Show your DisneySide with a Mickey Paintball Party

The boys have wanted to try paintball for some time now.  They've always loved Nerf and laser tag, so I guess paintball is just the next step.  But I've always been hesitant because I've heard lots of stories about paintball being painful.  I've seen photos of bruises from paintball pellets and I've read stories of little boys sitting out birthday parties because they got hurt.

Fortunately, our local paintball place has a gentler option: Splatmaster, which features guns that release the paintball pellets at half the speed of regular paintball guns.  Since 3Po wanted to celebrate his 11th birthday with a paintball party, I figured Splatmaster would give everyone a good first experience while minimizing the bruises.  And since I had recently been selected to host a DisneySide party, I figured I'd combine the two and throw a Mickey Paintball party!  I was a bit nervous that the boys would think Mickey was a bit babyish, but 3Po was delighted with the idea. How could I have doubted?  The party was a big hit.  You're never too old for Mickey Mouse!

How to Decorate Mickey Paintball Rice Krispy Treats with Royal Icing Transfers

Any time there's a party in our household, there's a good chance that it's going to include rice krispy treats.  They're easy to make, they don't cost much, and we could eat them all day.  I knew I wanted to serve rice krispy treats at 3Po's paintball party/DisneySide party, but I didn't want to make another set of Mickey head rice krispy treats like I did at last year's DisneySide party. Fellow DisneySide blogger Dawn recently posted about how she uses waxed paper, buttercream, and an image printout to create amazing buttercream designs, and I decided to use that technique to create some royal icing designs to decorate my rice krispy squares. Here's how I did it:

How to throw a fuss-free Indoor Soccer Party -- Jammy's 11th birthday celebration

When I asked Jammy what kind of party he wanted to throw for his 11th birthday, his answer was immediate: a soccer party at Sports House, and indoor soccer venue.

"Okay," I asked.  "Let me get this straight.  You play soccer with your friends Every. Single. Day.  And for your birthday, you want to play..... More Soccer".

Disney DIY: How To Make a Mickey Paintball Bandana

When you sign up for a paintball birthday party, you'll probably be told that the paint is washable, but you probably don't want to be wearing your best clothes. Recommended clothing includes long sleeved shirts, long sleeved shorts, close-toed shoes, and bandanas.

Since 3Po was celebrating his 11th birthday with a paintball party, I thought it would be fun to make bandanas for all his guests. And since we were giving the party a Disney theme, I decided to add a Mickey silhouette to the bandanas!  I bought 4 yards of plain white cloth, cut them into 20-inch squares, and hemmed the edges.  Then I stenciled the designs on with freezer paper.  Freezer paper stencil designs are so easy to do and the produce such great results.  I used freezer paper stencils to make Mickey shirts for last year's DisneySide party, and the project went so well, it was pretty much a given that I'd use the technique again this year.  Here's how I did it:

How to make an Arabian Nights costume

Every year the PTA at our elementary school hosts a fancy dress fundraiser. It's always held on the third weekend of October, so parents like to come in a costume that matches the party theme.  This year's theme was 1001 Arabian nights, so we had a lot of Arab sheiks, sultans, genies, and belly dancers.

There's a huge variety of costumes for this theme available for sale.  Most of the women's costumes are pretty skimpy, though; they're totally inappropriate for a school social event, even an adults-only one!  And many of them require more of a $$ investment than I'm willing to make for just one night. I found it cheaper and more fun to put a costume together myself by purchasing individual costume items.

Celebrating LGBT rights at Pride in London 2014

The first Gay Pride event I ever attended was in San Francisco (where else?), over 10 years ago.  Alfie and I took The Pea to the Castro, watched the parade, and celebrated with the community.  Although my kids know we support marriage equality and LGBT rights (as do they!), we haven't been to a Gay Pride event since then.  The hassle of parking and wading through the crowds has held me back.  Also, as open-minded as I like to think I am, I must admit that I'm not quite ready to wander around booths filled with S&M gear and be handed free neon condoms in front of my kids' curious eyes.

