Over here we've always maintained that for a fun party you just need people you like, not so many that you can't find them in a crowd, some good food and some table top dancing.
Rainbow theme, can you tell? I was going to make the jelly in individual glasses and five levels of colour but discovered the night before that all but one of our smaller drinking glasses had been smashed this week, and that jelly takes up to three hours to set. Three colours then. In a big bowl.
We did some rainbow bead-threading.
And we did a treasure hunt that perhaps would have benefitted from a little more thought.
The clues were all wrapped in clingwrap as the weather was unpromising. I ran around and hid them during the bead threading. I revved the kids up and gave them the first clue with eager anticipation, 'what is something you do TRICKS on?!' and they all looked at me blankly. I thought the fact we were standing next to the trampoline made it an easy starter. Played that wrong.
But after an uncertain start they came good. There were some tears when not everyone had a turn finding the next clue (and the tiny bag of rainbow jellybeans enclosed - each had a name to make sure everyone got one but the last couple were looking watery eyed). I don't know, that's what I hate about pass the parcel and why I refuse to do it. Do we really want to teach our kids that everyone wins all the time? Way to set them up for disappointment. Jeez.
Anyway, the whole exercise entertained the parents present and I reminded myself that in ten short years these girls will all be fifteen. Hip hip hooray.
There was some 'musical statues' to some vaguely inappropriate rap music provided by my five year old neighbour which was terrific.
And I don't really go in for lolly bags. There were the jelly beans in cellophane which got added to these little brown bags. Plus my sister-in-law Rachel and I made up rainbow ribbons the night before and everyone got two.
And of course there was cake.
What I really wanted to make was this cake which I first saw over at Maxabella's (whose version I reckon is better than the original!) But I ran out of time, and I didn't have enough cake pans to cook more than two layers at once, so I divided a double butter cake between five bowls, added food colour, then poured them all back into the pans. Did a bit of a swirl. Hello rainbow cake! Tilly loved it. Maybe we'll try the layers next year.
You have to love a party that doesn't take very much work but is a barrel of laughs. And ESPECIALLY one where your friends do the piles of washing up afterwards. So awesome.
Hope your weekend had a rainbow or two too.
xxx
