Party Trends: Monster Mash Bash

Fun and friendly little monsters are suddenly all the rage for kids' parties. And with such a fantastic theme, your party is sure to be a scream! P.S. It's not just a theme for Halloween; you can use it to celebrate your little monster's birthday any time of year.

A few ideas to get you started:

• Fill a table full of mini monster munchies
• Set up a monster ice cream parlor with a sign saying "I SCREAM for Ice Cream!"
• Stick cake pop "eyes" into a layer cake to create an instant "monster"
• Add googly eyes and construction paper teeth to plain party hats so every guest can be their own little monster

Send our eye monster Evite invitation for your next monster mash bash!

[Images courtesy of Icing Designs, Better Homes and Gardens, Makoodle, and Sugar Lander]

Want to get more Monster Mash ideas? Check out our Halloween digimag!

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DIY Honeycomb Ladybugs for a Little Lady's Birthday

We love a little ladybug theme for a little girl's birthday party, and this decor DIY is sure to make guests smile! Our DIY honeycomb ladybugs, crafted out of construction paper and red honeycomb balls, are so easy to make. And they add a cute, personal touch to the ladybug party items in our party store.

Materials:

• 1½" circle punch
• Circle cutter
• Scissors
• Black construction paper
• 12" red honeycomb balls
• 8" red honeycomb balls
• Hot glue gun

Step 1: Use circle punch to make circles out of black construction paper. (You can also do this by hand with scissors, but a punch will save you time.) We used 5 spots for our 8" honeycomb, and 7 spots for our 12" honeycomb.

Step 2: On a safe cutting surface, use circle cutter to make a 4" circle for an 8" honeycomb ball, and a 5½" circle for a 12" honeycomb ball. 

Step 3: Make antennae that are 2" long and ¼" wide for an 8" honeycomb ball, and 2" long and ½" wide for a 12" honeycomb ball.

Step 4: Use hot glue gun to affix circles on antennae and then to ladybug's head. 

Step 5: Glue head to honeycomb and affix spots on honeycomb ball. 

Invite guests to a ladybug-themed birthday party for your little girl -- check out Evite's ladybug invitations!

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Halloween: DIY Bat & Ghost Garlands

Add some festive decor to your Halloween party with our DIY bat and ghost garlands! You can make each in three super easy steps.

Time: 30 minutes (including drying time)

Yields: 7 bats & 7 ghosts

Materials:

• 14 foam craft balls
• 14 thumbtacks
• 28 googly eyes
• Craft twine
• 2 pieces of black construction paper
• 1 piece of white tissue paper
• Black spray paint
• Hot glue gun
• Pencil
• Scissors

Step 1: Spray-paint foam balls and let dry for 15 minutes. Tip: We stuck wood skewers into our foam balls so we could turn them as we painted to enable full coverage. While paint is drying, draw and cut out bat wings.

Step 2: Fold in the end of a wing ¼", apply hot glue to the outer fold, and affix to ball. Glue on googly eyes.

Step 1: Cut a 5"x5" piece of white tissue paper.

Step 2: Push thumbtack into center of tissue paper and affix to ball. 

Step 3: Fold tissue paper down, then glue on googly eyes.

To string the garland, push a thumbtack halfway into each foam ball, wrap twine around it, push down the thumbtack, and continue until done.

Hang these garlands as decor for your Halloween party. Or invite friends and family over with one of our Halloween Evite invitations to make creepy crafts and garlands to decorate your home for the holiday! 

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DIY Halloween Bowling Set

Hosting a kids' Halloween party this year? Check out this fun bowling game we put together to entertain your guests. Even better, your kids can help you decorate the "pins" with cute monster and jack-o'-lantern faces.

Materials:

• 4 ½ feet of 1x4" wood
• 60-grit sandpaper
• Spray paint
• Gloves
• Painters Paint Markers
• Googly eyes
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Bouncy ball
• Hot glue gun

Directions:

1. Ask a hardware store to cut your 1x4" wood into six 9-inch pieces. Sand the edges.
2. Spray-paint the wood blocks your desired colors on one side. Let dry for 1 hour.  Turn over the blocks, spray-paint the other side, and let dry for 1 hour.
3. Use construction paper, googly eyes, and Painters Paint Markers to decorate your blocks.
4. Hot-glue construction paper and googly eyes on your blocks.
5. When the kids are ready to bowl, arrange the decorated blocks to set up the game.