But this weekend I had the opportunity to visit my sister in London and leave the kids with their grandparents for the weekend.  Since my visit coincided with the Pride in London parade, I knew I couldn't pass up the chance to watch and celebrate!

Disney's Planes: Celebrating the release of the movie and the videogame

As a blogger, I've had the opportunity to see a few movies a few days before they appear in theatres; the publicity arm of the movie studio usually invites media (film critics, entertainment writers, bloggers, etc..) to advanced screenings two or three days before the movie's general release.  But this week's  Disney Planes event was probably the most advanced Advanced Screening I've ever been to -- a full 10 days before the movie's release, even before the LA red carpet premiere!

Raw Food Dinner

Raw food diets are all the rage these days, with age-defying celebrities like Demi Moore, Alicia Silverstone, Gwyneth Paltrow and Woody Harrelson fueling the trend.  I've never really looked into raw food, mostly because the thought of limiting myself to uncooked fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts is much too daunting.

No toasting.
No roasting.
No boiling.
No broiling.
No baking.
No frying.
I'm shaking.
I'm dying.

A sweet party for a sweet 12 year-old

If I'm not mistaken, it has rained almost every year on the day that The Pea has had a birthday party.  This year, we finally wised up and realized that the best way to ensure clear skies would be to hold her party in late April instead of early April -- less showers, more flowers.  Here's how we celebrated:

Things I must have for my next party

Last night I attended a friend's birthday party, and even though I didn't know too many people, I had an amazing time.  The celebrant really went out of her way to plan the perfect party -- people were entertained and well-fed, the conversation kept flowing and the smiles were in full force.  She thought of everything!  I made lots of mental notes about all the cool stuff that went on at her party, and added them to my wishlist of attractions for the next party I throw (whenever that may be). Here's my list of "party-tractions" that I think would make any party memorable:

How to make paper flowers for a spring party

The Pea celebrated her 11th birthday last weekend with a movie night and sleepover for 7 of her school friends. We decided to decorate her birthday table in Easter-themed pink, yellow and green. The table looked gorgeous, but the wall behind it was plain and bare. Usually I put up a "Happy Birthday" banner or poster, but this year I wanted to do something different, so I decorated the ceiling instead, and hung paper lanterns and flowers at various lengths. Here's how I made the paper flowers:

Separate kids, separate parties

3Po and Jammy are 8 now, and this year marks a very special first: they'll be holding separate birthday parties, with different themes, different activities, different food and different guests. Having one party per child is practically given when you've got singletons, but when you're a twin, you have to share a birthday, and sharing a party is so much easier. When boy-girl twins get older, it's natural for them to have different interests and friends of their own gender, so splitting up parties is a much easier and more natural progression. 3Po and Jammy, though, are identical twins who happen to have identical interests and almost identical friends, so having separate parties is a Big Deal.

Parties and sawdust do not mix

I like to think of myself as an optimistic and determined person: When I want to do something, I tend to ignore any obstacles standing in the way. Certain people (*cough*! Alfie! *cough*) might interpret that as being stubborn, leading to situations like driving for hours in a snowstorm. It's true that my enthusiasm often gets in the way of my good judgement -- but I'm hoping my kids see it as never letting a few inconveniences and a bit of hard work get in the way of accomplishing a goal.


My latest act of blind determination perseverance? Hosting a party without a kitchen.

Webkinz party recipes

I recently hosted a Webkinz Jr. Pet Party, and the hostess kit I received included some recipe cards for fun kiddie snacks. I probably would have ignored the cards and bought some popcorn and juice for the occasion, but The Pea spotted the cards and pounced on them.

How cuuute! We haaaaaaave to do these, mama!

Oh, the power of a cute cartoon bear and catchy name. Maybe I should print out a recipe for eggplant curry and put Webkinz characters on the card so my character-obsessed kids will be more eager to try out new foods. Anyway, the recipes looked simple enough, so I decided to use them for the party.

How to Dress for an Eighties Party

I've known for a long time that my friend's 40th birthday bash was going to be a Big Deal, but I had no idea how much until we received the invitation. It contained a big F Bomb -- Fashion Bomb, that is -- it was an Eighties Party, which basically upped the ante for the guests; instead of just showing up, we had to get in the spirit and come up with an 80's costume.

