Medieval Theme Birthday Party

Boy's Seventh Birthday Party

*to protect privacy, no names or pictures of guests are included in this post

Date: Saturday October 2, 2010
Location: Casaloma, Toronto ON
Guests: 15, ages 6 to adult
Theme: Medieval
Budget: $500

Details:
The party package available at Casaloma includes:

• 2 hours
  
• up to 12 children
• admission to the castle and grounds
• rental of the Austin Room for your private event
• party supervisor/tour guide
  
• 1/2 hour guided tour
  
• 2 photo cut outs for photo opportunities
• craft activity (make and decorate paper crown)
• lunch (we had grilled hot dogs and chips)
• juice and water
• cost-$450, additional food and guests extra
• guests are able to bring their own birthday cake/cupcakes

*note: all decorations must be free standing, no taping or adhering any decorations to the walls is permitted

Decorations

• balloon bouquet
• paper castle centrepiece
• dragon pinata
• craft foam shields

colouring pages and paper crowns

Activities:

• make a paper crown
• guided tour
• dragon pinata
• cut outs for photos

Dragon pinata

King and Queen cut outs

Lootbags

Taking advantage of the photo cuts, I took a photo of each child with the cut out. While the kids were taking the guided tour I printed out each photo with my portable photo printer. I picked up red and blue foam 4 x 6 picture frames from walmart. Very affordable-a pack of 2 costs $3.50. I put the pictures inside the frames for the kids and tucked them inside their lootbags. Inside the bags, I put a handful of foam craft stickers-castles, stars, swirls, hearts, so the kids could decorate the frames at home. I also threw in a handful of candy. After all, what's a lootbag without candy?

Photo station

Medieval Theme Decorations: Paper Castle Centrepiece

The template for this paper castle comes from Storm the Castle. The template and instructions can be found here.

Supplies:

• 4 toothpicks
• 4 toilet paper tubes
  
• thin cardboard, I used old manilla folders
• paper-I used parchment coloured paper
• crayons or water colour paints
  
• glue
• template from Storm the Castle
  
• printer
• scissors
• stiffer cardboard for the base

I followed the instructions from Storm the Castle. I coloured some elements of the castle with crayons before cutting out the pieces. I like the subtle and rustic markings of the crayons, which worked well with the parchment paper.

I used an old paintbrush to thinly spread out the glue, this helps to avoid wrinkles and bubbles.

The base is made from a small box. I cut off the top flaps, turned the box upside down. I glued bright green paper around the edges of the box to simulate grass. Next, I glued the castle to the box. I cut out some wavy blue shapes to serve as a moat around the castle. I glued those down on top of the base of the castle, lining the straight edges up with the edges of the box.

The paper castle is another inexpensive craft, but it does take a certain amount of precision to get it to look right.

Try it out and have fun decorating it!

Medieval Theme Decorations: Dragon Pinata

Paper Mache Dragon Pinata

The Birthday Boy specifically asked for a pinata. I found the instructions for this awesome dragon pinata online, from this site, Storm the Castle. Pinatas are very inexpensive to make, however they do take time. I worked on this pinata over the course of 4 days, allowing the layers to dry in between and before painting it.

Supplies:

• a balloon
• newspaper
• flour and water paste (1 cup flour, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon of salt)
• a bowl to prop up the balloon while you work
• cereal box
• a paper towel tube
• tape
• acrylic paints and brushes
• string
• chocolate gold coins (to fill the pinata)
  

I followed the instructions from Storm the Castle, but added a few of my own details.

I soaked some string in the flour paste and added it to the wings for a three dimensional quality.

I made the eyes from some scraps of craft foam leftover from the shield project. I drew the details with a black marker.

The fire is made from a granola bar box, any thin cardboard will do. I drew out the shape I wanted and painted it to look like fire. I made it double sided, the printed side of the cardboard did not cover well with paint so I glued the printed sides together. It's a bit tricky to glue the fire inside the mouth, I used alot of tape to get it to stay.

The kids loved the pinata! I didn't use a blind fold, they're a bit young. They used a plastic sword to "slay" the dragon. The dragon was filled with gold treasure (chocolate coins). Lots of frantic scrambling and screaming. I made sure the Birthday Boy landed the fatal blow.

Although a pinata is very cost effective, being mostly made from newspaper, there is a time commitment. Start your project early, ideally two weeks before the event.

Medieval Theme Decorations: Goblets

Faux Crystal and Gem Goblets

This is the easiest and quickest of all the crafts I made for the party.

Supplies:
Plastic wine glasses (one per guest)
Rhinestone or gem stickers (assorted shapes and colours are best)

Simply attach the stickers to the wine glasses-any patterns or colours you like.
Big hit with the children. One guest remarked "but they're not glass!" Can you imagine a group of seven year olds with glass goblets? Several children took theirs home.

*note: one time only use. The stickers will fall off if you wash the goblet. Or, take the stickers off, wash, and then reapply.

Really affordable craft. One package of 4 glasses is $1. I bought 2 packages of stickers at $1 each. Therefore 8 glasses totals $4, or .50 cents per glass. Plus, I had a lot of gems leftover.