We also used Painters Paint Markers to draw an eye on a white bouncy ball and used it for our “bowling ball.”

Invite kids to come over before trick-or-treating, set up your DIY Halloween bowling set, then sit back and watch: Heads will roll! 

Use a Halloween Evite invitation like the one below to invite guests to join the fun!

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Yes, it's time to start thinking about Halloween, and the more time you give yourself to figure out costumes, the more awesome those costumes can be. DIY (do-it-yourself) is a big trend in kids' costumes this year, so we did a little research and found our top 10 favorites. Get inspired by our list below!

10. Classic Robot costume from Oh Happy Day

 9. Pig in a Blanket from Real Simple

 8. Hot Air Balloon from Rook No. 17

 7. Optimus Prime Transformer Truck from Spoonful

 6. Alice in Wonderland Stuck in the White Rabbit’s House from Misha Lulu Blog

 5. Carnival Strong Man from Sarah Illenberger

 4. "Grandpa" from the Pixar film “UP” from Auburn Soul Photography

 3. Spring Chicken Costume from Martha Stewart

 2. Where the Wild Things Are from A Little Sussy

 1. LEGO Costume from Wine & Glue

Don't let all your hard work go unseen! Gather a group on Halloween night and host a mini costume contest before going door-to-door. There's safety in numbers, and our "Trick-or-Treaters" Evite invitation will help you pull people together quickly and easily.

sew sweet! a lalaloopsy birthday party

The story of Lalaloopsy comes to life with this adorable birthday party that features Nickelodeon's sewing sweetheart. Evite stylists were tasked with putting together a delightful kids' birthday party using Birthday Express products and creative, DIY techniques that are easy for busy parents to master (without presenting a financial challenge). The result is sew magical, sew cute, but more importantly, sew easy! Let the photos below provide inspiration for your child's next birthday party, then be sure to visit Birthday Express to get all the how-tos!

Pair the look with a matching Lalaloopsy Evite invitation to help parents stay up-to-date.

Click here to see the entire Lalaloopsy party!

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Next in our series of birthday parties brought to you by Evite and Birthday Express is a Super Mario Bros. theme, the second of our children's parties that was guest styled by the brilliant Amanda Auer of  In the Now Weddings & Events. Amanda came up with clever DIY decor, imaginative party games, and creative favor options that incorporate Birthday Express products throughout. The party succeeds at capturing the fun and energy of the popular video game while providing simple and affordable ways for parents to create this amazing -- and highly photogenic -- affair. Get a sneak peek at the party below, and be sure to check back for the next awesome birthday party in our series.

In the spirit of Super Mario Bros., this Evite invitation sets the tone for a game fest.

Click here to see the entire Super Mario Bros. party!

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country chic "pink cowgirl" birthday party

The talented Amanda Auer of In the Now Weddings & Events  took the Pink Cowgirl  theme and ran with it, creating a decidely girly affair that mixes practical DIY techniques with creative store-bought options from Birthday Express. Busy parents will be thrilled to see just how easy this country-chic look is to pull off. We're showcasing a new theme every week, so be sure to come back for more inspiration, y'hear?

This Pink Cowgirl Evite invitation fits the occasion perfectly and helps busy parents stay in the loop.

Click here to see the entire Pink Cowgirl party!

Kids Get to Work at a Construction-Themed Birthday Party

Evite and Birthday Express teamed up for this construction-themed birthday party that has fun "work zone" elements and fantastic actitvities, favors, and more. Our stylists used Birthday Express products such as kid-sized hard hats, a variety of traffic signs, and mini tool belts to create a festive atmosphere, plus DIY projects that add creativity and flair. The result is an easy-to-achieve look that'll satisfy both birthday boy and host!  

Opt for a Construction Zone Evite invitation to get guests ready for lots of hammering.

Click here to see the entire Construction Pals party.

Have a great idea for a kids' birthday party theme? Share it with us in the comment section below!

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The next in our series spotlighting amazing kids' birthday parties is a magical Woodland Gnome theme (no forest required). This enchanting, gender-neutral birthday party was styled by the amazing Gianna San Filippo, owner of Chic Celebrations, a Southern California-based event planning and design company. Using  Birthday Express products, some basic rentals, and her own creative DIY touches, Gianna designed a birthday party that looks amazing but is realistic for any parent to pull off sans a huge investment of time and money. 

Click here to see the entire Woodland Gnome party!