Now, I am the Queen of all Dressing Up (see any October/Halloween post I've ever done), so the 80's theme was great news. The 80's are my element -- all I needed to do for inspiration was look in my high school photo album and listen to the music on my iPod -- and I knew I could put together a Madonna-style outfit without breaking a sweat.

Cut-up shirt, miniskirt, fishnet stockings, leg warmers, heels, side ponytail, neon pink earrings, fingerless gloves, crucifix bling. Easy peasy.


But the dress-up element threw Alfie for a loop. I haven't quite managed to convince him that dressing up is fun, or that he won't feel ridiculous if everyone else looks ridiculous along with him. To make things worse, he hates 80's music and fashion, so he couldn't really get too excited about it. And it's not like you can rustle up a genuine male 80's outfit from your closet (unless of course you live in a trailer park). Do you know how many 80's costumes there are for men in your local costume store? None. Maybe a rocker wig or a mullet, a Michael Jackson outfit if you're lucky. I searched for weeks to find a good outfit (I must have hit every Goodwill store within a 20-mile radius from our home, searching for a Miami Vice white jacket or acid-wash jeans), and Alfie must have changed his mind about a dozen times. In the end he decided on an 80's rocker look, with acid-washed jeans and big, poufy hair.


I was spraying bleach on these jeans about 3 hours before the party. I used so much bleach, I'm surprised Alfie's legs didn't fizzle away along with the denim. And in case you didn't know, that hair is not his. No way I would marry a guy with big, curly mullet hair!


I think we did okay in the costume department. But as much as I enjoyed putting together our outfits, seeing what other people came up with was even more enjoyable! We saw some great outfits, and just in case you need an 80's costume idea -- or a good laugh -- I'm sharing them here with you:


Male
Men can pretty much put on a mullet wig and claim they're in an 80's costume, but frankly, I think that's kind of lame. To be truly in the (80's) zone, you need to put in a bit more effort, and I loved seeing all the effort that showed up at my friend's party. I do think Alfie was one of the male standouts, with his long, flowing locks, but there were quite a few other creative male outfits:

* Don Johnson in Miami Vice (white suit with pastel colored tshirt)
* Larry Bird (complete with #33 jersey and caterpillar mustache)
* Preppy boy (pastel Lacoste or Izod shirt with upturned collar, white sweater draped across the shoulders, khaki shorts or chinos with rolled-up pant legs, loafers without socks, wayfarers)
* Beat boxer -- neon colored shirt, baggy pants, Converse hi-tops or Vans sneakers, Sony Walkman (yes, the real thing! He must have a big attic to be keeping stuff like that).

Female
As I expected, we saw every variation of Madonna imaginable, from her grungy Suddenly Seeking Susan look to her corseted Like A Virgin lace getup to her sleek Vogue look with headset microphone and cone bra. And since the 80's look is creeping back into fashion, I wasn't surprised to see loose belted shirts, skintight jeans and heels. But I should have known that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun -- I was amazed at the other kinds of outfits my fellow females came up with! No detail was spared, from shiny blue eyeshadow to teased hair to lace gloves (fingerless, naturally) to Swatch watches.

* Krystle Carrington.
* Any and every variation of the hideous Gunne Sax prom dress and white, low-heeled shoes (the birthday girl even had a gigantic wrist corsage!).
* Acid washed jeans skirt and jacket.
* Shoulder-padded dresses and fringed, stiletto-heeled cowboy boots.
* Flashdancers (off-the shoulder shirts, leggings -- some were neon! -- and legwarmers).


The winning outfits for male and female would have to go to the Jane Fonda aerobicizers. "Jane Fonda" wore a headband across her forehead, wristbands, a thong leotard and shiny lycra tights (I couldn't wear that even in the 80's!). Her male counterpart wore exactly the same thing, except instead of a leotard he sported a midriff shirt with cutoff sleeves. It was absolutely horrific, and absolutely brilliant! Or should I say, totally rad....


Can anyone think of any other 80's outfit I need to add to this list?

