A "Crafty" Birthday Party

My daughter just turned 12, and it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye....truly!
You know that moment, when you hear some mom say " It makes me feel so old" and you just laugh, because you've been there. Well prepare yourself.....

It makes me feel so old!!!

I know, I know, it only gets worse.  I was taking her annual, first day of school shot (between the eye rolling), a couple months ago, at the start of 6th grade. While comparing the days pictures, to the kindergarten pictures...it really hit me! She' not so little (or innocent) anymore. 

This age, for some reason seems like such a big deal to me. 

I guess her whole childhood, I'd been preparing for 13, for all that comes with 13! I don't know why exactly. My mom told me once, that's when I became a pain, so I guess I was thinking I had more time....NOPE! Since so many things in her life are changing as a middle-schooler, and lots of new friends were being introduced, I decided this would be the year to let her have a big party. 

She begged for a sleepover with 10 girls...WHAT?!?!.... NO WAY!! That would age me 10 years over night!!! With two little kids, and no basement to stick them in...we opted for a day time party.
But what the heck do you do with 10 girls?
I have no energy for chasing them around some gaming place, and January's weather  is to unpredictable to do anything out doors. So we decided to do what we know best....crafts!

Invitation made by NineEighteen on Etsy

We came up with a craft, that would take a good amount of time, and let the girls be creative....without being overly hard to do, and needing little direction or assistance from me.
We mixed in a simple tween circus theme....cause that's her favorite...I wonder why :) My number one fan!

The party colors, and the cake, were what she was most particular about.  She wanted a colorful cake, with an animal topper.....she let me pick the rest.
So I did a simple ombre icing on the cake (which is sort of hard to tell here), and finished it off with a giraffe topper.

 I normally would make the food, I practically insisted.....but my husband brought me back to reality, and reminded me how stressful it would be to cook, among everything else I had to do....and that teens will eat just about anything...without flinching!
45 Min before the party,  I realized how super thankful I was, that we ordered sandwiches!!!

I used all sorts of party animals. Some held signs...like this hippo.

Others just manned the drink station, like this jumbo giraffe in a circus wagon. 

There were a total of 9 girls involved, so we set up a large table, with a craft kit for each one.

For the runner, I used some plastic grass sheets, covered with a parade of circus animals.
We couldn't have anything tall, blocking the girls VERY loud conversations, or singing sessions. 

Each girls basket, was fill with everything they needed to make an embellished bird cage.....Fabric strips, a wired cage (which I made ahead of time), flowers, buttons, butterflies, and a bird. 

To save the girls form any minor arguments, over who had the better stuff.....they all got the exact same fabrics, and same basic embellishments and birds.

 The girls had such a fun time putting these together. Most of them, hadn't really ever done any kind of craft project. A couple had never even used a glue gun before. They were ecstatic with the result...that they had made this cool thing, that could be displayed in their rooms. 

They have been talking about it all week at school. 

So I'd say it was a big hit!!!

This is such a good idea for any age really. The younger crowd could do a paint project, and as they get older, more involved things, like jewelry making could be introduced. 

It's nice because they were all confined, sitting, happy, and still able to chat and visit with one another. They don't get to do alot of bonding outside of school. 

I will tell you though, this was NOT a quite party...lots of songs were sung, and gossip was talked, I defiantly felt older by then end.  

 This gave them such a confidence boost, that they too, could make crafty things!!

Check out my Etsy shop, for more animals and party decorations, like the ones used here.

Painted Parade