Frye Soleil Moon - Lets get this party started: DIY celebrations for you & your kids to create together

LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED! is a guide to more than twenty inexpensive, inventive, and fun parties you can throw for your kids. Each party includes DIY crafts and games, as well as recipes that can be mixed and matched depending on which party you choose. All of the parties are simple and easy to do, so the entire family can get in on the process together. Author Soleil Moon Frye also offers countless tips and ideas that will inspire you. Among the thematic parties featured in the book are a fairy party, a pirate party, a movie-on-the-lawn party, a spa party, an eighties party, a rainbow party, a Halloween party, a luau, and many more, all captured in gorgeous and colorful images by the authors brother, photographer Meeno.

As any parent knows, there is no better time than when your kids are happy. Putting together these easy-to-create parties will make them part of the process and give you more time to spend with them. Timely and fun, Lets Get This Party Started is a must-have guide for parents who love entertaining with their kids.

Published in 2013 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
An imprint of ABRAMS

Text copyright 2013 Soleil Moon Frye
Photographs copyright 2013 Meeno

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013935990

ISBN: 978-1-61769-034-1

Editor: Jennifer Levesque
Designer: Amy Sly
Production Manager: Erin Vandeveer

Stewart, Tabori & Chang books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

115 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.abramsbooks.com

CONTENTS

Carnival & Circus, Oh My!

Spa La La

Pirates Life for Me

Love, Love, Love

Wild Safari Adventure

Spring Is in the Air

Its Slumber Time

A Sparkling Fourth of July

A Luau Full of Alohas

Enchanted Midsummer Dream

Movie Night

Under The Stars

Picnic Time

So Totally Eighties

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Cha Cha Cha

Little Explorers

Ghoulish Times

A Thanksgiving to Be Grateful For

A Holiday to Remember

This book is dedicated to my amazing daughters, Poet and Jagger, and to my incredible husband for turning every day into a party!

Introduction

I love to throw parties. Any chance I get to celebrate puts me over the moon. Every part of the process is fun and exciting to me. Even if Im in the midst of total chaos, I find the fun in pulling it all together. I take pride in coming up with unique ideas. And the best part? My kids have become little party planners along with me! We think of concepts together and then bring them to life as a family.

Often, my husband looks at me like Im crazy, and sometimes Im convinced he thinks Ive totally lost it. Bigger balloons, more color, lets step back into the eighties, a luau on the beach, or a safari. My husband has lived through every out-there idea Ive come up with. The truth is I just love celebrating. I cant help myself! When I was a kid, my mom always made our birthdays special. We loved doing themed parties and coming up with creative ideas together. This is one of the reasons I enjoy carrying on the tradition so much. Celebrations dont have to be saved for special occasions; every day we can make something special happen.

I also understand the stresses that can go along with throwing a great party. Planning can be hard, finding the time to do everything you need to do can be challenging, and too much stress can turn good family fun into a tense situation fast. I love to cook, but I usually have only about fifteen minutes to throw something together. Keeping things on a budget can also be an issue; I find so much joy in my kids being happy with their birthdays, but I dont want to spend a fortune putting them together. I want everything to be stunning but also totally affordable. And the planning process needs to fit into my schedule as a busy mom. At the end of the day, I want to put together something truly special but also for it to be accessible, easy to pull off, and most important, fun.

So after spending years coming up with fun ways to celebrate our family get-togethers, I decided I had to put it into a book. The book I wish Id had. A book that would serve as an inspiration board for me, my family, friends, and other parents looking for fantastic party ideas for their little ones. In this party-planning book, you will find inspiration for more than twenty parties, including a movie night, a pirate party, a spa day, a baseball party, and many more. Each party includes crafts and recipes you and your children can make together that are both easy and affordable. You will also find a reference guide in the last chapter that highlights some of the places, both online and off-line, where I find my party essentials.

I dont know about you, but half the time I find myself staring at a recipe, trying to figure it out. Or struggling over a blog post that makes home decor look easy, but when I try it myself, it makes me feel like I must be crazy. Did everyone else go to the Martha Stewart Academy? And why didnt I get the invite to sign up? This book is meant to be a beautiful but simple guide that will inspire you to take matters into your own hands and create a magical world for your family to indulge in. Whether youve been crafting for years, are the best baker on the block, or its your first time throwing a kids party, this book is for you. Its meant for everyone, and its designed to be fun for the whole family.

Now lets get ready to party!

CHAPTER

Carnival & Circus, Oh My!

One of my favorite ideas for this book was a carnival theme. I couldnt wait to try it out in my own house. The party was so much fun! We had a ring toss game, a beanbag throw, bobbing for apples, and circus-inspired food. Once we put this all together at our house, it was a blast. Its an awesome, fun, and affordable party idea, and its easy to let the kids be part of the process. The kids had a great time with the games, and my friend even sewed together little beanbags for the beanbag toss. We used cans from our pantry as the target and turned it into a party. Other ideas for this party could include different stands for carnival goodies like popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones. Need more games?