Am I finally an early adopter?

One of the fun things about review blogging is the chance to try out some of the hottest new products before most people do (sometimes even before they hit the shelf). One such opportunity was the Zhu Zhu Pet Party we hosted last September; it was a huge success, and in fact Zhu Zhu Pets went on to become the hottest toy for 2009. A couple of months ago, MomSelect contacted me again and invited me to host another Zhu Zhu Pet party, and my kids and their friends all love them. I'm the person who's known for saying DVD's and scooters wouldn't catch on, so it's nice to finally be right in predicting a trend for once.

Click here to read all about the Kung Zhu Pet party we hosted!

You're Invited to a White Fence Twitter Party

Party alert for all my tweeps out there! I'm hosting the WhiteFence Summer Savings Twitter Party, and there will be fabulous prizes, including 3 $25 Target gift certificates, a $50 Best Buy gift certificate, and the Grand Prize: a $250 Amazon.com gift certificate!

What: a WhiteFence.com Summer Savings Twitter Party
Why: To share ideas on summer fun and summer savings -- and win great prizes!
When: Thursday, June 24^th 7:00-8:00pm EST (4:00-5:00pm PST)
Where: on Twitter, follow the #wfparty hashtag

Click here for more party details and to RSVP. You'll even be entered to win another $25 Target gift certificate on Bonggamom Finds! Hope to see you at the party!

Child's Play Bloggers Brunch -- where the grownups get to play, too

The sun was shining, the breezes were blowing, and it was the perfect day to take a stroll along Manhattan Beach with the kids.... NOT! Actually, it was the perfect day for Alfie to take a stroll along Manhattan Beach with the kids, and for me to connect with some great bloggers and companies at the 3rd Annual Child's Play Bloggers Brunch. When I received the invitation I nearly wet myself with excitement, since I know Child's Play PR and Team Mom always manage to round up blogger-friendly companies who want to share their latest product lines with us -- and since the event coincided with the kids' spring break, I found a way to make it happen.

That's Child's Play PR president, Stephanie Azzarone, in the blue suit, surrounded by panelists Caryn Bailet from Rockin' Mama, Ciaran Blumenfeld from Momfluential, MC Milker from The Not Quite Crunchy Parent and SV Moms' very own Jill Asher.


I didn't know anyone except Jill, since all the bloggers present were from Southern California, so I put on my sociable hat and got to meet lots of wonderful women, including (I'm using Twitter names since it's easier to go through my Twitter stream than sort through all the business cards right now!) @mommasinthehous (who fakes the best Filipino accent), @sweatpantsmom (who was looking gorgeous sans sweatpants), @amysfunny (who really is funny), and fellow SV Moms Group bloggers like Elise Crane Derby and Donna Schwartz Mills. I love expanding my network of bloggy friends!


The sponsors were friendly and only too happy to show us their latest product lines:

The Pottery Barn Kids representative admitted that they are just starting to wade into the waters of blogging PR and social networking, but with their awesome products I'm sure it won't be long before the blogosphere is buzzing and tweeting with PB Kids giveaways and reviews.


Bandai had all the latest toys for boys and girls. 3Po and Jammy are really into Ben 10 ever since Santa gave them a Ben 10 Alien board game for Christmas, so I'm hoping I get to review some really cool Ben 10 stuff.




Needless to say, the goody bags and giveaways were awesome. Bloggers received samples from (in clockwise order, from top left) Bandai, Pottery Barn Kids, Summit Toys, Cold Stone Creamery, and Nickelodeon. They also had giveaways for even more prizes, like a $500 certificate to PBKids, a year's worth of Cold Stone ice cream, toys, toys and more toys, spa certificates and 3 Dyson vacuum cleaners. Sadly, I didn't win any of those, but I did win a tube of mascara worth $85. I have no idea what they put in it -- ground up diamonds, perhaps? -- but I will soon find out, and I'm looking forward to dazzling everyone with my $85 eyelashes.

