eleven next week, and he decided to forgo having a big party. Instead, he has decided to go bowling with his brothers and a few of his friends. Given that we are going with a "bowling party" theme, my son opted to give his friends a pack of gum and a roll of hockey tape with a simple bowling pin tag. You can check out the adorable bowling party favour (and download the tag I designed) below.

Cute, right?

To download and print the FREE party favour tags: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4X6 photo. There are three tags per page.

I am really pleased with how these party favours turned out. It is a simple treat, but the tags I designed add a fun flair.

Have you ever hosted a bowling party for your kids? What did you hand out for party favours/ loot bags?

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

The Ultimate DIY Carnival Party

A carnival is perfect party theme for all ages. Everyone loves carnival games and treats. Today I am sharing the details of the simple and fabulous DIY Carnival party I threw for my boys on their 6th and 8th birthdays.

I set the mood by creating a simple carnival themed invite. I used a picture of my boys and added some info using Picmonkey.com. I printed the 4X6 photo invites for just $0.19 each at my local photo developer.

We also thought it would be fun for my boys to make their own carnival t-shirts to wear to the party. They used fabric markers and white t-shirts. I think the shirts turned out really cute, and my boys were really proud of their creations.

Cute, right?

On the day of the party, we had the party guest decorate bags as they arrived. The bags were used to collect tickets and prizes.

Of course, we also had some fantastic carnival food at our "concession stand". We ordered pizza, but we also had lots of popcorn, chips, cotton candy, and treats. 

And the cakes were colourful and cute too. You can read all about our Skittles cakes here.

I also put together a bunch of simple carnival games and activities. I used Picmonkey.com to make some signs and purchased a lot of my supplies from the dollar store. You can read about all our carnival games and activities here.

The kids won tickets when they played the games, and at the end of the party, they were able to trade their tickets in for inexpensive carnival prizes.

In order to save money, I crafted some prizes, purchased things at the dollar store, and repackaged items that I purchased in bulk. You can read about all our carnival prizes here.

The kids put all their prizes into the bags they had decorated and we added clown noses to create seriously cute loot bags/ party favours.

I think a carnival party is a perfect party theme. It is fantastic for a birthday, but you could adapt my ideas for a carnival fundraiser too. Have you ever thrown a carnival party? I'd love to hear about it.

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Simple DIY HOCKEY Party

All three of my boys are huge hockey fans, so it was no surprise that my oldest son chose a hockey theme for his 10th birthday party. Today, I am sharing the simple details from our DIY hockey party.

We rented a gym, and invited all our guests to join us for a morning of floor hockey. We asked everyone to wear their favorite jerseys. We also asked each person to bring his/her helmet, hockey gloves and hockey stick. I wanted to make sure no one got hurt!

I put together a "pin the puck on the ice" game, but the main party activity was floor hockey. I made a fantastic score board from dollar store foam core, and the kids enjoyed updating it. 

Of course, all the activity made the kids very hungry and thirsty, so we had a well stocked "canteen". I had tons of healthy snacks, "easy to grab" treats, water, and juice.

Of course, we had some easy DIY cakes too. I used a special pan to make a jersey cake (with my son's number) and a rectangular pan to make a "half ice" cake.

Here's another version of a hockey cake using the same "jersey" pan.

When the party was over, everyone left with a couple of party favours. We had some gum with a clever "I hope you had an 'EXCEL'lent time!" note, and the kids collected hockey cards from our prize punch. You can find the tutorial for the DIY prize punch here.

I have a feeling that this won't be our last hockey party. It was a huge success and a lot of fun.

Do you have a hockey fan in your house? What do you think of our simple DIY hockey party?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link for the jersey pan, you can purchase the pan and support my blog. Thank you!

Celebrating New Year's Eve with Kids

After all the chaos of Christmas, I enjoy spending New Year's Eve at home with my kids. I love that I don't need to dress up, there are no crowds, I don't spend a ton of money on a babysitter... and I have the cutest dates in town. Today, I am sharing a few of the special (and fun) ways I celebrate New Year's Eve at home with my boys.

I always put together countdown bags -- one for each hour leading up to midnight. It takes a little time to assemble them, but it isn't difficult, and my boys love them. They really keep the kids entertained, and they add a special touch to the evening's celebrations. You can read more about our countdown bags here.

I have the kids fill out a Year in Review questionnaire. It's always fun to read their answers, and I enjoy looking back at how their answers change through the years. To download this year's "Year in Review" questionnaire: right click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8X10 photo. 

Update: find a 2021 version here.

Every party needs party favours, and two of my favourites are easy DIY party favours. You can check out our midnight kisses here and our breakfast for tomorrow here.

The highlight of any New Year's Eve celebration is, of course, the countdown to midnight. This can be a challenge for little ones that need an early bedtime, but there is no rule that says a midnight countdown needs to happen at 12 o'clock. Our solution... search "New Year's Eve Countdown" on Netflix for a fun countdown that you can do at 10, 9, or 8. (The King Julien one is our favorite... but they are all cute.) You can get a little preview here. 

