Traditional Sleepover -10yr- Dress-up Relay

TRADITIONAL SLEEPOVER:  For my daughter's 10th birthday we had a slumber party on a Friday night (I picked Friday instead of Saturday thinking that the girls would have gotten up early for school, had a full day of school and may not have as much energy).  My daughter is at the stage where she's "cool".  She didn't want a theme, she just wanted everything in light purple and light blue.  She also did not want gifts, instead she decided that she wanted gift certificates instead so that she could make her own purchases. 

INVITATIONS:  I bought blank invitations and printed the party information on them with our computer.  They read:  A Gift Certificate Sleepover to celebrate Lizzie's 10th birthday.  Friday, October 18th,  6:30pm to Saturday, October 19th  10:00am.  Our Address.  Please RSVP to our name.  \*\*Lizzie is requesting gift certificates as gifts\*\*.  They had a light blue and light purple flower type border that matched perfect with the color scheme.  I punched holes in the top and tied a piece of sheer ribbon in a bow and inserted a toothbrush through the middle. 

DECORATIONS:  We did the majority of the party outside on the patio.  I had 3 card tables set up for the girls to each on and a banquet table set up for food and drinks. The 3 eating table had a light blue tablecloth on bottom and a smaller light purple tablecloth on top.  The food table had a light purple tablecloth on bottom and a smaller light blue tablecloth on top.  All the plates, napkins and cups were light blue and light purple.  I served pizza and chips and dip (nothing too fancy)with punch.  I hung light blue and light purple streamers about every 6 inches to the middle of the patio (a lot of work)and blew up a dozen balloons in blue and purple and tied them together and hung them from the center of the patio (they looked similar to a bunch of grapes).  I strung small Christmas light around the poles of the patio and around the patio cover.  We had a boombox playing hip music.

GAMES: After dinner was done the girls split up into to teams of 5 and went on a SCAVENGER HUNT.  One team had a purple gift bag and the other had a blue gift bag to collect their items in, along with a printed list of 10 items (my daughter age)on paper that matched the invitations and a pen to mark off items with.  Items included (1) thread (2) paperclip (3) rubberband  (4)  1992 penny (the year my daughter was born) (5) a boxtop  (6) crayon  (7) a piece of gum  (8) a bobbypin  (9) an empty soda can  (10)a plastic fork.  Each team received extra points for any items that were blue of purple. Each team had a neighborhood teenager supervise them. Each list also included things that each team had to find themselves, like, a green leaf, an orange leaf, a flower, and a rock.  When the teams arrived back at our house, we went though each bag and tallied up their points.  The winner received a backpack purse that was made from material purchased from Walmart.  They cost approx. $1 each to make. Each back pack had a flower shaped notepad, a gel pen, body glitter, and lip gloss (these were their goody bags). 

While they were gone, my husband and I set up the next game which would be a RELAY.  We had set up 2 tables at one end of our backyard.  Each table was equipped with a big pair of pants and a big purple T-shirt, a pair of socks, 10 purple and blue hair scrunchies, blue eye-shadow and 5 applicators, purple lipstick, and a puzzle.  The girls were, once again, placed in their teams from the scavenger hunt.  The first girl had to run to the table put on the pants, shirt, socks and big shoes, put their hair in pigtails, put on eye shadow and lipstick and put together 10 pieces of the 50 piece puzzle and run back to the next teammate and take off the pants, shirt, socks and big shoes.  The next person put them on and ran to the table and repeated everything.  The first team done, won the prize.  The girls were laughing so hard I was surprised that they could finish.  The winner was the loser of the scavenger hunt so they got their backpack purses.  After this game, I took a group picture. 

Next, I had set up the 3 table that I had used for dinner with crafts.  Each girl painted a windchime.  Inside, I had set up the dining room table and the kitchen table with supplies for  each girl make a butterfly keychain (all crafts purchased from Oriental Trading).  After the last craft, everyone got their PJ's on and rolled out their sleeping bags in the living room.  While they were doing that, we were setting up an ice-cream sundae bar in the kitchen.  Each girl had the choice of vanilla or chocolate (or both) ice cream and a selection of toppings (chocolate or carmel syrup, Oreo cookies, and blue and purple sprinkles). My daughter does not like cake so this was instead of cake. 

After ice cream, everyone gathered to see what kind of gift certificates she got.  This was easy and fast since there was only gift certificates to open.  I had stocked an ice chest full of juice boxes, sprite, rootbeer and grape and strawberry soda and put it in the entry way, near the sleep area.  I also filled a large basked with fruit snacks, granola bars, small bags of chips, cheese and crackers and individual bags of cookies and put it on a table near the ice chest.  The girls were told that this was what they could have for night-time snacks (no raiding the kitchen was allowed).  I also popped a few bags of popcorn and put it in large bowls for them.  We put on a movie and everyone settled into their sleeping bags.  The next morning we had donuts and juice and milk for breakfast. 

THANK YOUS:  Instead of traditional thank you notes, we copied the videos that we had taken throughout the party for each guest with a copy of the group picture (cut down) and glued it to the front of the video with Lizzie's 10 Birthday 10-18-02 glued onto the bottom of the picture.  It was a fun time (even for the parents)!!