A little mid-summer crafting: an appliqued onesie. A dear friend had a baby a few weeks ago and, as odd as this may sound, I've been at a loss for a gift. I brought a bag of goodies to the hospital, things I knew she and her husband would appreciate but probably hadn't thought to pack (including chocolate-covered Peak Frean's, a stack of gossip magazines and some nice-smelling things for the shower) but I wanted to give something to the new guy too. It took a while but inspiration arrived in the form of a sweet nothing I overheard her whisper to her son: hungry hippo.
The kids made these crazy cute pompom ice cream cones at nursery school, and it got me thinking that an ice cream party would be a really fun (and easy and delicious and crowd pleasing) summer birthday idea. Oh those lucky July and August babies.
The invites: Print, cut out and have the birthday kid decorate ice cream cone-shaped invitations using this template:
Treats: We once looked into hiring an ice cream truck for our neighbourhood block party, but in the end we opted for homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches and fruity popsicles like these:
Make: Kids can make their own pompom party hats and ice cream cones. Cover a picnic table with kraft paper and place in the middle: bowls filled with different shaped pompoms, a few generous blobs of white craft glue, popsicle sticks, real ice cream cones (be sure to use the flat-bottomed variety), and plain party hats.
Play: Classic outdoor games like Capture the Flag (a ramped up version of hide & seek that's all the rage on my street this summer), a three-legged race, water balloon toss...
Grand Finale: A make-your-own sundae station will definitely be the messy highlight. Gummy candy, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, bite-sized cookies. Don't expect it to look like this any place but in the mind's eye:
