Hello Kitty Party 5yr - Pillow & Bracelet Crafts

My daughter loves cats.  She was introduced to Hello Kitty when she received a Hello Kitty stuffed animal from Build-a-Bear.  Now she loves everything Hello Kitty.  So for her 5th birthday and first party with friends, I planned a Hello Kitty party. 

For the INVITATIONS I cut out white paper in the shape of Hello Kitty's head (without the bow).  I glued a hot pink paper bow by her ear.  I colored on the eyes (black) and nose (yellow).  Then I glued the head to light pink blank cards with a top fold.  Inside I wrote, COME JOIN US FOR A PURR-FECTLY GREAT TIME OF CRAFTS, GAMES, AND SNACKS!  Then I also included the party time and location. 

For the DECORATIONS I got a few pink star balloons and paired each with kiwi green balloons.  I spread them throughout the room.  I got Hello Kitty and kiwi green streamers and hung them around the room.  I placed my daughters Hello Kitty stuffed animals on the fire place for a final touch.  For the table, I bought a kiwi green tablecloth, pink plates, pink cups, and Hello Kitty napkins.  Hello Kitty loves to make crafts, garden, dance, sing, play games, and cook/bake.  Keeping the things Hello Kitty likes in mind I made my party plan. 

I had several ACTIVITIES planned.  We started with crafts, which Hello Kitty loves.  For HELLO KITTY HEAD POLLOWS, I bought 9 X 12 inch sheets of felt for each girl.  I folded them in half and cut out two Hello Kitty faces for each girl, without the bow.  I used an image from the internet.  I sewed black bone beads on for the eyes and pink round beads for a nose, on one of the cut out faces.  (The second cut out face is for the back of the pillow.)  I then used the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine to sew three whiskers on each cheek.  Then the pillows were ready to be sewn together leaving the bottom of the face open for stuffing.  I then hand stitched pink bows on by one ear.  The girls stuffed Hello Kitty Head Pillows.  After they were stuffed, my helper and I hand stitched them closed.  I printed off sticker name tags to label the pillows with the correct girls name.  The pillows were the perfect size for their dolls to sleep on. 

Then the girls strung beads on an elastic string to make BRACELETS.  I had the string ready with one knot in it to keep the beads on.  When the girls were done, the string was tied somewhat tight on their wrist.  Then it was game time.  Hello Kitty loves games.  I covered copy paper box lids with green fabric.  I cut 5 holes in the lid and tucked the green fabric through the holes.  I hand stitched a few silk flowers, from a lei, on the green fabric. 

The girls played KEEP MORY OUT OF HELLO KITTY'S GARDEN by tossing bean bags through the holes in the lids.  Mory is the mole that digs up Hello Kitty's flowers.  Then the girls played PIN THE BOW ON HELLO KITTY.  I was going to make a poster board size Hello Kitty and cut bows out of pink cardstock for the game, but I found a premade game at the party store for $5. 

Then it was time for SNACKS.  I had the girls make their own snacks because Hello Kitty loves to cook.  First the girls made ICE CREAM IN A BAG.  I had ½ teaspoon sugar ready in a quart size freezer bag.  I added ½ teaspoon of vanilla to the bag and had the girls add ½ cup of milk.  Then I sealed the bags.  I then had the girls add 6 tablespoons of rock salt (ice cream salt) to gallon size freezer bags.  The gallon size freezer bags already had 2 cups of ice inside them that I pulled from the freezer when needed.  Then the girls added their quart size bag to their freezer bags and sealed the gallon size bag.  Then the shaking began.  The bags needed to be shaken for about 10 minutes.  It will be about the consistency of soft serve.  You might want to wrap them in hand towels or seal the bags in another gallon size bag to protect from drips. 

Then the girls decorated HELLO KITTY COOKIES.  I baked Hello Kitty shaped cookies before the party.  I used a pattern printed off the internet, because I couldn't find a Hello Kitty cookie cutter.  I made enough for each girl to decorate 3 cookies and look at their own sample cookie.  I made white icing.  Each girl had a sample cookie to look at as an example.  The girls got to ice their own cookies or they could have help.  Each girl had a little bag of M&Ms to use for the eyes and nose on all 3 cookies.  I precut fruit-by-the-foot into 6 inch strips.  Each strip was formed into a circle and then flattened with the seam on the backside.  Then the circle was squished in the middle to form a bow.  The bow was added to the cookie by one ear.  Each girl received 3 precut strips.  I cut black licorice laces into about 3 inch strips for whiskers.  Each girl received enough strips for each cat cookie to have 3 whiskers on each cheek.  Then the girls got to eat the cookies and ice cream.  (Wipe the salt off the quart size bag of ice cream before the girls spoon their ice cream out of the bag.)  I also had fish crackers and milk.  Treats every cat loves! 

The girls got to pick chocolate or strawberry milk.  I encouraged the girls to take home a few of their cookies for later in little baggies.  I made a cake for the adults.  I used a Hello Kitty cake pan.  I iced the cake in white icing and added red icing for the bow.  I used jelly beans for the eyes (black) and nose (yellow).  I used black icing for the whiskers and outlining the bow.  My daughter opened presents after eating.  After opening presents, the girls went up to my daughters room to SING and DANCE to a Hello Kitty CD.  The girls were each given an inflatable microphone from US Toy.  They all danced around and pretended to sing to several songs and then played with some of her toys.  After some play time, the girls pulled open a PINATA.  I found a pull-the-string Hello Kitty pinata at the local party store.  I filled it with candy and Hello Kitty ChapStick. 

The girls collected the candy in pink lunch FAVOR BAGS.  I cut the shape of Hello Kitty's head out of one side of the pink bag.  I placed clear piece of tissue paper over the hole and added a ribbon bow on Hello Kitty's head. The bags held Hello Kitty tattoos, their candy and ChapStick from the pinata, the Hello Kitty pillows, leftover cookies, their bracelets, inflatable microphones, and a copy of the ice cream recipe.  I had a sticker name tag stuck to the back of each bag so they could be filled with the items the girls made as they finished them.