Winter Ice Skating Birthday Party

Last year my daughter wanted to have her birthday party at the local ice rink. Since her birthday is in late December, the ice rink was the perfect party destination and we settled on a snowy theme. My friend (the same one that made the gorgeous tween zebra striped cake) made my daughter a custom ice rink cake.

The cake was two layers with the top layer being smaller than the bottom. She used fondant to create the ice pond, snow balls and even the little puppies and bears ice skating. Not only was it so cute – it tasted amazing!

Finding ice skating themed party goods is nearly impossible, so we just settled for snowflakes. We found the Shimmering Snowflake Deluxe Party Kit and used plain blue table cloths.

The party itself was very easy. The girls all skated around the rink for about 45 minutes and then came back to the party room for pizza, cake and gift opening. While my daughter opened her gifts I put crayons and some coloring sheets out on the table for the girls to color. The one most of them liked best was this cute picture of mice playing in a pair of ice skates. (click on image to view and print full size).

Overall this was one of the easiest kids birthday parties I have hosted. Everyone had fun and for most of the kids it wasn’t something they do on a regular basis so it was a real treat.

Twilight New Moon Halloween or Birthday Party Theme

Something tells me that there will be a lot of Twilight and New Moon themed Halloween parties this fall.  After all, Bella and Edward would make the perfect party guests! And I am also starting to hear of Twilight pre-movie viewing parties being planned too!

Tickets for The Twilight Saga, New Moon are now on sale – even though the movie does not open until November 20. I was questioning the hype until I over heard one of my co-workers hooting and hollering as she bought movie tickets in advance at Fandango.com. She got 4 tickets for the first show at 12:01 a.m. on opening night and they are already planning a Twilight themed party for before the show.

What do you need for a Twilight party? As always, you can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want.

Let’s start with a New Moon inspired party invitation:

Vampire Moon Personalized Invitation

Then pick up The Twilight Saga New Moon Deluxe Party Pack:

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Deluxe Party Pack for 8
Includes 8 dinner plates, dessert plates, 22 oz. lenticular cups, forks, knives, spoons, 16 lunch napkins, 16 beverage napkins, solid-color tablecover, foil star centerpiece, 18 balloons (3 colors), curling ribbon (3 colors), crepe paper rolls (3 colors), and star confetti to match your party theme. This is an officially licensed Twilight party kit.

And now for the party:

• A traditional red velvet cake mix with white frosting and a drizzle of red raspberry sauce is an easy starter for cupcakes or a cake.
• Red candy in bowls make a fun treat and nice decoration
• Make Bella’s birthday cake using Linette’s recipe at Kids Fun Reviewed
• Twilight Novel Novice had a Twilight party and wrote a really great post on all the details (lots of pictures)
• Play the Twilight Scene It? Game
• Play a Twilight Trivia game or place Twilight quotes in bowls for guest to guess the character
• Hostess with the Mostess has printable Twilight labels and ideas for your drinks and decorations.