This also works well as a craft the kids can do upon arrival, or during the party itself.

Medieval Theme Decorations: Scroll Invitations

Easy to make scroll invites:

Supplies:

• parchment coloured paper
• 2 wooden dowels per invitation
• scotch tape
• ribbon
• computer with word software
• clip art or graphic with medieval theme
• printer

Step one:
Using word software draft the text for the invitation. I used Lucida calligraphy font, to appear as if it was hand written. The text I used reads:

By Royal Proclamation
Sir___(name) of___(street name)
Requests your presence in celebration of the day of his birth
(date and time)
on the grounds of castle (address)
we will enjoy a sumptuous feast, games and revelry
RSVP to Lord and Lady (last name)
Sincerely,
The Royal Messenger

Step two:
Add a fancy graphic. I used a coat of arms with a dragon emblem. There is plenty of free medieval themed clip art out there. I simply googled "coat of arms+dragon" and picked one I like. Use whatever suits your taste. You could also use a stamp or a metallic seal.

Next, print out enough copies as there are guests. If you don't have parchment coloured paper and don't want to buy any-you can use regular printer paper and stain each piece with a damp tea bag. Another option is to carefully burn the edges of each invitation to add to the aged effect.

Step three:
Tape the wooden dowels to both the top and bottom edges of the piece of paper. Tightly roll the paper around each dowel to hide the tape.

Step four:
Roll up each invitation and tie with ribbon. Hand deliver them to your guests. You could mail them, but it's not as authentic, nor as much fun.

Medieval Theme Decorations: Coats of Arms

For an upcoming boy's birthday party, I have started working on Medieval themed decorations.
This project is really easy, only costs a few dollars and looks great.

DIY Coats of Arms
Supplies:

• adhesive backed sheets of craft foam
• scissors
• pencil
  
• template for shield shape-create your own or find one online
• template for medieval emblems such as crosses, stars, fleur de lis

This project is actually very easy. By using craft foam with adhesive already on the back, you can eliminate the glue totally!

Shield Template I used

Step one:

• Using your template, draw around the shield shape on the back side of the craft foam
• Cut out the shield shapes
  

Black shield shape

Template for emblems

Step Two:

• Find clip arts shapes-I used crosses, fleur de lis, stars and simple bands of colour
• Draw around the templates on the back side of coloured craft foam
• Cut out the shapes
  
• Peel and stick the shapes onto the shield background

That's it! So easy! The hardest part is cutting around the shapes. Curves are more difficult than straight lines.

For extra credit-cut the shields into halves and quarters and switch the colours around, as shown above.

Stick the shields up around the party room to add to the royal atmosphere.

Staff BBQ

*To protect the privacy of the guests, no names or photos of guests are included in this post

Date: Saturday August 28th 1-4 pm
Guests: 40, staff plus families
Location: Erindale Park, Mississauga On

Menu:

• Hamburgers
• Veggie burgers
• Chicken breasts
• Sausages
• Assorted condiments and buns/pitas
• Potato salad
• Pasta salad
• Coleslaw
• Assorted drinks
• Watermelon slices
• Chocolate or vanilla ice cream cones

I also opted for biodegrable plates and cutlery, to green up the bbq a bit. I hate to leave so much garbage behind.

Catering by Simply BBQ, see website for more details

Simply BBQ provides all the necessary equipment and handles all the set-up, which includes a trailer bbq and service canopies.
They even bring along the music! The staff was fantastic and very easy to work with. See the photos on their site for more information.

Details:

Since we had a mixture of very young children, adults and teenagers I allowed for a free form event. Nothing was "scheduled". I added additional service time for the bbq in case some families with young children were a bit late getting to the event. The atmosphere was quite casual, and I think the guests enjoyed the ability to relax and mingle with colleagues and their families in an informal environment.

I supplied lawn games such as frisbees, nerf toys, lawn darts, ring toss and horsehoes and allowed the guests to structure the games any way they wished. The nerf football and frisbees proved popular with the teenage boys.

The battery powered bubble machine was fantastic. However-it sure went through alot of bubble solution very quickly. I'll be sure to bring a large jug next time I use it.

The picnic area features a playpark for the children, which they enjoyed throughout the afternoon.

Here is the site before the event-not much there

The weather was quite windy, more than I expected. I managed to jury rig tie downs for the plaid tablecloths with some twine. Some early arrivals helped me out. Thanks guys!

The weather forecast indicated it would be quite hot and humid. Knowing the picnic area is a wide open grassy field, without much shade I brought along a pop-up gazebo tent, similar to a camping dining tent.

This was the best idea of the day! Guests quickly labelled it " the baby tent". Six babies have been born to the staff in the past year, it was great to see them all, and for the parents to all meet each other.

I knew it was successful when the guests lingered long after the official end date of the event-especially the babies. They were amongst the last to leave!

Lootbags were provided for all guests, with specific items removed or added depending on the age of the guests. Some examples of items-pencils and erasers, bubbles, balls, hair clips for younger girls and socks for the babies.

Overall-success!

The Credit River