After the countdown, my boys always enjoy a milk and cookies toast. It is a fun (and yummy) way to end the night. We rim some fancy glasses with sprinkles for a festive touch to our toast.

I hope you enjoy these fun, easy and inexpensive ways to celebrate New Year's Eve with your kids. Happy New Year!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Disclosure: As part of the Netflix #StreamTeam, I am given special perks and gifts, but all opinions on this blog our 100% my own.

Simple Christmas Fundraiser (hosted by kids)

This is the 5th year that my boys have hosted a "Letter Writing to Santa" party/fundraiser. We host a party, charge people to come, and donate the money we earn to charity. It is a fantastic way for my boys to give back during the holiday season. This year they raised $222.75 for Cystic Fibrosis. I love the idea of kids hosting their own fundraiser, and today I am sharing the details of how we did it.

We promoted the event and charged everyone $10 to attend. We also had a little raffle for a gift basket. Every attendee received supplies to write a letter to Santa (paper, envelope, pencil and stickers), supplies to make a simple craft, a cookie, a juice box, and supplies to make a bag of magic reindeer food.

The boys made two batches of cookies. We made butter cut-out cookies and gingerbread cut-out cookies.

We also made a simple snowflake ornament from popsicle sticks and dollar store "jewel stickers". I used a glue gun (ahead of time) to glue the sticks together, and the guests used the jewels to decorate the ornaments.

Every guest also had an opportunity to make some magic reindeer food. You can find the recipe and FREE printable tags for magic reindeer food here.

Of course, we had Christmas music playing and balloons for the kids to play with, and a good time was had by all.

I'm really proud of my boys and all the hard work they put into their "Letter Writing to Santa" party/fundraiser. They prepared for the party, they greeted all the guests, and they helped me clean up. Isn't it wonderful when kids find a way to give back during the holiday season?

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

DIY Movie Party

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I love an easy and inexpensive DIY party. I feel that putting a little time and effort into party details really makes a party feel special. Today I am sharing a few tips for throwing an awesome DIY movie party.

First, it is important to set the stage with a little DIY decor. I made some simple signs using foam core and duct tape, covered a table with a tablecloth that went with the theme of our movie (which was Mighty Ducks), and set out some treats and party favors.

Making guests comfortable is key. We invited out guests to wear PJs and bring pillows and sleeping bags.

A party also needs some fun treats. We made some popcorn, and served treats in little condiment containers. The kids had a fantastic time picking out their favorite goodies at our concession stand.

And, of course, every guest needs to leave a party with a party favor. We had an outdoor movie, so we gave out glow sticks. We also had a "half sleepover" theme, so we gave out poptarts with "breakfast for tomorrow" tags.

A movie theme is perfect for family movie night, a birthday party, or a special night with friends. This is an annual event for us, and my boys and their guests always have a wonderful time. We can't wait to do it again next year!

♥Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Carnival Games and Activities

Last weekend I hosted a Carnival party for my boys, and we had a ton of easy games that all the kids loved. Today I am sharing all the awesome carnival games and activities I put together for our little party guests.

As the guests arrived, they made a couple of guesses at our guessing booth. The person that guessed the correct number of candies was given the jar full of goodies to take home.

Our carnival prize punch was a big hit with the guests. They threw small rubber balls at the foam core boards until they were able to break through the tissue paper. When the child succeeded, he/she was able to reach inside the cup and claim his/her prize. You can find the full step-by-step tutorial for the carnival prize punch here. 

Every guests was also given access to our giant tattoo board. I cut out dollar store tattoos and taped them to a piece of foam core. Then, guests were able to easily select a tattoo for me to apply. Fun, right?

The party also had a basic face painting station. I bought some inexpensive face paint, and drew out a few simple designs. I am not an artist so I kept things pretty basic, but it was still fun.

The straw draw was requested by my middle son, and it was a huge hit with the party guests. I cut up bits of paper, and then I left some blank and marked some with an "X". Then, I rolled up the bits of paper and inserted them inside one-inch pieces of paper straws. The party guests chose straws, and the ones that found "X"s exchanged them for prizes.

Carnival party games don't get much easier than knock down. All you need to do is: stack cups, throw a ball, and knock them down.

I found colorful bowls at Walmart for $1 each, and I knew they would be perfect for a bean bag toss. The kids loved trying to get points and get higher scores than their friends. 

Every child loves the simplicity of a ball toss game, and this one was inexpensively made from an old box. You can find the full tutorial for our ball toss here.

Our final game was a basic ring toss that I made from a recycled paper towel roll. I wrapped the paper towel roll in red and white duct tape, and then I hot glued it to piece of canvas. I made rings from several pipe cleaners wrapped together.

All of our carnival games were easy and inexpensive... but they were also awesome and lots of fun! You can download all the red and white carnival signs that I designed here. Which carnival games would your kids enjoy?

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS (Here is the link to all the other DIY carnival party details.)

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