Anyway, no one could possibly be disappointed with the Child's Play brunch: great weather, great food (they served Mom-osas, made-to-order omelettes and Cold Stone Oreo ice cream sandwiches), great people, great companies, great prizes, great giveaways. What's not to love? Oh, and did I mention that I drove all the way down to LA for this*? Yup, 800 miles round-trip -- and it was totally worth it. Thanks, Child's Play, for letting the grownups play too!



* Okay, I didn't really drive 800 miles just for this event. Alfie drove half the distance. And we did go to Disneyland as well. And I did get to walk around Manhattan Beach with my kids for, like, 5 minutes.

** Disclosure: I received a bagful -- okay, two bagfulls -- of goodies from the sponsoring companies (but you've probably already guessed that). I'll blog more about those on my review blog, Bonggamom Finds.

The Ultimate Blog Party has started!

5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party couldn't come at a better time -- it's Spring Break next week, so I'm ready to partay! I join this bloggy event every year because I get to discover new blogs, put out my own bloggy welcome mat to new visitors, and get the chance to win some great prizes.

If you're new to this blog, hello! I'm Bonggamom. You can find out more about me on this post. And here's my contribution to the party -- have a cupcake:

So what's this party all about? The Ultimate Blog Party is a virtual party celebrating online friendships (you can find more about it and join the party at 5 Minutes for Mom). And as with all the best parties, there are party goodies! This year, as always, there are a ton of amazing prizes up for grabs, and I'd be crazy not to put my name on the list to enter to win (and since I'm not crazy, I've linked up -- I'm link #923 on the Ultimate Blog Party's Family Friendly list, link #375 on the Facebook list, and comment #500 on the UBP main party page). My top 3 prizes would be:

63 – One lucky winner will receive a Razor® Rip Rider™ 360
Provided by: Busy Mommy Media
Follow here: busymommymedia or Visit Our Fan Page: Busy Mommy – Surviving Motherhood One Mess at a Time

104 – Shoot Me Now is giving away one $50 Visa Vanilla Gift Card.
Provided by: Shoot Me Now!
Follow here: shootmenowblog

112 – $50 Amazon Gift card
Provided by: Robyn ~ Our Homeschool Home
Follow here: RobynOHSH or Visit Our Fan Page: Robyn Our Homeschool Home

And if my top 3 picks are already chosen, I would love to win prize # USC 39, USC3, USC8, USC15, 31, 32, 37, 49, 52, 55, 61, 71, 73, 67, 87, 113, or USC36.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a link to your UBP party post in the comments and I'll make sure I stop by and say hello. Happy partying, and I hope you all win the prizes you asked for -- unless I asked for the same thing ;)

Join the#gno #timetoplay Twitter Party Tuesday to Get Kids’ Party Planning Tips

Here's a photo from the Bakugan-themed birthday party I hosted for 3Po and Jammy at the end of January. We had Bakugan-themed games, crafts, food, decor and goody bags! Alfie says I can get overly anal about planning themed-birthday parties (there was that time I actually squeezed myself into a tutu for The Pea's 6th birthday), but honestly, I have just as much fun planning and preparing for the party as I do at the party itself. And the kids' enjoyment makes all the effort totally worth it.

Truthfully, I couldn't have done any of the parties I've done without all the ideas I got from various friends and online birthday party sites. Tomorrow evening I'm proud to be joining Jyl from Mom It Forward, Time To Play and a group of amazing moms at the Girls' Night Out Time To Play Twitter Party, where we'll be tweeting about one of my favorite topics, kids' parties!

• What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
• When: Tuesday, March 30, 9-11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT, & 6 PT)
• Where: Tweet with hashtags #gno and #timetoplay
• Topic: Kids’ Party Planning
• Who: @bonggamom @jenrab @jimsilver @jodigrundig @jollymom @lisakothari @nycitymama @ohmariana @timetoplay @thetoyguy
  
• Party Favors: Go to Jyl's party giveaway post to enter to win a super party pack from Time To Play, worth over $300! Deadline: 3/31
• RSVP: Go to Jyl's #GNO #timetoplay party post to add your name to the Mr. Linky and RSVP

Hope to see you there!


Disclosure: I am not being compensated for my participation in this event, either monetary or via free samples.