Ice Skating Party.  My baby recently turned 9, and as is typical for him, he had a very definite idea for his party and the style he wanted for it.  He wanted snowballs, hot cocoa, marshmallows, donuts – not cake, and outdoor ice skating, with blue plaid accents…we live in Central Florida, his birthday is in March…once I explained that outdoor iceskating in Florida in March would be very difficult to achieve, he acquiesced and “settled” for an ice skating party at the local mall’s ice skating rink.  But, he still had to have snowballs, it still needed hot cocoa, marshmallows, donuts, and blue plaid.  And, no hockey! Easy, right?

The first thing I decided to work on was the printable set.  I used clip art from Up North Designs Co., and a plaid background to make the invitations and tags.  

 

Next, I needed to work on favors.  I had some gable boxes left over from a previous project, so I used those to hold the favors. I just added a custom printable over the front.  I Have a Favor made the cutest little ice skate cups for the party.  I made a tag for an Ivory Soap experiment, and tied it onto cello bags with Ivory Soap.  (If you microwave Ivory Soap, it foams up and acts like “snow”  My little guys love Science experiments, so this was a fun little favor with a personal touch) Candy tubes from Hoopla Events filled with white gum ball “snow balls” from SweetWorks were a huge hit.  But, my favorite was the acrylic pom snow balls from Consumer Crafts.  They were PERFECT! I also picked up a few dozen pairs of gloves from the Target Dollar Spot, on clearance, with Cartwheel, for about $0.25 a pair.  The kids were able to wear those while they skated too! 

 

 

 

 

 

I had about 20 minutes to set up and just 10 minutes to tear down the party, so I needed it to be simple, simple, simple.  The backdrop was made with two navy blue flat sheets from Walmart, hung on my portable backdrop stand. I draped snowflake banner from Target over the sheet backdrop.  A plain white table cloth was placed over the food table.  To add a little height, I used a wooden crate covered with blue plaid fabric.  Marshmallows and hot cocoa were on one side of the table with strands of acrylic “snow balls” (also from Consumer Crafts) placed around them.  On the opposite side of the table, I placed a basket of gloves, a basket of “snow balls”, and tubes of gum ball snow balls.  The donut “cake” was in the center of the table with white powdered donut holes.  Strands of snow balls were placed on the table, as well as a pair of borrowed ice skates. Mini vintage style wood Ice Skis (from Target) were also centered on the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The party package included Chick Fil A lunches for each guest.  I used blue checked fabric as a table cloth, and placed a favor box, a simple white plate (I love Chinet plates for kids parties), a snowflake napkin (from Target), and service ware at each seat.  The service ware was slipped into felt ice skates I made with my Sizzix.  (Look for the DIY soon) 

 

 

 

Once the kids finished lunch, they had a small snowball fight, and then hit the ice for hours! 

 

 

 

We had so much fun celebrating my little guy, and he was happy with his skating party, despite the lack of real snow, and having to be indoors.  

 

Vendor Credits:

Styling and photography: Everyday Party Magazine

Printables: Everyday Party Magazine; Clip art from Up North Designs Co.

Custom Cups: I Have a Favor

Acrylic Poms and Pom Bunting: Consumer Crafts

Gum balls and Sixlets: SweetWorks Celebrations

Candy Tubes: Hoopla Events