Among everything else that we do at The Barn, we also offer birthday parties. I've lost count of how many I've done, but can say that they've increased in popularity over the past couple of years. Although they are a lot of work, they are also a lot of fun, and I love to figure out the project ideas, plan the decorations, and order the supplies.
There are designated themes listed on our web site, but we (okay, I- I'm a one woman show!) can do most anything kids and parents throw at me. The most challenging parties are the ones that don't have ready-made products to go with them. Some of these themes have been somewhat outdated, yet beloved, things like The Incredibles and Digimon. In these cases, I have to think outside the box and either make the decorations from scratch or dig extra deep on Amazon, eBay, or All Posters. Often I will find one thing, like a poster, take cues from its color scheme, ad develop the look of the party.
It helps to have a formula of sorts. I've developed a basic framework of how to decorate and organize, so when I do a party all I really have to do is fill in the blanks. The fun part is figuring out what to put in those blanks! Some of the things that I use all the time are colorful tablecloths, balloon cups and sticks, and white milk glass vases (for the balloons). Then, I add in some decorations that include a backdrop for the food/cake table, scattered or strategically-placed decorations for the art tables, and (sometimes) creatively-displayed arts & crafts materials for the party projects.
I love to decorate for the parties and plan them, but I'm less fond of the cleaning up part- at least before the party. I realize that this is one of the motivations why people book parties with us- so they don't have to clean their house! Cleaning up after the party isn't a big deal, but cleaning up before the party is a lot of pressure. I want to make a good impression, especially to people who don't know me and have never been to The Big Red Barn. I have a sign in my hallway that says "Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy" and it is so very true. I think I do okay- as long as people don't look TOO closely at things :-). Maybe one of these days I'll enlist the help of a cleaning crew.
Some parties that I have done stand out as my favorites. I really enjoyed the projects we did at our Monster High party. The American Girl party decorations were so much fun to do and the children all had a great time creating tutus for their dolls. The party was a lot of work and took a lot of preparation, but it was worth it. Recently we did a Candyland party that included a gum ball machine painting on canvas and we used colorful buttons as the gum balls. I loved the project so much that I started one of my own. One of these days I'll finish it!
It helps to have a formula of sorts. I've developed a basic framework of how to decorate and organize, so when I do a party all I really have to do is fill in the blanks. The fun part is figuring out what to put in those blanks! Some of the things that I use all the time are colorful tablecloths, balloon cups and sticks, and white milk glass vases (for the balloons). Then, I add in some decorations that include a backdrop for the food/cake table, scattered or strategically-placed decorations for the art tables, and (sometimes) creatively-displayed arts & crafts materials for the party projects.
I love to decorate for the parties and plan them, but I'm less fond of the cleaning up part- at least before the party. I realize that this is one of the motivations why people book parties with us- so they don't have to clean their house! Cleaning up after the party isn't a big deal, but cleaning up before the party is a lot of pressure. I want to make a good impression, especially to people who don't know me and have never been to The Big Red Barn. I have a sign in my hallway that says "Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy" and it is so very true. I think I do okay- as long as people don't look TOO closely at things :-). Maybe one of these days I'll enlist the help of a cleaning crew.
Some parties that I have done stand out as my favorites. I really enjoyed the projects we did at our Monster High party. The American Girl party decorations were so much fun to do and the children all had a great time creating tutus for their dolls. The party was a lot of work and took a lot of preparation, but it was worth it. Recently we did a Candyland party that included a gum ball machine painting on canvas and we used colorful buttons as the gum balls. I loved the project so much that I started one of my own. One of these days I'll finish it!
The most popular party we have done has been Frozen (big surprise there!) I've lost count, but we've done 4 or 5 of them and have another on the books- not to mention the five art camps. When the first Frozen party was scheduled early this year, it was close to impossible to find any Frozen tableware or party decorations, and if you did find them, they were marked up to five times the normal cost. Not a big deal; using plates and decorations in the pretty purple and aqua colors worked well. I also threw in a ton of snowflake decorations, a poster from Wal-mart, and an AWESOME Frozen castle that I found at Once Upon a Child in Mandeville. I was shocked when I found it- especially since it came with Anna and Elsa dolls and more accessories. The lady at the store said that the seller's child had gotten it for Christmas and never played with it. Whaaaat???!!! What a score! Not only was it a great party decoration, it was also a magnificent toy for my Lily Grace. :-)
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