Mardi Gras Bash Party -8yr- Make Your Mask

My daughter's birthday is on February 12, so we decided to do something a little different! We had a Mardi Gras Birthday Bash. The theme was for the girls to create their own Mardi Gras Masks and then have a Mask Parade. We sent simple flyers printed on golden yellow paper with purple and green writing using regular miscrosoft publisher program. We decided to have the party at home and used only Purple, Green, and Yellow to decorate. My daughter wore purple tutu with a yellow sunflower attached (over tights with a purple shirt)and a cute green diva sparkly hat with a multi-colored Mardi Gras Boa. As the girls arrived my Birthday girl welcomed them with Mardi Gras beads and said Happy Mardi Gras!

We had a decorated table set up near the door with a jar full of green m&m's with a paper beside it. The girls put down how many pieces of candy they thought were in the jar. Near the end of the party whoever was the closest to the correct total won a purple diva hat like the birthday girl wore. Runner up won a Yellow Water Whistle. We also had extra scrap pieces of paper on the table and asked each girl to write their name on one for a drawing later. As we waited for everyone to arrive we played hot baby (using the theme of the baby from the king cake) played the same way as hot potatoe except you use a small babydoll.

After a few rounds and everyone arrived we went to the craft table to make masks. I had prepurchased sheets of thin purple foam and cut different masks shapes out so there would be different types of masks ( I found free templates online). I purchased adhesive foam shapes plain and glittered and adhesive jewels. This kept the girls from having to wait on glue to dry. I had also purchased feathers in green yellow and purple and as the girls finished their masks they lined up to tell me which kind and where they wanted the feathers glued ( I used a hot glue gun to do this quickly).

We then went to do our drawing. The birthday girl drew a name (the girls had written when they first arrived) out of a basket and as each girl was called they got to pick whichever color boa they wanted. I had bought several extra so that even the last girl would have several choices. These were the only items I purchased that were not totally Mardi Gras colors. We thought it would be fun to have an extra splash of fun colors in amist of all the Mardi Gras colors. It worked perfectly!

As the girls excitedly got their boas they retrieved their masks and lined up while we put music on and they came out showing off their masks and boas. I took both photos of each girl with her mask on then a group shot to send in Thank you notes. After that we ate I had make cake pops in Mardi Gras colors and a few in star shapes I also made multi colored candy sushi-which was the biggest hit.

Of course we had some non-sugar items to balance everything out. Instead of purchasing a birthday cake I went to my local grocery store bakery and asked that they make a king cake for my daughter's birthday and make it a little special. They added all kinds of mardi gras rings and favors to the king cake and still only charges me $5.99! We put yellow star candles on and it was a hit.

After food we played the mummy game (with toilet paper) swapping up teams a few times. Then opened gifts and then girls danced with boas and masks. Last but not least we picked the winners of the candy guessing game (and let me say--the girls were ready-several asked often when are we going to draw for the prizes?)When the party was ending each girl had a shiny gold green or purple bag with candies mardi gras coins they had found on tables and won during the games plus their boas and masks. The party was so much fun my daughter says the BEST ever!"