Aluminum Foil River

We found this idea in an issue of Family Fun Magazine this summer and put it on our Summer to-do list. I'm glad we did. It was simple and my kids really enjoyed it. We made boats out of different lids, some clay, tooth picks and decorated paper sails.

Rapunzel Party

My daughter turned 6 this year and she wanted a Rapunzel themed party. The tower turned out great and the guests had fun taking turns looking out of the tower and having their pictures taken. If we had more time I would have loved to paint some flowers on both sides of the Rapunzel's window, but when you are taking care of 3 kids not everything gets done perfectly! As far as the birthday girl was concerned this tower was perfect!
We used a roll of bulletin board paper and some paint and markers. I found the paper at A.C. Moore and it wasn't very expensive. It's the paper teachers use to decorate a bulletin board with and so you can find it at teacher supply stores also.

The Dessert Table
We used poster board, paint and some glitter to make Rapunzel and the floating lanterns. The cake idea is from a Disney Family Fun site.Bakerella's idea, I believe.

Floating Lanterns
I found this gold paper at A.C. Moore. I cut strips and stapled them and then I taped thread onto them. Easy and pretty!

We covered our basement door with a tower. I found banner paper at the craft store and we used crayons and marker.

Upside-Down Balloons
This my new favorite party decoating trick. Getting everything done on time is the hard part when throwing a  party so the great thing about this is you can do this days in advance and they last for days after. Next time I might use more balloons for a different effect but this still looked pretty cool.
How to make them? Put a marble inside a balloon and then blow it up. Tie with string and hang wherever you want them. No helium tank! Found this idea all over pinterest.

Homemade Pinata I took pictures of this as I made it. Hoping to post those soon. We used the brown paper that is on the inside of a wrapping paper tube. You know the stuff you are left with once you run out of the actual wrapping paper. And also some packing tape to hold it together. Crepe paper to decorate.

The birthday girl's own original artwork!