Tackle It Tuesday – A Carnival Party

by Erica

Happy Tuesday everyone! It’s Erica here, taking over Tackling duties today.

My daughter’s 6th birthday party is taking place this Saturday, and I can’t wait!

Usually I am very last minute when it comes to party preparation. The day before, you will find me up until 4 A.M., frantically getting everything ready. But this year it’s a bit different. I think it’s because the party theme is soooooo much fun.

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We are throwing a carnival party, complete with carnival style games, cotton candy, popcorn, a photo booth and prizes. I have been having a blast getting everything all set up for it, and I have a feeling the kids are going to love it.

You can’t have a carnival without yummy treats. At our carnival party, we will be serving heaps of hot popcorn, bags of cotton candy, hot pretzels, churros and goldfish crackers for the younger crowd.

Instead of cake, I will be making ice cream cone cupcakes.

111_2475-1And of course there will be games. I saved up my Pepsi cans and decorated them with some fun scrapbook paper. They will be used for a tin can alley game.

I am also purchasing a goldfish for each family, as a prize for the goldfish toss game. In old-fashioned carnival style, I found some inexpensive glass bowls for the kids to throw a ping pong ball into. As for the goldfish, they are only 28 cents at Wal-Mart.

I was sure to check with each mom first, to make sure that it’s okay for their kids to take a new pet home from Audrey’s carnival party.

A balloon dart game will be challenging for the older kids and guessing how many Hershey’s Kisses are in the jar at the kissing booth, will be a treat for the child whose guess is the closest.

There will also be a face painting booth and a tattoo booth, with temporary tattoos of course.

I bought some darling plastic popcorn containers at the dollar section of target. There will be one containter for each child and will be used to hold the prizes they win at each game.

For the photo booth, I am going to tack a large piece of polka dot fabric to a wall. Each guest can stand in front of the fabric, wear a clown nose and have a fun little memento from the party.

il_430xN_96066380-1I am working on the signs and banners that I will use as party decor. As I googled for ideas, I came across the cutest carnival party package at DimplePrints. It includes banners, party hats, signs, patterned papers, favor boxes, cupcake wrappers, invitations, thank you cards and much more. I am so glad that I purchased it. The $10.00 price tag can’t be beat!

My daughter has been watching me in the evenings as I cut, glue and make the decorations. I’ve got to tell you, seeing the excitement in her eyes has really made me smile.

I’ll be sure to post pictures next week from her carnival birthday party, so stay tuned.

What have you been tackling?

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done.

(It doesn’t even have to be housework… just whatever is on your To Do list.)

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributing editor, Erica.



Email Author    |    Website About Erica

Erica has been a part of the 5 Minutes for Mom writing team since the summer of 2008. She is a mom to three little ones - Audrey (7), Isaiah (4) and Christian (3).

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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

1 faerylandmom November 10, 2009 at 12:11 am

That is outstanding! You rock. :-)

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2 Forgetfulone November 10, 2009 at 12:14 am

What a huge tackle! How awesome!

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3 The Extreme Housewife November 10, 2009 at 12:19 am

I LOVE your party idea! It is sooo cute. The excitement of your child really is the best thank you any mom could ever have!

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4 Organizing Mommy November 10, 2009 at 12:21 am

Amazing! What a great party idea. Sounds like you’ll have a nice time.

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5 Janice November 10, 2009 at 12:43 am

Erica – with all you do, I can’t believe you have managed to tackle this too! You are amazing!!!

I am sure the party will be SUCH a hit and I know that Audrey will always remember how much time you invested in her party!

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6 The Household6 Diva November 10, 2009 at 1:55 am

WOW – what a GREAT idea!! I love the choice in color scheme/papers — fun/bright/and perfect for a Girl’s 6th birthday! Complete with photo booth AND win a Goldfish?? This party will be talked about for a long time! :) I can’t wait to see pictures!!

ps What time is the party? We would LOVE to come! :)

Ann Marie ~ The Houshold6 Diva

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7 Deb - Mom of 3 Girls November 10, 2009 at 2:33 am

Oh what an awesome party idea! My tackle involves party planning too (at least part of it), but nothing nearly as creative.

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8 Susie's Homemade November 10, 2009 at 6:26 am

Wow! She is going to LOVE it!!

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9 Jennifer, Snapshot November 10, 2009 at 7:38 am

That’s awesome Erica! Love the goldfish idea for a favor.

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10 Simply Mommy November 10, 2009 at 9:36 am

We just did a carnival party over the summer. It was lots of fun!!! I never thought of looking for printable stuff. I bought some decor and did make my own signs. I had an egg relay game, potato sack race, used old beer bottles for ring toss, can toss and did face painting too. I actually laminated the signs so they could be used again. Your ideas are great!!! I’m sure the kids will have lots of fun!

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11 Katie November 10, 2009 at 9:48 am

That is so creative- love it!

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12 Adrienne November 10, 2009 at 9:56 am

Her party sounds like it is going to be a blast.

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13 Rhiana (Hurried Homemaker) November 10, 2009 at 10:40 am

What a great thing to tackle! It looks like it will be a blast – can’t wait to see pics!

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14 Liz November 10, 2009 at 10:44 am

Oh, how fun! I wish my boys were younger so I could have a Carnival Party for one of them. I made Cotton Candy Cupcakes during the summer, you could add the decorations to the top of your ice cream cone cupcakes!
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz

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15 Rocio November 10, 2009 at 10:53 am

That is going to be FUN!!!

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16 Kate November 10, 2009 at 7:20 pm

How cute!! Great idea Erica, thanks for posting! Speaking of birthdays, my sister passed on this great link to me today from the American Cancer Society and I wanted to pass it along too – morebirthdays.com — the idea is that a world with less cancer is a world with more birthdays. Hear, hear! Join today!

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17 Petula November 10, 2009 at 11:26 pm

What a fabulous idea. That sounds like it’s gonna be gobs of fun and the decorations and everything look marvelous. Can’t wait to see pictures of the birthday celebration.

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18 Sarah November 14, 2009 at 4:51 am

Hi!!

I love the Carnival theme party! Great idea!

I made the Ice Cream Cone Cakes for my Nephew’s 8th Birthday back in July.

They were a big hit!!

I blogged about it.
http://nannysarah.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/ice-cream-cone-cakes/

and

http://nannysarah.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/ok-i-made-them/

How did yours turn out?!?

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19 Tami December 1, 2009 at 6:15 pm

I can so relate to those mountains of tasks. Yesterday I had guests over, and a sink full of dirty dishes (no dishwasher). So…I pulled out a large drink cooler that is on wheels and filled it up with the dirty dishes. Just rolled those right out of sight!

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