Picnic Party

Hello all – it’s been a while hasn’t it? Excuse my absence but I come baring ‘gifts’ – a post dedicated to an indoor picnic party I threw last year!

This birthday party was originally planned to take place outdoors, but we know how unpredictable the British weather is so I was forced to bring it indoors at the very last minute. With my little sister turning 10, I knew the party needed to be fun but not too “childish”.

Here is exactly how I created my picnic party!

Invitations:

First up was invitations – I stumbled across this free template on Pinterest and knew it would fit perfectly with my theme. It came with a printable tag invitation aswell as an accompanying gingham pocket for the invite to slip into. Since it didn’t cost me a penny, and was super easy to put together, it was the perfect fuss free option.

Image and template taken from eatdrinkchic

Decor:

Secondly was decor. Since my outdoor party plans were scuppered at the last minute, I had to resort to being as imaginative as possible to try and bring that outdoor feel inside. I stuck with a yellow, green and white theme throughout but I covered the main table with fake grass and placed fake flowers across the table. I then put the individual lunch boxes and water bottles by each chair. To add more of a party feel, I hang honeycomb balls and poms poms from the ceiling (which I made myself using tissue paper) and adorned the seating area with pillows and lanterns.

Food:

Next up was food – I wanted all the guests to have their very own personalised “lunch boxes” filled with sandwiches, crisps, chocolates and personalised water bottles.

I purchased these white party boxes off of Ebay and created my own personalised labels using Word which I then simply glued on.

Inside the boxes, I made small sandwiches, wrapped in greaseproof paper and tied together with twine. I also created my own personalised wrappers to wrap around KitKats and the water bottles to ensure the gingham theme flew throughout. All the fonts I used were taken from DaFont – my go-to font site!

For the older guests and parents, I just decked out a table with a variety of nibbles.

Entertainment:

No kids’ party is complete without entertainment. I made sure to have the standard pass the parcel and musical statue games but since this crowd was slightly older I decided to also create an activity station.

The activity station consisted of:

• Temporary Tattoos
• Body Glitter Tattoos
• Popcorn filling station
• Gingerbread competition – each child was given a gingerbread to decorate with a panel of judges declaring the winner!

To end the party, I also had a Karaoke machine where the guests were able to sing along to their favourite songs using the mic!

At the side, I out together my own “photbooth” using a glass-less frame and props. I bought photobooth props from Tiger and Ebay, and had a few wigs and oversized glasses which I placed into a mini suitcase. I then simply added my own photobooth sign into a frame making it the perfect corner to take pictures – this went down a treat with the adults too!

Dessert Table:

Anyone that knows me knows that no party is complete for me without a dessert table!

The main focal point of my table were the favour jars. I knew I didn’t want to give goody bags so bought these glass jars from Hobbycraft. I filled them with a mixture of sweets, printed out my own label and tied with a piece of matching gingham fabric with ribbon. These were so cute and were perfect for the guests to take home with them at the end of the night.

For the dessert table I bought some ready made baked goods from the supermarket such as lemon slices, flapjacks, marshmallows but also created my own no bake desserts. These included:

• Strawberry trifles
• Banoffee Pies
• Caramel Tarts
• Jelly Shots

I loved how the dessert table added another dimension to the party and it’s always great watching the guests tuck in at the end of the party!

And there you have it – my quick guide on producing the perfect picnic party! I hope this will provide a little inspiration to those looking to throw a party.