Bearllerina Pony Preparation!

Hello! This month has passed like a bullet train for me as I juggle family and work with great effort. In the midst of a new project at work, I am glad that there is also another family project at home to occupy my girl and boys ( so that I can be relieved from usual lessons with her? ; p )

This is what we have been up to for the past 3 weeks! After discussing with E on the theme for her birthday party, she insisted on Bear, Ballet and pony. That’s how our theme: Bear-llerina Pony Party was born! Apart from her 2 YO birthday, we have had small gatherings for her birthdays until she is now 5.

I kinda miss the DIY parties and am excited to CREATE with the kids once again! Let the photos roll! These are some games we came up with.

1. DIY Pony Rides

As a ‘Karang Guni’ I have numerous plastic milk jugs. An ideal pony head! After some trial and errors, marker pens are the best for colouring the translucent jug. I also have a set of solid hard core rolls from a like minded printing lady in school who passed to me for recycling into art. J worked on taping them into a long beam for the ride. Meticulous is E’s middle name. She selected all the colour scheme and tapes, laces to be decorated for the head.Finishing it off grandly with bling bling stickers!

# Marker Tip: Permanent markers like the Zebra brand or Sharpies are good, but the Giotto Decor Materials Markers work like magic, resulting in vibrant and bold colours like the hearts shaped designs below. You can get at Popular stores.

Instructions for Pony Ride DIY

1. Cut the core with an opening about the size of the jug’s mouth.
2. Punch 2 holes into the sides and string the holes to attach and secure the jug firmly into the core.
3. Cover the hole with the milk bottle CAP before step 4.
4. Use Duct Tape to tape and cover the whole area to secure the cap.
5. Use a thick ribbon to twirl around the spoke for aesthetics or continue with the Duct tape.

Ta-Dah! It need not be a ‘girly’ pony. On the left, J did the ‘angry’ snorting pony while A did the cool red.

2. Pin the Pony’s Tail Game

This was suggested by my dear girl. I have no idea, neither does she, where she saw this idea from. This is ‘ nobody does this game anymore’ according to hubs. But my take? Why not? I took out her lil pony toy and sketched out the outline for her to trace over. The rest was coloured with markers by herself, with J’s kind input for the middle portion.  What impressed me was her eye for details and patience in outlining every single line with a marker and lovingly decorating the laced ballet pony shoes with the sequinned stickers. She did this for 3 consecutive mornings.

3. DIY FOUR Tier Birthday Cake by her Chef Auntie!

My youngest sister kindly and generously agreed to make E’s cake. After her 3 days feat of creating this tier-ful cake, I am fully convinced why we should be paying the price for such gourmet efforts if one does engage in such extravaganza!

She had stayed over my place and took leave just to bake from scratch. THANK YOU (xiao yee!) From the 4 chocolate poundcakes, the cream whipped Ganache layers, the cutting and sandwiching, the piping and decoration, we were all in awe of the beautiful I term ‘wedding’ birthday cake! THREE CHEERS for Xiao Yee! HIP HIP HOORAY x 3 . 

DRUMS ROLLlllllll…. Presenting Chocolate Orange Cake! The look on E’s face tells it all.

The night before, we labeled the games. Again, our friend insists she traces over each card and colours all the drawings….

4. Horse Shoe Hanger Game

We have this party popper recycled to be the stand and brought hangers as ‘ horse (or Pony) shoes for throwing literally.

5. Bear Hunt

We had the idea of a treasure Bear hunt, but it was not materialised.

6. DIY Ribbon Tutus

No, I didn’t go crazy to buy such inventory of Ribbons. I had kept these beautiful rolls of ribbons from a good friend’s wedding decoration. This was such a great opportunity to recycle them and let the girls have fun! Instead of buying organza for the Tutu, these broad ribbons did the trick as well! E did her own and was happy with the result. All I had to get was the elastic bands from Daiso for the waistline. And I precut the ribbons for them to tie.

How has this July been for you?

In the midst of busy work, I find such occasions are timely in having mother and child bonding times out of the norm. We made many discoveries and enjoyed creating all the above together! Kiddos also get to work hard for their own party not because it’s a party for themselves, but in view of being a hospitable host, that we create things for others to enjoy together. Roping in your loved ones to help also brings a closer connection to it all. My eldest sister also helped do up E’s goodie bags for her classmates on a separate occasion. All these are treasured and memories beautifully weaved. 

May you too, grab such opportunities to enjoy as a family together!

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